04-25-05 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING APRIL 25,2005 Joseph Valley Parkway, south side of Adams Road. A Public Hearing was held on the Resolution at this time. The following individual spoke in favor of this bill. Ms. Donna Chamblee, 51194 Enchanted Oak Court, South Bend, Indiana, spoke in favor of this resolution. Ms. Chamblee informed the Council that her husband is Dr. Roland Chamblee, County Health Officer for St. Joseph County are residents of German Township, she for over 35 years. She informed the Council that her son, now a college freshman, who at the age of three (3) had a dental accident, while not life threatening, was very bloody. Oddly enough it happened on a Notre Dame home game Saturday, the only way she could get medical attention for him was to go all the way to Grape Road in Mishawaka, with all the traffic and road blocks for the game day traffic to the pediatric dentist’s office. If that same accident would happen today, we still would still be in the same boat and have to fight all that traffic to receive those same services. With this proposed plan and annexation these medical services are to be part of this planned area. She was pleased that this plan was thought through enough to be using City sewer and water, unlike most development in the County that still uses a well and septic, that are now causing a lot of problems. The forward thinking that is occurring here and the growth of the City is inevitable. The only direction to expand is north and west and most residents remember when the fire hydrants were installed. It was not because there were an abundance of extra pipe and fire hydrants laying around, it was because it was being planned for expansion. Planned development as opposed to random development is the better way to go, using a model that has been proven to be successful in other communities. Ms. Chamblee further noted that she and her husband are both in favor of the annexation as well as the project. Kathleen Cekanski-Farrand, Council Attorney informed the Council that with regard to the guidelines that the Council uses for Fiscal Plans, the Fiscal Plan is to represent a creditable commitment by the City to provide proposed services to the annexed area as highlighted by Mr. Magliozzi, Community and Economic Development Department, with regard to both capital and non-capital services. The City of South Bend has the burden of proving that the annexation would be in best interest of the owners of the land in the territory proposed to be annexed into the city. Cost estimates of the plans services are detailed in the report and those may be addressed. Remarks are then to address whether the City has established a definite policy for the territory sought to be annexed into the City. Issues with regard to the annexation itself and also the rezoning should be held for the public portion of the annexation bill, which is in the Committee of the Whole, Chaired by Councilmember Kelly. The following individual spoke in opposition of this bill. Mr. Donald Brubaker, 1706 Anderson, South Bend, Indiana, informed the Council that by the developer’s own admission and one of the things that he noted at the end of the developer’s presentation in rebuttal was that sites in South Bend were undesirable. Mr.