11-27-17 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING November 27, 2017 Brad Emberton, 26230 Twin Lakes Trail, South Bend, IN, served on behalf of the petitioner of this bill.Mr.Emberton stated,It is hard to add to Ms. Smith's presentation.This property was used as commercial property for nearly one hundred (100) years and was mistakenly rezoned. They never turned it into residential property and we think it makes sense to turn it back to its modular use. Councilmember Oliver Davis asked, Did you speak with the surrounding neighbors to see if they were in support of this? Mr. Emberton replied, Yes, we met with the neighborhood association to explain our plan and answer questions, and they seemed to be in favor of it. This being the time heretofore set for the Public Hearing on the above bill, proponents and opponents were given an opportunity to be heard. Adam Toering, 236 S. Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend, IN, stated, I am a member of that neighborhood association and we were in favor of it.I also serve as Deputy Director of the Historic Preservation Commission and, this property being a historic landmark, we would like to see it in use as opposed to being vacant. Councilmember Jo M. Broden asked, Is the petitioner aware that this is a historic property? Mr. Emberton replied, Yes, we are. Councilmember Randy Kelly made a motion to send Bill No. 71-17 to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. Councilmember John Voorde seconded the motion which carried by a voice vote of nine (9) ayes. 80-17 PUBLIC HEARING ON AN ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, APPROVING AN 1NTERLOCAL AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND AND THE COUNTY OF ST. JOSEPH TO PROVIDE CITY MANAGEMENT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION OF SOUTH BEND AND ST. JOSEPH COUNTY(THE HPC) AND AMENDING CHAPTER 2 ARTICLE 4, SECTION 2-13, SUB-PART (B) (7) OF THE SOUTH BEND MUNICIPAL CODE TO INCLUDE THIS AS AN ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY INVESTMENT Councilmember Gavin Ferlic, Chair of the Community Investment Committee, reported that they met this afternoon and send this bill forward with no recommendation. James Mueller, Executive Director of Community Investment with offices on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, South Bend,IN, served as the presenter of this bill.Mr. Mueller stated, The ordinance before you does two (2) main things. The first being the placement of responsibilities of Historic Preservation in the Department of Community Investment,as contemplated in the 2018 Budget. Secondly, it ratifies an Interlocal Agreement between the County and the City. There was some lengthy discussion during the budget process and also earlier today in Committee.If we were able to find the original Interlocal Agreement,the primary changes we would be seeking to amend would be purely on the staffing component. So the changes we are looking at are only on the staffing component. However, we were unable to find the preexisting Interlocal Agreement. For peace of mind, this new Interlocal Agreement ensures that if someone does find the original Interlocal Agreement, this new agreement would supersede the old agreement. With that, the Historic Preservation Commission was never really contemplated to have any structural or procedural changes at this time. The things contemplated were purely budgetary and the oversight of the staff. There will be second legislative action needed by the Council to amend the Historic Preservation parts of the Municipal Code. That is set to go before the Area Plan Commission meeting in December 2017, and will come to this Council sometime in January 2018. We have heard, at the request of the community and Councilmembers, that the Historic Preservation 6