10-08-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING October 8, 2018 So we are looking for staffing resources at the beginning of the year even though we are not looking to make those changes until later in the year. So the budget, really, is a request for resources to help us move this through the process. One (1) idea was that as we are looking at this, and this is going to be a very interactive process, the person who could be administering the new Zoning Ordinance that we work together on, would have familiarity with it so we don't put them in a position to fail on day one(1). We want to make sure we don't skip a beat. That was the approach. I have taken to heart the concern of putting the budget before the ordinance, but Area Plan staff has stated there to be no simple way of doing this.They recommend this as the obvious path.When we do the zoning reform update, we would then switch to the Municipal Advisory Commission. We can talk about that all through the process from now until mid-to-late next year. Dr. Mueller continued, The timing hasn't been set, as I've said, we don't know exactly how that process is. We are already behind because we don't have these resources we are requesting. We are just looking for some staff resources to help us move this forward. Since the Committee meeting two(2)weeks ago,I've been trying to think of what we can do to reach this middle ground. Unfortunately, by the time I had realized this was an issue, I had seen your support in the paper, we had met and if you had mentioned you wanted to do something first(1st) and before the budget, I must have missed it and I apologize if we missed that process but by the time it was brought to our attention two (2) weeks ago, it was too late to do an ordinance before tonight. There could be a resolution. That is not necessary or binding but we could have done that, especially if we had a little previous notice on that. So we are asking for staffing resources in a budget and knowing this conversation on the Zoning Ordinance will continue and have a lot of interaction, we think a lot of the budget is asking for staffing resources with the intention of forming our own Municipal Advisory Commission. I feel your comments made today on the annexations, those were great points. We have to get better at communicating but earlier this afternoon, we needed to make sure the owners would agree to that. Hours before the vote is not the best time to be working these issues out. Similarly, if we had learned there was a desire from Council to do either a resolution or look at this other step, we would certainly have tried to accommodate it. We just didn't know that was being requested of us. I still don't know how we would do this. Even if we stripped it out of the budget today, I don't think we could look at appropriations for next year until next year. There is that delay. And we would be back next year saying the same thing. We would need the resources first (1st) before we can do the changes. So we would be having the same conversation about appropriations before an ordinance change. I don't know how to solve this conundrum and I wish we had better answers here. Councilmember Oliver Davis interjected, Can I make suggestions on how to solve it? Thank you for your comments there. A couple of things. When the South Bend Tribune came to the Administration and came to me in that same night to do that article back in August 2018, you saw my comments and it was very positive. I said those positive comments and I'm in an open meeting and I'll just share it straight up. I like the idea in many ways but even when they asked me that, I had not been talked to by the Administration as it had not come before the Zoning and Annexation Committee. So I just said fine. Even that article said there would be an ordinance with it. It is all inside of that and everything else.None of that happened. Secondly, you shared that you had met with the team from Area Plan and your thoughts were shared, with all due respect sir,this Council has asked me to Chair the Zoning and I am also at the Area Plan meetings and I work with that staff What you just shared regarding the ideas and thoughts that came from Area Plan, I am hearing them for the first(1st)time while you shared them. A lot of times in meetings I'm hearing them for the first (1st) time in Area Plan. There was a whole big deal about these farmers and I heard that in the meeting. What I have asked and what would be nice, and even respectful, if there are projects going on in any one (1) of my colleague's districts, it should not hit the floor and my colleagues find out for the first (1st) time. We need to have some time to do our due diligence to be able to decide. That issue today, one (1) reason I was able to clear it up so quickly is I got up since the meeting I saw it and I've been calling those folks. I had breakfast with them. I worked on clearing a lot of that stuff up before I even got to the meeting today. So by the time I got there, I went back and shook everybody's hand and everybody else and said what we are going to do. Every side of it, I talked to them before I got here and did that. That is what zoning is all about. It is going to neighbors, going to parishes and churches and imams and all of these folks to clear up a lot of these things before they even get to the meeting. It takes a lot of time. By the time they got 19