05-29-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING May 29, 2018 Mr. Palmer stated, We've looked into the City of Indianapolis' Anti-Harassment Policy to see if there was something we could replicate here in South Bend. I have contacted the Indianapolis Officials. Drafting the Resolution or Ordinance, whichever way you wanted to go, is not the difficult part and I will have something to Council within a week or so. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, I would like to announce that FEMA's Disaster Assistance Center is still up and running at the Leighton Center. They are working to get everyone assited. That will go until July 5th, 2018. And then another piece related to that is that the FEMA group operating out of the Leighton Center is going on the road to Brown Intermediate Center,tomorrow Right at 737 Beale Street at 7:00 p.m. I think that might help with the proximity issues that have been identified for the area. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated, A note for the Chief of Staff. Could you get in contact with Code Enforcement or those that cut the grass in the parks? On the corner of Gertrude and Prairie Avenue, the grass is so high that you can't turn. You can't see to make a turn and that is a high traffic area. If you can get someone to cut that down tomorrow so we don't have an accident over there, that would be great. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, South Bend, IN, stated, I want to discuss this upcoming budget stuff. I want to point out that in 2016 the City had $236,909,378 in debt. And we are annually paying close to $5 million in interest. And $13,055,327 in principal. So when you pass things, I think it is easy to say, `Oh, it's just one (1)project, one (1) project, one (1) project.' But you need to look at the accumulating debt. It's not going down. The City has a good cash balance. It has a good bond rating. But I'm concerned we have over$236 million in debt. We are paying$5 million in interest every year. What could we do with that extra$5 million. So I think that as you do this budget process, please be cognizant of tightening the belt and looking at that debt and keeping an eye on it. We have to know how the projects are affecting the big numbers. I just wanted to throw that out as something to think about. Roy Roelke, 5625 Place Drive, South Bend, IN, stated, I'm here for a business situation, not a personal agenda with the City. I represent the owners on the property off of Renewable Energy Drive and Calvert. We were told it would be an agenda item, possibly, tonight. If not, we would like to know when because we have had communication with Mr. Gammage and the other gentleman from Economic Development. We are just wondering where that process is at. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, President Tim Scott adjourned the meeting at 7:15 p.m. 4