City Council

MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 The regular meeting of the Hammond Common Council of the City of Hammond, Lake County, Indiana was held on September 27, 2021 in the Hammond City Council Chambers. Council President Dave W oerpel presided. City Clerk Robert J. Golec facilitated. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited by all. Moment of Silence was observed. ROLL CALL PHYSICALLY PRESENT: Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel ELECTRONICALLY PRESENT: Alexander ABSENT: None TOTAL: 9 MAYOR'S ADDRESS Mayor McDermott - It's good to see you again. I haven't talked to you for two weeks, well I haven't reported to you for two weeks, so this is an update. Over the last two weeks we submitted our city budget to you all. This is sort of a one page summary. Of course you have more detailed copies in front of you. For the audience that's listening right now, in this budget we plan to receive 94% of our total property tax collections (unclear) the circuit breaker which is about $39 million at 94% revenue. Total revenue built into this budget, the big categories, obviously, there's more detailed categories in smaller amounts, property taxes of $39 million; pilot payments from Sanitary, Water and Hammond Port Authority, $6 million; garbage fees collected, around $6 mill~on built into that as well; gaming revenues, around $11 million; MVH funds, $3 million; water revenue from Illinois sales, $9 million, this is all built into the budget. Another interesting fact is the city, in this budget, through the assessment process, increased it's net access value by 6% which I think is really good news, it's right around $2.5 billion. That's how much, if you wanted to purchase the city of Hammond you'd have to pay right now. Total proposed budget for all levy funds is $86 million, which is our total budget. General fund is about &70 million of that; MVH, $7.5 million; Park and Rec, with the bonds, it's about $8.5 million. We reduced the General Fund expenses by $803 thousand, I though that was good news. We built in extra pilot payments through the Water Department and the Sanitary District. I want to thank Marty Wieglos and Mark McLaughlin for working with the city to help increase ... and the pilot payments, it's not like we're gouging either. If the Water Company were a private business it would get taxed at a certain amount, just like any other business and we're starting to tax them more like if they were a private company instead of a unit of government. That's where we should be, theoretically, but obviously it takes a lot of work to get to that point but we're getting closer and closer. Another thing, $140 thousand in new revenue for ambulance fees, we did that, well we're considering that ordinance right now. We're still doing a $1.1 million College Bound expenses paid from TIF. That's through a partnership with Purdue Northwest. I want to thank Chancellor Keon for his help with that to save a million dollars of College Bound expenses. And $4 million of Police and Fire Insurance expenses are going to be paid using local income tax. This budget proposes a 2% salary increase for all city employees, except for Police and Fire who agreed to take 0% this year as well as next year. Excuse me, this is the second year. It was 0% last year and this year, next year they get 1%, the year after that they would get 1%. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 1 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - That was because of an agreement we made with them through the pension adjustments. They agreed to take 0,0,1,1, so we're experiencing that savings right now as well. Public Safety in our budget, to give you an idea we mentioned earlier the property taxes are $39 million, we're expecting this year. The cost of the Police Department alone is $33 million. So, when you really think about it, our property taxes that used to fund most of our budget now barely funds the Police Department. But, you know, we deal with what we deal with. The Fire Department's $24 million in itself. Then on the issue of Gaming, move we all made last year to spend the actual gaming money we have instead of anticipating how much money we're gonna have. That saved us money and inflated the balances on our books. Which is good for us when it comes to audits and things of that nature. So that's my summary on the budget. Obviously, we're gonna be discussing that during the next two meetings. Also before you, you have up for 3rd and Final Reading, an ordinance on responsible bidding. This is Ordinance 21-33, it's response to the Indiana's Anti-union Right to Work Laws that have been passed over the years. As you all know, on any project over $150 thousand we're required by law to award projects to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder. This ordinance establishes certain minimums in order for a bidder to be considered responsible. Only companies considered qualified under this ordinance and responsible under this ordinance will be considered responsible for purposes of bidding on capital projects. Requires contractors as well as their subcontractors, so they can't just shirk their responsibilities by hiring somebody else. This requires contractors and subcontractors to meet certain requirements when bidding on any capital project greater than $150 thousand. For instance, must be a business in good standing with the State of Indiana, obviously. All business names a company has gone by for the past ten years. We see sometimes these companies that constantly change their name to stay ahead of the lawsuits. This would disclose that. Must disclose any violations of OSHA laws over the years. Must not engage in payroll fraud by mis-classifying workers, like paying workers in cash, paying workers under the table to avoid paying payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, and things of that nature. Must have established apprenticeship training programs in place, drug testing protocols, proof of professional trade licenses required of the projects general manager and things of that nature. This is an ordinance that municipalities across the State of Indiana have either passed already or are considering. This is something that I think is important. I've talked to a number of Union officials that are in the audience today who are probably gonna be testifying soon on this bill. I consider Hammond a Union town. I'm sure most of you guys consider it a Union town and I think that when we're doing big Capital Works projects that companies should have certain requirements, meet certain thresh hold requirements in order to do business in our City and this is an ordinance that will help us get there. So I hope you consider that. I know it's up for yct and Final today. Last, but not least, the appropriation for the American Rescue Plan. We did our resolution at the last meeting and I appreciate you, the members of the Hammond Council, for unanimously approving 75% of the money. $38 of the $50 million, or $51 million, excuse me, so we have around $13 million left. These projects were shovel ready, citywide, and I know I've heard some remarks about maybe too much of them are in the 1st District. We really just focused on shovel ready projects that were ready to go right now and in this case a few of them happened to be inn the 1st District, I acknowledge that. But these were ... like the Robertsdale lead remediation. If we didn't do something like this we would have to declare a Superfund in that part of our city. I think this is a great use. It happens to be in the 1st District and there's a couple of other projects in there. But I think this is a great use of our money, I really do. And I think ifl lived in that neighborhood I would want my city to do what we are doing. Which is taking care of the problem without relying on the federal government. Firehouse #2 also in that part of the city. New housing at the Clark High Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 2 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27. 2021 MAYOR'S ADDRESS cont. Mayor McDermott cont. - School fields is also in there. In the 2nd District we have the Downtown Hohman reconstruction, which is the Jess Speck plan we've been working on for years, a $5 million project. Like a mirror project in Hessville, another $5 million project, Jeff Speck inspired would be the right way to put it. We basically learned what he was talking about on Hohman and we applied it to Hessville, another $5 million. The YMCA adjacent to the Sportsplex, $45 million project, it's in the 3rd District. We need to come up with $10 million locally ifwe wanted to do $5 out of the ARP and we're gonna come up with the other $5 million through probably TIF or something of that nature, but that's a $45 million project in the 3rd District. Oxbow Road, JF Mahoney Drive, two streets that are in bad shape and badly need repair. Our problem is nobody lives on those streets so it's hard for a District Councilperson to get excited about spending a million on a road that services no homes. We've had this problem for too long. This takes care of it. Hessville bridge, I mean, I've been married 18 years and the most consistent and common complaint I get is about trains in Hessville. I mean, we get complaints all across the city, but the most consistent, persistent, complaint I get is about trains in Hessville. I know the Councilmen would probably echo that sentiment. This plane gets us over that bridge. This will be a bridge over that perennially stopped train in Hessville. I know it's a lot of money but this is a solution to a problem. We're not gonna fix the trains. You know, we can keep complaining about the trains or we could do something about it. I want to thank Governor Holcomb and the State of Indiana for partnering with us on this project. This is our portion of the project. I think it's important. I know there was technology upgrades, water tank repairs and things of that nature. But we did the resolution last week. I appreciate the Council. I want to emphasize to the Council, we have a couple other projects, I know there was some concern expressed that maybe the 4th District was not getting enough love. I love the 4th District. Councilman Emerson, I could tell you that we want to build a new fire house, and I'm on the record right now, we want to build a fire house in the 4th District. Right now we have Station 7, which is an old station. We have the Station on Hohman, Station 5, which is damaged and probably it's not gonna be repaired in that location, so we're dreaming. What could we do with a new house? Where could it be? We have a couple sites, and I've talked about them with Councilman Emerson. That will be in the next phase. You have my word on it. It's badly needed and it'll save us, but I don't want anybody to think that this administration doesn't love any one part of our city. That's completely not true. These projects were in the hopper for years and they were just ready to go, and ARP was a godsend. Again, we only had two federal members of Congress that voted for it, Congressman Frank Mrvan voted for it and Congressman Andre Carson voted for it. We send eleven representatives to Washington and only two voted for it. Just remember that when we're cutting the ribbon on these projects. Other than that, I don't know if the Council has any questions but that's my report for the week and I want to thank the Council again for working with us on the budget. I know over the weekend we had budget meetings and from what Megan tells me they went very well and I appreciate the Council for asking lots of questions and hopefully clearing up a whole lot of issues. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 3 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27. 2021 READING OF THE MINUTES Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved to accept the minutes from September 13, 2021 and place on file. ROLL CALL VOTE (approve minutes) A YES: 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 September 8, 2021 through September 22, 2021. Claim #4563 through #4844, inclusive. ROLL CALL VOTE (claims) A YES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 CLAIMS APPROVED PUBLIC HEARINGS 21-30 An Ordinance to Appropriate from the ARPA Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for Purposes of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 21-34 An Ordinance Vacating a 14- Foot Alley in the 5100 Block East of Hohman lying between Hohman A venue and the Bus Lane at the Dan Rabin Plaza in the City of Hammond, Lake County, Indiana 21-36 2021 City of Hammond Budget Proposal 21-37 2021 Hammond Redevelopment Budget Proposal 21-38 2021 Sanitary District of Hammond Budget Proposal No One Spoke Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 4 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27. 2021 COMMUNICATIONS Councilman Rakos - Yes, I've had some communications back and forth about some questions in my District. I wanna thank Code Enforcement for the immediate response on the old Bargain Finder Building in Hessville Park. The next morning, they found out the new owners had already taken out permits to fix the building. That was after a Crime Watch meeting, we got an immediate response and there's somebody fixing the building as we speak. Also, I want to give a special thanks to· Sgt. Holbrook and the Traffic Bureau from the Hammond Police and the prompt action taken on Kennedy Avenue. They not only stopped trucks, ticketed trucks, but they went to the businesses that were mostly involved in letting them know what was going on. A side note on that last Thursday or Friday, I was on Kennedy Avenue and I saw a dump truck seem like it was going kinda fast down Kennedy Avenue and I was right at 164th. And I saw ... then it slowed down at 165th and turned right, and I knew that somebody had brung it up at a Crime Watch meeting. Our Hessville project is going to 164th. I thought, well, that'll help alleviate that situation. It'll slow it down by about a block or two sooner. So, I know the Police Department can't be there all the time, but I appreciate that and their quick response on that. That's all I have right now. COMMITTEE REPORTS Capital Improvement Board - Councilwoman Venecz- No meeting was held. Community and Crime Watch Committee - Councilwoman Venecz- Upcoming meetings: Wed., October 61\ Edison Community Watch; Edison School; 6:30p.m. Thur., October 21 st; Hessville Crime Watch; Jean Shepard; 6:00 p.m. Fri., October 21st ;· Irving Community Watch; Irving School; 9: 15 a.m. South Hohman Neighborhood Watch; Thur., October 141\ Trinity Lutheran Church; 6:30 p.m. Thur., October 9th , Whiting Robertsdale; Calumet College; 6:30 p.m. Councilwoman Venecz- As you just heard, Councilman Rakos talking about some of the issues that were brought up at the Crime Watch meetings, that is an excellent venue to get your concerns addressed and complaints heard. So, please attend a Community or Crime Watch meeting in your neighborhood. It doesn't even have to be in your neighborhood. Just come out, hear some of the safety tips that everyone is giving this month. Coming up, October is Fire Prevention month. So, at Irving and Edison, there will be firefighters there to address fire safety and the information is always very beneficial. And as usual, if you see anything suspicious, call 911. Because community is not just about me, it's about us. Thank you. Council as a Whole Committee - Councilman Torres - Brought out 21-32 and 21-34. Council as a Whole Committee - Councilwoman Venecz - Brought out 21-30. Council as a Whole Committee - Councilman Rakos - Brought out 21-31. Council as a Whole Committee - Councilman Spitale - Brought out 21-33. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 5 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 ORDINANCE 3RDREADING- FINAL PASSAGE 21-30 An Ordinance to Appropriate from the ARP A Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for Purposes of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved for passage. Councilwoman Venecz- This Ordinance outlines the appropriation of the American Rescue Funds that we have received thus far. ROLL CALL VOTE (passage) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 910/0 ORDINANCE NO. 9516 PASSED 21-31 An Ordinance Amending Ordinance Numbers 7598, 8348, 8753, 9161, and 9357, also known as Section 93.005 of the Hammond Municipal Code, Pertaining to Ambulance Users Fees to Increase Loaded Mileage Rate Councilman Rakos, supported by Councilwoman Venecz, moved for passage. Councilman Rakos- This is just an increase in mileage due to the fact that there's an increase in fuel and equipment in any kind of transportation. And also any Hammond resident that isn't covered by insurance and is unable to pay, they're never charged, or they do not turn over to collections, that's any Hammond resident. So, that won't affect Hammond residents at all. It's mostly covered by insurance. Councilman Kalwinski- So, no Hammond resident gets a bill and no Hammond resident will feel this increase? This will be felt by insurance? Is that the way I understand that? Mayor McDermott-That's true, this is something that's paid for 98% of the time by insurance through a person's medical insurance or auto insurance or something of that nature. Sometimes when it falls to a Hammond resident to pay this fee, we never, since we've implemented the ambulance, we just don't proceed if it's not ..... Councilman Kalwinski- If a resident gets a fee, because you know, that sometimes happens, how should they proceed? Mayor McDermott- It's just not being acted on by us. We chose not to move forward with that at all. Councilman, we've never done that since we implemented the ambulance fee. It's just that if it doesn't come in through insurance, we just don't follow through with it. Councilwoman Alexander- Just for clarity. Mr Mayor, if the resident does receive a bill, and I think that might have been what Councilman Kalwinksi was saying, what should they do? In essence, if they did actually receive that bill. Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 6 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27. 2021 ORDINANCE 3RDREADING- FINAL PASSAGE cont. Mayor McDermott- I don't believe they do get the bill. We usually know if it's insurance paying for it or not. If they do, it's never acted, upon. Which I don't even think ... Hey, can I have the Fire Chief come up? Fire Chief Jeff Smith- So the company that does it is AccuMed. They will send a bill to the insurance company. Whatever the insurance company pays, we accept. If the homeowner does get it, it's because a lot of times we don't get the insurance information because we weren't able to get it at the time. We can't get it from the hospital. If they submit it to their insurance company, they pay for it. If they don't have insurance, just throw it away. We're not coming after you. We're not going to send anybody to collections or anything like that. ROLL CALL VOTE (passage) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 ORDINANCE NO. 9517 PASSED 21-32 An Ordinance Reclassifying Certain Lands in the City of Hammond for Zoning Purposes and Amending Ordinance No. 8514 (An Ordinance Establishing a Zoning Plan for the City of Hammond including the Regulations and Maps to Administer the Zoning Plan in Order to Provide for Orderly Growth and Development Within the City, all in Accordance with the Comprehensive/Land Use Plan, as Amended) for Property commonly known as: 584 Sibley Street, Hammond, IN, 46320 Councilman Torres, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved for passage. Councilman Torres- This Ordinance is to reclassify from S-1 Open Space and Recreational Facilities District to an R-2 One and Two Family Residential District of 584 Sibley. ROLL CALL VOTE (passage) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 ORDINANCE NO. 9518 PASSED 21-33 An Ordinance to Repeal Ordinance 7396 and Am. Ord. 8370 also known as Chapter 103 of Title IX of the Hammond Municipal Code and Adopt and Enact Chapter 107 of Title IX of the Hammond Municipal Code Relating to Responsible Bidding Practices and Submission Requirements on Public Works Projects Councilman Spitale, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved for passage. may not be fully qualified, can you speak to that? Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 7 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 ORDINANCE 3RDREADING- FINAL PASSAGE cont. Councilman Kalwinski- Just a question, does the ordinance protect, or had it in the past, protected from a contractor subbing to somebody that isn't licensed, bonded, and insured, with the City or passed the building test? Because in the past, I think sometimes what happens is somebody uses the bidders paperwork and they Mayor McDermott- Reading, I perused the Ordinance one time again before I walked in today, it's a four pager. I know that subcontractors are held responsible as though they were the contractors. They must meet all the same requirements. Subcontractors are the people bidding on the projects as far as licensing? That's a good question. I'm not sure if Kelly or Bob is here. Look at that, Dean's here. He seems eager to answer these questions. City Engineer Dean Button- All contractors are required to be licensed in the City of Hammond. Councilman Kalwinski- So, when there is a sub, then they provide all the necessary paperwork like the original contractor who did the bidding for their company? Dean Button- Yes, up until this point, this ordinance clarifies additional requirements by both the prime contractor and the subcontractor. But up to this point, all subcontractors are required to be licensed and bonded with the City. Mayor McDermott- One of the concerns we had with this ordinance, I know it's shared by Dean, who's going to be implementing this ordinance, is the amount of paperwork that, I mean, the record keeping, that's going to go into this is fairly massive. If there's 20 companies that bid on a project and they have 20 subcontractors, they all have to file massive amounts of documentation with us. So, it's gonna create some paperwork for sure. I think the spirit of the ordinance is to protect the unions, further, :from out-of-state companies that are trying to be declared lowest responsible and responsive bidders forcing us to accept them and, you know, it could be a company with a bad track record on safety violations. It could be a company that doesn't drug test their employees. Could be a company that's paying their workers hourly. This further protects us :fromthese types of companies. And I know there's a number of union officials that are here that might wanna testify to this, did they already miss that period, Mr. President? Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Kalwinski, moved to suspend the rules to let the Union Reps speak. ROLL CALL VOTE (suspension of rules) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED Carlton Glover- I'm a representative for the Operating Engineers Local #150. We represent 23,000 members in the tri-state area, 4,000 of which are in Northwest Indiana. Thank you for your consideration of the responsible Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 8 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 ORDINANCE 3RDREADING- FINAL PASSAGE cont. Carlton Glover cont. - bidders ordinance. I think it'll be beneficial for the City. Forty four communities have also found it to be beneficial. It establishes a fair and objective criteria for ensuring quality and qualified bidders participate in the bid process. Also, we had some problems with the previous responsible bidders ordinance, where apprenticeship program, you must participate in an apprenticeship program. This new updated, responsible ordinance mandates that you actually graduate apprentices. So, it's good for the unions, it's good for the communities, and it helps you ensure that you're getting the best bang for your buck in the City of Hammond. Thank you. Jeff Phillips- I work for the Foundation for Fair Contracting. We're responsible for drafting responsible bidding ordinances throughout the State of Indiana. I wanted to thank the Mayor's Office and you for the attention to detail and the professionalism when drafting this Ordinance. I've read it. It was very well written. Thank you so much. I also want to clarify that our job is mainly to improve the quality of work in the construction industry and that's what we're trying to do with the responsible bidder ordinance. So, thank you for your time. Phil Hernandez- I'm an IBW 697, 20 year resident of the City of Hammond. The best thing about this ordinance, it helps to keep local people employed, keeps the out of town contractors from bringing the out of town workers here just to do the job and then take their money home. This employs a lot of local residents. Thank you. Tony Hauprich-Teamsters 142 Business Agent. I just want to thank Mayor McDermott and his administration and Councilman Dan Spitale for sponsoring this ordinance, and all the Council members for your support. It means a lot to the building trades and I'm just here to thank you guys tonight. It's a very important ordinance. Thank you. Councilman Kalwinski, supported by Councilwoman Venecz, moved to return to the regular order of business. ROLL CALL VOTE (return to regular order) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: Motion carried 9/0/0 RETURN TO REGULAR ORDER ROLL CALL VOTE (passage) A YES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 ORDINANCE NO. 9519 PASSED Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 9 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27. 2021 ORDINANCE 3RDREADING- FINAL PASSAGE cont. 21-34 An Ordinance Vacating a 14- Foot Alley in the 5100 Block East of Hohman lying between Hohman A venue and the Bus Lane at the Dan Rabin Plaza in the City of Hammond, Lake County, Indiana Councilman Torres, supported by Councilman Emerson, moved for passage. Councilman Torres- This is an Ordinance to vacate a 14 foot alley in the 5100 block of Hohman as needed to accommodate some new construction going on in that area. ROLL CALL VOTE (passage) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 ORDINANCE NO. 9520 PASSED INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES 21-36 2022 City of Hammond Budget Proposal Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Rakos, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on October 12th,2021 at 4:30. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd) A YES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED 21-37 2021 Hammond Redevelopment Budget Proposal Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on October 12th , 2021 at 4:30. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES cont. 21-38 2021 Sanitary District of Hammond Budget Proposal Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Spitale, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on October 12th , 2021 at 4:30. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd ) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakes, Woerpel NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED 21-39 2022 City of Hammond Salary Ordinance Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Rakes, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on October 12th , 2021 at 4:30. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd) A YES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED 21-40 2022 Police & Fire Salary Ordinance Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Rakos, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on October 12th , 2021 at 4:30. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd ) A YES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 11 MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 INTRODUCTION OF ORDINANCES cont. 21-41 Amending Ord. No. 6049, 7472, 8620, 8638, 8669, 9181, 9242 and 9429, also known as Section 37.020 of the Hammond Municipal Code, pertaining to an Employee Reporting Policy Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilman Rakos, moved the proposed ordinance to 1st and 2nd reading and referred it to the Council as a Whole Committee with a Committee Meeting on October 12th , 2021 at 4:30. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED Councilwoman Venecz- This Ordinance will require any employee who engages in off duty conduct that leads to their arrest related to their job duties that there offense must be reported within 72 hours. This is a policy that is going to be amended in the personnel policy manual. Mayor McDermott-I want to, in addition to what the Councilwoman is talking about, this policy is also being proposed in front of the Hammond Sanitary District, the Hammond Water Department, Hammond Housing Authority, as well as the Hammond Port Authority, and is mirror identical ordinance. It stemmed from an off-duty incident with an employee in another County where they received an OWi and they didn't tell us, and then the same employee also received another OWi, and the only reason they told us about the second one was because they were in jail and they couldn't come to work. And I thought to myself, don't you have some type of affirmative duty to tell your boss if you get a criminal charge and there's none in our book, the only one that had it was the Hammond Police Department. This is a mirror of what the Hammond Police Department does. Obviously, if an officer is charged with a crime, we need to know about it, but I dare say if an employee is charged with a crime, we need to know about it. It's not saying that we're gonna do something about it. Maybe you get reckless driving and it's a misdemeanor crime. You gotta tell us about it, OWi, of course, or any other crime of course. To me, it's a no-brainier. That an employee should have to report this, whether we act on it, that's another matter, but I think they definitely have an affirmative duty to report that to us, but I didn't want you to think that the Hammond Council was debating this alone. It's being debated in water, port, sanitary, and housing as well. ROLL CALL VOTE (1st & 2nd) A YES: 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. SEPTEMBER 27, 2021 NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS Councilman Torres, supported by Councilman Emerson, move to deny Ordinance 21-26. ROLL CALL VOTE (deny 21-26) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS:None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MOTION CARRIED Councilman Torres, supported by Councilman Kalwinski, moved to send a letter to Board of Public Works & Safety for a traffic study at the east end of the 100th block of Doty to see if change is warranted as per ordinance 21-35. ROLL CALL VOTE (letter to the Board of Works) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, NAYS: Rakos, Woerpel ABSENT: None Motion carried 7/2/0 MOTION CARRIED LETTER SENT: SEPTEMBER 28, 2021 NEW AND UNFINISHED BUSINESS cont. Councilwoman Alexander-I just want to give you the updated Covid numbers from September 27th, from our last meeting. 46320, we have 52; for 46327, we have 43; for 46323, we have 91; for 46324, we have 93; for 46394, we have 36. That brings us to 309 new cases (unclear). Updated vaccine numbers 46320 we have 119 new, fully vaccinated residents with a 45.6% increase; for 46327 we have 105 new, fully vaccinated resident, that's a 44.2% increase; for 46323 we have 253 new, fully vaccinated residents, that's a 47.5%; for 46324, 219 new fully vaccinated residents that's 48.2% and for 46394 we have 108 new fully vaccinated, which is a 50.4% increase. That is our first 50% increase in residents being vaccinated. I hope that everyone continues to get vaccinated. Booster shots are now available for those that got the shots early and continue to stay safe and continue to mask up and social distance as much as possible. Thank you. PUBLIC EXPRESSION No one spoke. Councilwoman Venecz, supported by Councilwoman Alexander, moved to adjourn. ROLL CALL VOTE (adjourn meeting) AYES: Alexander, Spitale, Venecz, Kalwinski, Torres, Tyler, Emerson, Rakos, Woerpel NAYS: None ABSENT: None Motion carried 9/0/0 MEETING ADJOURNED Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 13  MINUTES OF THE COMMON COUNCIL cont. SEPTEMBER 27. 2021 2021 HAMMOND COMMON COUNCIL ATTENDANCE RECORD OF ELECTRONIC AND PHYSICAL PRESENCE May lune July Aug Sept Pct Nov Dec 24 14 28 12 26 9 23 13 27 12 25 8 22 13 27 Katrina Alexander p p p p p p p p E Dan Spitale p p p p p p p p p Janet Venecz p p p p p p p p p Mark Kalwinski E p p p p p p E p 0 ete Torres p p p p p p p p p Barry Tyler E p E p p p p p p 3ill Emerson p p p p p p p p p Scott Rakos p p p p p p p p p )ave Woerpel p p p p p p p p p Initials RJG RJG RJG RJG RJG RJG RJG RJG ~6~ E=ELECTRONIC P=PHYSICALLYPRESENT A=ABSENT If the member qualifies for an exemption from the "Consecutive - 50" requirements, draw a circle around the E for that meeting/ member. AT~ Robert J. Golec, City Clerk Time: 7:00 ~·.,tl3!<lw Prepared by Robert J. Golec Hammond City Clerk 14