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PEACE
1865
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK
HEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY OCTOBER 28, 2019 4:25 P.M.
Committee Members Present: Jo M. Broden, John Voorde, Karen White
Dr. Oliver Davis
Committee Members Absent: None
Other Council Present: Tim Scott, Sharon McBride, Jake Teshka
Gavin Ferlic
Other Council Absent: Regina Williams-Preston
Others Present: Lisa Horton, Bob Palmer, Dawn Jones
Presenters: Gavin Ferlic, Chris Dressel, Clara McDaniel
Agenda: Substitute Bill No. 24-19- Cell Phone Ordinance
Bill No. 49-19-Amending Ordinance Shared
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Mobility Device Operator
Bill No. 24-19- Cell Phone Ordinance
Councilmember Gavin Ferlic, 1109 Dewey Avenue, South Bend, IN stated, Just wanted to
introduce this ordinance. As I mentioned, I callover ou thephone, if for some reason the timing
isn't right tonight or we want to delay no rush on this, but it's really just a very simple thing.
Distracted driving,there's a lot of data out there that shows distracted driving increases crash rates
anywhere from two (2) to six (6) times and distracted driving obviously includes holding a phone
to make a call, holding a phone to text. It is illegal currently, I think it is illegal in the State of
Indiana to text. However, it's difficult to enforce that. I think a lot of folks can do text because it's
difficult to tell the difference between the text and somebody dialing or placing a call. And I think
we can just improve overall safety if we had less people on their phones while they're operating a
motor vehicle. With that,Chief Ruszkowski has been kind enough to join,to answer any questions
regarding this as well. But really that's the extent of my presentation. I'd be happy answer any
questions. And like I said,if for some reason you know you'd like to get a little more data or would
like to take a little more time with this, I'm certainly comfortable with delaying and certainly doing
that.
INTEGRITY' SERVICE'ACCESSIBILITY
JENNIFER M.COFFMAN BIANCA L.T►RADo JOSEPH R.MOLNAR
CHIEF DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS DEPUTY/DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK
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Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, With regard to the Section 21.34, the positive find moneys.
In that section two (2), in terms of reporting,perhaps consider adding like the number of citations.
But then also, in addition to the City Clerk, I would actually encourage circling in the Council
President and or the Health and Public Safety Chair and Vice Chair. That way we have a sense of
advocacy on this over time.
Committeemember Gavin Ferlic stated,For sure.And,just a comment that I had is monthly maybe
a little bit excessive on that. Quarterly I think would be fine. I don't know how the rest of the
Council feels,but I feel like a quarterly update would be good.
Committee Chair Jo M. Broden replied, And then my last thing is, do we know, or is there data
relative to the difference between talking or sort of the hands free element of this that we're trying
to get at versus just the general distraction of the other non-hands free?
Committeemember Gavin Ferlic replied, Yeah, it's a really good question. So distracted driving,
there is a lot of data out there that shows distracted driving leads to an increase in crashes. Whether
or not there is, I shouldn't say collecting data,but there's no consensus data on when the ordinance
is passed, it restricts using your hands with a cell phone that then results in a decrease in crashes.
However, there's no control group. We're not stopping technology and capping the number of cell
phones at the same time. So, I would argue that even crashes remain the exact same. You still
introduced say over the past five (5) years, probably two (2) to three (3) times the number of cell
phones or devices that people are using.
Committee Chair Jo M.Broden stated,We will move to the committee for questions or comments.
Seeing none, we will move to the public for anyone wishing to speak either in favor or opposition
to substitute Bill No. 24-19. Seeing none, we will move back to the Committee for a vote.
Committeemember John Voorde made a motion to send substitute Bill No. 24-19 to the full
Council with a favorable recommendation. The motion was seconded by Committeemember
Karen White and carried with a voice vote of four(4) ayes.
Bill No. 49-19-Amending Ordinance Shared Mobility Device Operator
Chris Dressel, Senior Planner for the Department of Community Investment with offices on the
14th floor of the County-City building stated, I'd like to offer a brief presentation regarding the
ordinance request, some context on how we got here, I'll talk about the shared mobility, some of
the highlights of the ordinance, some non-ordinance items and then I'll talk about what's next. It's
been a brief history in terms of shared mobility in South Bend.A couple of years ago we introduced
dock less bike share. Starting last year, was the introduction of Electronic Scooter or E-Scooters
and those tended to come in a non-regulated way to U.S. Cities. It took some time for Cities to sort
of cope with that disorder through the formation of shared mobility ordinances, including the City
of Indianapolis and that's the one that South Bend is sort of using as a model for this request. South
Bend has gone through a couple of pilots for our E-Scooter program. So, shared mobility I think
defined quickly,is just talking about sort of a wide variety of vehicles that are used on an as needed
basis to provide the broadest possible transportation options. In the case of the South Bend
ordinance, we're talking about E-Scooters and E-Bikes. E-Scooters are somewhat familiar. An E-
Bike is just a bike that's powered by sort of a pedal assist electric motor. So, talking about the
contents of the ordinance. We're wanting to really first (1St) and foremost sort of provide some
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®CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK
structure, a backing and a protection in terms of introducing shared mobility services and shared
mobility providers. We want to offer some basics,really some broad universal language that helps
in terms of how we define the devices, how we provide user regulations and also, how we would
set a fee. The fee amounts as proposed by this ordinance is ten thousand ($10,000) and then the
language beyond that would say that the adjustments would then be in the jurisdiction of the Board
of Public Works. So, there would be only an annual license fee. It is practiced in other locations to
include other Cities across the country to have a per device or a per day fee. We are not including
that. We're wanting to put in this kind of fee and language so we can be well positioned for this
very flexible and rapidly evolving type of technology or industry. So, the fees could then be
collected to invest in the areas of safety, education and enforcement. So, some other ordinance
items gathered together here is we're also talking about removing inoperable devices in a timely
fashion which is the responsibility of the operator. Establishing proper parking etiquette and
establishing the non-permitted parking areas. Ensuring accurate distribution of all devices, data
sharing and penalties for illegal operation when it comes to operators not going through the proper
procedure in order to be established and recognized. So, the non-ordinance items, and what this
means is we've had a parallel process that we've been going through as the process of selecting
another vendor that could provide these shared mobility services. So, we've been trying to be
cognizant of where the ordinance does govern some items, it doesn't govern others and that 's
done in an intentional way in order to have some flexibility with the vendor. So, these would fall
under the governance of the vendor agreement. So, that's the launch rates,program minimum and
maximums,user fees,prohibited areas of use through GEO Fencing, and that's technical terms for
being able to sort of electronically set areas where it's a sort of Go or No-Go area for these devices
and then the curfew and seasonal operation. So, looking at what's next, we're hoping to have a
shared mobility operator this fall. Then a vendor agreement, do some pre-launch operations and
then have a launch in the Spring of 2020. I'd be happy to answer any questions that you might
have.
Committee Chair Jo M. Broden stated, You have items in the ordinance, things that you'll later
reserve for a MOU. If my recollection serves me correctly, the ability to pay it forward or for
employers to pay in advance, I think that was very beneficial. We know it's been beneficial to our
community from a number of different types of feedback that we've gotten. So, I'm hoping that
while that wasn't something that was mentioned here, it will continue to be a priority as we craft
those MOU's.
Mr. Dressel replied, Sure. I agree that it was very helpful when it came to serving the users of our
current devices and really we found that a lot users are necessity users and this is a dependable
form of transportation. So, the advantage is, as this industry has evolved, we now have these
operations that are better in place that we can tap into instead of having to sort of work them into
rebuilding a new system.
Committee Chair Jo M. Broden stated, I just wanted to personally thank you because you have
been so involved with the various groups, bike associations etc. and you've had very open and
ongoing communication during the tenure that I've been here. So, I thank you for that.
Mr. Dressel replied, Thank you for your support.
Committeemember Jake Teshka asked, That ten thousand dollars ($10,000), I'm assuming that's
been benchmarked against other communities.
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0CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK
Mr. Dressel replied, It has. We did a study of other communities and I think we were trying to find
a niche that we fit given that we're not going to consider the other kind of charges. It may seem
high compared to communities that may be a little bit above our size, but it's more of a fixed
number. Certainly, I think we find it appropriate with the kind of business that we're trying to do
and the kind of work that we want to do with some of these things. So,it was the result of a process
where we studied the fees in other communities.
Councilmember Tim Scott stated, Am I correct in saying that this ordinance just dictates the
guidelines for any mobility company that would come in here? Because the fact is that there is
much confusion with Lime Bike with people thinking that the City owns all the Lime Bikes and
the City is responsible for all that, but these are for actual private companies to come in and set up
and do business, correct?
Mr. Dressel replied, You are correct Council President Scott.
Councilmember Tim Scott replied, Thank you. I want to make that absolutely clear to the public
that we are not the owners of any bikes or any scooters and the City hasn't put out any tax dollars
for any of that right?
1 Mr. Dressel replied, That is correct.
Committeemember John Voorde stated, I just have one (1) comment. A lot of this as it evolves,
both as the industry evolves and this ordinance and it's application, I would urge that our 311
Center be brought up to speed regularly and routinely on this kind of thing so they just don't
discard calls that might come in about this for one (1), and then number two (2), I sure like the
idea of maybe even a separate insert in the water works bills.That seems like an awfully easy way
to get the word out, but you can consolidate that along with this other issue that we'll consider
later tonight as a way to educate the public.
Mr. Dressel replied, Yes, thank you. That's taken under advisement. I wholly agree.
Committee Chair Jo M. Broden asked if there was anyone from the public wishing to speak in
favor or opposition to Bill No. 49-19. Seeing none, the meeting was turned back to the Committee
for a vote.Committee Chair Jo M.Broden made a motion to send Bill No.49-19 to the full Council
with a favorable recommendation. The motion was seconded by Committeemember Karen White
and carried with a voice vote of four(4) ayes.
Re dui S fitted,
Re
. Broden, Committee Chair
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