08-08-83 Council Meeting Minutes

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.6-ea REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 8, 1983 Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend met in the Council Chambers of the County -City Building on Monday, August 8, 1983, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was called to order and the Pledge to the Flag was given. ROLL CALL Present: Council Members Serge, Szymkowiak Taylor, Zielinski, Crone, Harris, Voorde and Beck Absent: Council Member McGann REPORT FROM THE SUB - COMMITTEE ON MINUTES To the Common Council of the City of South Bend: Your sub - committee on the inspection and supervision of the minutes would res- pectfully report that it has inspected the minutes of the July 25, 1983, meeting of the Council and found them correct. The sub - committee, therefore, recommends that the same be approved. /s/ Beverlie J. Beck Isl Beverly D. Crone Council Member Serge made a motion that the minutes of the July 25, 1983, meeting of the Council be accepted and placed on file, seconded by Council Member Zielinski. The motion carried. SPECIAL BUSINESS Council Member Serge made a motion to reappoint David Albert, Ed Baer, and Frank Yeandel, and appoint Joseph Bellina, to the Energy Commission, seconded by Council Member Taylor. The motion carried. REPORTS Council Member Serge indicated that the Personnel and Finance Committee had met on Bill nos. 81 and 82 -83 and recommended them favorable. Council Member Voorde indicated that the Zoning and Vacation Committee had met on Bill nos. 42, 43 and 80 -83. He indicated Bill No. 42 -83 would be continued until August 22; Bill No. 43 -83 did not receive a favorable recommendation; and Bill No. 80 -83 received a favorable recommendation. Kathy Barnard, Director of the Department of Code Enforcement, gave the following report: I have asked for some time at this Council meeting to talk about the Bridgit McGuire bar building permit situation. Both and Mayor and I and the neighbors have been very concerned about the expansion of the Bridgit bar and the building permit which allowed the expansion. A mistake was made in the issuance of the building permit for the expansion of Bridgit's bar. According to the Municipal Code, the building permit should not have been issued. The Building Commissioner has admitted his mistake in issuing the permit. He is very sorry about this mistake and he has resigned from the Building Commissioner position today. I too am very sorry about this mistake and I can certainly understand the strong feelings of the neighbors about this matter. The building Commissioner or his designee have the sole authority for issuing building permits. To keep matters going, I have asked Mr. Paul Roelke, Assistant Building Commissioner to be the Acting Building Commissioner for a short time. The Board of Public Works will confirm this action at the next Board meeting. The question I face now is how can this situation be corrected. I would like to see the addition demolished. However, the city's authority to mandate tearing down the addition is not completely clear. Even if the city had the clear authority to force tearing down the addition, the city might be liable for some heavy costs. Even so, I would prefer to have the building addition down and I will continue working toward that goal. There is still the problem of the parking which I am not yet satisfied has been completel resolved. I am still looking into the parking situation and will not grant an occupancy permit until all parking questions have been answered. The issuance of the building permit is an error which has led to a very legally complex and difficult situation. At this point, I am not sure that we can get back to the situation which existed prior to the addition. I am concerned about the neighborhoods and residences of our city, but its in the nature of errors that they sometimes lead to results which are extremely difficult to correct.