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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-25-16 Health and Public SafetyOFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK HEALTH & PUBLIC SAFETY APRIL 25, 2016 4:15 P.M. Committee Members Present: John Voorde, Karen L. White, Oliver Davis, Jo M. Broden Other Council Present: Gavin Ferlic, Dr. David Varner Others Present: City Clerk Kareemah Fowler, Joseph Molnar, Alkeyna Aldridge, Kathleen Cekanski - Farrand, Adriana Rodriguez Agenda: Bill No. 16 -44 — Approving the Issuance Of Scrap Metal Licenses for Calendar Year 2016 Bill No. 16 -46 — Off Leash Dog Park Special Committee Proposal Councilmember John Voorde, Chairperson of the Health & Public Safety Committee, called the meeting to order with two bills on the agenda. Bill No. 16 -44 — Approving the Issuance Of Scrap Metal Licenses for Calendar Year 2016 Emily Sexton, with offices on the 4th Floor of the County -City Building, served as the presenter and petitioner for this bill. It is the role of the City Clerk's Office to develop this resolution every year. This year we have twelve (12) scrap metal dealers that have all been approved by Code Enforcement, the Fire Department and Police Department and have met all requirements and regulations. All Councilmembers received copies of the applications and site plans. Councilmember Karen White asked about the negative comments written by Code Enforcement regarding the company A 1 on Lafayette. Ms. Sexton responded she included all reports throughout the process because they did give the companies opportunities to fix violations. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler stated historically if the department signs off on the most recent sheet that means that the businesses are now completely compliant. 455 County-City Building • 227 W. Jefferson Boulevard • South Bend, Indiana 46601 Phone 574- 235 -9221 • Fax 574 - 235 -9173 • TDD 574- 235 -5567 • www.SouthBendIN.gov JENNIFER M. COFFMAN ALKEYNA M. ALDRIDGE EMILY SEXTON CHIEF DEPUTY/ CHIEF OF STAFF DEPUTY/ DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK Council Attorney Kathleen Cekanski - Farrand stated for that case it looks like a thirty (30) day repair order was issued. Ms. Sexton stated all twelve (12) of the businesses have final approval from each department. Code Enforcement did say that they were going to follow up with some of the businesses just to make sure they were following compliance. Chairperson John Voorde asked if there are any more pending businesees or if this is the whole lot for this year. Ms. Sexton responded that this is everyone for this year. Council Attorney Cekanski- Farrand stated in years past there were issues about security cameras and asked if they were checked by police this year. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler responded that in the last few years that issue has not come up but the Clerk's Office can follow up on that issue. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked if these inspections are announced or if they just show up randomly. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler responded the businesses that are going to be inspected are sent a renewal letter which informs that within thirty (30) days there will be an inspection. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic stated the price of metals has really decreased over the past few years and he has not heard about scrapping being as big of an issue as it was in the past. Council Attorney Cekanski-Farrand responded part of the issue was right when Chief Teachman left, the City is now online with the other communities which has helped. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler stated things have gotten better and the Police Department is working with a company called Leads Online and there haven't been any complaints or citations recently. The only citations have been through this process not through complaints. We have not had any complaints with individual people like we had before with scrapping. Councilmember Dr. David Varner brought up that arguably the City has less vacant and abandoned properties to be scrapped, absent the source the problem will decrease on its own to a degree. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked if the public is aware of when this process takes place in case there are neighbors that have issues. City Clerk Kareemah Fowler informed Councilmember Broden that like all other bills it is advertised by the City Clerk's Office. Someone can see it in the paper where it is advertised by title and in years past neighborhood organizations were very aware of violations and complaints. 2 Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked if there are other points of the year besides this yearly review where the various departments do inspections. Councilmember John Voorde responded that it is normally a complaint driven process. No one from the public spoke in favor or opposition to Bill 16 -44 City Clerk Kareemah Fowler stated that the Clerk's Office will follow up on these questions before the full Council meeting. Councilmember Karen White made a motion to send Bill 16 -44 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation, contingent upon the two (2) questions being addressed. Councilmember Oliver Davis seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of four (4) ayes. Bill No. 16 -46 — Off Leash Dog Park Special Committee Proposal Councilmember Oliver Davis, offices on the 4th Floor of the County -City Building, served as the presenter and petitioner of this bill. He stated the Co- Sponsors for this bill are Dr. David Varner, Regina Williams- Preston and Karen White. Throughout the past few years the issue of dog parks has really taken off in South Bend and now the public is really looking for multiple dog parks to serve all the City's general areas. For a perspective, Indianapolis has eight (8) dog parks and Evansville has two (2) and Fort Wayne has multiple dog parks. It is important to look at the various types of dog parks South Bend could have, potentially one for smaller dogs and one for large dogs, things of that nature. Two of the big challenges are first that the City does not have dogs that bite in the parks and also in terms of the waste that dogs produce. Working with both the Parks Department and Animal Control there are ways to address both of those challenges successfully and that has been shown in other cities. If you clear up those two (2) problems most complaints will go away. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated he is interested in forming more of these committees and commissions on specific issues and this bill calls for the creation of a nine (9) member advisory committee on this issue. The month of May is Pet Month and it would be a good time to get this Committee kicked off and then get recommendations in the middle of the summer. Chairperson John Voorde asked Aaron Perri to come and speak about this bill before going to councilmembers questions. Aaron Perri, Director of South Bend Parks, expressed his support for this idea and for Councilmember Oliver Davis for bringing it up. It is very timely because tonight the Parks Board is going to vote on South Bend's first ever dog park, we are going to be leasing land from developer David Mathews for one (1) dollar a year. In exchange the department is maintaining the lot just like it was a normal park. In the coming weeks various toys and benches will be added and its official name is the Niles Avenue Dog Park. There will also be an area to separate large and small dogs as well as a whole host of rules as well to follow. This was something the department was able to do for very little cost but we are interested in creating a full time one that we actually own because it is a lease. The department is supportive of having multiple dog parks in the City. Councilmember Oliver Davis added that Rum Village is very interested in that park being one of the dog park areas because it already has many viable areas within that park. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked where dog parks are at in the Master Plan in terms of priority. Mr. Perri responded that the plan calls for at least one (1) in the system and a priority that they are added. Councilmember Broden stated it appears that much of the duties and responsibilities of this committee could happen within the Park Department. It sounds like we are looking at our current pilot park and modeling off of that. She asked Mr. Perri how something new like this would normally perculate upwards in the department. Mr. Perri responded they have a special projects coordinator that works on things just like this. He engages with the neighborhood associations and begins to get input on some of these new ideas and then works on the large issue of money for programs and then reports to the Parks Board. That is the position that essentially ran the entire Parks Master Plan process. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic thanked Councilmember Davis for bringing this forward and for thinking of doing it in multiple spots, he stated the Rum Village area is very appealing because the fence is really the most expensive part of the project. Also, something like Rum Village that has so much land mitigates the effect that dogs have on hurting the grass in smaller parks. He recommended the potential committee look into adding two (2) at a time because they are so expensive but it is really a great idea. Councilmember Oliver Davis stated some cities did a combination of donations and then normal tax dollars. We could also have them be sponsored by various veterinarians or pet supply shops. Councilmember John Voorde asked if anyone knows about the success of the Mishawaka Dog Park. Councilmember Gavin Ferlic responded it has been hugely successful and people love it. They are really great places not only for dogs but also humans to come together and meet people in a positive atmosphere. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked about support and staffing of the committee and where do those responsibilities fall. Councilmember Oliver Davis responded he met with Kareemah and there is a section in the bill giving them that responsibility. This bill could have come forward either in the PARC 11 Committee or in Health & Public Safety Committee because it does overlap in both. We will probably have a better understanding as we go forward. No one from the public spoke either in favor of or opposition to the bill. Councilmember Karen White made a motion to send Bill 16 -46 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember Oliver Davis seconded the motion carried by a voice vote of three (3) ayes and one (1) nay ( Councilmember Jo M. Broden). With no further business before the Committee, Chairperson John Voorde adjourned the meeting at 4:40 p.m. Res pectfu 1 SubLva Joh n Voorde, Chairpersn