03-09-09 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING MARCH 9, 2009 that the rebate promotion has been table due to the decline in the commodities and will be brought back for consideration at a later date. Councilmember Varner advised that the Eddy Street Commons Project that everybody was excited about had a lot of commitments made by developers during the meetings with the Council. He stated that the Council Representative to the Architectural Review Board for the Eddy Street Commons Project is Mr. William B. Berry. He noted that Mr. Berry sent a letter to the Council on March 5, 2009 advising the Council on the ongoing development as well as overseeing the implementation of the fifteen (15) Developer Commitments to the Council which were added to the original PUD by the Council. Councilmember Varner stated that he has received phone calls concerning item (D) in reference to sufficient physical space allowed at the IU Med Center Tree Buffer Zone, along the rear of the Commons Building along the west side of Eddy Street. He noted that the artistic sketches show trees, but the allocated space doesn’t appear to be sufficient. In addition, it appears that sufficient space for a fire truck to squeeze behind the buildings from Napoleon St. has not be provided. Councilmember Varner requested that a copy of that letter be sent to the developer KITE Realty and the attention of Doug Marsh from the University of Notre Dame to respond to that issue. John Voorde stated that he attended the State Wide Mock Trial Competition this past weekend in Indianapolis. Out of the top ten prizes awarded to the top ten teams seven were from this area. Four from Adams High School, with Adams winning the best team overall. He noted that one of the members of the team is a Youth Council Member mentored by Councilmember Karen White. He stated that it is amazing to see the Youth of South Bend participating in such a wonderful organization. Councilmember White advised that the South Bend Youth Advisory Council will be on May Lee Johnson’s radio show on Tuesday, March 17, 2009. She also noted that there will be eight (8) openings on the South Bend Youth Advisory Council. Those eight members are graduating this year and going on to pursue their college careers. She stated that there are applications available on the City’s website and in the Office of the City th Clerk, 4 Floor County-City Building, 227 W. Jefferson Blvd., South Bend, Indiana. PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR COMMENTS FROM MR. GEORGE LANE REGARDING NEW TECH HIGH SCHOOL Mr. George Lane, Executive Director, Citizens for Accountability Inc., stated that he attended the Redevelopment Commission Meeting last week. He stated that he saw Councilmember’s Rouse and Varner there. He stated that he sat through about and 1 ½ hours of the meeting listening to everyone speak about how wonderful this new High Tech High School is going to be. He stated that they talked about using TIF dollars approximately 1 million of those TIF dollars to build this school. He stated that at that meeting Councilmember Rouse stated that those TIF dollars would be better spent on improving the streets and infrastructure in the City of South Bend. He stated that the meeting went on for about 3 hours and he never had a chance to speak. Mr. Lane stated that he raised his hand to speak in opposition and was denied the opportunity to give his statement. He stated that the City is suffering and is in deep need of those funds. Mr. Lane expressed that he would be back when more time allowed. COMMENTS FROM MS. CONSTANCE GREEN REGARDING ELECTRIC POLE IN TREE LAWN Ms. Constance Green, 3217 Dunham, South Bend, Indiana, stated that she sent out an e- mail to each of the Council Members regarding the tree lawn in front of her home. She stated that I & M Electric Company had installed a new electric pole that had massive transformers and breakers etc. She stated that Council Members Oliver Davis and White were the only members that had responded and showed concern. She stated that this is the first time in forty years that the City of South Bend has taken the time to recognize a simple poor citizen. She applauded the Washington High School Basketball Team, the Adams High School Mock Trial Team, and reminded the Council that this City is more 19