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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-26-18 Council Minutes REPORT OF SUB-COMMITTEE ON MINUTES TO THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND: THE SUB-COMMITTEE HAS INSPECTED THE MINUTES OF THE February 26,2018 MEETING OF THE COUNCIL AND FOUND THEM TO BE CORRECT. THEREFORE,WE RECOMMEND THE SAME BE APPROVED: TIM SCOT ID VARNER APPROVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL ON: March 26, 2018 ATTEST: `x ——— EMAH FOWLEIR, CITY CLERK REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend,Indiana met in the Council Chambers of the County-City Building on Monday,February 26th,2018 at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was called to order by Council President Tim Scott and the Invocation (Pastor Rikardo Taylor, Mount Carmel Missionary Baptist Church) and Pledge to the Flag were given. ROLL CALL COUNCIL MEMBERS: Tim Scott 1St District, President Regina Williams-Preston 2nd District Sharon L. McBride 3rd District Jo M. Broden 4th District Dr. David Varner 5th District Oliver J. Davis 6th District, Vice President, John Voorde At-Large Gavin Ferlic At-Large, Chairperson Committee of the Whole Karen L. White At-Large OTHERS PRESENT: Kareemah Fowler(Absent) City Clerk Jennifer Coffman(Acting Clerk) Chief Deputy Clerk Bianca Tirado Deputy Clerk Joseph R. Molnar Ordinance Violations Bureau Clerk Graham Sparks Clerk Executive Assistant Bob Palmer Council Attorney REPORT FROM THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON MINUTES Councilmember Dr. David Varner made a motion that the minutes of the February 12th, 2018 meeting of the Council be accepted and placed on file. Councilmember Karen White seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. SPECIAL BUSINESS Councilmember Oliver Davis recognized the Social Work Program from Andrews University in attendance. REPORTS OF CITY OFFICES UPDATES FROM ADMINISTRATION ON CURRENT FLOODING STATUS Representing the City Administration: Laura O'Sullivan, Chief of Staff Laura O'Sullivan, Chief of Staff to the Mayor of the City of South Bend with offices on the 140h floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, read a letter from the Mayor into the record. Ms. O'Sullivan stated,Good evening Councilmembers. I'm sorry that I cannot be there tonight but I am unable to join this evening because I am in Indianapolis with Indiana's Mayors. It is the annual legislative dinner of Advancing Indiana Municipalities. At this event,we will engage with State Legislators to discuss bills that would affect the City in this legislative session. This year,we are tracking several bills impacting annexation, settlement agreements, water infrastructure and other issues. My office is happy to update you on any developments in this regard. I particularly regret missing this evening's meeting as I would like to congratulate the Council's newest member, 1 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 Sharon McBride. As I told her on the phone Saturday, she is joining the Council at a time when cooperation with the Administration is strong and at a time when the Council's role will be more important than ever given the challenges and opportunities ahead.As Councilmember Kelly comes off the Council,I want to sincerely thank him for his public service and wish him well as he returns to the community as a private citizen. I also want to thank everyone who played a role in our response to the flood emergency. Eric Horvath will provide a more detailed update shortly but I want to thank all the personnel in my office and throughout the Administration, as well as our Council and our Intergovernmental partners for their quick response. I have shown the affected area to Senator Donnelly, Congresswoman Walorski and Governor Holcomb and will continue working with them to seek disaster aid where available. Our main concern, now, is to accurately tally storm damage and to address the condition of roads and parks as the waters recede. Meanwhile, we are preparing for the State of the City Address to be had on March 13th, 2018 and look forward to updating you and the community that evening at Adams High School. See you soon. Eric Horvath, Director of Public Works for the City of South Bend with offices on the 13th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, addressed the Council. Mr. Horvath stated, Good evening, Council. Welcome Councilmember McBride, I look forward to working with you. I will give a quick update and then answer any questions now or later if the Council would like. We had a historic flooding event that occurred here and we are still in the midst of seeing the waters recede. We are currently at a river gage depth of about nine point eight (9.8) feet. We do not expect it to be eight (8) feet until Wednesday at about 4:00 p.m. It is slowly receding. The issue is we've got a large watershed. It is about 4,700 square miles which is double the size of Delaware. That, coupled with the frozen ground, results in everything melting and hitting the river very quickly. We are normally under warmer conditions and the Earth usually acts as a sponge but it is all hitting the river very quickly. We crested at twelve point seven (12.7) feet on Thursday morning at 1:30 a.m. Prior to that, our historic record crest was ten point nine (10.9) feet, so we are a couple feet higher than our previous historic record. To give you an idea of where that is, our tenth (10th) largest crest in South Bend's history was six point nine (6.9) feet. This is considerably more than we've ever had in at least the recorded time. It is well over the 500 year flood level so it was a really significant event. The streets we still have closed now are Riverside East from Marion to Michigan, Riverside West from Michigan to Lafayette, Buckhorn from Carroll to Buckhom, Northside Boulevard from Sample to 20th and then some of the streets that go north off of Northside. As of right now we've had three hundred and fifteen (315) reports of flood damage in the County. Of that, one hundred and eighty (180) of those are from South Bend. We've got seventeen(17)parks and trails areas that are currently closed along with the roads I just mentioned. Our drinking water was safe the entire time. We did have some water coming in our North Main plant but were able to keep everything operating without having any excursions on the drinking water. Mr. Horvath continued, On the wastewater side of things, there was just so much now that it overwhelmed parts of the plant including the chlorine area which is still a couple feet under water. The water got so high that, hydraulically, the water couldn't even get out of the plant and we couldn't push any water out. On Wednesday February 21 st,2018 at 9:00 p.m.we had to completely close the plant. That doesn't mean we blocked off the sewers, it just means they overflowed into the river at that time and we didn't treat any of it until about 6:00 a.m. the next morning. For the most part we have been able to continue operating at fifty(50)million gallons a day. We are taking all of the direct sewer flow, mostly from the I/N Tek and I/N Kote lines, that has not combined with clean water and we are treating that. In addition to that, we are taking about fifteen percent (15%) of the combined sewage off of the main interceptor line. We are going to see this continue being an issue for a number of days. The issue right now is that the river is coming back into the sewer system. The valves that close aren't super tight and they are not used to having this much hydraulic head so we are actually getting river water into those main lines. We will see that for a number of days. The treatment plant is back up and running. We are moving from the emergency response mode to the recovery mode. We will see, in the next number of days, many of the staff out and working on those infrastructure issues. We ask everyone if there are major infrastructure issues, call 311 to report it and we will look into it. If you have private property damage, we encourage you to call 574-235-9378 which is the Emergency Management Agency(EMA) for St. 2 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 Joseph County. There is also an online forum on the St. Joseph County website on their front page and you can fill out that report online. It is important we get all those numbers as we would like to understand the full magnitude of the issues so that as we apply for disaster relief, we can include that in the application. Again, that number is 574-235-9378. Mr. Horvath went on, As you know, the Governor declared this a disaster area and that allows us to be in line for potential Federal funds. In 2016 when we had major issues,we had SBA loans and grants and we anticipate something similar to that happening. That will all be handled through the EMA Office. Engineering will continue assessing the condition of the roads as the water recedes. We have no cost estimates yet on the repairs to the damage. We will be getting those over the next couple of weeks. The Streets Department continues to clean the roads and the Sewers Department are cleaning the catch basins and inlets to prepare for any other storm events to be sure we are ready if that happens. In addition to that, I would like to mention that Solid Waste has started an amnesty period. For any flood damage you may have you can call 311 for special pick-up and we will pick up as much trash as they have free of charge. Finally and along with all of this, although it may not seem like it,the Streets Department has been incredibly busy trying to fill potholes. I've never experienced them as bad as this year but we've had six (6) crews out almost around the clock. They will continue to patch until we get caught up which will probably be around the end of the week. Councilmember Karen White stated, Thank you for all of the work the Administration and the crews have done. I'm glad you addressed potholes. Thank you for the work that you do. Mr. Horvath replied, Thank you. I will say, it was refreshing to see that in tough times people do come together. It was great to see Congress people, Senators and the Government all coming together. The interactions between all the City Departments, the County and the State were all great. It is a great testament to everyone coming together. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic stated, Thank you to you and your team. Councilmember John Voorde stated, Thank you. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated,Thank you and great job on what you all are doing. What can be done for the City, if anything,to help residents with flood insurance? Mr. Horvath replied, I am not well-versed on private insurance for flood areas. That is something we can look into and maybe have our Legal Department look at options for residents. I think if they are in those areas I believe it is more Federal but I'm really not familiar with that process. One (1)thing I will say is we worked really hard to keep Bowman Creek running. That prevented a lot of damage from happening upstream. Councilmember Oliver Davis followed up,Now,not all of our streets are City streets. I noticed on Sunday that there were some State vehicles patching those roads. Is there any way for our streets that are owned by the State to be fixed a little earlier? We were out there but I didn't see many State vehicles out there. Mr. Horvath replied, We'll be sure we do a better job of calling them a little earlier. When we called them they did get out there. They've had four(4) crews on the State Road 23/Eddy/Sample area. That is the best thing we can do is to make sure we are communicating with them and letting them know what is going on. Councilmember Dr. David Varner stated, You've earned a lot of appreciation for the work that you've done but I hope you find the time in your busy schedule to relay that to the folks on your staff and the folks on the street because they probably don't hear anything from us very often. When something like this happens,they respond and we appreciate that. Mr. Horvath replied, Absolutely and I appreciate you saying that because I think that is often overlooked and they are the ones that are there. They are the people on the ground doing the work in the middle of the night. Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, That was my thought. Out my door and out my window, twenty-four (24) hours in any direction you saw City workers circulating. Deep gratitude to the folks on the ground and to you and your leadership as well as the Mayor. I think we did an 3 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 outstanding job with regards to communicating road closures and keeping people up to date. I do have questions, though. With regard to the known damage areas versus what is reported, is there any sense of whether or not the one hundred and eighty (180) known reports is a good reporting percentage? A follow up to that would be the importance of those individuals reporting to us but then following through the most extensive filing through the EMA. I thank the media for their coverage of the event and their willingness to share some of these points. My next question is about the several individuals who had electricity shut off. What is our Building Department doing to make sure all the requirements are met to get that electricity online? My last piece is thank god for the amnesty on the debris removal so thanks so much for that. Mr. Horvath replied, I don't have any percentage you were asking for. In fact, those were more calls than I thought we would have gotten. It was pretty much anticipated and most of the reports were basement damage. Most of them were little enough water that we wouldn't expect any structural damage. There are about ten (10)to fifteen(15) along the Emerson Drive area that may be total losses. We will continue to follow up on those. We had thirty (30) electric shut offs. We will work with the Building Department to get those turned back on as soon as possible. Councilmember Sharon L. McBride stated, Thank you for your swift response, especially for the flooding. I had the privilege of working over at the wastewater treatment plant and inspected it for a few years and they have always been a state-of-the-art facility. This could have been a lot worse but it had no effect on our drinking water so I appreciate the swiftness of everyone's actions.Kudos to everyone. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston stated, Thank you. As much as everyone else appreciates it, I absolutely do too. I have a question for you. With regard to potholes, do you have a reporting system for those? Mr. Horvath replied, Yes, in fact we should have that online and available to everyone. That wouldn't be all that difficult. My only concern is making sure we do it in a way that it doesn't slow down the crews filling potholes by marking ones they've already filled in. That is a good point. If you call into 311, that will get to the Street Department and they will get out there and fix them. Under normal conditions, that can happen within twenty-four (24) to forty-eight (48) hours. In conditions like this, they are just trying to go as fast as they can. Councilmember Tim Scott stated, Again, thank the crews. I do know that by talking to Code Enforcement today,they are actually helping the Building Department to inspect the five hundred (500) houses they need to inspect. Code said they will help with about one hundred (100). The interesting thing is that there were people fifty (50) or one hundred (100) feet from the river and they weren't eligible for flood insurance because it is based on the one hundred(100) year record flood. Thank you for coming. Mr. Horvath replied, That is a really good point. What happened in 2016 is SBA came and they did a loan program. They set up and anyone could apply and find out almost instantly whether you could get a loan. You can do additional stuff with low interest so it was a hugely helpful program. Those who didn't meet the requirements for that were then given grants. They gave out about, I think, $500,000 total to one hundred(100) homes. RESOLVE INTO THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE At 7:26 p.m. Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to resolve into the Committee of the Whole. Councilmember Dr. David Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic, Chairperson, presiding. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic explained the procedures to be followed for tonight's meeting in accordance with Article 1, Section 2-11 of the South Bend Municipal Code. 4 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 PUBLIC HEARINGS BILL NO. 04-18 PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE AND SEEKING A SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2104, 2108,AND 2112 E MISHAWAKA AVENUE, AND 914 AND 918 S 21 st STREET, COUNCILMANIC DISTRICT NO. 3 IN THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA Councilmember Oliver Davis, Chair of the Zoning and Annexation Committee,reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation. Angela Smith, Deputy Director of the Area Plan Commission with offices on the 11th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, served as presenter for this bill. Ms. Smith stated, The petition before you is for the proposed Fire Station on Mishawaka Avenue. It acquired several properties in the area. The ones along Mishawaka Avenue were currently zoned MU, Mixed-Use District, but there were some properties zoned SF-2, Single-Family and Two (2)-Family. In order to look at the project as a cohesive event,they brought the whole thing into a rezone to MU,Mixed- Use District, and are seeking the special exception approval for the Fire Station. The site has currently been cleared and it is a vacant site right now. I will let the petitioner speak a bit more about the site plan for the Fire Station but,in general,it meets the requirements of the MU,Mixed- Use District,the one(1)recently adopted by the Council.There were a couple variations.Primarily to move the building a little bit south so there was enough room for the trucks to exit safely onto Mishawaka Avenue with a clear sight area. This comes to you from the Area Plan Commission with a favorable recommendation. Rezoning the sight to MU, Mixed-Use, will allow a consistent zoning district for a harmonious development of the site. Approval of the special exception use for the Fire Station will allow the City to improve its public safety services to the community. Todd Skwarcan, Assistant Fire Chief for the South Bend Fire Department with offices located at 1222 S. Michigan Street, South Bend, IN, served as the petitioner for this bill. Asst. Chief Skwarcan stated, Thank you, Council, for your continued support of this project. As many of you know, it has been a long time coming. It has been a hard-fought and well-fought collaborative process. We've had many partners in the City and we thank all of them. We are opening bids tomorrow at the Board of Public Works meeting. As has been discussed, a couple main goals of the building were to provide modern facilities for our firefighters. Our current station on the Avenue was built in 1926 and is not suitable for a mixed gender workforce not to mention its ability to house modern fire-fighting apparatus. It only had a single bay so it lacked the ability for us to put other equipment in that facility. With this new structure we will be able to house Engine Nine (9), an ambulance and our boat truck. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked, Could you talk about the issue regarding the neighbor and how you worked out that situation?And secondly, would there be any room there for training? Asst. Chief Skwarcan replied, Immediately to the south of the site,there is a neighbor that wanted to stay in their home. Chief Cox has met personally with that property owner and the neighbor had a couple requests of the City. One (1) being the removal of a tree that was on the southeast of the property and the other was the addition of a white vinyl fence. We are fine with those two (2) concerns and we worked well with that neighbor. We are looking at training purposes. This may be a river rescue house. Councilmember Oliver Davis then asked, Can this station serve just the Third District, or does it serve everyone? Asst. Chief Skwarcan replied, It serves everyone. Station Nine (9) is a very important station due to its proximity to many different places. This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. 5 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 None from the public wished to speak in favor of or opposition to this bill. Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to send Bill No. 04-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Tim Scott seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. 07-18 PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE TO VACATE THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY: THE RIGHT OF WAY TO BE VACATED BEGINS AT A POINT APPROXIMATELY 565' SOUTH ON SOUTH ST. JOSEPH STREET FROM THE EAST IRELAND ROAD SOUTH RIGHT OF WAY, RUNNING SOUTH APPROXIMATELY 75', THEN WEST APPROXIMATELY 88', THEN NORTH APPROXIMATELY 109' TO A POINT APPROXIMATELY 530' SOUTH ALONG SOUTH ST. JOSEPH STREET FROM THE EAST IRELAND SOUTH RIGHT OF WAY Councilmember John Voorde, Chair of the Public Works and Property Vacation Committee, reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation. Tom O'Neil, Menard Inc. with offices located at 5101 Menard Drive, Eau Claire, WI, served as petitioner for this bill. Mr. O'Neil stated, I'm here on behalf of Menards requesting the vacation of the southern-most portion of St. Joseph Street. We've been working for some time to assemble enough properties to replace our existing store further to the east. It has been a long time coming but with the acquisition of the former K-Mart property, an acre of additional commercial property, several residences and vacant parcels that were comprised of remnant land occasioned by the Fellows Street overpass, and the INDOT right-of-way we have acquired,we've assembled enough property together to complete this. This is one (1) of our final steps in gaining enough acreage for our new site planning for our new store. This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. None from the public wished to speak in favor of or opposition to this bill. Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to send Bill No. 07-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Karen White seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of nine(9) ayes. 10-18 PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 10546-17 BY ADDING NEW SALARIED AND WAGE POSITIONS TO THE ORDINANCE FIXING MAXIMUM SALARIES AND WAGES OF APPOINTED OFFICERS AND NON-BARAINING EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2018 Councilmember Karen White, Chair of the Personnel and Finance Committee, reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation. Aaron Perri, Executive Director for Venues, Parks & Arts with offices located at 321 E. Walter Street, South Bend, IN, served as presenter for this bill.Mr. Perri stated,The ordinance before you is actually a change in the salary ordinance.This is something that we mentioned during the budget process. We allocated funds for Century Center's personnel and operating budget. We noted that 6 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 coming sometime in early 2018, we would be making a change to the structure of that contract. That change is shaping up as we speak and we know exactly how that will shake out. Essentially what happens is approximately eight (8) employees will transfer from contract labor to become City employees once again. A lot of these folks had been City employees once before. This will allow the City to focus and double down its efforts on what it does well. These are facilities and grounds folks,IT,and accounting folks.The employees coming over will be at comparable salaries and benefit levels. Ultimately, this will result in approximately $200,000 savings, at a minimum, to the Century Center, annually. That savings can be reinvested in a number of ways, one (1) of which being the possibility for a Business Development Fund that is designed to attract conferences, tradeshows and conventions to our area. In response to a couple requests brought forth in Committee, I emailed the job descriptions to you all so they should be in your inbox. They are all going to be filled by folks already at the Century Center. The diversity demographics are as follows, fourteen (14) white and seven (7) minority, ten (10) male and eleven (11) female, and eleven (11) over fifty (50) and ten(10) under fifty (50). This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. None from the public wished to speak in favor of or opposition to this bill. Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to send Bill No. 07-18 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Regina Williams-Preston seconded this motion which carried unanimously by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. RISE AND REPORT Councilmember Karen White made a motion to rise and report to full Council. Councilmember Dr. David Varner seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. REGULAR MEETING RECONVENED Be it remembered that the Common Council of the City of South Bend reconvened in the Council Chambers on the fourth floor of the County-City building at 7:44 p.m. Council President Tim Scott presided with nine (9)members present BILLS—THIRD READING BILL NO. 04-18 THIRD READING ON AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE ZONING ORDINANCE AND SEEKING A SPECIAL EXCEPTION FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2104, 2108, AND 2112 E MISHAWAKA AVENUE, AND 914 AND 918 S 21 st STREET, COUNCILMANIC DISTRICT NO. 3 IN THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA Councilmember John Voorde made a motion to pass Bill No. 04-18. Councilmember Karen White seconded the motion, which carried by a roll call vote of nine(9) ayes. 07-18 THIRD READING ON AN ORDINANCE TO VACATE THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY: THE RIGHT OF WAY TO BE VACATED BEGINS AT A POINT APPROXIMATELY 565' SOUTH ON SOUTH ST. JOSEPH STREET FROM THE EAST REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 IRELAND ROAD SOUTH RIGHT OF WAY, RUNNING SOUTH APPROXIMATELY 75', THEN WEST APPROXIMATELY 88', THEN NORTH APPROXIMATELY 109' TO A POINT APPROXIMATELY 530' SOUTH ALONG SOUTH ST. JOSEPH STREET FROM THE EAST IRELAND SOUTH RIGHT OF WAY Councilmember Karen White made a motion to pass Bill No. 07-18. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic seconded the motion, which carried by a roll call vote of nine (9) ayes. 10-18 THIRD READING ON AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 10546-17 BY ADDING NEW SALARIED AND WAGE POSITIONS TO THE ORDINANCE FIXING MAXIMUM SALARIES AND WAGES OF APPOINTED OFFICERS AND NON-BARAINING EMPLOYEES OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2018 Councilmember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to pass Bill No. 10-18. Councilmember Karen White seconded the motion, which carried by a roll call vote of nine (9) ayes. RESOLUTIONS BILL NO. 18-03 A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, APPROVING A PETITION OF THE AREA BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 915 27TH STREET Councilmember Karen White made a motion to continue Bill No. 18-03 to the March 26th. 2018 Common Council meeting. Councilmember Dr. David Varner seconded this motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. 18-04 A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, APPROVING A PETITION OF THE AREA BOARD OF ZONING APPEALS FOR THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2602 MISHAWAKA AVENUE Councilmember Oliver Davis, Chair of the Zoning and Annexation Committee,reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation. Angela Smith, Deputy Director of the Area Plan Commission with offices on the 11th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, served as presenter for this bill. Ms. Smith stated, The petitioner is seeking a special exception use to allow for a drive-thru window in a LB, Local Business District. The building is proposed to be a Biggby Coffee. The building used to be a bank but the way the ordinance is written they need to seek a special exception because it is in the lower zoning classification for commercial use. This comes to you from the Area Board of Zoning Appeals with a favorable recommendation. 8 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 Kirk Smith, 325 Enterprise Drive, Breckenridge, MI, served as petitioner for this bill. Mr. Smith stated, This is a pretty straight forward project. It is the repurposing of a bank with a drive-thru window for Biggby Coffee. It is a great use and great neighborhood. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked, Will you offer hot chocolate? Mr. Smith replied, Yes. Hot, Iced or Frozen. This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. None from the public wished to speak in favor of or opposition to this bill. Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to pass Bill No. 18-04. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic seconded the motion, which carried by a roll call vote of nine (9) ayes. 18-07 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND WAIVING PETITIONER, THE LASALLE APARTMENTS, LLC NON-COMPLIANCE WITH IND. CODE §6-1.1-12.1.6 ET SEQ. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic, Chair of the Community Investment Committee,reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with a favorable recommendation. James Mueller, Executive Director of Community Investment with offices on the 140,floor of the County-City Building, South Bend, IN, served as presenter for this bill. Mr. Mueller stated, As we went through the process last summer, we bundled a lot of the waivers of non-compliance of tax abatements and this related to the CF-1 process which goes through the Council. The tax abatements are a complicated economic development tool that touches the Assessor's Office, the Auditor's Office,the Common Council,the City Clerk and Community Investment. This is a new type of issue we have encountered that stems from when it starts. The abatement starts when the Assessor assesses the new assessed value. In this case,the petitioner did not receive a new assessed value in 2016 and therefore did not know this was year one (1) of the abatement to start the process. Jeff Ryan, Real America with offices located at 10501 Hague Road, Fishers, IN, served as the petitioner for this bill. Mr. Ryan stated, I hope you agree that we rehabbed the building and did beautiful work as we committed to. This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. None from the public wished to speak in favor of or opposition to this bill. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic made a motion to pass Bill No. 18-07. Councilmember Karen White seconded the motion, which carried by a roll call vote of nine (9) ayes. BILLS FIRST READING BILL NO. 13-18 FIRST READING ON AN ALLEY VACATION- EAST/WEST ALLEY 14' IN WIDTH AND APPROXIMATELY 120' LONG FROM EAST RIGHT-OF-WAY OF EMERSON STREET AND EAST RIGHT-OF-WAY OF NORTH/SOUTH ALLEY BETWEEN NORTHSIDE BOULEVARD AND HILDRETH STREET, SOUTH BEND, INDIANA Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to send Bill No. 13-18 to the Public Works and Property Vacation Committee and set it for Second Reading and Public Hearing on March 12th, 9 REGULAR MEETING February 26, 2018 2018. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Council President Tim Scott stated, I would like to recognize Randy Kelly for his service to his City and this Council. We appreciate what he has given to us and we are sorry to see him go. We are grateful to have Sharon McBride with us. I do want to say, for those that were not there,the St. Joseph Democratic Party did an excellent job. It was a very transparent process. NEW BUSINESS Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, The Solid Waste Management District is meeting again tomorrow. Under consideration is an HHW fee of eleven dollars ($11) and a recycling rate of twenty-eight dollars ($28) for those who are currently in the recycling program. Secondly, another announcement relative to tomorrow night, I am viewing a film called Little Warriors and it is at the Eck Visitors Center tomorrow night on the University of Notre Dame's campus at 6:30 p.m. This is to get children to get engaged on the issue of climate change. Dinner is served and there is no fee. I am looking forward to presenting at that. Council President Tim Scott announced, Please,by the next Council meeting, schedule your respective Committee's organization meeting. PRIVILEDGE OF THE FLOOR Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, South Bend, IN, stated, I would like to point out that in South Bend and Mishawaka combined,there are 54,000 seniors. Those are people over fifty. So I would like, for when you are doing data, you to consider that we have a lot of seniors struggling and they seem to be overlooked. I helped five (5) seniors with ruined homes this past week. They didn't have insurance and lost a lot of things. I would also like to see all the buildings that the City owns and look at those rooftops to see if there could be solar panels. We need to up the budget to get to more roads and more potholes. I also think the Council needs to focus on real priorities like the opioid crisis, crime,roads, sewer overflows and not the fluff stuff. Really get down to work because we have the next circuit breaker coming. As I'm evaluating in the next budget process, I hope you get tough and make better priorities than you have in the past. Samuel Brown, 222 E. Navarre Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I have a watchdog group called Citizens United. I haven't been here for a while. Our kids are not getting served well by our school system. I miss coming here. I was in the flood area. We got it done and we let them know. I was like a pit bull on this. I'm blessed that I was able to do this. My neighbors were really affected. I hope the City takes care of the roads. We need to take care of these potholes. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council,President Tim Scott adjourned the meeting at 8:02 p.m. 10