11-30-10 Common Council Meeting Minutes

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SPECIAL MEETING NOVEMBER 30, 2010 Cove which the City cannot tax itself. He questioned that all these projects are non- profits and questions what jobs are going to be created by these not-for-profit organizations. What tax base are we talking about what new monies are we generating out of these new ventures. He stated that we are not generating anything and if we are generating anything it’s a few jobs at best. And then we are talking about Coveleski, seasonal! Maybe the security force will be expanded because of the amount of park that we are going to have but outside of that what jobs? He stated that we can’t keep doing this and he takes a lot of offense because he works very hard with his constituents to make sure that they are aware of what is going on so that they can continue to vote for the Democratic Party of St. Joe County, but then we say oh well that is just good enough for you. What jobs are we talking about? WSBT left that was tax base. We moved Gates out of this particular area and we are still talking about what jobs? What tax base? He stated that he takes a lot of offense and maybe some little kids from the Housing Authority could come over and play well my God, well that’s just great. He stated that we have to engage our residents of the City of South Bend into private investment, investment that we just talked about, true investment which causes tax dollars and causes real sustainable jobs. He noted that construction jobs are not always sustainable, they are great, they are good, but people don’t build on the same project 24/7, 365 days a year. It comes and it goes. This is why there is a local issue going on right now with getting people to work here locally. However, we keep talking about jobs, what jobs are we talking about. He stated that he will be on the Council 3 years and is still at a loss and believes that the community has been at a loss. So when people are talking about the west side let’s talk about the whole City of South Bend and let’s talk about how the City of South Bend is working to do investments such as the one right here. Councilmember Dieter made a motion to send this bill to the full Council with a favorable recommendation and set for Third Reading on January 10, 2011. Councilmember Kirsits seconded the motion. The motion was defeated by a roll call vote of three (3) ayes (Councilmember’s Puzzello, Kirsits, Dieter) and six (6) nays (Councilmember Henry Davis, Jr., LaFountain, Varner, Oliver Davis, Rouse, White) PUBLIC HEARING BILL NO. 74-10 PUBLIC HEARING ON A BILL OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, APPROVING OF THE ISSUANCE OF REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT REVENUE BONDS EXPECTED TO BE ISSUED FOR AND ON BEHALF OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, REDEVELOPMENT DISTRICT AND PLEDGING CERTAIN REVENUES FOR THE PAYMENT OF THE PRINCIPAL OF AND INTEREST ON SUCH BONDS (STANLEY COVELESKI STADIUM) Councilmember LaFoutain, Chairperson, Personnel and Finance Committee reported that this committee held a public hearing this afternoon on this bill and send it to the full Council with no recommendation. th Mayor Stephen Luecke, 14 Floor County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana, made the presentation for this bill. Mayor Luecke thanked the Council for holding this special meeting. He stated that this bill authorizes the issuance and the appropriation to pay off those bonds. Because there is a time frame these bonds need to be sold before the end of the year. It is critical for the placement of those bonds to get the best interest rate so that they can make this as affordable as possible. He stated that he is not going to go into great detail with the improvements because the Council is familiar with the proposed renovations. The Cove is 25 years old, it needs freshing and improvements to meet the standard of Professional Baseball. The improvements that they are proposing to upgrade the facility to be similar with competing stadiums around the country. The Council has heard that South Bend has 12