HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-27-16 Utiliites0—'
OFFICE OF THE CITY CLERK
KAREEMAH FOWLER, CITY CLERK
UTILITIES
Committee Members Present:
Committee Members Absent:
Other Council Present:
Others Present:
Agenda:
Dr. David Varner Regina
Randy Kelly
JUNE 27, 2016 4:43 P.M.
Williams- Preston, Oliver Davis
Tim Scott, Jo M. Broden, John Voorde, Karen White
Alkeyna Aldridge, Joseph Molnar, Kathleen Cekanksi-
Farrand, Adriana Rodriguez
Bill No. 23 -16 — New rules and regulations for Installation
Charges — SUBSTITUTE BILL
Bill No. 16 -57 — Reasonable Transition to Clean Energy
Committee Chair Dr. David Varner called the Utilities Committee to order with two (2) bills on
the agenda.
Due to a high number of people wishing to view the meeting, Committeemember Regina
Williams- Preston made a motion to adjourn and reconvene in the large Council Chambers at
4:50 p.m. Committee Chair Dr. David Varner seconded the motion which carried.
The Utilities Committee reconvened at 4:50 p.m.
Committee Chair Dr. David Varner explained to the public that the Committee may only send
recommendations to the full Council and any vote for actual passage of bills must come from the
full Common Council.
Bill No. 23 -16 —New rules and regulations for Installation Charges — SUBSTITUTE BILL
Council Attorney Kathleen Cekankki-Farrand explained that while many different bills have
been brought to the City Clerk's Office during the course of this bill's process, none of the
substitutes have been formally accepted by the Council. This most recent version submitted must
be accepted by the Committee in order to act upon it.
Eric Horvath, Director of Public Works with offices on the 13ffi Floor of the County -City
Building, served as the petitioner for this bill. As part of the discussion on this bill, there were a
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.SouthBendfN.gov
JENNIFER M. COFFMAN ALKEYNA M. ALDRIDGE EMILY SEXTON
CHIEF DEPUTY/ CHIEF OF STAFF DEPUTY/ DIRECTOR OF POLICY ORDINANCE VIOLATION CLERK
lot of questions on the exemption language and what Public Works decided to do is move
forward in two (2) parts. The first part being the forgiveness piece for back charges and then at
the same time have meetings with various interested parties to get additional input on the
exemption language. They have received a lot of that input by meeting with the County
representatives, Chamber representatives and Homebuilders Association. There was a good bit of
confusion on the ordinances and what everything means and now there is a lot more clarity. They
have asked those various interests to put their comments and suggestions in writing and submit it
to them. They have not received any of those written suggestions yet but when they do they will
try to get a new bill to the Council.
The substitute bill before the Committee now forgives compact fees prior to January 1St 2017. It
also forgives assessment fees prior to August 1St 2016 and eliminates the water compact fee from
the ordinance.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner asked if this bill anticipates if it were adopted the beginning the
collection of compact fees of any sort.
Mr. Horvath responded the forgiveness piece was put in place so that anything prior to January
1 It 2017 will be forgiven and the compact fees would start at that time.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated that is the issue which needs more discussion.
Council Attorney Cekanski- Farrand stated there are issues with the dates given in the bill
regarding when the original 2002 ordinance was passed because there would not have been
enough time in- between meetings. Also, when the substitute bill came down everything was in
regard to the universal rate connections and the compact fees were never addressed in any of the
public meetings. Also the state law is not referenced in any of the public documents received
from 2001, 2002 or the latest version and the addition of the references to state law would help
clarify some of the confusion.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated that there was complete understanding that the Council wants
to help correct the error and we don't want to see anything charged retroactively. The issue with
the compact fees is still confusing because by passing this we would also be authorizing the
collection of compact fees for an ordinance that was created twelve (12) years ago. The intent
from the Council was not to authorize though until proper discussion can be held.
Council Attorney Cekanksi - Farrand stated they also want clarification in light of the new state
law which takes effect July 1St with regard to compact fees primarily in TIF areas and if it
addresses non - profits.
Committeemember Oliver Davis stated since it seems like we are trying to get entities in the
County to pay their fair share it was brought to his attention that the City properties in the City of
South Bend may not have paid their fair share of utilities. All of our departments have been
identified as not paying their water bills in their budget. We should be taking care of our own
obligations before we are requiring those in the County to pay their fair share.
K
Mr. Horvath responded that doesn't specifically relate to assessments or compact fees and sewer
and water usage is handled through a separate ordinance. It was past practice that certain City
entities were waved but already working with the 2017 budget those estimates have been put
together for each department so we can understand the true cost of every entity. This change
began with Priority Based Budgeting. Another reason it is important to do that is in the PPP
agreement with the Zoo that they started paying for water. We have worked . with the Zoo to
minimize their water usage and they have cut their use almost in half which has shown a
significant benefit to the City.
Committeemember Oliver Davis asked how long has it been practice to not bill City properties
for their water and sewer.
Mr. Horvath responded he doesn't know and its possible forever on some properties. There have
been none that we have added to the list and if there were ones that weren't being billed before
this administration we didn't bill them but now will do so in 2017.
Committeemember Oliver Davis stated he is glad to hear it will be in the budget this year
because it looks poorly on the City when we are demanding these things from the County but we
are not paying ourselves.
Councilmember Tim Scott stated that accountability is important and it is a credit to Mr. Horvath
and to the Sustainability Department that we are working on these issues and eliminating waste.
Committeemember Dr. David Varner asked if these waivers for City properties had a process for
how they were granted or was it arbitrarily assigned.
Mr. Horvath responded he doesn't think they were ever even signed up because in some cases
they don't even have meters and were hooked up to water and that was pretty common practice.
Committeemember Dr. David Varner asked if there is enough time from now until 7:00 p.m. to
edit this because there does need to be a larger conversation on compact fees. The idea of
addressing only the retroactive fees seems a better option. If these are fees and not taxes then
there should be discussion about whether non - profits should be exempt. He stated if one person
pays then everybody should typically pay a fee.
Committeemember Oliver Davis stated he still feels like the issue of City properties not paying
for their water is a problem and that issue is the same as this one in his view.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated they probably would not be able to address that issue tonight
and will have to address that later.
Committeemember Davis asked if they clear up these fees tonight when would they come back
to it.
3
Committee Chair Dr. Varner responded they can review this issue when they are doing the
compact fees and budget planning. He asked Mr. Horvath if they could have that bill they are
ready to vote on tonight.
Mr. Horvath responded they are giving each division an estimate of what their water bill will be
and that is going to be built into the 2017 budget so that they can start paying for it. That will be
done for all departments and we will have to probably put meters on some of those buildings. In
terms of the bill on the table, this is the forgiveness piece of the plan along with cutting the water
compact fees out. What this does is give us time to figure whether or not we want to have
exemptions and what they would look like. If the compact fees don't start until January Pt we
will have the time to sort out those questions we all have.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated the problem with compact fees as it exists is that it's the
belief of the City that they already exist and their intent is to start charging them on January 1st
If we pass this and nothing happens from now until January then they are being charged and we
don't know how much effort will be made to change the exemptions. We still have to address the
compact fees and how they are set up today. We are all in favor of providing the forgiveness for
the installation charges and the compact fees. The issue of the compact fees going forward needs
to have a larger discussion. It is possible that nothing will happen but we need to have a clear
understanding of how they will be assessed.
Committeemember Davis asked if we can get this together where we will have agreement on
something tonight.
Council Attorney Cekanski- Farrand stated the items that need to be addressed are the statement
of the purpose of intent while eliminating the compact fee language and then also Section 17 -86
which is the waiver of annexation and City compact fees. If you eliminate those two (2) items
then everything else that has been discussed and summarized can move forward.
Mr. Horvath asked if they are not making changes to 17 -86 then the Council is telling us we
don't need to enforce 17 -86 and charge compacts back to 2002. All we were doing was trying to
find an effective date to institute the forgiveness.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated that would then open up the door to starting to charge
compacts because it is an existing ordinance.
Council Attorney Cekanski- Farrand responded correct and it gives the opportunity to the other
parties the Administration has spoken to have that discussion heard by the Council.
Mr. Horvath stated he doesn't understand because all they thought this compact language did
was establish an effective date of January Pt 2016 as the forgiveness date. If we take that
language out then it's not forgiven.
Council Attorney Cekanski- Farrand responded it forces a second ordinance on compact fees
themselves.
9
Mr. Horvath stated then we are just going to forgive the assessment fees now.
Council Attorney responded yes with the August deadline that was discussed tentatively in
earlier meetings.
Mr. Horvath responded he has no issue with that but again the ordinance is clear about there
being a compact fee and how it is calculated.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated we could handle that in the same way we are dealing with the
assessments, we could waive them retroactively.
Mr. Horvath stated people who have connected in the County are going to be a little worried
about that language until it gets changed. That is why we were trying to do the forgiveness piece
on both the compact and the assessment charges and then work on the exemption language
which may change what you do with compacts and assessments but at least get the forgiveness
piece in. If all you are comfortable with is the assessment language then that's fine but those
people will be nervous.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner responded his message to them is that we will work to correct those
compact fee charges just like we did to work through the assessment charges.
Councilmember Tim Scott stated we really haven't been following these ordinances at all and
now we are making strides towards fixing everything. The way it is in here currently there is
some vagueness and there are loopholes.
Mr. Horvath stated he agrees and it serves the City and developers to know what the rules are
and that they are very clear so the expectations are known.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated he would appreciate seeing something by 7:00 p.m. that deals
with the forgiveness with the exemption of the compacts and we will address that then.
Mr. Horvath stated that is an easy fix. We will change the preamble and keep 17 -87 as it is
because it only concerns the assessment fees.
Those wishing to speak in favor of Bill 23 -16:
Bill Schalliol, County Executive Director of Economic Development, spoke in favor of the bill.
He stated he appreciates the discussion and applauds the progress made over the past few weeks.
He stated he had a good discussion last week with Mr. Horvath and we are all generally under
the same vision of where this needs to go.
No one from the public spoke in opposition to the bill.
Committeemember Oliver Davis made a motion to send Bill 23 -16 to the full Council with no
recommendation. Committeemember Regina Williams- Preston seconded the motion which
carried by a voice vote of three (3) ayes.
Bill No. 16 -57 — Reasonable Transition to Clean Energy
Committeemember Oliver Davis, 1801 Nash Street South Bend 46613, spoke as the petitioner of
the bill. We have received various resolutions which include one (1) from the Sierra Club which
was modified slightly and filed and another later from I &M. Committeemember Oliver Davis
invited representatives from I &M to talk about their proposed resolution.
Mark Robinson, Community Affairs Manager for Indiana & Michigan Power, thanked everyone
for showing up and allowing them to participate in this process. He invited all of the
Councilmembers to speak with him regarding local issues they may have. He introduced
Matthew Saterwhite.
Mr. Saterwhite provided a handout on the energy breakdown from I &M, the handout is on file in
the City Clerk's Office. I &M appreciates the interest the City of South Bend has in the interest of
diversification of fuel sources that provide energy to the City. I &M is already transitioning its
generational fleet towards carbon free sources. They are already 60% carbon free as far as
emissions and just recently retired a coal - fueled plant. They proposed an alternative resolution
which focuses more on the cooperative nature of what I &M has done and will do with the City of
South Bend. Part of the process they go through is the Integrated Resource Plan which is done
before the Utilities Commission. The City of South Bend participated in that process and a focus
group was held here as well. The resolution they have proposed applauds the significant
investments in wind, solar and natural gas and the partnership between the City and I &M. This
resolution celebrates that partnership so that we can move forward together and diversify further.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner stated he should have said at the beginning that the purpose of this
meeting is purely informational and that there is no anticipated action for tonight nor will there
be public input.
Committeemember Davis stated instead of delaying the process any further they wanted to get
the process going by starting to talk about the resolution as filed. In order to present their
position on this bill, he invited Jodi Paraz to come and speak to the Committee as well.
Jodi Paraz, working with the Sierra Club in the Beyond Coal Campaign as and Indiana
representative, thanked the Council for taking on this very important topic. I &M could definitely
have a better record on energy efficiency in low- income neighborhoods. We also know their
analysis shows phasing out the Rockport Plant would be less costly than I &M's preferred plan
going forward. She stated she is here on behalf of some 2,000 I &M customers throughout their
territory who have sent petitioners to start that transition of retiring that coal plant. The amended
resolution that the company has suggested would not encourage that transition away from coal. It
would allow them to keep putting pollution controls on the coal fired power plant at the cost of
billions of dollars and would not encourage the kind of energy efficiency investment we all want.
She stated she is willing to work on the language and the City is a very important stakeholder in
this process as I &M customers. It all comes down to what kind of future we want and if we want
our low- income customers to have that clean energy or do we want to continue spending money
on an outdated coal fired power plant that is harming people in Southern Indiana.
C*
Those wishing to speak in favor of the bill:
Christopher Cobb, 215 East Pokagon Street South Bend, stated he is a ten (10) year resident of
the City and his family has been residents of Northern Indiana for five (5) generations. The long-
term health of the region is something close to his heart. He spoke in favor of the bill as currently
filed. The continuity of this resolution in support of clean energy with the City's and Council's
environmental commitments to South Bend is very important. The number one (1) threat listed
so far for Elbel by the surveyors is climate change. If we want to protect our natural areas and
our quality of life we have to address climate change and we cannot address climate change
while we rely on coal for our electricity. This is a great opportunity to move away from coal
instead of spending up to three (3) billion dollars spent by people in Northern Indiana to continue
our dependence on coal for fuel. Clean energy is smart energy and we need to look for ways to
make this a vibrant community that attracts people and desire a good quality of life. There is the
opportunity to have local and regional investment in clean energy which would bring jobs to our
community. Being stuck with coal long -term has no environmental benefits and it also has no
social or economic benefits. He emphasized that moving to energy efficiency will bring jobs
here, protect public health, protects the environment and stops the practice of using customer
money to subsidize profits for out of state corporations that own the Rockport Plant.
Renaldo Hernandez, 702 East South Street 46601, South Bend should care about the fate of the
Rockport Plant even if it is in the southern part of Indiana. This is also more than an economical
issue and that makes South Bend just as involved as other areas of the state. This is not just a
good hearted liberal resolution. This is nothing less than standing up to I &M on behalf of its
customers. The Rockport Plant does not burn Indiana coal but instead sends over $400 million
Hoosier dollars annually to Kentucky and Wyoming. That is not helpful to the Indiana economy.
Much of this coal comes from mining practices that destroys beautiful and pristine mountains as
well as forests and streams. Instead of taking an opportunity to take an outdated and dirty plant
offline, they are trying to perpetuate a misguided system to further their profits. The amount of
money they plan to spend on updating Rockport could instead be spent on a major conversion to
wind and solar energy. I &M has a history of discouraging Hoosier families and businesses.
Instead of spending six (6) million dollars to give a dirty plant new life it should be spent on an
existing plan to retire half of that plant by 2022.
Anthony Serianni, 115 South Hill Street, spoke in full support of the resolution as filed. Mr.
Serianni explained he has taught courses at Notre Dame on the topic of sustainability and own a
thirty -four (34) year old company in the CBD of South Bend that is partly powered by solar
energy. His children and students have concerns about the earth that they are going to inherit and
this is why we are all here. Current scientific data on the environmental and human health effects
of burning coal are irrefutable as they were for the health effects of smoking tobacco thirty (30)
years ago. We chose to ignore this collateral damage because we benefit from the use of coal.
However, we are at the transition point in history where one (1) energy source yields to another.
The transition to renewables is happening during our watch, we can embrace the change or resist
it. This resolution if passed will play a major role in determining how South Bend is viewed both
internally and externally as a community. Does South Bend resist change and maintain the status
quo or do we embrace change and future opportunities? The ideas in this resolution are neither
new nor novel, savvy communities around the world are debating the very same issues that we
7
need to thrive and be competitive. Supporting this resolution sends a clear message that we are a
progressive, flexible and adaptive community welcome to change.
Andrew Turba, 1507 Sunnymede Avenue South Bend 46615, thanked the Committee for
providing the time to voice their support for the proposed resolution which would make a slow
transition to clean energy in South Bend. In skipping the environmental and financial costs, this
is something that cannot continue and is not sustainable. Last year we celebrated SB 150 and we
commemorated that celebration with a new city flag. One of. the required four (4) themes of the
flag was innovation. South Bend has a history of innovation starting with our manufacturing
roots and more currently through collaborative efforts with our local universities and hospitals.
In the new spirit of innovation, South Bend is seeing a return of self - sufficiency. Notre Dame
will once again be harnessing the power of the St. Joseph River to generate electricity and the
City of South Bend recently installed solar panels on the roof of the Century Center. Last year
also saw an effort by six (6) faith communities to install solar panels on their own houses of
worship. The common theme of these projects is they were not done alone by one (1) entity.
They were cooperative efforts by multiple organizations. Large corporations like I &M cannot be
considered evil or bad but they must reach out to communities to partner wtih and support these
projects. With enough of these large scale solar fields we can do away with coal as an energy
source. Nobody knows the end game but what is clear is that we cannot continue on this path of
polluting the earth.
Stephen Fountain, 3909 Greenmont Dr., stated he moved back to South Bend about four (4)
years ago and was disillusioned by how things worked here and seemed to stay the same as they
were when he lived here twenty -three (23) years ago. He has witnessed horrible atrocities by the
coal industry and highly suggests people google Peabody Coal to see the horrible things the coal
industry has done. Mr. Fountain stated when he lived in Oregon he actually got money back from
the energy company because he was such a low consumer and you could drive for three (3) hours
and see wind turbines the entire drive but in Indiana you see only two (2) in the entire north west
portion of Indiana. Coal is a dirty industry in every capacity and that needs to be taken into focus
and how it affects all Indiana communities.
Lisa Harris, 53175 Oaktown Dr. 46635, spoke in support of the resolution as filed. She stated she
lived in Vermont for fifteen (15) years and it's amazing to see what is out there in renewable
sources of energy. She stated she is a former employee of the EPA in Washington D.C. and
understands how the industry works and the importance of energy in our lives. Air and water
quality are vital issues and coal mining and burning coal severely negatively impacts them. In
this country we too often stay in our comfort zones with the idea that we will have coal forever
but that is not going to happen. It is a shame we are not more forward thinking when we think of
the future generations. The Council should continue to move forward in support of this
resolution because we do not have a limitless amount of coal or the capacity to keep people
healthy in the terms of where it is mined and burned.
Those wishing to speak in opposition:
Jeff Rae, President and CEO of St. Joseph County Chamber of Commerce 101 North Michigan
Street South Bend 46601, stated "oppose" is not really the right word but he does oppose the
current draft as filed because it needs additional work and conversation. We have heard a
positive spirit from both the company and the community which is encouraging. On behalf of the
business community, we want to see clean energy and affordable energy. I &M have been good
stewards in terms of moving in that direction as they have made major investments on the east
side of St. Joseph County with a new solar facility. We have seen them move forward as well on
the west side of the county with plans for a new solar facility. They also have invested in a hydro
facility on the St. Joseph River and are moving in this positive direction. We have to think as a
community what the most effective way to move this conversation is. We need some additional
dialogue on this before it is passed.
Committee Chair Dr. Varner asked Committeemember Oliver Davis what sort of action he
wanted from the Committee at this time.
Committeemember Davis responded he would like to see something happen in July on this bill
and have these clarifying discussions. Perhaps we could have a committee meeting on July 13th
at 5:30 p.m. for dialogue only and then July 25"' for a vote. Committeemember Oliver Davis
made a motion to continue this bill to July 25th. Committeemember Regina Williams- Preston
seconded the bill which carried by a voice vote of three (3) ayes.
With no further business before the Committee, Committee Chair Dr. David Varner adjourned
the meeting at 5:57 p.m.
Respectfully.�ubmitted,
David Varner, Chairperson
66