04-23-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

REGULAR MEETING April 23, 2018 Councilmember Gavin Ferlic distributed the latest amendments from the petitioner. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic stated, Our attorney has a copy of this. Just as a note,the Council is reviewing minor changes made to item two (2),item six(6)and items seven(7) and eight(8)were added. I apologize we did not have the ability to red line in PDF. The first sentence of item two (2) had been amended and the first sentence of item six (6) has been amended. And again, item seven(7) and eight(8) were additions. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked, Can we have a copy given to the media? Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated,I would like to reconcile what was in our boxes that had the blue line versus what we are now receiving. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic replied, The blue line recommendations were accepted so those are not blue lined anymore. In item two (2) the words `make reasonable efforts to' were removed. In item six(6)the words `work in good faith with' were removed and inserted in their place was `take steps to address reasonable concerns identified by'. Following the word `neighbor' the word `to' was removed and the word `and' was inserted. And like I said, items seven (7) and eight(8) have been added. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic gave the floor to the petitioner to give context to the new additions. He reminded her to only comment on the written commitments and amendments presented to Council. Jenny Hunsberger, 360 N. Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend, IN, served as the petitioner for this bill. Ms. Hunsberger stated, We have worked hard since the last Council Meeting to address questions raised by Council Members. Specifically, we have attempted to demonstrate, in action, the commitments we made a few weeks ago. Number one (1), we are good neighbors. At the request of Councilmember Ferlic and Williams-Preston, we met with representatives of Whole Women's Health with the expressed goal of creating an environment of safety and peaceful coexistence. We met in good faith and have followed that meeting with these series of written legally binding commitments which you have all seen. We will not allow protestors or protesting and we will ask anyone in the public right of way in front of our property to leave. We will not support protesting. We are categorically one hundred percent (100%) opposed to protesting. We create peaceful environments. We will visually separate ourselves from the proposed clinic by moving our drive as far west as engineering and zoning will allow. Our signage will be no larger than the sign on the current adjacent property. It will only describe the services we provide. We are good neighbors. At the meeting I exchanged business cards with the Clinical Services Director of Whole Women's Health so that if there ever are questions or concerns that arise,we can contact each other and address them. The meeting was respectful and productive. These written commitments are binding to the property. We are not moving. We are proposing an investment of over $500,000 to support the women and families of the West Side and we will stay there just as we have for the last thirty-four(34) years. Ms. Hunsberger stated, One (1) week ago today, we provided Councilmembers Ferlic and Williams-Preston with an executed agreement. We did not hear anything in response until noon today from the Area Plan staff that had concerns about enforceability. We thank them for bringing them to our attention. We have addressed these in the revisions you have received today. The most important thing we did was to maintain this Council's control over any changes we make in the future. Although Whole Women's Health has not embraced our petition to be next door, we did make an agreement with both them and the City that we will abide by our commitments to create peace and safety because that is good for all women. We appreciate Councilmember Ferlic and Williams-Preston for bringing us together with representatives of Whole Women's Health because it will make our relationship moving forward more positive and will help prevent the situations you are concerned about. Ms. Hunsberger stated, We are committed to every woman and family in need on the West Side. At the last Council meeting, Councilmember Davis and McBride asked us about our clients at Chapin who struggle with transportation. Our President, Ann Manion, committed to keeping Chapin open two (2) days a week so that no family would feel left behind. Last week, we approached a donor who is a long-time resident of the West Side who is significantly supportive of our expansion to 3527 Lincoln Way West. This family agreed to underwrite operations at 9