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REGULAR MEETING January 14, 2019
<br /> delay this vote to move forward. There is no way I can support this tonight. That was just a
<br /> comment, not a question, I'm moving forward. Thank you.
<br /> Councilmember Jo M. Broden stated, I guess a couple points. To me, this is really getting at the
<br /> non-big events of flooding. I would like to harken our attention as a Council to the budget process
<br /> where we were provided a map that basically identified nearly every single street in the City of
<br /> South Bend having some issue,ok?Not the big event issues but some issues which then have some
<br /> impact on residential. And I may be exaggerating but if we blew that map up, maybe there would
<br /> be a couple blocks un-touched, but this was part of the presentation within the budget. Then the
<br /> background data that supported that map came from 311 calls. These are long-standing problems
<br /> on most every street in the City of South Bend. Historically, we've been raiding funds to get
<br /> anything done. We've got a list of problems, it is longer than what we've had available funding to
<br /> do, we've raided other needed project dollars to get things done, so, from my perspective, this is
<br /> long overdue. Again, I'm not even speaking from one (1) of the hardest hit areas in 2016 and in
<br /> 2017. That is one(1)point I wanted to communicate. Two (2), I think we've been very responsive.
<br /> I think the dialogue that each Council Member has brought, we've had plenty of time to massage
<br /> this, tweak it, we've delayed the time, and let's be really frank, too. The level that we are asking,
<br /> compared to other municipalities in the State of Indiana, we are coming in at a low-ball mark
<br /> anyways. Let's put that context around this. Those were earlier conversations. I would like to bring
<br /> that to Council Members' attention before you look to vote on this. The Administration, Mr.
<br /> Horvath, your department, has been really responsive, as I said, about the actual rates in the first
<br /> (1St) place. You're looking at an extended roll out time and it is not January 1. We're being asked
<br /> as a Council to kick this off but to give some leeway to residents.That is going to affect the funding
<br /> that is available in the first (Pt) year to actually get to this priority list, but that is what it is. That
<br /> is the give and take that is responsible for us as legislators and you as being in charge or
<br /> implementing these types of programs. I think your commitment that I have heard tonight with
<br /> regard to the ongoing conversations and what else we could bring to the table in terms of the
<br /> differential rates and that conversation, I think is great. I also appreciate that this is interim, but it
<br /> is frozen at this level. We aren't going to add to this. We aren't going to tweak it up. We've
<br /> specifically asked to not have it tiered and we haven't tied an automatic increaser on this. That
<br /> speaks to the work of this Council and its Members being very sensitive to the burden on residents.
<br /> My last point is, despite all of this, I'm going to leave the lifeline rates up and kind of look at that.
<br /> I thank you for being responsive to concerns on that. That is on you and I'm glad you are taking
<br /> that on. I'm glad we are taking advantage and thank God the Legislature saw the wisdom of putting
<br /> some of these things in place for the State of Indiana. But for me and my focus, in 2019, and I
<br /> encourage the rest of the Council, but let's focus on job creation, job retention and an inclusive
<br /> economy. Then these kinds of conversations, we can afford to make our houses safe, habitable,
<br /> and we have resources as a community to dedicate to these public spaces that we call our streets.
<br /> More importantly, the infrastructure beneath it. It is out of everybody's sight and out of
<br /> everybody's mind. I think you've been very responsive,reasonable and patient. I think we've had
<br /> enough discussion to come to, in my opinion, something that is needed and is very reasonable.
<br /> Thank you very much.
<br /> Councilmember Oliver Davis stated,One(1), I don't think we have had enough discussion to deal
<br /> with one(1) of the greatest challenges the City is going to have to face and that is the CSO issues.
<br /> We haven't talked about them and the majority of people in South Bend can't even clarify how
<br /> that it is going to affect their life, but it will. From those meetings we had just a couple years ago,
<br /> it was clear that was going to affect people's lives and then all of the sudden it went off the map
<br /> and people don't want to talk about it.Just because it's off the map doesn't mean it's off the reality
<br /> of life and we have to talk about that and put it into context of our bills. We can't just keep piece
<br /> mealing this. And the idea that we won't raise anything again over the next few years, when we
<br /> may not raise this particular thing, but the next Council can make another type of water thing and
<br /> call it something else and raise that. And that is a dollar here. And then they can raise something
<br /> else and that's fifty cents ($0.50) there. And then they can raise something else and give a new
<br /> name and that's three dollars ($3) there. So, no. We have to put something in perspective and to
<br /> say that we'll have to look at what the other cities and states have done when it comes down to
<br /> this water. Well the other cities in the State have not had to deal with the kind of CSO issues that
<br /> we're having to deal with to the greatest level. Indianapolis has, and they've done some things and
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