City Council

MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL JANUARY 8, 2018 The regular meeting of the Hammond Common Council of the City of Hammond, Lake County, Indiana was held on January 8, 2018 in the Hammond City Council Chambers. Council President Janet Venecz presided. City Clerk Robert J. Golec facilitated. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited by all. Invocation by Janet Venecz. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Markovich, Spitale, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Woerpel, Rakos, Venecz ABSENT: None TOTAL: 9 NOMINATIONS PRESIDENT Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilman Torres, moved to nominate Councilwoman Venecz as Common Council President for 2018. VICE PRESIDENT Councilman Torres, supported by Councilman Kalwinski, moved to nominate Councilman Markovich as Common Council Vice President for 2018. Councilman Woerpel, supported by Councilman Kalwinski, moved to accept the nominations for President and Vice President for 2018. AYES: ALL READING OF THE MINUTES Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved to accept the minutes of December 18, 2017 and place on file. AYES: ALL APPROVAL OF CLAIMS Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Higgs, moved to accept the claims from December 13, 2017 through January 3, 2018. Claim #1 through claim #236, inclusive. Councilman Markovich, supported by Councilman Higgs, moved to amend in: Claim #237 D5 Design & Metal Fabrication Gaming $7,650.00 Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 1 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 APPROVAL OF CLAIMS cont. ROLL CALL VOTE (amendment) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Woerpel, Rakos, Venecz NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 AMENDMENT ADOPTED ROLL CALL VOTE (as amended) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Woerpel, Rakos, Venecz NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 CLAIMS APPROVED (as amended) PUBLIC HEARINGS None COMMUNICATIONS Councilman Higgs read correspondence in regards to seeking help and more time in finding alternative housing for a family member with mental health issues who has been a long time resident of the LaSalle Hotel building and is being evicted due to the sale of the building. Council President Venecz added that the city is working with the residents of the LaSalle Hotel. Councilman Higgs announced that on January 19th at 5 o’clock at the Ophelia Steen Health & Service Center he will be holding a Town Hall meeting for the residents of his district. Everyone is welcome to attend. COMMITTEE REPORTS Community & Crime Watch Committee - Councilwoman Venecz announced: East Hammond Pullman C.W. will not meet January or February; Edison C.W. does not meet in January, nor does Edison on the Road or Harrison Park; Irving C.W. does not meet in January; Whiting/Robertsdale will not meet this coming Thursday Hessville Crime Watch; Thur., Jan. 19; 7:00 p.m.; Jean Shepherd Center Lafayette N.W.; Wed., Jan. 17; 6:30 p.m.; Lafayette School Pulaski Park N.A.; Tues., Jan. 30; American Legion; S. Hammond C.W.; Thur., Jan. 19; 7:00 p.m.; Hammond Housing Authority (Legal Aid) building Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 2 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 ORDINANCE 3RD READING - FINAL PASSAGE None INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES None RESOLUTIONS 18R-01 A Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Hammond, Indiana Determining and Approving Plan Commission Resolution 2017-01 as the Written Order Approving Redevelopment Commission Resolution No. 07-2017 as an Amending Declaratory Resolution that Designated the State Line Allocation Area Within the Marina Development Area of the Hammond Redevelopment District Related to the North Hammond Redevelopment Plan for the Marina Development Area and That Amended the Original Declaratory Resolution and Subsequent Amending Declaratory Resolutions for the Purpose of Utilizing Tax Increment Financing to Implement the Redevelopment Councilman Kalwinski, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved for adoption. Councilman Kalwinski - This is expanding the allocation area to be at the State Line Energy site so that we can also have a TIF in that area as well. So this is in preparation of potential future development that may occur on that site. Getting ahead of the game a little bit. Council President Venecz - So, Councilman, just to be clear, there are no plans right now. This is just proactive. Councilman Kalwinski - None that I or the administration are aware of. Mayor McDermott - During the Council Caucus there was some discussion about the environmental and community access to the lakefront. I just want to point out that I also share those visions for this site. I’m also an avid cyclist and I think it’s also important to use this site as a linkage between the Chicago Trail System and ours here in Northwest Indiana. So, a lot of what was expressed as concern during Council Caucus, I want to point out that we agree fully with a lot of those concerns. And once this future development does occur to have lake front access, to have connections through this for the bike trails and things of that nature. So, I do want to point that out on the record. ROLL CALL VOTE (adoption) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Woerpel, Rakos, Venecz NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RESOLUTION NO. R01 ADOPTED Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 3 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. 18R-02 Resolution of the Common Council of the City of Hammond, Indiana, Approving the Issuance of Special Taxing District Bonds of the Park District of the City of Hammond, Indiana Councilman Kalwinski, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved for adoption. Councilman Higgs asks Clerk Golec to read the proposed resolution. City Clerk Golec read the proposed resolution in its entirety. Councilman Higgs - I was one of the first persons to present petitions to the Mayor. I submitted to all the churches within my district and throughout the community requesting signatures in regards to keeping MLK Park pool open. For one reason why I was so adamant about it was because I could remember as a kid how the residents and people that I know, they were very vocal in the community, fought just to have a pool. It was a time in my life where I actually had to walk from Morris Street all the way to Mr. Emerson’s district and swim. Finally, we were able to get a pool in the 3rd District. But for a number of years we didn’t have a pool. So I think it’s very important that the pool remains. However, I’m not against any renovations. Make that clear, newspaper ads and articles. I’m not against any improvements in the parks. Whether it be Hessville, Maywood, Harrison Park, or any park in our city. What I do have a problem with is, this document states one particular pool, and that’s Pulaski Park pool. That disturbs me because I made it very clear that I’m very interested in doing what’s necessary to keep the pool open here in the 3rd District. So I would hope that somehow or someway with the $8.7 million bond that I know that’s gonna get passed tonight without any discussion or any question, I already know it’s gonna happen so I might as well just go ahead and vote yes. But the reality of it is I’m making it vocal so my constituents understand where I stand in regards to this. I’m hoping that at some point it doesn’t come to a point that I have to always fight to do what’s necessary, get things done, in the 3rd District. Since I’ve sat here on the Council it’s always been a struggle when it comes to getting things completed. Why? I have no idea. But, the reality is, and the fact is, that I represent the district and I would like to see the pool remain there. I’m not against a splash pad and I would hope that if we could renovate or fix or do whatever is necessary, I’m willing to spend the casino dollars that are allocated in my district to help renovate the pool. Whatever’s necessary to keep the pool in the 3rd District. So that’s my thoughts so that all minds and hearts are clear and hopefully the newspaper ads will be correct. I’m not finna get in a pissing fight with the Mayor in regards to this. It’s the communities responsibility to stand up and say what they want as well. I’ve made it perfectly clear where I stand in regards to the pool. So, make sure you put it in the paper and don’t just call when you think it’s gonna be a argument or discussion when it comes to the 3rd District. Come out to the 3 on 3. Come out to the Back to School Giveaway. Come out to some of the things that are positive versus trying to create havoc in the 3rd District. That’s all I have to say. Thank you. Mayor McDermott - I felt like I needed to address Councilman Higgs’ statements. Especially in regards to no communication because we tried to communicate with the district councilmen affected by the pool closure. I met with each of the district councilmen a number of times. My staff has met with them. Councilman Higgs and I talked about this once at which time he expressed zero cooperation. The pool stays and that’s the way it is and Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 4 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - we move forward. I set up a meeting last week with Councilman Higgs, with my entire staff there. We wanted to talk to him about options. He didn’t show up for that meeting. My entire staff was there waiting to talk to him, he doesn’t show up. My Park Department Director followed up and requested a meeting with Councilman Higgs a couple days later, Councilman Higgs doesn’t show up to that meeting as well. So it’s really frustrating when I show up to the council meeting and hear that there’s been no cooperation. I just want to point that out. I want to point out also, this $8.7 million bond is to replace the pool, the four pools we have, if we’re gonna run with one pool, obviously we need to fix that pool because it’s not ready right now. It’s not safety ready, federal and state and ADA, it’s not compliant. So, we need to not only fix one pool, if that’s what we’re gonna do, we have to have a replacement for the other three pools. Including MLK, obviously. We want to do nice projects where the pools used to be if we’re gonna fix up the one nice pool. And this $8.7 million bond probably won’t be enough. We’ll probably have to supplement it with Mayor’s Gaming or other sources of Gaming. Okay, so that’s a fact. The Council has a decision to make. You can pass this bond and we’re gonna start working on these four locations, okay, or you could say no at which time we’ll still have four holes in the ground that are not ready to open as a pool. Alright, so I wanted to point that out. As far as the 3rd District, and Councilman Higgs’ insinuations that we don’t care about the 3rd District if we’re not going forward with this. I’d like to point out that I was one of the biggest advocates of moving City hall to Downtown Hammond. I think that that’s an important thing for Downtown Hammond. But we backed off. I backed off. We backed off as an administration and kept it here because I feel an obligation to this neighborhood. We’ve been here, a mayor a long time ago made the decision to move City Hall to Calumet Avenue, away from Downtown Hammond. That was a bad decision made 60 or 70 years ago. We’re here, we’re part of this neighborhood and I didn’t feel right, if we did move City Hall to Downtown Hammond, which I feel like it should be, but if we did, what would I tell the residents of this neighborhood? Because we had nothing to take its place. So we made a commitment to this particular neighborhood. MLK Park’s one block that way, okay. So, if MLK pool is getting shut down I want to assure the residents of this neighborhood that a) we love being here and b) whatever replaces the pool that was the least used pool in the city of Hammond, will be magnificent and I’ll put my name on it, obviously, because the councilman is not gonna help me on this. I’ll put my name on it. It’s gonna be great. I promise you. The only way we can get to that is if this bond passes. If this bond passes I take it upon my self to replace the holes in the ground with something that’s great. And if it’s not, I’m gonna pay the consequences for it. The way we were doing business wasn’t working. I hate to break it to you, guys. You know what else I like that we did in the 1950's. I like drive-ins. I want to go to a drive-in movie theater but there isn’t one because we changed the way we do business since the 1950's when these pools were built. That’s all I have to say. Councilman Higgs - First and foremost, Mayor, I do apologize, the last meeting I was not able to attend because I had a Dr.’s appointment. Unfortunately, I had surgery. Mayor McDermott - I understand. Councilman Higgs - Which is nobody’s business but mine, personally. Also, I called Mark and spoke with him in regards to doing some renovations at Harrison Park. So, sometimes it’s not always easy for me to make every meeting. But you know the meeting previous to that we met and we discussed the park and I told you we were Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 5 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. Councilman Higgs cont. - gonna have a town hall meeting. But somehow or another this resolution came up before the meeting was scheduled. Now, whether it’s my fault or yours that the meeting didn’t occur before the resolution, that’s neither here or there. The reality of it is that I would like to see the pool remain in the 3rd District and no one said, personally, that you didn’t care. Now if you feel that way that’s up to you. You didn’t hear that come out of my mouth. What I’m saying to you is that I care because I was elected to represent the 3rd District. As long as I’m in this capacity as the 3rd District Councilman I’m gonna do what’s necessary to speak in regards to them. If no one shows up and fight for what they feel is right, that’s on them. But I was elected in this position so it’s my responsibility and duty to say how I feel and what I think is best for the community I represent. I would hope that all my colleagues would feel the same way. Whether they do or not, that’s on them. But, the reality remains the same. I’m not here to get in a pissing match with you. I know, as well as the world should know at this point, that this resolution is going to pass tonight. So, all I’m asking you is to have consideration for my district and please do whatever you need to do that’s necessary to keep the pool open. That’s all I have to say. Councilman Torres - I just want to add that in the 2nd District we have no form of water recreation. Even though I am going to be voting for this resolution, which includes all the districts except mine, except the 2nd and the 5th, In the near future I am going to approach the city to help me with a splash park or some kind of facility for the benefit of my constituents and I hope I get some help then. We’re the only area or district in the city with four major parks and have no kind of water recreation. So, that’s all I’m asking, consideration in the future. Mayor McDermott - I’d like to point out that I live in the 5th District, the Mayor, and the 5th District is not affected by this bill either. There is no pool or water recreation in the 5th District, and if we all felt that way, we’re one city, you guys are district councilmen, I get it, but we’re one city and we’re trying to do the right thing for the city, okay. You think it’s easy standing up here saying I think these three pools should be shut down and this one should be open, it’s not. It’s not easy at all. People get fired up about nostalgic things, like this. But having four outdoor pools in the city the size of Hammond is ludicrous. We lose more money than we do at the Festival of the Lakes. Run the four outdoor pools that are hardly even attended anymore. People say it not attended because you guys did this in the final year of it. You did monthly sales or something. The bottom line is this, we were losing over $200 thousand a year keeping the pools open. Even if the pools are open, think about when they open. They open June 7th-ish because the kids get out of school and that’s our man power. Those are our customers and our life guards. So when they get out of school we hire them, early June. And they’re back in school in early August. So we’re talking about two weeks, hoping the weather’s perfect and as we’ve learned lately, June isn’t exactly the nicest weather month anymore. So, when the weather gets really gets nice in August and September, we’re shutting our pools down because we lost our customers because they’re going back to school and we lost our manpower. A splash pad can open up in May because it doesn’t need staff. You invest in it once and it can stay open all the way through October. You just walk underneath and it turns on. So, like, the bottom line is many communities are doing this. It’s hard to find communities with outdoor pools anymore. Munster has one, Highland doesn’t, Griffith doesn’t. I mean, we have four. So, councilman, if every council person took the same position you are, said I think my pool should stay open. Councilman says I think my pool should stay open, I think my pool should stay open, then we’re running things in archaic fashion and we’re losing money. Quite frankly, the people are choosing by not showing up. They’re proving to us that it’s Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 6 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - like a drive-in movie theater. Out door public pools aren’t what they used to be when they were built in the 1950's, and 1970's in MLK. Councilman Higgs - Mayor, I do understand and I sympathize with you and I understand in your capacity as being the Mayor you have to make a decision. But the reality of it is, is what I’m saying to you is that the residents fought just to have a pool in the 3rd District. Mayor McDermott - I understand, Councilman. I get what you’re saying. Councilman Higgs - So, you know, certainly those individuals, some of them are going on, but the ones that remain, I would hope they still feel the same way, the importance of having a pool here. I understand it’s about saving money and what’s reasonable. I get that. But the reality of it is, like I stated to you earlier, when it came to the petitions, I presented you the petitions first. So, who makes the decision who gets the pool. Is it because the 1st District is by Horseshoe casino, is that why they’re getting the pool? I mean, how do you weigh the options of deciding who gets the pool? In this resolution it says Pulaski Park. What about MLK? So, I mean, you know, I’m not against renovating the park. I’ve spend money since I’ve been the councilman, the money that’s allocated to my district to renovate the park. Not just MLK, but Harrison and Memorial Park which happened to be sold at one particular time and then the city got it back and now I got to start back at square one to try to make it presentable. So, I’m all about renovating and making our parks beautiful. I mean, I don’t know what else to say other than the fact that I feel that it is important that the pool remains open for our children. They don’t have much here. That was one of the reasons why I started the 3 on 3, because the kids need recreation. Another reason why I do it is because there are a number of kids parents don’t have the resources that other areas of this city may have. Unfortunately. That’s why I do the Back to School, and been doing it every year faithfully and no one’s exempt. It’s for the entire city. You bring your kid up there, you get school supplies and you ride out. All I’m saying to you is that I feel it’s important that the pool remains in my district. Please have compassion and weigh the options and think it out and do whatever you feel is necessary. But, I know that this is gonna pass. I ain’t no fool. I’ve been on here too long and I ain’t just crossed the water. But, I’m asking you, as the Council and as the Mayor so they could put this in the paper so everybody’s hearts and minds are clear, that the pool remains open. That’s all I’m asking. Councilman Woerpel - I think the point needs to be made here that this resolution gives the Park Board the authority to grant the bond, right? Council President Venecz - That’s my understanding. Councilman Woerpel - It sounds to me like the discussion of what’s gonna happen afterwards is not being decided tonight. All we’re doing is saying that we approve of the Park Board’s issuance of the bond if I understand this correctly. Am I right, Mayor? Mayor McDermott - I’m not gonna stand up here and lie and say we haven’t talked about what’s gonna ultimately take place, Councilman. I appreciate you bringing that up but we have two options, okay. You could Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 7 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - say we don’t want to pass this bond and if you don’t, when people ask me what’s gonna happen with those parks and the holes in the ground because we still would need to put in about $5 million, if we wanted to open all four of our pools like we were doing, it’s gonna cost us. I think the last estimate was $5 million just to get it compliant so we could maintain the status quo. The things like the suctions grab too hard so if a kid was below and swimming under water it could grab the kids clothing and keep him under water. Stuff like that, that’s been fixed, they’re not ADA compliant. We don’t have those chairs that allow, you know, people with disabilities to get into the water. And there’s many other structural, the leaking, the systems that service them are broken down. So just if we wanted, I’m nostalgic and I love outdoor pools, even though it’s only seven weeks a year, I think we should open all four of them and lose $200 grand a year. Well, to do that we have to spend about $5 million. Right now. And we would have our four public pools open and we’d still be complaining about a lack of manpower, costs too much to heat them up, we’re losing water, and the residents weren’t showing up. So, the bottom line is this, you know, I’d really like to see, I think we have four good ideas and I understand why Councilman Higgs is taking the position. I do. I get it. Okay. And I appreciate the Councilmen that are cooperating and it makes a lot of sense to me what’s being proposed because there’s a monster pool in the region that took a lot of our attendance, it’s called the Munster pool. It’s great. I’ve never been there, okay. But, tons of families I know do go there. It competed with Hessville and took our customers. It competed with us and took our customers. It probably competed with MLK and took our customers. Pulaski Park is far away from that. Alright, that is a big factor in this. Munster spent like $5 million on a pool and it’s magnificent from what I hear. We’ve been talking about this for a long time, Councilman Higgs. We have. And I get why you’re saying what you’re saying. I get why you are taking the position you are. You’re the 3rd District Councilman, I get it. But this is not an easy issue. I want people to know we are committed to the 3rd District. We are gonna replace that pool with something spectacular. It’s important to me. It’s MLK Park. I want it to be spectacular. I want this to be a great park right next to City Hall, which we all as a group decided to keep right here in the 3rd District. It’s not an easy issue, Councilman Higgs, I appreciate you pointing that out. But I’m the Mayor of the entire city, not six districts. Councilman Woerpel - My point is, if we vote no on this then we still got four holes in the ground. Mayor McDermott - Yes, sir. Absolutely. With no plan. We don’t have enough money to fix them without a bond like this. Councilman Woerpel - Right. Council President Venecz - Councilman Higgs, in due respect, you’ve already spoken three times before. Are there any comments from any of the sponsors of this resolution? Councilman Woerpel - I was just gonna ask if it’s okay if Heather could take the podium and just explain the financing real quick on the bond. City Controller Garay - So, we’re looking at this bond and we’re going to be $8.7 million. We’ve talked about this for a while now. It was in discussion when we were talking about the budget. We’re still looking at the Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 8 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. City Controller Garay cont. - term. It will be somewhere between ten and fifteen year term. We’re expecting the interest rate to be about 3.5 to 3.75 depending on the length of the repayment schedule. It will be an exempt bod status for one year. So that means it has an impact to homeowners in the city but because of the tax caps it has a very minimal impact. In fact, if your house value, its gross value is above $91,500, you’ve already hit that cap limit. So there’s nothing that we can do here that’s going to increase your taxes. So, anything below that will have a minimal impact. The most that any taxpayer will be about $10 for one year. Because in 2019 the debt becomes non-exempt. It fall under the cap limit and then that additional tax rate will go away. So, if you’re $90 thousand or less you might see an impact of $5, $6, $7, up to $10 dollars for 2018. Then for 2019 that won’t be a tax rate any longer. Any other questions that you have specific to the financing? Councilman Higgs - Just for clarity, Councilman Woerpel, the resolution states Pulaski Pool, that’s the reasoning why I made my assumption that the pool was going to be renovated at Pulaski. It doesn’t say MLK Pool, it says Pulaski Pool. Again, as I stated previously, I submitted petitions to the Mayor in regards to MLK Pool. Submitted them to the churches for signatures and got signatures and gave them. Then all of a sudden I see an article in the Hammond Times saying that the 1st District presented the first petition. That’s not true. It did not happen like that. I am insulted that someone would take the position and say that it did because it did not happen like that. That’s what I want to make perfectly clear. The first petitions that were presented was from Councilman Higgs who went throughout his district and got signatures from the churches. Mayor McDermott - I have some statistics here for the last three years we ran pools, financial, and then who showed up to each pool. 2014 we had 3,485 people use the pool; we made almost $8 thousand off of them; $153 thousand in expenses; for a total loss of $145 thousand, okay. 2015 we had about the same attendance at the pools; 35 hundred; we made more money that year, $10,500; we spent way more money, $197 thousand; we lost $186 thousand, which is $50 thousand a pool, basically. If we were gonna charge people actually, per person, what it would cost, we charge them like $3 bucks or something like that, it actually costs us $56 per person to go to the pools. We would have to charge them $56 per visit, per person, to charge what it actually costs to run the pool. 2016, we had a big year actually, 6,421; $15 thousand we made that year; $202 thousand in expenses, for $187 thousand total loss. That was only $33 per person, per visit, because we had more attendance. Let’s take that last year where we had 6,500 people. Some of the factors that went into this, less than 1000 of those 6,500 went to MLK Pool. It was the lowest attendance in 2016 by a big number, the lowest attendance in 2015 by a big number, and 2014 by a big number. We’ve done our homework on this. The reason MLK was chosen was because it was the least attended pool. Even though it’s the newest it’s the one with the less swimming population. Pulaski Park on the other hand was towards the top. I mean it’s not... it’s just math. We can’t afford to run four outdoor pools. I guess you could make the decision as the fiscal body that we’re gonna lose this $200 thousand every year, Mayor, let’s do it. You have that decision, I guess. Or you can say let’s fix the four pools and keep running it. Maybe we only lose $100 thousand, if we fix them up. But the bottom line is, in my opinion if we had one magnificent pool people would travel to it. People that live in 4th, 5th and 6th District might still go to Munster. But people that live in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd, North Hammond is not that far away from any neighborhood in that district. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 9 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. Councilman Emerson - You know, I live very close to Edison Park and pool and we’ve been meeting for about two years off and on regarding the pool situation in the city and after that first meeting I started noticing, especially take a short cut down Spruce so I could get to where I live and there are more people in line at Dairy Belle than were actually in that pool. I’m talking single digits, okay. So some days there might be ten or eleven but a lot of times it was under ten. So, you know, my son and daughter swam in that pool growing up. I’ve swam in that pool and all that. By the way I love the 41 Drive-in on Calumet, I really did. It’s gone. So, my neighbor has a pool, an above ground pool, and more and more of those are around but the numbers that I saw almost every day in the summer told me that it’s gonna be a tough vote, you know, but it’s not the first tough vote we’ve had. So I want the people that do use that, and I don’t even know that they’re from the 4th,or from Hammond, but I’m assuming they are. People weren’t using it and I don’t relish the vote but what we’re gonna replace it with is gonna be fine. I think people are really gonna love it and, you know, time will tell. But right now I can’t see supporting a hole in the ground, or three holes, or four holes, or whatever we’re dealing with here tonight. Mayor McDermott - I hate to keep interrupting, but let’s say we wanted to rebuild it in Edison Park and we wanted to put the one pool there or in Hessville Park. We would have to build it to compete with Munster. So if I wanted to build it in the 4th or the 6th we’d have to compete with Munster. Why would people go to our pool if they go a couple blocks further and go to some $5 million pool that was built. So in my opinion getting far away from Munster is advisable in this case. There’s no pool in the Whiting Robertsdale are. There’s no pool in the North Hammond area. It’s hardly attended already. Councilman Higgs - So what was the deciding factor of you deciding Pulaski Pool then? Mayor McDermott - There was a lot of deciding facts, Councilman. Councilman Higgs - Other than the fact you say it was well attended but what were the other factors? Mayor McDermott - There’s a lot of them. Councilman Higgs - Can you give me an idea? Mayor McDermott - I just named them. Councilman Higgs - No, you ... Mayor McDermott - It’s far away from Munster, it’s well attended. You know, neighborhood wants it, bad. They fought for it. We made the decision. The right decision. Councilman Higgs - So, my question would be even if there were kids from my district that wanted to go to Pulaski pool, how would they get there? Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 10 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. Mayor McDermott - They would get on their bike like I do. I live in Woodmar, I ride to Whiting three or four times a week. That’s part of the problem in America, in my opinion, you don’t get on your bike and go places you used to go. I used to take my big wheel places when I was a kid. Get on your bike. Get on your bike and ride it. Take your bike to the pool. It’s like two miles. You could probably jog there. Councilman Higgs, I would. I do. I live 2 ½ miles that way and I go to Chicago and back and I’m 48 years old. Councilman Higgs - I’m sure over the 16 years there have been a number of kids that received bikes from our district but I don’t know if they are willing to ride a bike all the way to Pulaski pool, just for clarity. But, I just don’t believe so it’s gon happen like that. I just don’t believe it. But, again, you know, I don’t want to see a hole in the ground either and I would hope that during the negotiations of the completion of this project because it’s gonna go forward. I’m not dumb and stupid. It’s gonna go forward tonight and they’re gonna vote yes. But, the reality of it is I would hope that somehow or another I’m able to negotiate and get some things completed in my district in regards to beautifying and making it usable so that the kids can have some recreation because I can see clear that it’s going to happen. Mayor McDermott - To negotiate you have to show up to meetings, Councilman Higgs. Councilman Higgs - Well, I show up at all the meetings, Mayor. Mayor McDermott - You missed two. Councilman Higgs - And I’ve invited you to meetings and you haven’t attended as well. Councilman Rakos, supported by Councilman Torres, moved to call for the vote. ROLL CALL VOTE (call for the vote) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Woerpel, Rakos, Venecz NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED ROLL CALL VOTE (adoption) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Woerpel, Rakos, Venecz NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RESOLUTION NO. R02 ADOPTED Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 11 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 RESOLUTIONS cont. 18R-03 A Resolution Authorizing the City of Hammond, by the Hammond Board of Public Works to enter a Lease Agreement for a Fire Truck Councilman Rakos, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved for adoption. Councilman Rakos - This is the way the Fire Dept. has been purchasing vehicles when they outlive their usefulness for quite some time know. It’s a lease agreement, it basically gets paid off in four years. Although, the Controller explained to us that we don’t make any payments in the first year. The city is in bad need of a fire truck, ladder, aerial. The new truck will be going to Central Station, in the 3rd District, and the truck that is there will be going to Hessville Station #8. That truck is in suck bad shape it needs to be replaced by something newer. But, the one in Central does get used quite a bit more. Which is why we’re able to do that. ROLL CALL VOTE (adoption) AYES: Markovich, Spitale, Kalwinski, Torres, Higgs, Emerson, Woerpel, Rakos, Venecz NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RESOLUTION NO. R03 ADOPTED NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS Councilman Higgs, supported by Councilman Woerpel, moved to send a letter to whoever is doing the Graffiti Removal Program regarding 5711 Calumet. In the alley there is all kinds of graffiti on the fence and it’s profanity and all kinds of stuff so I would like to have it removed. AYES: ALL LETTER SENT: JANUARY 9, 2018 Councilman Woerpel, supported by Councilman Rakos, moved that the Council approve Susan Stafford as the Council Office Secretary retroactive to January 1st of 2018. AYES: ALL Councilman Torres, supported by Councilman Higgs, moved to send a letter to the Water Department. Mickey’s Auto & Truck Recycling at 4648 Sheffield has had a broken water line since May. They have called various times the Water Department and for some reason they’ve been told they’re too busy. But now because of the weather it is affecting his business. It is leaking into his garage. He is unaware of what to do. It’s unknown whether it’s on his property or city’s property, or whether it’s the city’s line or his line. But he would like for them to check it out as soon as possible. LETTER SENT: JANUARY 9, 2018 Councilman Higgs - I received a correspondence from Dean Button in regards to the trees. It says, “I am in receipt of the letter dated December 19, 2017 regarding tree removal. At this late in the year it is difficult to tell which trees are dead. Would you kindly ask Councilman Higgs for the exact location or adjacent address of the Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 12 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. JANUARY 8, 2018 NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS cont. Councilman Higgs cont. - lots in question. We will then be able to determine whether or not the tree is within the public right of way.” Mr. Button, anytime you are free we can schedule a time this week and I can show you exactly. They’re dead and they’re laying over in lot. Now, who owns the lots, I don’t know. There’s no addresses on the lots. Dean Button - Can you give me adjacent addresses? East or West. PUBLIC EXPRESSION Carolyn Marsh - Here regarding the State Line Allocation Area being proposed by the Hammond Redevelopment Commission. There is a problem with this property for pollution. They are in violation of the Clean Air Act. This property is valuable but not as valuable as the city is portraying it to be. The reason is contamination. It would take millions to clean it up and Hammond doesn’t have the money. The other issue is access. There is no Hammond access to it other than the Hammond Marina. It is a secured area. Unless there are changes to the Hammond Marina parking lot which would affect the Hammond Bird Sanctuary. The Hammond Bird Sanctuary has been neglected for the last 20 years, which is a shame. They should not be given any kind of help on a for profit property. Dale Parrish - Here regarding the park and pool situation. Has a vested interest with all the pools. Would like to see whatever is done with MLK Park. I am a homeowner and lived in the home for over 36 years so anything that is done would be an upliftment. Not in support of closing the pool. Being closed this summer it was a haven for mice, racoon and stray cats. Asking the council to consider keeping MLK Pool in mind when redeveloping the pools. George Stoya - Hammond does not have a money tree. All these other expenditures, a sports complex, bike path, Sanitary District bonds, Redevelopment bonds, the bridge over Calumet Avenue, new bonds for the schools, TIF Districts, we must rein in our spending. I don’t know what you guys are thinking. There is big money risk involved here. We’re writing checks I don’t think we can cash. Councilman Woerpel, supported by Councilman Kalwinski, moved to adjourn. AYES: ALL Janet Venecz, President /s/ Hammond Common Council ATTEST: Robert J. Golec, City Clerk /s/ Time: 7:15 p.m. cb Minutes approved at the Common Council meeting of January 22, 2018. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 13