City Council

MINUTES OF THE LAFAYETTE COMMON COUNCIL February 2, 2015 REGULAR MEETING The Common Council of the City of Lafayette, Indiana met in regular session on Monday February 2, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 20 North 6th Street, Lafayette, Indiana. President Ahlersmeyer called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was given to the flag of our Country. The following members were present: Present: Heide, Klinker, Nargi, Campbell, Brown, Weast-Williamson, Downing and Ahlersmeyer. Absent: Reynolds City Clerk Cindy Murray and City Attorney Ed Chosnek were present. Councilman Campbell moved to approve the minutes of the January 5, 2015 Council Meeting, Councilman Brown seconded. The motion passed by unanimous voice vote. There are no Claims, Petitions or Communications The Clerk stated the following reports are available in the City Clerk’s Office: Clerk’s Office-December Fleet Maintenance Department Monthly-December Water Works Department Monthly-December Water Pollution Control Department Monthly-December Police Department Monthly-November and December Ordinances for Second Reading: The Clerk read Ordinance 2015-01 (An Ordinance Amending Section 7.06.340-Vehicle Immobilization to Include Amount of Service Charge for Wheel Lock Removal) by title only on second and final reading. Councilman Klinker moved for passage, Councilman Heide seconded. Ed Chosnek, City Attorney explained the need for the language to be in the ordinance and that the fee will be $25 (Twenty Five Dollars) for each offense. Ordinance 2015-01 passed 7-0 on a roll call vote on second and final reading. There are no Ordinances for First Reading. Resolutions: The Clerk read Resolution 2015-02 (A Resolution Approving the Sale of Real Estate by the Lafayette Redevelopment Commission-1123 South Street) by title only on first and final reading. Councilwoman Weast-Williamson moved for passage, Councilman Downing seconded. Mayor Roswarski spoke regarding the resolution. Resolution 2015-02 passed 7-0 on a roll call vote on first and final reading. There were no Reports of Standing Committees. There were no Reports of Special Committees. Report by the Mayor- State of the City Address STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS – 2015 Madame President, members of the City Council, citizens of Lafayette and those in attendance tonight. I am honored and humbled to stand before you and present the 2015 STATE OF THE CITY. It is with a deep sense of gratitude that I serve as Mayor. I would like to thank the City Council, the Board of Works, the Redevelopment Commission, our Police and Fire Merit Boards, and all our citizens who serve on our Boards and Commissions to keep this community moving forward. One of the foundations of a strong community is to be citizen driven so I thank all our citizens who participate with our neighborhood associations, help in our schools, volunteer for our many community, civic and social service organizations and those who help at community events and activities. It takes many people working together to govern and to move our community in a positive direction. I would also like to thank the Department Heads and City team members for their continued outstanding efforts. I can tell you we have dedicated City employees that care about the community and care about the citizens they serve. Our Department Heads lead with vision, compassion, courage and commitment to those they lead and the citizens they serve. With everyone working together, we have been able to again provide high quality services in an extremely efficient and cost effective manner. At this time I would like to give the Council an overview of the City’s financial status. We are in sound financial condition. Working with this Council, we continue to live within our means, and still provide tremendous City services. We currently have $2,805,000.00 in our rainy day fund. We have reserves in our EDIT fund and cash balances in operating funds. We utilize sound financial principles, forward thinking, and strategic planning as we manage our general fund, utility budgets and our T.I.F. funds. We strive to find the balance between reserves, operations and projects. Our commitment to public safety never wavers. Our Police and Fire Departments are well staffed, well trained and well equipped. In the Fire Department, we have started the second year of the Lafayette Fire Department/Jefferson High School Fire and Rescue Academy. The Department also implemented a new OSHA required medical assessment for all firefighters. The new aerial was delivered to Station #3. 15 members of the Department received “Life Saving Awards”. In addition, all Officers and Commanders on the Fire Department completed for the first time “Blue Card Type 4 and 5” incident management certification program. 2014 was another productive year for the Lafayette Police Department.  The 911/Communications center answered approximately 315,000 telephone calls, which generated 90,680 LPD responses.  With expansion and growth and the demand for police services, the LPD has continued to evolve. The LPD has embraced technology as a force multiplier, utilizing leading edge technologies that will help facilitate our efforts towards community policing by reaching our citizens in different ways. o We are utilizing various Social Media venues to communicate with our community about things that are important to their safety, quality of life, and to create open pathways of communication.  Nextdoor – A secure, social networking site for neighborhoods to share information with one another and a place where LPD can share specific information about crime and safety to each. We have grown to 3,111 members on Nextdoor, or 2,578 Households. Our goal is to someday reach 7,000 households, which would mean that we are sharing information with nearly one of every four homes in our city! This is neighborhood watch leveraged by the power of community and social media.  We now have over 6,000 subscribers to Nixle, a community alert system that provides real time information about major events occurring, such as a traffic accident that has closed certain roads or a missing child that we need help locating.  Twitter is now at 2,817 followers. We utilize twitter to share with our community all of the activities the LPD is involved with every day. From “Tweet-Alongs” with our officers on the street, to updates about community activities, Twitter has been a great way to build relationships.  Public access to www.CrimeReports.com gives every citizen the opportunity to see what type of police activity has been occurring near their homes, or anywhere in the city. We firmly believe an informed and knowledgeable citizenry is one of our best weapons in fighting crime.  In 2014 the Lafayette Police Department added 3 additional police officers through a competitive COPS grant.  Focusing on our community outreach efforts, the LPD graduated two more classes from our Citizen’s Police Academy in 2014, educating nearly 60 community members about all of the activities their police department is involved in.   In 2014 the Outreach Efforts also included the first ever Junior Police Academy. The fun and creative program was staffed by our police officers and taught a class of young children about the rewarding career of Law Enforcement officers and a glimpse into how many opportunities exist in modern policing.  In August of 2014 our K-9 officers competed once again at the K9 Olympics and Trials at Vhone Liche Kennels in Denver, IN. Over 100 teams from all of the United States, and several International Teams competed. LPD K-9 Officers won 8 Awards, including the #1 in the Overall Narcotics and also #1 in Narcotics K9 Team! A great example of the highly skilled and professional officers in the very competitive competition.  In 2014 the Lafayette Police SWAT Team competed again in the annual Indiana SWAT Challenge. There were nine events over the course of three days. LPD Took first place in two events, the “Hostage Rescue,” and the physically demanding “obstacle course.” This helped seal the overall championship for the second year in a row! Just another example of how hard our officers work, not just in their primary roles, but also in their additional responsibilities which prepare them to provide the best possible service to our community.  In 2014 The LPD created the Crime Prevention Unit. The unit is designed to look for ways to partner with the community to reduce victimization. By dedicating resources to evaluate individuals and business exposure to Crime we can provide them with information about how to better protect themselves from being victims. We can also identify areas in which we can improve service and provide a better value to the public. 2014 was another successful year for Economic Development and Community Development projects. We celebrated the groundbreaking for the almost 400 million dollar expansion at S.I.A. We have expansion projects at Tate and Lyle, both North and South plants. Alcoa opened their new 100 million dollar cast house to create the third generation of aluminum lithium. Lafayette Auto Supply began their expansion project. On July 21st the historic groundbreaking of our 100 million dollar G.E. Aviation LEAP Engine Assembly Plant took place; which will bring 200 great paying jobs to our community. Matchbox, our co-working studio downtown, opened and already is 126 members strong and has broad support in the community. Downtown also saw the opening of the new Regions Bank. The new Regency Springs upscale apartments are under construction, and the new Centennial Townhomes are going up and are wonderful examples of committed neighbors and a public-private project. Our parks also had a busy year undergoing a reorganization of their operational structure. We saw the completion and dedication of the Columbian Park Express Train Depot, the construction and completion of Subaru South Tipp Park and initiation of the Memorial Island renovation project. We also had the development and implementation of several new programs, including Art in the Park, Final Friday Family Movie Night, Walking toward Wellness and Tails on the Trails. We are currently designing a new park for Sterling Heights Subdivision.  In 2014, the Information Technology Department began the 30-month process of implementing our Enterprise Resource System – MUNIS. This new software system will improve workflow models and business rules. It will utilize paperless processes whenever possible. It will significantly improve the flow of data and information sharing between all City Departments. It will increase our ability to analyze reports and export data. It will also improve access to information for our citizens and those we conduct business with. Our utilities also had a productive and successful year. Our Wastewater Department celebrated the opening of our award winning storm park at Jefferson High School. This storm park not only serves as a functioning piece of our Earl Avenue – Durkees Run system, but serves as a living laboratory and outdoor classroom for students at Jeff. This concept has been well received by the faculty, staff and students. Earl Avenue is now open and work will begin in the spring to finish the trail, sidewalks, and lighting. Work was completed at 27th and Elmwood, along with Tate and Lyle bank stabilization project. In the Water Department, 2,880 water meters were changed to radio read meters this year. That puts us at 50.5% throughout the system. As a practical matter, that means we can read half the meters in the City by just driving by them. In 2015, we will change out 3000 additional meters, bringing us to 61%. We will also install antennas in strategic locations that will read these meters from a fixed point and transmit those readings to the billing office, via fiber optics, without the need to drive by. A task that used to take hours to perform now takes minutes. A fun fact for you: we installed 11,900 feet of new water main last year. I am sure everyone remembers last winter and the damage done to our roads. The Street Department designated 170 spots of road failure that required skip patching, pot hole filing, crack sealing and they did this while keeping positions open to off-set overtime expenses from winter storms. I felt they did a tremendous job getting our roads back in shape. A couple interesting facts to share: During one of the worse winters on record, we only delayed trash service one day, and our recycling program saved us approximately $167,000.00 on tipping fees. The Engineers Office saw another busy year. They issued a total of 2,158 permits, and performed over 5000 inspections, and they addressed 27 properties that fell under the unsafe structure ordinance. They coordinated the paving of 5.65 centerline miles of City streets, and that did not count Sagamore Parkway. In addition, they coordinated the construction of 7000 feet of sidewalks, 4307 feet of curbs, and 22 ADA ramps. Engineering staff also worked with firms on the design of South 18th Street from Veterans Memorial Parkway to 430 South, Old Romney Road, Sagamore Parkway Phase 1 and 2, the John T. Myers Bridge and Riehle Plaza-Depot Building. The Traffic Division, which falls under Engineering, replaced street name blades at 120 intersections, and standardized and modernized all school zone signage. They added five more intersections to our fiber optic network. They added ten solar powered ADA compliant flashing becons at pedestrian crossings. 24 intersections received new thermoplastic and they repainted 53 handicap spaces in our parks. Downtown, 32 new parking spaces and 4 handicap spaces were created. The Community Development Department had several successes in 2014. The creation of the Faith Community Development Corporation, with the mission to make improvements in the north end neighborhoods. The following are some of their accomplishments:  Completed their first HOME-funded acquisition/rehab house and started on a second.  Planted and harvested a community garden in the Lincoln Neighborhood in partnership with the neighborhood and another faith-based group from Federated Church.  Started the Jobs for Life program, 12 enrolled in the program, 4 graduated.  Held 3 sessions of Good Neighbor trainings with more than 30 participants. The Good Neighbor training included a session on Understanding Poverty.  Held a very successful Vinton Neighborhood block party in the summer with more than 150 people attending.  Began Faith and Finances program. The program had 9 enrolled, including 3 graduates, in 2014. On the issue of homelessness, we continued to make progress. We secured grant funds for Wabash Valley Alliance, and initiated our new partnership with Wabash Valley Alliance to successfully provide therapeutic psychological and mental health services to people in our community facing homelessness. Adam Murphy assisted with the grant applications for the two grants that pay for the PATH program. I would like to take a moment to explain what the PATH program does. Wabash Valley Alliance received Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH) funding  4-year PATH grant supports homeless outreach workers to engage with persons that are chronically homeless with mental health, substance abuse, and physical barriers to housing.  Partnership with Purdue University and student volunteers.  Student volunteers maintain predictable routes multiple days each week with distinctive clothing.  Low intensity engagement and data gathering techniques are employed to build trust and identify individuals for PATH worker engagement.  Focused outreach is deployed in out-of-the-way locales to reach those camping in the woods and other places not typically reached by social services.  The program officially started in October 2014, but had served 52 persons with case management by the end of 2014.  Worked intensively with 12 individuals.  2 persons were moved to Permanent Supportive Housing during 2014. They are continuing to have success engaging with additional people to help them secure permanent housing solutions. Wabash Valley Alliance was also awarded an Emergency Shelter Grant from IHCDA to be used in conjunction with the funds for the PATH program.  Additional work will be done in partnership with a volunteer from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to monitor local jail intake and release for persons that are  homeless. Using the monitoring data, PATH workers will focus efforts to target persons exiting incarceration that are frequent users of homeless and emergency medical services. Lafayette, West Lafayette, and Tippecanoe County, in partnership with United Way and social service agencies, launched Coordinated Access effort to better serve families and individuals facing homelessness. As part of the effort, LTHC changed their service model during 2014, and provided triage and assessment for all persons seeking homelessness services. There were a total of 956 people served through the new triage and assessment model. Homeless veterans Lafayette Housing Authority was awarded 13 HUDVASH vouchers to serve veterans experiencing homelessness with rental assistance and services through the Veteran’s Administration and the Lafayette Transitional Housing Services Social Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) program. Winter Contingency program In partnership with United Way, several social service agencies and local congregations, a successful Winter Contingency program was developed and funded to provide shelter to people facing homelessness when the 44-bed emergency shelter is full. Shelter Plus Care (28 units funded from Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority)  Housed 33 people who were formerly chronically homeless in permanent supportive housing with wrap around case management and other services.  During 2014, 4 individuals were able to successfully transition off the program to independent housing. Of those, the biggest success story was one gentleman who was able to stabilize his life, secure a good job at SIA, and he is now reunited with his wife and now lives with her. Historic Preservation Local Historic Districts Designated a portion of the Historic Centennial Neighborhood as a Local Historic District to ensure that the historical architecture of the properties in that neighborhood is protected in the future. Designated 4 additional single site Local Historic Districts for properties that had federal funding investment to rehab the houses. The Local Historic District designation helps protect the future of the restored properties. Centennial rezone Staff worked closely with the Tippecanoe County Area Plan Commission to rezone the Historic Centennial Neighborhood to bring the neighborhood into closer conformance with the future land use plan that was adopted by the neighborhood association. I would like to take a moment to thank Cindy Murray, our City Clerk, for all her efforts this year. Besides her regular duties, Cindy is a tremendous representative for the City of Lafayette. She serves on the Board of Works, City Wellness Committee, the State-wide I.A.C.T. Wellness Committee, active in United Way, serves on the board for the YMCA and the YWCA, along with Homestead Consulting. The Clerk’s Office also assists us with downtown parking and social media. Thank you, Cindy, and your staff.  As you can see, this was a very busy year and what you heard tonight was just a small snap shot of what happens every day. And the good news is 2015 is off to a great start. In January, we cut the ribbon on the new development at the old Home Hospital site. The Springs is a 14 million dollar project and 120 new jobs. Another big one: Last week we announced our second project with G.E. Aviation. The 15 million dollar investment will allow for the maintenance, repair, and overhaul for the new LEAP Engine will occur in Lafayette, creating another 30 great paying jobs to go along with the 200 for the assembly plant. Thank-you again to the Council and all our Citizens who make Lafayette a wonderful place. May God continue to bless our community. Thank you. Miscellaneous or New Business: Reports by Council: Councilman Campbell reported on the trees in the city and the ongoing problem with the ash borer. Councilman Klinker reminded everyone of the Ebony and Ivory Ball on Saturday February 7th at the Purdue Memorial Union. This is an annual fundraiser for the Hanna Community Center. Public Comment: Antwioun Butler, 2756 Chilton Dr. spoke to about a definition change to the word person in the city code books. Councilman Campbell moved to adjourn, Councilman Brown seconded. Meeting was adjourned at 7:40 PM Minutes prepared by Cindy Murray, City Clerk Complete audio of meeting available in the City Clerk’s office or at www.lafayette.in.gov