Board of Public Works & Safety

REGULAR HYBRID/ZOOM MEETING – October 2 , 2023 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Michigan City, Indiana, met in REGULAR SESSION on Monday, October 2, 2023, at 8:30 a.m., hosted by “Hybrid/Zoom” and streaming live on “My Michigan City” Facebook page. The meeting was called to order by President, Virginia Keating, who presided. Noted present in person: Virginia Keating, Michael Vinson, and Mayor Parry (3), Absent: None (0) A QUORUM WAS NOTED PRESENT. Also noted in attendance: Amber Lapaich Stalbrink, Corporate Counsel Ryan Beall, Deputy City Attorney Andrew White, Alco TV Brad Minnick, Interim City Engineer Chris Yagelski, Mayor Administrator Kyle Petter, Associate Planner Terry Greetham, Special Events Director Eric Williams, Assistant Event coordinator Corporal Wright, MCPD Traffic Shannan Eason, Assistant Park Superintendent Yvonne Hoffmaster, Controller Christine Vanderborg, Code Enforcement Officer Skyler York, City Planner Chief Forker, MCPD Chief Councilman Don Przybylinski Gale Neulieb, City Clerk Amanda Pickens, Assistant Deputy Clerk APPROVAL OF MINUTES President Keating asked if there were any corrections to the minutes of the Regular “Hybrid/Zoom” meeting of September 18, 2023, there was no response. Vice President Vinson made a motion to approve the minutes as read of the Regular “Hybrid/Zoom” meeting of September 18, 2023; seconded by Mayor Parry and was approved by the following vote: AYES: Board members, Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3). NAYS: None (0). Motion Carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. REQUEST FOR 5K FUN RUN - Andrea Fredrick MCHS , is requesting to have a “Run with the Wolves 5K Color Fundraiser ” to help pay for the MCHS class of 2025 Prom and senior picnic. The route will run on Lakeshore Drive from California Avenue back to the Zoo starting at Washington Park Pavilion on October 28, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m. Andrea Fredrick MCHS, addressed the board stating they are going to be doing a Halloween themed color fun run for the class of 2025. The runners will start at the pavilion and run up past the Zoo through California Avenue to Beachwalk and back following the same route. Corporal Wright MCPD Traffic addressed the board stated that he had previous conversation with Ms. Fredrick and will not be using any EMA or Police and will have their own volunteers along the route at stations and would recommend approval. President Keating asked if there were any street barriers that would need to be put up. Regular Hybrid/Zoom Meeting – August 7, 2023 Page 2 Ms. Fredrick responded to President Keating there are no road closures as the runners will be running alongside of the road and the volunteers will be directing the way to go. President Keating asked if there were any comments from the public, there was no response. President Keating asked if the board had any questions or comments. Mayor Parry stated barricades are needed for the safety of the runners when coming into an intersection and will be provided by the Street Department. Vice President Vinson made a motion to approve a “Run with the Wolves 5K Color Fundraiser” to help pay for the MCHS class of 2025 Prom and senior picnic. The route will run on Lakeshore Drive from California Avenue back to the Zoo starting at Washington Park Pavilion on October 28, 2023 from 8:00 a.m. through 12:00 p.m. with the Street Department providing barricades for crossing intersections, second by Mayor Parry and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS (0) Motion carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. SPECIAL PURCHASE - Yvonne Hoffmaster City Controller, is requesting a “Special Purchase ” through Tyler Technologies for the Planning/Inspections Department to purchase a Community Development and Project Management module in the amount of $8,775.00 Yvonne Hoffmaster, City Controller, stated this is a contract with Tyler Technologies for the Community Development in the Planning and Inspection Department that would be used for all of our permitting processes also the MCPD will be using this module. This module will help with online payments, and online submission of documents. President Keating asked if there were any comments from the public, there was no response. President Keating asked if the board had any comments. Mayor Parry asked Controller Hoffmaster if this will expedite the work permit process, also online payments for permits and code compliance fines? Controller Hoffmaster responded this should make the process faster and all payments throughout the City could be made online after this is fully implemented. Vice President Vinson made a motion to approve a “Special Purchase” through Tyler Technologies for the Planning/Inspections Department to purchase a Community Development and Project Management module in the amount of $8,775.00; second by Mayor Parry and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS (0) Motion carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. POLICY AGREEMENT - Attorney LaPaich Stalbrink, is requesting a service agreement between the City of Michigan City and CuraLinc Healthcare for the SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) beginning on January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2026 . Attorney Lapaich Stalbrink stated this is to renew the current contract for another two years. There was a small increase as currently the City pays $1.87 per employee, they proposed going up to $2.12 but we met at $2.00 per employee as the increase. President Keating asked how long the City has had this contract. Attorney Lapaich Stalbrink stated this is the second or third renewal and the Personnel Director is happy with this company. President Keating asked if the Board had any comments. Regular Hybrid/Zoom Meeting – August 7, 2023 Page 3 Vice President Vinson made a motion to approve a service agreement between the City of Michigan City and CuraLinc Healthcare for the SupportLinc Employee Assistance Program (EAP) beginning on January 1, 2023 through December 31, 2026; second by Mayor Parry and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS (0). Motion carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. APPROVAL OF PLANS - Shannon Eason Assistant Park Superintendent, is requesting approval for Butler, Fairman and Seufert for the following Singing Sands Trail Phase III .  Designs and Engineering Supplemental Agreement No. 3  ROW Services Agreement and Phases A&C  ROW Services Agreement Phase D Shannon Eason Assistant Park Superintendent, addressed the board explaining what each agreement is for and further stating that the Designs and Engineering Supplemental Agreement No. 3 the City will be working with the County to do bridge work on Liberty Trail and the 2 Right-of Way will complete the Singing Sands by the late 2025 early 2026. President Keating asked if there were any comments from the public, there was no response. President Keating asked if the board had any comments. Vice President Vinson asked Ms. Eason to briefly describe the right-of-way and what would happen during that process. Shannon Eason stated they would Survey, staking out the property that they would acquire for the trail. Vice President Vinson made a motion to approve for Butler, Fairman and Seufert for the following Singing Sands Trail Phase III. •Designs and Engineering Supplemental Agreement No. 3 •ROW Services Agreement and Phases A&C •ROW Services Agreement Phase D; second by Mayor Parry and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS: (0). Motion carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. STREETLIGHT REQUEST - Councilman Don Przybylinski, is requesting a streetlight to be installed on the 800 block of 11 th Street on the southside. Councilman Don Przybylinski, addressed the board stating he has received calls from local residents in the area requesting a streetlight as Mamie Sanders apartment complex is located on the southside. There is no lighting, and the area is very dark. President Keating asked if there were any comments from the public. Rodney McCormick 617 Union Street, stated the South Shore has left 11th Street looking pretty bad and he has been surveying it and made the calls to Vector Control who comes right out and addresses the issue, the area is very dark, and the neighbors want to feel safe in their environment. Brad Minnick Haas & Associates, LLC., stated in response to the recent meeting regarding streetlights, he presented a map to the board showing all lighting in that area explaining in detail where a light would be installed and also has the agreement from MCPD. Further conversation ensued between Vice President Vinson and Brad Minnick regarding the lighting in the area shown on the map, adding a light to the area that has been eliminated. Mayor Parry stated public safety is his main concern as he is familiar with this area there needs to be a light in the area as it may take a while for the streetlight policy to be put in place. Regular Hybrid/Zoom Meeting – August 7, 2023 Page 4 Vice President Vinson asked if this light is owned by NIPSCO is it generated by NIPSCO as cost? Brad Minnick, stated he will review this with the City Controller. Mayor Parry made a motion to approve a streetlight to be installed on the 800 block of 11th Street on the southside; Vice President Vinson seconded the motion and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS (0) Motion President Keating read the following item on the agenda. SAFERY REQUEST - Councilman Don Przybylinski, is asking permission for the Interim City Engineer, Street Department Superintendent, MCPD Traffic Supervisor and Marquette Administration to meet and develop final recommendation for the pedestrian crosswalk for the safety of the students . Councilman Don Przybylinski, addressed the board stating he did not attend the last Board of Works meeting, but this was brought to his attention, and he met Street Department Director Shong Smith, Maintenance Director, and Principal at Marquette Highschool last week and when they were talking about the issue cars was going through the “Stop” signs, so the issues have not gone away. So today he is asking permission to hold a meeting to come up with a final recommendation and then present it to the Board. President Keating stated that at last Board meeting all options were exhaustively discussed, including a speed platform at the cost of $30,000.00, further explaining the reasoning and examples of students not following rules, crossing in the middle of a street instead of at a corner where crosswalks are located. The Board voted to deny further action on this matter. President Keating asked if there were any comments from the public. Tommy Kulavik 1316 Ohio Street, stated he feels like Marquette has outgrown their campus and needs to move to a bigger campus. Rodney McCormick 617 Union Street, stated he has never seen a kid hit a car, but he has seen cars hit kids, public safety should be the issue and communication between departments is an issue the City is lacking in. President Keating asked if the board had any questions or comments, Mayor Parry stated this request was discussed in length at the last meeting, the recommendation was made by Vice President Vinson to deny the request and have the students be required to cross at the corners like everywhere else in town. People in the community have observed students crossing right in the middle of the block. This is a private school and the option of a speed table to be installed was $30,000.00 and the school did not offer to even help pay for any of the cost, yes, its public safety but this also needs to be a partnership. Vice President Vinson stated he is confused, is this request asking the board permission to have a meeting and talk, and as far as Marquette crosswalk goes this has been discussed for a year as many departments have been looking for solutions. Mayor Parry stated Councilman Przybylinski as a member of the Council you do not need permission from the board to hold a meeting. Vice President Vinson made a motion to deny permission for the Interim City Engineer, Street Department Superintendent, MCPD Traffic Supervisor and Marquette Administration to meet and develop a final recommendation for the pedestrian crosswalk for the safety of the students; Mayor Parry seconded the motion and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS (0) Motion carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. Regular Hybrid/Zoom Meeting – August 7, 2023 Page 5 STREETLIGHT REQUEST - Rodney McCormick 617 Union Street, is requesting a streetlight to be installed at the corner of Elm and Phillips Street for public safety . Rodney McCormick 617 Union Street, acknowledge that this is the same request that was just approved by this Board, and he is encouraged to hear that a streetlight policy is going to be put into place and hope people will not be allowed to take down streetlights without notifying the City. President Keating asked if there were any comments from the public, there was no response. President Keating asked if the board had any questions or comments, Vice President Vinson stated based on the prior motion having been approved that the board deny this request. Vice President Vinson made a motion to deny this duplicative request for a streetlight to be installed at the corner of Elm and Phillips Street for public safety; second by Mayor Parry and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS (0) Motion carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. APPROVAL OF CHANGE ORDER - Brad Minnick, Hass & Associates, is requesting approval for a change order to add pavement striping and maintenance of traffic work to recently awarded 2023 Pavement Striping Contract adding Pahs Road and not to exceed $50,000 .00 President Keating stated for the record this funding has been approved from the Controller’s office. Brad Minnick, Hass & Associates addressed the board stating this is included in the approved funding at the September 18, 2022 meeting but the council excluded the pavement markings. He sought out prices for pavement marking and maintenance to traffic to be added to the current pavement marking contract of which $16,080.25 for estimated cost for pavement marking and the remaining cost for maintenance of traffic such as flaggers. He is meeting with the contractor on Tuesday to review the schedule and duration to get this project done quickly. President Keating asked if there were any comments from the public, there was no response. President Keating asked if the board had any questions or comments. Vice President Vinson stated he is amazed the cost that’s involved for these projects, is the traffic control customary? Brad Minnick stated you will normally see that price mixed in with other unit cost. Vice President Vinson made a motion to approve the change order to add pavement striping and maintenance of traffic work to recently awarded 2023 Pavement Striping Contract adding Pahs Road and not to exceed $50,000.00, second by Mayor Parry and the motion carried by the following vote: AYES: BOW members Mayor, Vinson, and Keating (3) NAYS (0) Motion carries. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. SPECIAL EVENT REPORT – Terry Greetham, Special Event Director- updates and details as to all events per BOW Resolution No. 2836 Terry Greetham, Special Event Director stated we had a successful summer and looking forward to the Festival of Light Parade and hoping to get more down town involvement. . President Keating read the following item on the agenda. Regular Hybrid/Zoom Meeting – August 7, 2023 Page 6 PARK DEPARTMENT REPORT- Park Department updates and details as to all upcoming community events per BOW Resolution No. 2836. President Keating stated Superintendent Shinn gave an update for through the rest of the year at the last meeting and will return in January with new events. President Keating read the following item on the agenda. MONTHLY UPDATE- Flagherty & Collins updates and details to the construction/building of the six-story precast parking garage, two 12 and 6 story apartment “tower” and two-story retail/commercial space, by the train station President Keating stated construction has not started and is schedule to start November 1, 2023 and this will be come before the board at the November 6th meeting. CLAIMS AND PAYROLL President Keating read the BOW Claim Docket for October 2, 2023: PAYROLL DOCKET September 22, 2023 City Payroll $ 691,531.82 September 29, 2023 City Pension $ 219,873.42 CLAIMS DOCKET October 2 , 2023 Municipal $ 2,217,894.77 Health & Life Ins. Fund $ 215,191.41 CDBG $ 112,059.00 WORKERS COMP TRUST $ 0.00 Total Claims: $ 2,545,145.18 Vice President Vinson made a motion to approve the City Payroll Dockets and the Claims Docket in the amount of $2,545,145.18 second by Mayor Parry and carried as follows: AYES: BOW members Parry, Vinson, and Keating (3). NAYS: None (0). Motion Carries. UNFINISHED BUSINESS President Keating stated the first item on the pending items list is MAINTENANCE REQUEST - Councilman Don Przybylinski, 215 Gardena Street is ADA signage be checked and Black decorative poles around the City be painted . Brad Minnick Haas and Associates, LLC., addressed the Board stating he has not received the quote from Marquise and will reach out to other companies and recommends leaving this on the list until the next meeting. President Keating stated this will remain on the pending items list until the October 16, 2023 meeting. President Keating stated that the next item on the pending items/unfinished business list is SAFETY ISSUE CONCERN- Councilman Don Przybylinski, 215 Gardena Street , stated the bridge over Highway 12 and Trail Creek by the Blue-Chip Casino, the sidewalks cleaned up on both sides of the bridge advising INDOT to complete these duties. Mayor Parry stated he has not reached out to INDOT regarding this issue. President Keating stated this will stay on the pending list until the October 16th, 2023, BOW meeting. President Keating stated that the next item on the pending items/unfinished business list is STREET ENCHANTMENT- Daniel Radtke is requesting a Street Enchantment located at 508 E 2 nd Street. Regular Hybrid/Zoom Meeting – August 7, 2023 Page 7 President Keating stated Correspondence has been received from David Andrews who is leasing the property at 216 Taylor street regarding water running under their office door. Brad Minnick Haas and Associates, LLC., addressed the Board he received an email from Steve Standford that he would address this issue at the meeting this morning but is not in attendance and there is currently not an active contract that this work can be added to, so he is asking this be tabled until the next meeting and for him to have a meeting with Steve Standford. President Keating stated this will stay on the pending list until the October 16th, 2023, BOW meeting. PUBLIC COMMENT President Keating stated that the City ’s Website has the forms and explain ing the requirements and procedures for being placed on the Board Agenda. The forms are also available from the Clerk ’s office. Also called attention to the Board ’s Resolution #2823 enacted on December 6, 2021 and reading in pertinent part that Public Comment is limited to three (3) minutes. All comments are addressed to the Board President not to the individual Board members. All comments must be germane to and within the mandate authority of this Board. President Keating asked if there were any public comments. Mary Oaths 329 Brickman Avenue, addressed the board stated she has witnessed a Code Enforcement officer looking into the windows at a property in her neighborhood and it very was upsetting to her, and to her this feels like a peeping Tom and makes her feel unsafe. Tommy Kulavik 1316 Ohio Street, addressed the board stating the Fire Department are holding 20 interviews on Saturday and the future of the Fire Department is looking great. He also is looking forward to the Mayors Ball and the three charity that it is benefiting. Rodney 617 Union Street, stated he would like to thank the Mayor for voting to put lights out on Phillips Street for public safety, also would like to suggest for the City to look into getting traffic cameras as the Police Department is stretched thin lastly shame on INDOT the way the bridges look. BOARD COMMENT President Keating asked if there were any Board comments. Mayor Parry stated he has a couple comments to make first to Mary Oaths he is going to investigate this issue and talk to the code enforcement department as there is contractors working off time to avoid getting a permit, in reference to the speed cameras the City needs to look into getting this and he also agrees into getting more lighting in the City especially the Eastport neighborhoods. ADJOURNMENT The presiding officer inquired whether there was anything else to be considered by the Board at this time and, there being none, asked for a motion to ADJOURN the meeting at approximately 9:35 a.m. Vice President Vinson made the motion to Adjourn. The motion was seconded by Mayor Parry. AYES: Board of Public Works and Safety members Keating, Vinson, and Parry (3). NAYS: None (0). Motion Carries . _________________________________________ Gale A. Neulieb, City Clerk