COUNCIL MEETING 4/15/10

Hello everybody. I missed the first part of the council meeting last night so I did not get to hear the mayor speak. I heard that he told there were death threats. That is deplorable. I hope these people get arrested and convicted of terroristic threatening.

The bill that no one really wanted to pass did pass. Of course I'm talking about the sewer rate increase. Even the council members who voted for it said they did not like it but it was the lesser of two evils. Mr. Skomp said again how antsy the SRL is getting. He said their emails are getting pretty curt. He also admitted that if the city went into receivership our sewer rates could double. I don't like it either but we taxpayers paid this company to research and find the best solution for us. From what I understand they still need to pass G-10-10 which determines from which TIF districts the money will be taken. This meeting will take place on April 27. Since I have a prior commitment I will not be able to attend.

In other news, the position of full time attorney/grant writer passed the first two readings with 5 aye's (Ceasar,Benedetti, Messer, Zurschmeide, and Gonder), 3 nay's (Price,McLaughlin, & Gahan), and one abstention (Coffey).

Finally the whole council came together and voted unanimously to appropriate $100,000 from the Riverboat funds to demolish those 14 unsafe houses and buildings. All of us in attendance held our breath but thankfully the building did not fall on our heads.

MEET THE CANDIDATES DINNER

Did you attend the "Meet the Candidates" dinner at the Knights of Columbus last night? I thought it went very well.

What are your thoughts? Suggestions?

WHO IS PAUL ETHERIDGE?

That question was asked on this blog a few weeks ago. So I sent Mr. Etheridge an email with several questions regarding his bid for Mayor of New Albany. He replied with answers to all of my questions so I have posted them here.

1. Why are you running for Mayor? "I am running for Mayor of New Albany because I care and love this community and I want to get the city back on the right track for the future. Our city must move forward, no backward to achieve goals like fixing our sewers, revitalizing our downtown area and cleaning up our streets and neighborhoods. I am a common person with a common cause who has visions and goals for New Albany and is not in the race for just a paycheck."
2. What special qualifications do you bring to the position? "I bring 27+ years of Supervisory experience with the maintenance department of the Indiana Department of Highways. I have experience with the maintenance of our sewers and drainage on our roads. I am also a small business owner with management and budgeting skills."
3. How will you balance the budget? Or at least reduce the deficit? "Our city has a "control/spending problem" that needs to be solved to balance our budget. We need to eliminate non-essential positions within the city, reduce spending and find ways through grants and other sources to bring in more revenue to our city."
4. What will you do to improve code enforcement? "There should be a Code enforcement Office with a qualified code enforcement officer will deal with all code violations within our city. This person must be able to work hand in hand with the public and be experienced and knowledgeable of Indiana Law, city codes and ordinances. This person will also be assessable to neighborhood associations for their problems and concerns. Public outreach programs will also be established to help educate the public on codes and ordinances. The Code Enforcement office will work as a team with other departments to fix and solve the problems that are presented."
5. How do you feel about our sewer situation? What can be done to improve them? "As Mayor, I will look to revamp the current sewer situation. The 2009 flooding proved that our infrastructure needs to be looked at and examined closely. Preventive maintenance of all pipes, which has not been done by previous administrations, needs to be implemented. I feel that the Sewer Department which is currently outsourced to EMC, needs to be brought back inhouse and work closely with our Stormwater department as a team effort to handle issues such as preventive maintenance for all pipes in our city. I also feel that we need to look at a possible expansion of the Sewer plant by placing another plant on the wast end of our city to accommodate the flow."
6. Do you think the victims of the Aug. 09 flood are being adequately helped? What would you do? "I feel the flood victims have not been adequately helped. The management of maintenance of the pipe and ditches in our community were neglected throughout of the years. This needs to be done as a preventive measure daily, allocate money to fix the problems, and not just put a band-aid on the situation pacify the ones who were affected."
7. Do you think we have too many T.I.F.'s? "Yes, that statistics show that New Albany has more TIF's than any other city in Indiana."
8. What are your thoughts on revitalizing downtown? Do you think we need the 12 million dollar parking garage? "We need to revitalize our downtown before it becomes a ghost town. As Mayor, I plan to use the floodwall to attract restaurants and businesses, like our sister city Jeffersonville has done. Once this is established, people will utilize our downtown area, revenue will increase, businesses will flourish and downtown will once be what it was, a town that is alive. This city does not need another 12 million dollar parking garage at this time. We need to look at parking in the downtown area and work on other solutions instead of using our tax money."
9. How do you feel about changing Spring St., Elm St., and Market St. to 2 way? "Changing Spring St., Elm Street, and Market Street to two-ways would be a great idea for the flow of traffic into New Albany. The downside of this would be that these streets have been one way for so many years and changing these could cause more accidents. I feel that the city needs to look to see if it would be feasible to create this change."
10. What is your position on the Police and Fire Depts? Do you think 85% is too large a portion of the budget to be allotted to these departments? "85% of the city's budget is too large of an appropriation for public safety. Our Fire and Police Departments are crucial to our city and public safety, but as Mayor, I will look t the contracts, meet with the unions and see if an agreement can be made between the city and union on a feasible appropriation without hindering these very important city services. I will also look at each department so see if cost efficient measures can be implemented to reduce their budget. It is very important that the Mayor and the Unions work together as a team for the city of New Albany."
    

ALEX, I'LL TAKE PLAN B FOR $7.4 MILLION

After much discussion and even a short recess in the hallway Mr. Messer introduced and supported the Mayor's plan B for the sewer rate increase. He explained his vote stating that he voted the way he felt would be the best plan for the people and that he was not influenced by the Mayor. He said that they had not had a conversation about his vote or about his recent attention by the newspapers and TV.

The Ordinance has not yet passed. There was only a second reading tonight, with presumably the third and final reading at the next meeting.

Understandably there was a lot of opposition from the council and from the public. Mr. Gahan said that he did not see an emergency need to borrow the money and thought that we could finish these projects without incurring more debt. Mr. Coffey and Mr. Price concurred.

Again there were remarks from the public including Vicki Denhart who supported using more EDIT and TIF funds to keep the rates down. She also mentioned the unpaid hookup fees from Linden Meadows and wondered aloud how many other homes had unpaid hookup fees.

Joy Chism, a first time speaker said that she cannot afford the rate increase and blamed the sewer problems on mismanagement.

Rev. Steve Burks said that he has been a resident since 1997 and since then the sewer utility has been in constant crisis. He thinks we need clarity as to the specific needs because the city budget that he was given was very vague. He also repeated that the top city officials should lead by example and take a voluntary salary cut.

In other business:

A 10-02 - $300,000 Appropriation from Rainy Day to Stormwater passed 7-2

A 10-03 - $400,000 Appropriation from Rainy Day to pay claims and make improvements for
the damage caused by the August 4 flooding passed 7-2

A 10-04 - $75,000 from E.D.I.T. to stormwater passed 8-1

A 10-05 - $100,000 from Riverboat to demolish unsafe properties passed 9-0

G 10-07 - Ordinance regulating tattoo and body piercing establishments passed 9-0

G 10-08 - Ordinance regulating disposal of dead animals passed 9-0

Personally, I hate to see the rate increase for the sewers but if it means getting them fixed and people not having to worry about their basements flooding when it rains, then so be it. According to Mr. Fifer the "loan" of $7.4Mil. does not put cash in our bank account. It is only a draw which cannot be approved without strict documentation for projects. Mr. Zurschmeide said that the interest rates will never be lower and neither will the costs to complete the projects. I have to agree, contractors need work and so do the workers. Let's get these projects done and put our citizens to work.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE

Enjoy this beautiful day that the Lord has made.

DECISIONS, DECISIONS

The City Council will hear two different options tonight concerning the sewer rate increase.

• Plan 1 calls for an increase of 18% now and 17-21% in 2012. This plan uses $700,000.00 from EDIT and Riverboat funds for the next 20 years.
• Plan 2 calls for an increase of 23% now and 20% in 2012 and does not include the $700,000.00 from EDIT and Riverboat.

Mayor England first supported Plan 1 but changed his mind when he realized that EDIT and Riverboat might be needed to complete the Greenway project and the new Little League Complex.

I have expressed many times that I don't want to tie up EDIT for 20 years so I'm not in favor of either of these plans. We'll just have to wait and see what the council decides.

The Sewer meeting begins at 4:30 and the Council workshop begins at 6:00.

UPDATE: DANIEL SUDDEATH SAID THE SEWER MEETING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

TAP IN FEES IN LINDEN MEADOWS

Yesterday's Tribune had an article about Linden Meadows.

It seems the Sewer Board wants to waive the tap in fees for three homes at $1,650.00 each. This was per the request of Carl Malysz because he does not think the homeowners should be penalized.

Although I agree that the homeowners should not be forced to pay these fees that Community Housing defaulted on, I think these fees should be added to the cost of the property and the new owner pick them up.

If a developer is interested in purchasing the property, $4,950.00 would not be a deal breaker.
They would already be obligated for the tap in fees for future homes at $1,800.00 each.

That way the city does not lose any more money and the current homeowners are not forced to pay another fee after all of the problems they have had to endure the last few years.