Common Council

CITY COMMON COUNCIL OF HARTFORD CITY, INDIANA NOVEMBER 7, 2022 MEETING MINUTES CALL TO ORDER & WELCOME: Mayor Eckstein called to order a meeting of the Common Council of the City of Hartford City at 6:00pm on November 7, 2022. ROLL CALL: Members of the council present were Michael Wolfe, Dustin George, Ron Dudelston and Tony Scaggs. Also present were Mayor Dan Eckstein, Attorney Patrick Wright, and Clerk-Treasurer Dana Whatley. Mr. Ron Parrott was absent. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to suspend the regular council meeting to hold the public hearings. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. The vote to suspend the regular council meeting was 4-0. PUBLIC HEARINGS: A.) NOTICE OF ADOPTION OF DECLARATORY RESOLUTION RELATED TO THE DESIGNATION OF AN ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA IN THE CITY OF HARTFORD CITY: Mr. Warren Brown explained that this declaratory resolution is for the South Side School. The property owners have asked for a tax abatement on the improvements and the Economic Revitalization Area must be approved before the Tax Abatement can be considered. Ms. Anne Owen stated this project came before the Board of Zoning Appeals in the October hearing, and was granted a special exception. There was no public comment. Mr. Scaggs made a motion to close this public hearing. Mr. George seconded the motion. The vote to close the public hearing was 4-0. B.) GOLF CART ORDINANCE AMENDEMENT: There was no public comment on this topic. Mr. Scaggs made a motion to close this public hearing. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion. The vote to close the public hearing was 4-0. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to open the regular meeting. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion. The vote to open the regular council meeting was 4-0. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Mr. Wolfe made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. George seconded the motion. The vote to approve the agenda was 4-0. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: A.) MINUTES FROM 10/3/22: Mr. Dudelston made a motion to approve the minutes of 10/3/22 as submitted. Mr. George seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 4-0. B.) MINUTES FROM SPECIAL MEETING FROM 10/25/22: Mr. George made a motion to approve the minutes of 10/25/22 as submitted. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 4-0. OLD BUSINESS: A.) 2ND READING OF ORDINANCE 2022-11 AN ORDINANCE AMENDING AND RESTATING ORDINANCE 2022-04 FOR A WATERWORKS BOND: Mr. George approved the 2nd reading of Ordinance 2022-11. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. The vote to approve Ordinance 2022-11 was 4-0. B.) 1ST READING OF GOLF CART AMENDED ORDINANCE: Mr. Dudelston made a motion to table the 1st reading of this ordinance to the December meeting. Mr. George seconded the motion. The vote to table was 4-0. C.) 1st READING 2022-14 KNOX BOX ORDINANCE: Mr. George made a motion to approve the 1st reading of Ordinance 2022-14. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. The vote to approve the 1st reading of Ordinance 2022-14 was 4-0. D.) BILL SMITH, EMA DIRECTOR: Mr. Smith thanked the Council for the support of Civil War Days. He stated it was a successful reenactment this year. They plan to host it again in 2023. Mr. Smith also announced the EMA will be holding a LEPC tabletop exercise on the topic of WEB EOC (Emergency Operation Center) on November 9, 2022 from 9am – 12pm at Blackford Jr./Sr. High School. E.) RESOLUTION 2022-27 A RESOLUTION CONFIRMING THE DESIGNATION OF AN ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA AND APPROVING THE DEDUCTION FROM ASSESSED VALUE OF NEW REAL PROPERTY IMPROVEMENTS: Mr. George made a motion to approve Resolution 2022-27. Mr. Dudelston seconded the motion. The vote to approve Resolution 2022-27 was 4-0. F.) WARREN BROWN – NEWBERRY BUILDING UPDATE: Mr. Brown informed Council that they have multiple quotes in and are waiting on a couple yet. They are having trouble getting multiple quotes for the hood installation. He hopes to have everything in and ready to send to Council by the end of the month. Mr. Dudelston also stated that the roof repairs are completed as well as the 6” taps. Mr. Shane Smith is ready to start the concrete work on the north side of the building. This was just for informational purposes; no action was taken. NEW BUSINESS: A.) ANNE OWEN 1.) ZONING CHANGE REQUESTS: Ms. Owen explained that the Area Planning & Zoning Commission met on October 4, 2022. She asked the City Council to consider approving the following zoning changes that the APC is recommending. a.) 526 S. Walnut St., Hartford City, IN 47348 (05-03-15-104-024.000-006)– The APC is recommending that the property listed be changed from a R-3 to B-2. Mr. George made a motion to approve this change. Mr. Dudelston seconded the motion. The vote to approve the change was 4-0. b.) 606 S. Walnut St., Hartford City, IN 47348 (05-03-15-104-060.000-006) Lot behind 606 S. Walnut St., HC (05-03-15-104-059.000-006) – The APC is recommending that the properties listed be changed from R-3 to B-2. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to approve these changes. Mr. George seconded the motion. The vote to approve the change was 4-0. c.) 322 W. Franklin St., Hartford City, IN 47348 (05-03-10-404-037.000-006) – The APC is recommending that the property listed to be changed from R-3 to B-3. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to approve these changes. Mr. Wolfe seconded the motion. The vote to approve the change was 4-0. d.) 219 N. Walnut St., Hartford City, IN 47348 (05-03-10-404-061.000-006) – The APC is recommending that the property listed to be changed from R-3 to B-3. Mr. George made a motion to approve these changes. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. The vote to approve the change was 4-0. B.) CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING EVENT: Ms. Owen explained that the Tree Lighting event will be held on Saturday, November 26, 2022 from 3pm – 6pm. She asked for road closures and temporary no parking signs be put up. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to approve the road closures and no parking signs. Mr. Scaggs seconded the motion. The vote to approve was 4-0. ORDINANCE 2022-09 – SALARY ORDINANCE DISCUSSION: There was much discussion about the Police Department salary for 2023. Mr. George and Mr. Wolfe were proposing that the Police Department receive a 10% salary increase. Mr. Dudelston proposed a compromise of an 8% increase for both the Police Department and the Fire Department as both departments are first responders. Mr. Dudelston made a motion to add an additional 3% to the 5% increase that all city employees were given for both the Police Department and the Fire Department. The councilmen decided that they would like to take a little more time to think about the different options presented to them. Mr. Dudelston rescinded his previous motion. Mr. Wolfe made a motion to table this topic at a special meeting on 11/21/22 at 5:30pm. Mr. George seconded the motion. The vote to table to a special meeting was 4-0. MAYOR’S REPORT: Mayor Eckstein explained that Dollar Tree has an estimated opening date of 12/8/22. He also stated that City Hall will be closed both on Tuesday, 11/8/22 for election day and Friday, 11/11/22 for Veterans Day. Cheri Brown – Mayor’s Youth Council: Ms. Brown stated that she and the mayor went out to the high school and spoke with them about creating this council. After brainstorming they decided it would be best to imbed this council into a class so that the same students will be involved in any project, they decide on from start to finish. Ms. Brown explained that during this process these students will report monthly to the City Council to give them an update on the progress. CLERK-TREASURER’S REPORT: NONE COUNCIL INPUT: A.) MICHAEL WOLFE – Mr. Wolfe wanted to thank the Street Department for the timely leaf pickup and for the extra work they put in to make sure this was done for the trick-or-treating. B.) RON DUDELSTON – Mr. Dudelston stated that he thought the Trunk-or-Treat event that was held on the square was amazing. He felt like it was a huge success. ADJOURNMENT: With there being no further business from the Common Council, Mr. Scaggs made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 7:14pm FOLDER 2/REC 160827_002