03-12-73 Council Meeting Minutes

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REGULAR MEETING MARCH 12 1973 COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING (CONTINUED) He indicated that the option Mr. Roemer had mentioned is standard in the legal business. He also indicated that 83% of the funds for Model Cities is assured and the priorities that the Model Neighborhood Planning Agency establish come to the Mayor's office with recommendations. He mentioned that, until the Model Neighborhood Planning Agency establishes its priorities, the money will be held back. Mr. Harris indicated that he was aware of the re- programming, and he felt that perhaps this procedure should have been suggested previously. He concluded by saying that he hoped that, just because a particular program may have received more funding than was anticipated, the city would still live up to its obligations. The Mayor indicated that, if this had been known previously, the $25,000 would never have been appropriated in the first place, and he further indicated that the city was trying to prevent a cutback. Mr. Lennon felt everyone was missing the point, and he indicated that, when the negotiations began, it was before this was even placed in the revenue sharing budget. Mr. Don Findley, Housing Coordinator for the Housing Authority, 610 South Brookfield, asked what had happened to the young people and the southeast part of the city as far as recreation and ball parks. He mentioned that the city has eight acres for parks and he felt these kids should become active in recreation because it would give them something to do rather than going around and doing vandalism. Chairman Newburn indicated that the revenue sharing for the Department of Public Parks would be coming up at a later date. Mr. Findley asked if he should prepare a presentation to the Council at that time and use dollar and cent figures. Chairman Newburn indicated to Mr. Findley that such figures would make his presentation that much stronger. Miss Anna Pappas, 512 West Madison Street, indicated that she had a few questions on the Madison Street Bridge project. She indicated that there is $110,000 for land acquisition and $90,000 for engineering designs in that budget and she wondered what was meant by land acquisition. Mr. Richardson indicated that the preliminary plan shows that the post office garage would be the firs parcel of land to be acquired. He also mentioned a heating and ventilating firm that would be in the way, and he indicated that, on the west side of the river, there was a possibility that the realtor company and the McDonald's Drive -In might have to be acquired. Miss Pappas asked if this $110,000 would cover this acquisition, and she indicated that the reason she was posing these questions was because she owned property on Madison Street which might possibly be affected by this bridge construction. Mr. Richardson indicated that neither the Associate Realty or McDonalds would be put out of business, and this money is basically for acquisition on the east side of the river. Miss Pappas asked if this bridge would be at Madison Street and she indicated that she had been told by the Area Plan Commission that they could not definitely tell her it would be the Madison Street Bridge. Mr. Richardson indicated that it would definitely be at Madison Street because Marion Street was inconceivable. He further indicated that plans have been made to use Madison Street and the plans had been drawn up by the Engineering Department and not the Area Plan Commission. Miss Pappas asked about the plans for the intersections. Mr. Richardson indicated that there would be a change where Madison intersects with Lincolnway, and he indicated that he would be very happy to take Miss Pappas to his office and show her these plans and answer any questions that she might have regarding the bridge. Miss Pappas mentioned that, at one time previously, she had requested information of the Engineering Department and they were unable to answer her questions. She also asked about consideration given to the traffic going over the bridge from the inner belt and Chapin Street. Mr. Richardson indicated that nothing has been done other than was was highlighted in the transportation study. He mentioned a problem on Williams Street some time ago that Miss Pappas had called to his attention and it had been corrected and her recommendations had been considered. Chairman Newburn asked Miss Pappas if it would be possible for her to visit the Engineering Department and get her questions answered, and Miss Pappas indicated that she could do that but she felt the citizens should also be aware of these matters. She mentioned that a priority was being established that the County Commissioners did not consider a top priority and that the city was asking to spend one million dollars. She felt the matter should be looked at by itself. The Mayor mentioned that the city is entertaining the possibility of South Bend paying the entire cost of the bridge and that there is a possible litiga tion on the priority. He mentioned that the economic development of the entire city must be taken into consideration and the bridge will help everyone in the community. He went on to say that everyone went through the inconvenience when the Colfax Bridge was constructed. He mentioned that this would bring $50,000 of taxes to the city, and it will bring money to the School Corporation and the county. Unemployment was also a factor to consider. Miss Pappas indicated that she was very concerned about the one million dollars, and with the construction of one -way on U.S. 31, she felt the city might be responsible for that upkeep. She mentioned that, at Madison Street, U.S. 2 is again involved, and she wondered if the city would be responsible for that upkeep. Fanny Grunwald, 227 South Frances, informed the Council that the land behind McDonalds does not belong to the franchise. Mr. Robert Hochstetler, 206 Jennings Avenue, questioned the need of the bridge at Madison Street. He felt that if an east -west bridge was needed, the Grand Trunk Railroad bridge should be considered and might possibly be remodelled for that purpose. He felt that if this money could not be saved, a north -south bridge should be considered. Mrs. Janet Allen, 125 West Marion, indicated that she understood that, if the $25,000 was deleted for the Merry Avenue project, the agencies would be in trouble if Model Cities have to re- program. She suggested that, when the Model Cities money comes in, it be put towards the revenue sharing money. Mr. Lennon indicated that perhaps Mr. Hollis Hughes could help clarify this situation. Mr. Hollis Hughes, Executive Director of Model Cities, mentioned that, when the correspondence was received from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Model Cities moved quickly to take care of the carryover money. After meeting with the agencies within the Model Cities, certain amounts within the budgets were identified. He mentioned that meetings with the agencies have already been conducted and they have re- programmed. This would not put any particular project in danger. Councilman Taylor mentioned that a committee meeting had been conducted with Mr. Richardson, and i had been the feeling of the Public Works Committee of the Council that, at that time, there was to much here to try and settle. He mentioned that there are some items that have to be high priority such as the Bureau of Solid Waste. He indicated that the committee recommended that the Council not act on all of the Public Works revenue sharing budget at this time. He mentioned that there are parts of the budget that, of course, would not be necessarily controversial, but that the committee was very concerned about acting on the whole budget in this short of a time. Councilman Szymkowiak made a motion to recess for 15 to 20 minutes, seconded by Councilman Taylor. The motion carried. Recessed at approximately 9:25 p.m. Reconvened at approximately 9:50 p.m.