The first speaker was the Mayor who mentioned a couple of public forums. The first being at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on June 8. This will be to discuss the McDonald Lane Federal improvement project. The second will be at the library on 6/16. Both meetings will begin at 6:00PM.
He added that the funds are there to finish Daisy Lane from Green Valley Rd to the top of the hill due to stimulus funds. Mt. Tabor Rd. will be repaired with Federal Funds also. There will be a meeting at IUS to discuss this but there is no date set as yet.
As far as the rest of the paving, there are no funds available yet but he is hoping to use Riverboat and EDIT. He needs $5,000,000 for city wide paving but can make do with $500,000 from Riverboat and $500,000 from TIF.
Kay Garry was the next speaker. She asked that all department heads turn in their budgets for 2011. She added that representatives from DGLF will meet in her office on 6/15 @ 9:00AM and hopes to obtain the 1782 form for the 2010 budgets at that time. She also wants to meet with department heads on 6/21 to discuss budgets. The council decided to meet for 90 minutes for two days for budget discussions.
Shane Gibson was up next. He said that the yard waste and other trash pickup are not in the sanitation company's contract. The street dept. is now picking up these items when people call. The sanitation company wants to make a deal to include these pickups in their contract and lower their fees in order to extend their contract for another three years. Mr. Price and Mrs. Benedetti disagreed. They want more transparency for the citizens and therefore more open bids.
David Brewer (Building Commissioner) spoke about our problems with dilapidated homes and code enforcement. He hired an additional code enforcement officer, John Berger (sp). This department also has a "hot line" for complaint calls. In the last two months there have been 225 complaints on grass and weeds. Out of that they are unable to locate the owners of 95 homes. He is looking at re-doing the ordinances and added that the city needs a vacant housing ordinance.
Public comments:
David Shireman, VP of the Firefighters Union said that as of 1/1/11 the number of people off will go from 4 to 3. This will help cut back on overtime.
Jameson Bledsoe first thanked the Mayor for setting up the forums and went on to discuss the demolition of houses. He asked if there were standards set to replace these homes. Many times the newer structures seem to be sub standard and out of place with the rest of the neighborhood. He also noted that if there is a house with the siding falling off this is not against code unless there is a hole in the outside wall. He also asked for the city to consider setting up a commission to establish more strict guidelines. Mr. Coffey stated that the Building Commission and Planning Commission should be sufficient to handle these matters.
The Ordinances and Resolutions:
G-10-14 Health Dept. inspection fees. Set up a standard annual fee for vendors at Farmers Markets instead of charging them for every time they set up. Passed 8-0. CM Caesar was absent.
G-10-15 Regulating the disposal of dead animals. Passed 8-0.
Z-10-02 Variance to change property on Grantline Rd. North of 265 from industrial to residential to accommodate the Struble family.
Passed 5 to 3. Mrs. Benedetti, Mr. Zurschmeide, and Mr. Gonder voted no.
A-10-06 Appropriation of $350,000 from paving funds from 2009 to establish handicap ramps. Passed 7-1 Mr. Price voted no.
R-10-15 Increase Housing Board by 2 seats.
Failed 2-6 All voted no except Mr. McLaughlin and Mr. Gonder.
R-10-16 Stormwater Master Plan
I did not stay for this vote but the "Tribune" article by Daniel Suddeath stated that it passed.
Sorry this was not posted sooner, blame Blogger.
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34 comments:
What about the mayor and his cronies trying to gain control over the housing authority? They wanted to add two members(the plan was that one of them would be gonder's wife) so they could get rid of bob lane and control the money and have the power that goes along with that controlover the HA. Talk about throwing someone under the bus. They made bob lane call for a voe that would take away his job.
Bob Lane spoke at the meeting and he said he did not know the reason for adding the two new members. He did not seem upset either.
Also there was no mention of who the new members would be.
Where did you get your info?
so they could get rid of bob lane and control the money
HUD and IHCDA watches every penny. There's no "slush fund" opportunities at Housing Authority.
The Housing Authority has made no effort to clean up the neighborhoods. Until someone on their board starts asking questions, we're just going to see more of the same.
I have a question for the councilmen who voted against adding the board members:
Are you happy with what's along Bono Road?
Ohio River Bridges Project. Clark Co. gets two new birdges. Floyd Co. gets stuck with the bill .
When will someone at in the Mayor's office or on the council take a stand against tolling the Sherman Minton?
How ironic. KZ gets in the paper complaining about rats. Why doesn't he just vote for more code enforcement? If the council can't address the issue, who does he expect to do it for them?
A city New Albany's size normally would have 10+ code enforcement offices PLUS a full time city attorney dedicated to enforcement issues.
Stop whining about your sewer rates. Rats biting kids and spreading disease is a bigger issue.
When will someone at in the Mayor's office or on the council take a stand against tolling the Sherman Minton?
Yep.
It is the Board of Commissioner' responsibility to hire and fire the Executive Director. I am the current President of the Board and have been a Commissioner for about 4 years (originally appointed by Mayor Garner), so I am not a new appointment. The Board is made up of 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans and one Resident Commissioner.
It amazes me that people can find a conspiracy in everything! The Housing Authority attorney suggested we increase our board from 5 to 7 because of all the changes HUD has in the works, the reconfiguring of some units, and because of our 100% occupancy and very long waiting lists for both public housing and Section 8 units - plus expanding efforts to help residents achieve independence and even become homeowners, as one of our HA residents did in January. Many HA's have 7 member boards and some boards have even more. There is no sinister plot afoot.
The New Albany Housing Authority just received it's 9th consecutive perfect audit! Bob Lane is an effective E.D. and NAHA is highly rated by HUD and by other HA's in the region. In fact, other HA's look to ours as a model of a well-run agency.
The Commissioners meet the 2nd Monday of every month at 7:00p.m. in the Administration Building at 300 Erni Ave. (Parkview/Broadmeade housing complex)
The public is welcome.
Tolls on Sherman Minton would destroy New Albany.
It would cost more for Padgett to move his cranes around Louisville (where most his business is).
It would cost more for people who work there to commute back and forth.
Fewer people are going to gamble at the boat and that will mean LESS RIVERBOAT MONEY and fewer grants from Horseshoe Foundation.
Why are the council and Mayor quiet?
Ruthanne,
Monday, Louisville's HA announced that they didn't receive a 22 million dollar grant to tear down Shepard Square in the Smoketown Neighborhood, but they will be applying again this summer.
Is New Albany’s HA applying for the same grant?
All one has to do is look at what Louisville has done over the years with their federal housing and come to the conclusion that something is wrong in New Albany.
Since you are on the board what grants have the board applied for to tear down what we have and replace it with better units?
If you ask me I want a director and board that is doing what Louisville is doing, not what New Albany has been doing.
If it takes adding two new board members to do that I'm all for it.
Respectfully,
Jameson
Ruthann, I'm curious too. I know NAHA has a stellar track record in many areas. Upgrading the facilities and moving to scattered site developments should be the next step. Many cities began moving in this direction with their public housing over the past 15 years. Does NAHA has similar plans?
Shirley,
I wanted to ask the council for a building moratorium until design criteria could be formed.
If I had to gage the council's reaction, to what I was talking about, I would say they understood, by the head nods I saw while speaking.
Mr. Coffey's and Mr. Price's objections were creating a new commission. Like you reported, Mr. Coffey said existing commissions should be doing this.
I don't care how it is done as long as it is done.
Before the meeting began Scott Wood was showing me some pictures of property for the SEJ project. He showed a few new structures recently built that were nothing but four walls and a roof. Like I said in front of the council, “houses that look like garages”.
One house was built by Habitat for Humanity and the other by the Spriglers. Neither looked right in the neighborhood and both looked cheap, contributing to property decline, contributing to reduced property tax, contributing to reduced general fund, and contributing to reduce city services.
Thank you Jameson, I'm sorry I misunderstood your intent. I guess the Building Commission needs to tighten up their restrictions on new buildings.
What did Scott Wood think of those pictures of the SEJ project? I hope all of those new homes won't look like garages. It would be hard to find buyers.
Jameson I agree with you that we don't need any more garages trying to pass as houses. I wonder if planning or zoning could come up with better design guidelines.
Shirley you understood me correctly, I didn't ask for the moratorium but wanted to.
My understanding is the SEJ project will have strict design guidelines.
The discussion I had with Scott gave a little insight into his expectations.
When he showed me the Sprigler house I said to him that it was a good example of what I'm talking about.(The need for design criteria for new construction)
The house was smaller than the shotguns that where on either side. It stuck out and looked cheap. The roof line was several feet shorter than existing roof lines on other homes. Etc.
His reply was that is how it should be. New houses shouldn't look like old houses.
I hear this a lot from certain people. I don't know where this started but I don't agree.
anon 11:50
Scott did say it is a direction he would like to see zoning and planning go towards.
Why it hasn't happened sooner is anyone’s guess.
Right now I don't think anyone is doing anything to change what's happening.
Charlemagne and Anon:
The New Albany Housing Authority has received Recovery Act grant funds for renovation of some existing units. Crystal Court is undergoing a total renovation and reconfiguration. There are plans for updates and improvements of some units at Parkview/Broadmede, as well.
NAHA applies for all appropriate grants and has been awarded many the last few years, including some to fund programs for seniors and the disabled, as well as for Family Self-Sufficiency programs to help residents become independent.
Unfornately, NAHA did not qualify for a HOPE VI grant. Those grants typically are awarded to larger HA's such as Louisville's. HUD and Congress will replace HOPE VI with a new program called Choice Neighborhoods. HA's will have to compete for these funds with other redevelopment agencies.
HUD has very rigorous requirements for the demolition of public housing units, and there must be a 1/1 replacement for the displaced residents. Please see my original post for NAHA's current census data. Although the economy is slowly improving, residents of public housing are the last to benefit. And approximately 47% of NAHA residents are 17 and younger.
NAHA gets funding based on how many units it has filled. If units are vacant, if there's not a need, NAHA gets less funding. That's less money for staff. There's no incentive to reduce the number of units even if there's not a local need.
Does NAHA have a plan to apply for Choice Neighborhoods? Are the applications available yet? What is known about the program? Does NAHA intent to apply in the first round of funding for Choice Neighborhoods?
"HUD has very rigorous requirements for the demolition of public housing units, and there must be a 1/1 replacement for the displaced residents."
How are other Housing Authority’s reducing their numbers?
New Albany may not be the size of Louisville but New Albany has large Federally Subsidized Housing Projects.
My understanding is a housing authority has to reduce there occupancy before demolition can be approved.
The first time I met Bob Lane he told me about how much money the HA brought into New Albany by filling up all units.
Not long after that a City Administrator told me that years back they were trying to reduce the occupancy rate to allow demolition but Bob was hired and he filled the units up.
When a unit becomes vacant does it have to be filled up?
I have seen the work that is being done to Crystal Court. It looks to me that we are still getting Crystal Court but now with bells and whistles.
Will Crystal Court be mixed use housing? Half with owner occupant and the other half subsidized?
Are these new units section 9 and not 8? It is my understanding that section 9 requires the occupants to be in some type of schooling or have a job.
Thanks Ruthanne for the reply this is a topic I would like to educate myself more on.
QUESTION:
Someone said that there is a new blog called KITCHEN TABLE dealing with local issues.
Does anyone have a path to reach this Kitchen Table blog site ?
More people would blog if you took the moderation off. You're shooting yourself in the foot by doing this.
Just my opinion.
Anon 6/14 6:24
I know the number of comments is down due to comment moderation, but when I removed moderation before people started insulting each other again. I cannot "babysit" this blog 24/7 and if people cannot behave as adults moderation will stay.
I also have a new problem. My home computer will not let me sign in to my blog so comments will take longer to post. I am very sorry about this and it will be fixed ASAP.
It is a shame but it is what it is.
The number of comments is down. But if you look at the old posts with 150 comments, then take out the name calling, you're left with the same number of comments that relate to anything newsworthy.
Nothing's preventing anyone from having a serious discussion, right RemCha and Ruthanne?
Anon. 9:33
I'n not Remcha or Ruthanne but you are right.
I am not running a contest to see how many comments are made, I just want people to act like adults.
I know readership is up because of the comments (and compliments) from people I see every day.
I appreciate everyone who reads this blog whether they comment of not. I'm just trying to get the word out to what is going on downtown for people who are unable to attend council meetings for forums and other activities.
correction: council meetings OR forums.
http://kitchentableissues.blogspot.com
New blog.
QUESTION ????????
STILL NO ANSWERS OF THE PATH TO THE NEW KITCHEN TABLE BLOG SITE ??
I could not find the Kitchen Table Issues blog either.
I found it.
http://kitchentableissues.blogspot.com/
The applications for Choice Neighborhoods have not been posted by HUD as yet. There will be 12 Planning Grants awarded and only 3 Implementation Grants nationally. NAHA will apply for a Planning Grant.
Crystal Court will be energy efficient, have underground utilities and will be as asset to the neighborhood. It is a small and tidy public housing property, not unlike a small private apartment complex. When the rehab is finished, I hope the surrounding private properties will be fixed up by their owners.
The notion that NAHA can just empty our units and HUD would permit demolition is nonsense. HUD has several requirements for taking down existing housing. Public housings exists to meet a need. There is obviously a need or there would not be 200+ applicants on NAHA's waiting list. And as long as applicants meet HUD criteria, they cannot be turned away. Currently, we are housing many families who were or would be homeless. Let's not forget that many of us are just a job loss or a medical crisis away from being in the same boat.
Section 8 also has over 100 disabled applicants on a waiting list. NAHA expects to receive at least 20 more Section 8 vouchers. I have no idea what Section 9 is.
I suggest you go to www.hud.gov/ and search their site for more information on public housing policies, including the re PETRA (Preservation, Enhancement, and Transformation of Rental Assistance) proposal that was rejected in Committee in May.
Good evening
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Hi there
Looking forward to your next post
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