City Council

MINUTES OF THE LAFAYETTE COMMON COUNCIL April 4, 2016 REGULAR MEETING The Common Council of the City of Lafayette, Indiana met in regular session on Monday April 4, 2016 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 20 North 6th Street, Lafayette, Indiana. President Campbell 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, Nargi, Reynolds, Brown, Ahlersmeyer, Weast-Williamson, Downing and Campbell Absent: Councilman Klinker City Clerk Cindy Murray and City Attorney Ed Chosnek were present. Councilwoman Weast- Williamson moved to recess for a public hearing on Ordinance 2016-05 (An Ordinance for Appropriation of Local Option Highway User Tax Fund-County Wheel Tax-Fund#249) Councilwoman Ahlersmeyer seconded. No public comments were heard. Councilman Heide moved to reconvene to the regular meeting and Councilman Reynolds seconded. Councilman Reynolds moved to approve the minutes of the March 7, 2016 Council Meeting. Councilman Heide seconded. Motion passed on a roll call vote 7-0. There were no Claims, Petitions or Communications: The Clerk stated the following reports are available in the City Clerk’s Office: Fleet Maintenance Department Monthly-February Water Works Department Monthly-February Water Pollution Control Department Monthly-February Ordinances for Second Reading: The Clerk read Ordinance 2016-04 (An Ordinance Amending Section 2.01.020 (A) of the Lafayette Municipal Code to Change the Time of Regular Common Council Meetings) by title only second and final reading. Councilman Brown moved for passage, Councilman Downing seconded. Perry Barbee, 3700 Redbud spoke regarding the ordinance and questioned if the change was forever or if we would revisit it after one year. Ordinance 2016-04 passed 7-0 on a roll call vote on second and final reading. The Clerk read Ordinance 2016-05 (An Ordinance for Appropriation of Local Option Highway User Tax Fund-County Wheel Tax-Fund#249) by title only on second and final reading. Councilwoman Ahlersmeyer moved for passage, Councilwoman Weast-Williamson seconded. Mayor Roswarski spoke regarding the ordinance. Ordinance 2016-05 passed 7-0 on a roll call vote on second and final reading. Ordinances for First Reading: The Clerk read Ordinance 2016-06 (An Ordinance to Amend the Zoning Ordinance of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, to Rezone Certain Real Estate from I3 to R1, 2145 and 2209 Old Romney Road, James and D. Jarene Landers, Petitioner) by title only on first and final reading. Councilwoman Nargi moved for passage, Councilman Reynolds seconded. Jacque Chosnek, Deputy City Attorney, spoke regarding the ordinance. Ordinance 2016-06 passed 7-0 on a roll call vote on first and final reading. The Clerk read Ordinance 2016-07 (An Ordinance to Amend Section 7.06.990 (B) (4) Regarding Recovery of Collection Costs for Unpaid Parking Violations) by title only on first reading. Councilman Downing moved for passage, Councilwoman Weast-Williamson seconded. Kevin Harris, Parking Operation Manager spoke regarding the ordinance. Ordinance 2016-07 passed 7-0 on a roll call vote on first reading. Resolutions: The Clerk read Resolution 2016-06 (A Resolution Approving a Deduction for Tax Abatement in an Economic Revitalization Area (ERA) –General Electric Company-Personal Property Tax Abatement) by title only on first and final reading. Councilman Reynolds moved for passage, Councilman Heide seconded. Mayor Roswarski spoke regarding the resolution. Eric Matteson, Plant Project Manager spoke regarding the planned upgrades and the impact on the community. Resolution 2016-06 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. There was no Report by the Mayor. Miscellaneous or New Business: Departmental Updates: Dan Crowell, Street Commissioner, gave the following update on the following topics:  Sanitation-Recycling ramped up  Fleet Maintenance-How many pieces of equipment that’s been worked on  Facilities buildings  Street Dept-Importance  Meth Lab training  Sanitation-Helping citizen Fire Department-Chief Richard Doyle, gave the following update on the Fire Department: Service Contacts: In 2015 the department made 12,035 service contacts in the City of Lafayette. 256 of those contacts were fire related, 1,635 were non-fire related, 5,515 were EMS related runs, and 4,629 were building inspections. Each year our run numbers continue to increase. There has been an increase of 1,364 emergency calls from 2012 to 2015. Changes from 2014: Fire related run have been reduced by 65. Non-Fire related responses have increased by 187. EMS responses have increased by 1420. Inspections have increased by 534. Promotions; In 2015 the department promoted 4 people: Jeff Hauser to Lieutenant, Randy Evans to Asst. Chief of Special Operations, Toby Frost to Captain, and Robert McCord to Lieutenant. New Firefighters: The department also hired 6 new firefighters: Ben Bumgarner, Lee Booth, Grant Davidson, David Rose, Chris Smith, Chris Terrell Special Operations: The Lafayette Fire Department maintains 3 special operation teams, The Water Rescue Team, that response to any water rescues in the City of Lafayette and Tippecanoe County. The Hazardous Material Response Team, they respond to any hazardous spill on the roadway, industrial complex and also can respond to assist our neighboring communities. The Technical Rescue Team that would respond to a trench emergency, high angle rope rescue emergency, structural collapse, and confined space emergencies. The LFD Special Operation Team is one of only two groups available in the State of Indiana that can provide the level of emergency response that we are capable of. The State of Indiana has called upon our teams for state deployments several times over the past few years. Fire Prevention Education: Over the past 20 years the Lafayette Fire Department has taken fire prevention education and especially educating our children in fire safety very seriously. We have educated some 100,000 children in the greater Lafayette area over the past 20 years. Each year a talented group of volunteers from all ranks come together to entertain and educate 5,000 school children. “This is not their day job”. They sing dance and act their way through the show to make sure that we can prevent children from being injured in a fire situation. Fire Code Enforcement: One of the most important roles we have is to prevent fires from happening, and our fire code enforcement personnel serve a vital role in preventing fires from starting. They perform annual inspection, new construction inspection for code compliance, and review new construction plans. As you all know, the volume of new construction in the Lafayette area has continued to increase putting more and more of a demand on our code enforcement personnel. They have done a great job keeping up with the cities growth. The total number of inspections has increased by 13% over 2014 totals and a 52% increase over 2012 Totals. Training: Our training division located just north of SIA continues to be one of the busiest places in the department. Responsible for training all 143 firefighters with their required fire, EMS, Hazardous Material, and leadership training, each year this division puts our new recruits through a 16 week recruit school. There are very few departments in the state who have the talent or time to have this type of training program. And that’s not all that this division has on their plate. The Jefferson High School Fire and Rescue Academy is also located at the LFD training division. Over the past 3 year some 15 to 20 students get to live out their dream of becoming a Lafayette firefighter. We have been ranked as one of the best academies in the state, ranking ourselves against other academies that have been in existence for 20 years or more. At a state competition that is held every year, the Lafayette students have scored first overall for the past two years and are planning to repeat their success in late April. ISO Improvement: In 2015 the Lafayette Fire Department’s ISO rating improved from a 3 to a 2. This is a significant improvement considering that 48,754 fire departments in the United States are evaluated and only 1060 departments have received a 2 classification. ISO evaluated not only the fire department but they also evaluate the water system in our city and the emergency communication system. The fire department receives 50%, water department receives 40% and emergency communication system receives 10% of the evaluation. That means that not only do the citizens of Lafayette have a great fire department but they also have a great water department and emergency communication system. This rating will have a direct cost saving to our citizens in the price of their home and business insurance. Personnel: The 143 firefighter that are on the job each day in Lafayette are some of the most dedicated and loyal people that I know. Each day they respond to emergencies that may be vary from simple to emergencies that will live with them forever. Each one of those responses takes a toll on them physically and more importantly emotionally. In 2016 the department, will begin to look at different ways that we can provide care to our personnel so that those calls do not prevent them from finishing their career or creating problems at home. The calls that our personnel make are changing each day. What we did 30 years ago has dramatically changed from what our personnel are doing today. The personnel of the Lafayette Fire Department will continue to perform at a very high level and we are proud to serve the citizens of Lafayette. President Campbell requested the City Clerk send a letter of appreciation and praise to each of the Department Heads after their updates, letting their entire departments know they are appreciated. There were no Reports by Council. Public Comment: Lloyd Wells, 3717 Rawlings Dr. spoke regarding the hardship the many road construction projects in the city are causing the small business owners and suggested they should be provided low interest loans. Mr. Rawlings also recommended better detour plans when there are road closures. Dave Mecklenburg, Mecko’s Heating and Cooling expressed concern over the lack of communication between the businesses and the City during construction projects. Councilman Heide moved to adjourn, Councilman Downing 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