01-23-17 Council Mintues - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 23, 2017 CO UNCILMEMBER GA VIN FERLIC LEFT THE CHAMBERS AND THE QUORUM WAS SET AT SEVEN (7). 07 -17 FIRST READING ON AN ORDINANCE TO VACATE THE FOLLOWING DESCRIBED PROPERTY: E/W ALLEY FROM EAST RIGHT OF WAY OF LAUREL STREET A DISTANCE OF 144 FEET AND WIDTH OF 12 FEET, NORTH OF THOMAS STREET AND SOUTH OF WASHINGTON STREET Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to send Bill No. 07 -17 to the Public Works and Property Vacation Committee. Councilmember Randy Kelly seconded the motion, which carried by a voice vote of seven (7) ayes. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Councilmember Oliver Davis made a motion to continue the Appeal of a Certificate of Appropriateness for 1240 W. Thomas Street – Boyd vs. Historic Preservation Commission to February 27th, 2017, without the possibility of further postponement barring extraordinary cause. Councilmember John Voorde seconded the motion, which carried by a voice vote of seven (7) ayes. NEW BUSINESS Councilmember Regina Williams- Preston requested an update on the Sample and Olive Street Exchange, as well as an update on the traffic study done at the corner of South Street and Michigan Street. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR Jesse Davis, P.O. Box 10205, South Bend, IN, stated, I just want to touch base and talk about what Regina was just talking about. Hopefully, everybody says a prayer for the family that lost their little eleven (11) year old son today. There were previous studies. I believe there was one by American Structure Point in 2015— probably for Smart Streets —and somewhere in there, I guess it was suggested to eliminate that light. We then covered up that light and said it was under study. I'm not sure if that study is still going on after it's been concluded, but I think we need to look at not only traffic but the pedestrian traffic. He stated that, before Smart Streets, Transpo was slowed down by that intersection. He surmised that Transpo was probably appreciative of the fact that there is no light there currently. He stated that children, the elderly, and disabled people need to be considered, given that in the past, pedestrians have been used to only looking south for incoming traffic before crossing that intersection. He stated that eliminating the crosswalk was foolish and that one should be reimplemented. Mr. Davis ended by stating, If that study has been finished, I would be curious to see why they took that light out of there. Charles Smith, 2023 South Taylor Street, South Bend, IN, stated that he agreed with Mr. Davis. He then went on to discuss issues with Animal Care and Control. He stated that at the last meeting with the new director of the SBACC, serious accusations were made against several people that could damage their characters. He described a situation where during an e -mail exchange reporting animal neglect, criminal information meant for authorities was shared with a private citizen. He stated that he was addressing these issues before the Council because he had not received a response from Code Enforcement after reporting the leak to them. He stated that he no longer trusted that tips or criminal information would remain confidential. He recognized that the City has limitations in how it can enforce animal neglect laws, but he pleaded for the 20