City Council

MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL MAY24.2021 The regular meeting of the Hammond Common Council of the City of Hammond, Lake County, Indiana was held on May 24, 2021 in the Hammond City Council Chambers. Council President Dave Woerpel presided. City Clerk Robert J. Golec facilitated. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited by all. Invocation by Councilwoman Alexander. ROLL CALL PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Torres, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel ELECTRONICALLY PRESENT: Kalwinski, Tyler ABSENT: None TOTAL: 9 MAYOR'S ADDRESS Mayor McDermott - Thanks for giving me time. I apologize for not being here last time. I know Phil updated you all so I appreciate that, to Phil as well, the Chief of Staff. To give you an update, I have sort of a lengthy report so I'm gonna try to go fast. If you have questions, please just slow me down. To update the Council on what's going on this past week with regards to Kyrin Carter's search for the young autistic twelve year old boy who ran towards the river. We've been searching for over a week at this point. Hammond Police Department assisted by multiple agencies, hundreds of volunteers. We searched on foot throughout the Little Calumet Area, basically between Kennedy and Cline Avenue. It's very brush and very dense. Hundreds of volunteers, horses, police officers, firefighters, civilians, out there 24/7 basically. A lot of people. We searched in the air, Lake County Sheriffs Department. The Little Calumet River Basin Authority and Dan Repay has been very helpful along with the City Engineer, Dean Button, in draining the Little Calumet River. We damned it up and drained it as much as possible. Unfortunately, the area where we suspect the little boy may be is a lagoon and it's not draining as well as the rest of the river. But I didn't even know you could drain the Little Calumet River until this situation. So, I want to thank Dan Repay, former Councilman of the 5th District for working with us on that project. We are trying to eliminate the possibility that Kyrin was kidnapped. We're in the process of doing that. I think that's just a natural reaction to what's going on because if he didn't drown, he's either alive hiding someplace and it's been a long time or he's been kidnapped. So we're in the process, unfortunately, of reviewing video tapes from all the businesses pretty much between Cline Avenue and Kennedy and there's a lot of businesses with videos and we're reviewing videos. We know when he went towards the river so obviously we could check all the video tapes of all the accompanying businesses for any unusual cars, any unusual people that may have been around. Maybe we see Kyrin walking around some place other then where we think he may be. So it's very important. The Hammond Police Detectives are in the process of eliminating that possibility or coming up with a suspect. So we are in that process right now. We dove that lagoon multiple times. Not just the Hammond Fire Department's dive team on multiple occasions. Porter County's dive team, which is recognized as one of the best in Indiana, has dove it multiple times. There's one diver from the Porter County Dive team that's been stationed there since Kyrin disappeared. He's been in the water multiple times. We actually spoke Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 1 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24, 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - with the FBI today and the FBI agreed to send their heralded dive team to Hammond to assist us and that's taking place Wednesday. So, we're trying to tum over every stone to try to find this young man. lfwe can't find him to eliminate the possibility that he was kidnapped. I think one way or another we need closure. We need either the suspect that took him or, you know, if he's alive, we need to find him. If he is in the lagoon, unfortunately, we have to find him. So we're doing everything we can. This is a body of water which moves as well, making matters much worse. I don't know if you have any questions about that. It's not the loveliest topic I realize, but there's been Hammond Police Officers, Firefighters and civilians that have worked hundreds of hours on this case and I want to thank them, you know, for their assistance. Law Department litigation, you have the wholesale rate before you. This is an ordinance based upon the settlement of the litigation with Whiting, Munster, Highland, Griffith and Dyer. Questions that you may have, will this wholesale ordinance put to rest the class action lawsuit filed against the City of Hammond when we passed our rate increase, yes it will. When we pass this wholesale rate, it will put an end to the litigation that we're experiencing right now. Are we gonna have problems down the road when the rates automatically go up as per the contract? No, we will not. The other communities are in the process of raising rates as we speak. All parties of this agreement have signed on the settlement and we all agree to rate certainty for the next twenty years if this is approved. What if the other communities don't agree to the rate schedule over the next twenty years, they either sign the settlement agreement and settle the case or they continue litigating. But they'll probably do that on their own because multiple communities are in the process right now of settling the case. For instance, Whiting, in today;'s paper, raising their rates in anticipation of the settlement with the City of Hammond Water Department. They were paying close to $.50 before, in year one, this is this year, they pay $.95, which is over double fro all of our customer communities and slowly rises to $1.60 in year ten, which is three times plus the rate they were paying. And years eleven trough twenty it goes up to seventy percent of the retail rate that we charge Hammond customers. Last rate increase in the Water Department was in 1985. Wholesale rate will not effect Illinois contracts at all. This is only an Indiana issue, the wholesale rate. So, a Hammond resident, my house for instance, pays $1.90 for a thousand gallons of water, alright. The wholesale rate we charge other communities is closer to a dollar. Some people throw their hands up and say, "This is outrages!" Actually, not really. Think about the water that travels to my house. The water that travels to my house goes through the filtration plant, which is a shared burden on all (unclear), goes through transmission lines, which is a shared burden, and then it breaks off the transmission and starts going through residential distribution, ends up in my house. The residential portions, which is a big portion of our rate, is Hammond rate payers only. Highland residents, Munster residents, Whiting residents, shouldn't pay for the infrastructure of the water on Knickerbocker Pkwy. That's the rational for why wholesale customers are paying cheaper. Now, if they agree to this deal they charge $.95 just to be part of our deal and then they start adding on charges in Munster, Highland, Griffith. So at the end of the day, a residentially rate payer and these communities will not be paying what Hammond residents pay. Ours is $1.90 retail. Other communities, right now, I could tell you what they are right now, and they're probably set to go up $3.13 for a thousand gallons in Munster; $3.56 for a thousand gallons in Whiting; $3.78 for a thousand gallons in Griffith; $1.90 in the City of Hammond. That's the top end. We charge wholesale and residential in the same rate that we charge Hammond residents. So, Hammond residents will still have the lowest water rates in Indiana. lfwe didn't have the lowest water rates, our customers would have left and gone to somebody cheaper. They didn't, because there's nobody cheaper out there. We're the cheapest on the lake. I don't know if you have any questions on that or if you want to just wait to the end. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 2 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24. 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Council President Woerpel - I'll entertain questions on that if you don't mind. Mayor McDermott - Sure. Council President Woerpel - Does anyone have any questions for the Mayor on what he just said? Mayor McDermott - Good. I'll go through and update you on a few other stories. The house at the comer of 7750 Old Columbia Avenue, with the flag. That has been resolved. The gentleman has not flown the flag since I knocked on his door. Which is admirable of him and I appreciate that. Kenwood School neighborhood traffic study, Councilman Tyler, and myself, and the Engineering Department, commissioned a study on proposed traffic changes in the Kenwood School neighborhood. The boundaries of this area where we are surveying the residents is Highland Street to the north, both sides of Highland Street; on Stateline Avenue, every house on the east side of Stateline Avenue; Hohman Avenue, on the west side of Hohman Avenue only; and the south boundary is 165th, north side of the street only. All homes in that boundary area received a ballot in the mail asking them what they thought about the proposed changes and we take them very seriously. If they don't return them, I take that seriously as well. I've heard a couple cases where residents may not have received the flyer, if that's the case please contact the Mayor's Office immediately. We'll give you an individual (unclear) so that you can vote because it's super important. If you live in this area, that you vote yes or no. Because I consider, if it's not important enough to even send us a response, it's not that important to you. I consider that a no vote, I'll be honest with you. If we're gonna do permanent traffic changes, I want to see how people feel and I think it's got to be closer to 2/3 than closer to 50% if we're making permanent traffic changes and I usually spike these if it's even close. The ones that have been successful have been overwhelmingly positive. If it's even 50/50 it's not good enough for me, personally, to make a permanent change. So, I don't know if Councilman Barry has anything he wants to add to that. Councilman? Councilman Tyler - Thanks, Mayor. The only thing I have to add is that I've gotten a couple calls from residents on Highland Street who are asking if they could be included too, in terms of the conversation of the street closures. Because they think that they are seeing increased traffic on their street. And then, of course, we're seeing increased traffic on Forrest and Moraine as people are trying to figure out a way out of that neighborhood after they get into it off of 165th . I did tell them that we '11probably see that kind of die down once people get used to the street closures if they are made permanent but during that one week trial period it was new to a lot of people that were trying to get through and so they were just trying to figure out the way to get out. But the longer these closures are there ten the less traffic we should see coming through the neighborhood. So I don't know if you want to address that if you have any thoughts about that. You know, the difference between Highland and why Highland was chosen for a through route is because Highland is called a collector street. You can tell it's a collector because there's a traffic light on Hohman. If there's a traffic light on Hohman, it's designated as a heavier traffic route. Unfortunately, it's tough to say to the people that live on that block but it's meant for that traffic. Whereas Detroit Street was not meant for that traffic. Detroit Street's a residential street and that's the difference. I know Councilman Barry is aware of this, I'm just explaining it to the residents that are watching right now. It's tough to say that if this plan is successful there would be more traffic on Highland. There would be if this proposal is successful there would be more traffic on Highland where it's supposed to be. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 3 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24, 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - That's tough to say and I imagine a lot of people on Highland Street may vote against this proposal just because of that and that's your prerogative and that's why we take them so seriously. Councilman Barry, I don't want to put words in your mouth. I know you and I have discussed a couple issues on this but that's why I take the vote so seriously, personally. Councilman Tyler - Yeah, no, I'm in agreement with you and that is what we discussed along with the same with the Engineering Department. You know, the one thing I will say is that if we do see like traffic speeding up and down Highland then that is something that we can address with the Police Department and try to figure out if there is something else that we can do there. But like you said, it is wider and built to maintain a lot more traffic than those other streets so we are going to see an increase there. But is we do feel like it's causing residents harm then of course we will step in and do whatever we can about it. Mayor McDermott - Well, let's see. I agree, Councilman Barry. I appreciate that. Let's see what the vote turns out. If the vote turns out, "we don't like it", then normal traffic is gonna go on every street. To continue my update, I met with the IEDC along with my management staff. I know we had Economic Development there, Planning & Development there, we had the City Controller there, myself, my Chief of Staff, Corporate Council, in Indianapolis, met with the IEDC in regards to a project in the 2nd District, Downtown Hammond, of renovating the former Bank Calumet Building. There's a proposal on the table, a multi million dollar renovation to convert it over to condos from the ground floor all the way up to the top floor. It's a really cool idea. The IEDC seemed very interested in it and very interested in participating financially. I'll keep you advised on what we hear. We've made the pitch. I think it went well. We'll find out soon whether or not the IEDC is willing to help us reinvest in that building. But I think we can all agree that's a very important building ... Council President Woerpel - Mayor, just to clarify on that, that's that letter we all sent down and signed? Mayor McDermott - Yes, sir. Exactly. Thank you. I forgot to point that out, Councilman. A couple of weeks ago we had also met with the ... this is a really good meeting for those of you who are frustrated, like me, with the train blockings perennially in our city. We met with an agent from the Federal Railroad Administration. Which is the first time I've ever actually talked to somebody from the FRA. She was a nice lady that heard us out. We had Norfolk Southern on the line with us. WE did a Zoom call. It was set up by Lt. Pat Vicari in the Hammond Police Department. I want to give a shout out to him He brought the FRA to the table. Of course Chief Long, Chief Short were there. But Lt. Vicari deserves public recognition for his role in bringing a lot of people to the table. We had a nice meeting. We'll see where that heads. I know we have follow up meetings in the future and I don't think that Norfolk Southern was super comfortable with the reality hitting them in the face right in front of the FRA. That they block crossings for hours on end, sometimes days on end, with no regards to the local community. It was not flattering for them. I knew the person from Norfolk Southern and they were getting an earful from us right in front of the FRA, and the lady from the FRA seemed like she wants to help the City of Hammond. So I'll keep you advised on how that goes. But again, thanks to Lt. Pat Vicari for helping bring all parties to the table. Special Events Committee still working hard. Festival of the Lakes 2021 has been announced, every night has been announced except for Saturday. We've announced Old Dominion, a country act for Tuesday, July 131\ we've announced the OJ's for Wednesday, July 14th ; we've announced Limp Bizkit Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 4 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24, 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - for Thursday, July 15th ; we've announced REO Speedwagon for Friday, July 161\ Los Tucanes de Tijuana for Sunday, July 18th . I'm happy to report that we've sold over $150 thousand in VIP experience tickets. Which is a new record for us already and we're over a month away from the Fest. Some nights are dangerously selling out already, which is amazing. We're actually getting way more in pre-sale than we ..... we used to never do that and we're at $150 grand and we haven't even announced our Saturday night. I can't say anything but it's big, big, big. Like the biggest act, I think, we've ever had. We reached a deal with that act over the weekend. So our Saturday is lined up. I can't mention anything until probably Friday. City of Hammond Citywide Fireworks Displays are still being put together. We have our locations chosen: We have a deal with the fireworks operator's who are going to be setting off the fireworks. That's gonna take place on the 4th . Theoretically, from anywhere in the City of Hammond, you should be able to be in your backyard and see fireworks display going off. We got the idea from the pandemic, funny enough. Franciscan Hammond announced over two weeks ago that they were closing. I know that Phil reported to you in the last meeting. Obviously, we're disappointed to hear about that. We still have no communications at al for the leaders of the Franciscan Hospital as to their plan. The only thing we get are crappy text messages, basically, from the CEO actually of the Franciscan Hospital. We organized a protest last Friday. We had a couple hundred residents show up. I know a few of the Council people were there. I appreciate you for being there. I'm trying to remember, I know Councilman Torres was there, Councilman Emerson was there, Council President Woerpel was there, Councilwoman Venecz was there, Councilman Spitale was there, Councilman Rakos I appreciate you being there, Councilwoman Alexander showed up. So, I want to thank everybody that showed up. I appreciate that. Our team is already having conversations with other medical providers to try to fill in the gaps that are gonna be created by this change. I can tell you the CEO of Methodist Hospital and I have spoken and have a meeting coming up. Northshore Health Clinics has reached out and are very interested in helping us with any shortage. So, it makes me feel good to know that there's people in the medical community that care. On the other hand we have the Franciscans who appear to want to downsize 90% of their hospital and tell us it's a good deal for us. I don't really think it's a good deal, personally. Council President Woerpel - You know, Mayor, like you said, I participated in that protest and I was watching the news that night and saw a representative from Franciscan say it was due to lack of use. I know in 2011 I had my thyroid taken out and I was forced not to go to the Downtown hospital. I was actually forced to go to the brand new one in Munster. Judging from their lack of communication with you guys in the City and just the flat out lie they told on tv that night, I applaud everybody's efforts that showed up for that. Because I know first hand that I said, "Why do I got to go to Munster when I live in Hammond?" They said, "That's just where the doctors have surgery now." Mayor McDermott - Then they say the patients are choosing to go to other places. They don't want to be in Hammond, when they are steered there away from Hammond so they could ... Council President Woerpel - I just wanted to add that in response to ... Mayor McDermott - This is no different, I was talking to Mayor Jones from Cal City and Mayor Polk from Burnham. They're very familiar with the situation in St. James Hospital in Chicago Heights that was very much Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 5 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24, 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - like St. Margaret's. Chicago Heights, a community very similar demographically to the City of Hammond. A lot of similar issues funny enough, and we're partners in water, by the way. They shut their hospital down and moved it to Olympia Fields, which is a wealthy suburb of Chicago Heights. I think most ofus know there's a famous U.S. Open Golf Course in Olympia Fields Country Club. Councilman Emerson - I actually worked for St. James back in the '90's and I was a CQI Coordinator and basically I had 20 teams from doctors, nurses, cafeteria workers, janitors, throughout their hospital, and they eliminated my position. But this was back in the '90's. St. James closed in 2018 and as the Mayor said, moved out to Olympia Fields. So I'm not surprised. The joke back then was we did our job so well we taught continuous quality improvement that they eliminated my position. So I'm not surprised. It's not funny. It's created a health care desert in Hammond and we the largest city in Lake County, by the way. I'm very disappointed. In fact, I'm really disappointed that they're razing it and that may eliminate the competition. I don't know. I'm not a realtor. But, if you don't put it up for sale and it's knocked down, that's not good. Councilman Torres - Mayor, I want to thank you for your efforts but that's the only thing I had in mind. If they for some reason do leave, at least save the building. I'm sure there's another medical institution that would love to settle in there with all the new redevelopment you have in mind and Redevelopment Commission has in mind with the new housing coming in there. You just mentioned the Calumet Building and then the new facility across the street. You're projecting, what, 3 thousand units of living quarters. With the West Lake Railroad coming in, the railroad station Downtown, that you have projected. So these are really exciting times for Hammond and just last Friday you announced the YMCA coming to Hammond next year, as far as their building next year. So, they're gonna miss out on a lot of things, I believe. Not to mention our neighbors west of us in Illinois, what they have in mind. Yeah, but at least try to save the building. They can move if they want but let's keep the building in tact. Councilwoman Venecz - Mayor, I just wanted to let you know that I got a couple of calls from residents who saw you on Chicago TV after the rally at St. Margaret's and they said, "Thank you. Thank you for standing up for Hammond. We're so proud of our Mayor for standing up for Hammond." I just wanted to pass that along to you. Mayor McDermott - I don't know if it's gonna do any good, and granted we're probably gonna have to do it again. But I think they made their minds up, I'll be honest with you They don't want to talk to us obviously. Because they didn't. They gave us one hour notice before they announced a massive downsizing of a hospital. One hour. They didn't want to hear what we had to say. They didn't have any suggestions for alternatives. They weren't asking for financial assistance. They just said screw you guys, we're closing it. There's nothing you can do about it. I mean the fact that it's a Catholic Institution isn't lost on me either. It's sad actually. As a Catholic I'm sad. That's not what I hear on Sundays. This is a bunch of priests and nuns making this decision, so pretty sad. But I appreciate Councilman Torres bringing up that Downtown Hammond does have Jeff Speck Traffic Planning Changes that we're planning on doing this Summer. That's on the map still. Downtown Train Station is ready to go. NICTD has worked with us very well. I appreciate their assistance. As soon as the South Shore line starts running, which is projected to be 2023, we could start work on our train station Downtown, and we Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 6 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24, 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - will. Bank Calumet Building has a residential project plan for it I mentioned earlier with the JDC and Madison Construction who built the Sportsplex, has a residential plan just north of (unclear) right by the Hohman Avenue bridge. So it's not like things are dead Downtown. This is a big time deal. It's a big time loss. It sucks. It's gonna force us to concentrate and think about how to fill in the gaps. But I want to remind you guys that we used to rally for Carson Pirie Scott, and Carson Pirie Scott went bankrupt and shut down their building and we were scratching our heads for a decade wondering what to do with it. Now look at that place. You know, we just announced a $45 million YMCA project as Councilman Torres indicated. A $25 million gift from Dean and Barbara White Foundation, $10 million matched by the City of Hammond and the rest of it will be raised. It's pretty exciting. So, I guess what I'm trying to say is it seems bleak sometimes and Downtown Hammond is tough because it's right on the border and we have a lot of issues facing it but we have a lot of good things happening Downtown as well. We'll figure out how to get past this. We have a good team. We have a great Council. I think together we could fix this problem. Just like we did when the State Line Generator shut down. Remember that? A hundred million dollar hit to our assessed value. We were like what the hell are we gonna put there? It's so industrial what are we gonna put there? Well we have a data center, we have another data center getting eyed, and another data center getting eyed after that. We' 11fix it. It's just scary right now because we don't know what it's gonna be. But we'll fix it. I'm confident in that. So, that's my report to the Council. I apologize for it being so long but we have a lot of stuff going on, and I'm available to answer any questions if you have it. Council President Woerpel - Just one thing and it will be added to the record and Communications. We got this Intergovernmental Agreement on the credit card usage for the utilities. Can you explain that one more time? Mayor McDermott - Yeah, sure. I'm going off memory because that was a few weeks ago that we did this. I know that this originated from the Council during my Mayor's Reports that we just started, really, during the pandemic and it's sort of one of the things that changed during the pandemic is this report we're doing right now. But the Council, Councilman Kalwinski in particular, mentioned to me that anybody who paid their bill with a credit card had a fee attached to them. I went back to the Water Department and we worked with Sanitary and Water and we figured out how to eliminate that fee. And the fee didn't go away, it's still there. We're just eating it on our end to encourage more people to pay online. So, we figured out a good way to split the bill, so to speak, and we did. We're in the process of taking credit card orders and the residents aren't seeing that penalty any longer, and that came from the Hammond Council so I appreciate you guys bringing that up. Councilwoman Alexander - Just to talk about the hospital for a second. It will be sad if it does go, because how many residents will lose their lives in the sake of a tragedy that would happen. The timing that it would take to get all the way to Munster when we had it right here. That would be extremely sad. Mayor McDermott - Agreed, Councilwoman. It'd be extremely sad and it's dangerous and it's reckless and it's unchristian it's a lot of adjectives that I could use right now. It's just frustrating. I was frustrated a month ago with Franciscan for a different reason. I was frustrated because I drive all over Northwest Indiana. I drive all over Chicago. I see brand new hospitals in Olympia Fields, beautiful, wealthy area. I see a brand new hospital in Munster, a beautiful, wealthy area. I see a brand new hospital going up in Crown Point, a beautiful, wealthy Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 7 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY 24, 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - area. Dyer, hundreds of millions of dollars added on to it, beautiful, wealthy area. Michigan City, a city just like ours, they shut down their Downtown hospital and put one on the highway. We got places on the highway. Why doesn't Franciscan want to do that in Hammond? Why not? They didn't approach us. They didn't ask us. I would have bent over backwards, just like we're doing with a lot of projects. If they would have just approached us and said, "Mayor, we're getting killed on the State Line and we really need to do something or else the liability of the hospital is threatened." I never heard that once. Every time I heard, "Mayor, can you help us get a grant?" No problem. We did a grant like a month ago. They didn't say, "Hey, we're shutting the hospital down next month." They didn't care what we think. It sucks to say it. It's true though. And what they did in Chicago Heights is what they're gonna try and do with us. And I'm gonna tell you what they're gonna do. They're gonna try to give us money. Which is fine, but it doesn't fix the fact that you shut a hospital down and moved to a wealthy white area. It doesn't fix that fact. They're gonna try and throw us money to make them feel better. There you go, here's $5 million, we feel good now. But people will die. I agree with the Councilwoman on that. So if $5 million helps you sleep better at night, that's fine, but people are gonna die because of this move. No doubt about it, Councilwoman. I totally agree with you. It's not right. It's not Christian. It's a damn slap in the face. Councilman Spitale - Also, real estate wise, a lot of the people are buying in Hammond up til now of course. We're all happy that there was a good hospital here. We have a lot of youth growing into our city in the last ten years with the College Bound Program. So they're pretty upset already, a couple have already called and told me that they moved there for that reason a couple years ago and now this is happening. Mayor McDermott - It's not right, it's not. I don't know what to say. I've seen other communities have filed law suits against the hospitals. Try to file injunctions against them. We could play games like that but almost every case I saw like that was a failure at the end of the day. It's like you make everybody feel good for a couple weeks and then you lose in court. And then they shut the hospital down. So we could play that game but we just lose a couple bucks. Last, but not least, I didn't mean to ignore this. The mask mandate from the State of Indiana expires at the end of the month. I had mirrored the State mandate all the way through and I continue to follow the State mandate. Meaning that the mask mandate in City Hall will expire along with the State's on May 31st . I know this doesn't make everybody thrilled. I'd like to remind people, you still have the right to wear a mask. You still can wear a mask, but you don't have to. I'm vaccinated, myself, you know, I prefer not to wear a mask. I realize that some people aren't vaccinated. I think you're crazy, personally, if you don't want to get the shot and you want to walk around with no mask and act like there's no pandemic, god bless you. That's your god given right. I think it's a huge mistake personally. But, I plan to follow it. I know not everybody up here agrees with that. As far as I'm concerned, the mask mandate in City Hall expires on Friday. You're more than welcome to still wear your mask at that point. Councilman Torres - That just applies to government buildings, of course retailers have the right to do their own outlines and all of that. Mayor McDermott - So if Freddy's Steakhouse wants to require masks, they have the right to do so, absolutely, Councilman. Thank you for pointing that out. By the way, in response to anybody's concern about this, the CDC Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 8 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24. 2021 MAYOR'S GAMING cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - sort of cut our legs out when they said nobody has to wear a mask that was vaccinated. Because then all of a sudden people started showing up with no mask on. And it's like well Hammond says this but the CDC this, that's never good. So, I apologize if you think I'm making a mistake on this. I personally think it's time. I realize not everybody feels that way though and I apologize. It's tough being the leader sometimes. HAMMOND COMMON COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION Facilitated by Dr. Leslie Yander, Executive Director of Secondary Curriculum for School City of Hammond and Councilwoman Venecz MORTON HIGH SCHOOL Nazareth Diaz; IUPUI for Business Management Jamarion Evans; Knight University in New York for Theater Study/Performance CLARK HIGH SCHOOL Anahi Briseno - St. Mary of the Woods for Business Administration Cesar Pineda - IU Bloomington for Psychology GAVIT HIGH SCHOOL Xzaliya Cervantes - IUPUI for Exercise Science Luke Miller - Purdue University NW H.A.S.T. Kealeigh Goreham - University of Kansas for Community Health HAMMOND HIGH SCHOOL Tavarianna Picket - Indiana University for Nursing Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved for a recess. ROLL CALL VOTE (recess) A YES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RECESS Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 9 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY 24. 2021 HAMMOND COMMON COUNCIL SCHOLARSHIP PRESENTATION cont. Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilwoman Alexander, moved to return to the regular order of business. ROLL CALL VOTE (regular order) A YES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 RETURN TO REGULAR ORDER READING OF THE MINUTES Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved to accept the minutes from May 10, 2021 and place on file. ROLL CALL VOTE (approve minutes) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MINUTES APPROVED APPROVAL OF CLAIMS Councilman Rakos, supported by Councilwoman Venecz, moved to approve the claims from May 5, 2021 through May 19, 2021. Claim #2190 through #2487, inclusive. ROLL CALL VOTE (claims) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 CLAIMS APPROVED PUBLIC HEARINGS None COMMUNICATIONS Council President Woerpel- I have the Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Hammond by and through its Board of Public Works and Safety, the Sanitary District of Hammond, Indiana, through its Board of Sanitary Commissioners and the Water Department by and through it's Board of Directors, it's the Intergovernmental Agreement that was agreed to on the collection of utility fees by electronic means. And also I want to place on file Aim' s Guidance on a brand new guidance on Electronic Meetings. Which I have both a Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24, 2021 COMMUNICATIONS cont. Council President Woerpel cont. - copy of and there will have to be, in fact, I think there is ... Attorney Berger there will be a Resolution next meeting on the new State Guidelines as it pertains to our meetings through in­ person meetings and on Zoom. So, I'd like to place those two on file. Councilman Tyler- I think we all received communication about these upcoming events, but the First Tee of Lake County is hosting adult golf lessons. I believe for a set of four lessons is $125.00 beginning June 5thfrom 3 to 4:30pm. And the Hammond Education Foundation is hosting their Hero and Education Dinner on Friday, June 4 th2021. It begins at 4:30pm. You can go to their website for tickets or for sponsorship packages or you can call 219-933-2400. Thank you. Councilwoman Venecz- The Mayor's Commission on Disabilities is hosting a Blood Drive on June 4th from 12 to 4 pm. That will be at the Sportsplex. Council President Woerpel- Get to know the Cube Sports Complex Break the Ice. Hammond residents of all ages are welcomed to skate for free on Wednesday's in June. Mayor McDermott and the Hammond Parks and Recreation Department invite you to skate from 5pm to 8pm on June 2nd , June 9th,June 16th,June 23 rd, and June 30th. Hammond residents only. Patrons must present a valid driver's license or state ID upon entry. Complimentary skate rental included. Children must be accompanied by an adult and adults are welcome to monitor their children from the new lounge area. Again, this is the Cube Sports Complex Ice Arena and Trampoline Park at 2825 Mahoney Drive and for those of you that don't know where that is, it's the entrance to Dowling Park off of Kennedy Avenue and 80/94. COMMITTEE REPORTS Capital Improvement Board - Councilwoman Venecz- Met on May 17th. We had a work study session and there was no business that was approved. The next meeting will be June 7thhere in the Council Chambers. Community and Crime Watch Committee - Councilwoman Venecz- Wed., June 91\ Community Watch at Mt. Zion Pleasant View Plaza; 2:00p.m. Edison Community Watch; September Irving Community Watch; September Hessville Crime Watch; August South Hohman Neighborhood Watch; Thur., June 17th; Trinity Lutheran Church; 6:30 p.m. Councilwoman Venecz- If you have not had an opportunity to meet our new Chief of Police, Andy Short, and our Assistant Chief of Police, Jeff Long, that is your opportunity to meet them. Thurs., May 13; Whiting-Robertsdale C.W.; Whiting Mascot Hall of Fame; 6:30 p.m. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 11 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY24. 2021 COMMITTEE REPORTS cont. Councilwoman Venecz-The Whiting Robertsdale Crime Watch had to move because the Calumet College is closed to outside groups until school starts back up in September. So, meanwhile, they're meeting a the Mascot Hall of Fame. And as usual, if anybody sees anything suspicious, please call 911 because community is not just about me it's about us. Thank you. ORDINANCE 3RDREADING- FINAL PASSAGE None INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES 21-20 An Ordinance Amending the Wholesale Rates Charged for Water Services to Indiana Customer Communities Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilwoman Venecz, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading by title and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on June 14, 2021 at 5 :00p.m., with a Public Hearing on June 14, 2021. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd reading) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED 20-21 An Ordinance to Erect No Parking Signs from Indianapolis Boulevard to 165th Street on Summer Street and Repealing any Ordinances in Conflict Thereto Councilman Tyler, supported by Councilwoman Venecz, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading by title and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on June 14, 2021 at 5:30 p.m. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd reading) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED RESOLUTIONS None Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 12 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. MAY 24, 2021 NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS Councilman Rakes- I apologize for missing this under Communications, but the VFW #781 and the American Legion #32 are having a Memorial Day Service on Memorial Day at 9am at Hessville Park on Monday the 31st, Councilwoman Alexander- I have the Covid numbers, we didn't have them last meeting because the site was down. But here are the updated Covid numbers from April to May 24th . For 46320, we have an additional 99 cases; for 46327, we have an additional 53 cases; for 46323, we have 120 cases; for 46324, 114 cases; 46394, 75 cases. That's 461. These are the month totals since the site was down the last meeting, but again, I still want to keep the residents aware as they have stated that these numbers have been important to them and then I want to congratulate the Hero and Education Award winners that will be awarded on June 4th at the Hammond Education Foundation Award Dinner. PUBLIC EXPRESSION No one spoke. Councilwoman Alexander, supported by Councilwoman Venecz, moved to adjourn. ROLL CALL VOTE (adjourn meeting) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakes, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MEETING ADJOURNED Dave Woerpe President Hammond Common Council ATTEST: k~ Time: 7:05 cb/dw Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 13