JULY
9, 2001
ATTICA,
INDIANA
The
Common Council for the City of Attica met on the 9th day of July
2001 at the hour of 7 p.m. at city hall.
Those present: Mr. Larry Grant,
Mrs. Valarie Maus, Mr. Curt Phelps, Mr. Bill Craft, Mrs. Kay Gustus, Mr. Tom
O’Connor, Mr. Deon Swift, and Mrs. Nancy Mitchell.
APPROVAL
OF THE MINUTES
Minutes
of the previous meeting were approved on a motion by Mr. Phelps, seconded by
Mrs. Gustus. All ayes.
UNFINISHED
BUSINESS
Mrs.
Gustus made a motion to pass Resolution #2, 2001, RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON
COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF ATTICA APPROVING STATEMENT OF BENEFITS, PERSONAL
PROPERTY TAX DEDUCTION FOR NEW MANUFACTURING EQUIPMENT, REAL ESTATE DEDUCTIONS
AND CONFIRMING ECONOMIC REVITALIZATION AREA FOR LAND WITHIN THE CITY OF ATTICA,
seconded by Mr. Grant.
The
City of Attica held a public hearing to receive input from the public
concerning the city’s application for grant funds for water utility
improvements on the city’s north side.
Greg Beumer, grant proposal writer, began the public hearing by briefly
explaining what the project entailed and the need to provide a public comment
forum for the grant application. Mr.
Beumer asked for comments from those in attendance.
Mr.
Gordon Foster, 1011 North Street: “We have very poor water pressure in my
neighborhood. For example, if I am
taking a shower and my neighbor turns their water on, my shower goes down. I can tell when they do this because the
pressure in the house drops. It is very
common for us to have low pressure. We
also don’t have enough fire protection.
I believe that Bob Smith said the hydrant does not have enough pressure
to do any good. We really need some
help”.
Mr. Smith: “ Where Gordon lives there is no
pressure there at all on the fire hydrant.
We have a fire plug up there that actually, well the hydrant actually
sucks air. So it is a really critical
area out there plus on the North end across the railroad tracks, it is just as
bad out there. We’ve got a lot of
places in the city that really needs a lot of work done to them to get good
water flow to people and this grant would really help them.
Mr.
Eric Smith, of Hannum, Wagle & Cline, consulting engineers: “This is the next step of a project that was
started and completed about six years ago.
It upgraded a big portion of the city’s water system. It was a very old system. The improvements created what we call a “two
zone system” in that half of the city, which is the lower part of the city, is
supplied by a ground level reservoir. A
newly constructed elevated tank supplies the high zone, which are the higher
elevations. The next phase of this
project is being planned now because there were some subsequent areas that have
low water pressure, low volume and some additional areas that need to be looped
in so that these areas can achieve adequate water pressure and flow. The logical next step is to increase the
size of the water lines to get better water service to these residents. This is a critical problem for these areas
and it needs to be addressed”.
Mayor
Swift: “The only thing that I would
like to add is that we did start this five years ago. We discovered this problem in the north end from Summit Street
north. It is time to help these people
get better water service. They pay the
same rates as everybody else in the City of Attica and yet they have no pressure
and they have no volume. Hopefully we
will be able to take care of this situation.
Mr.
Greg Geumer: “Is there anyone else who
would like to say something concerning this project? Hearing no other comments or questions, we will close this public
hearing”.
CITIZENS
PETITIONS
Mr.
Gordon Foster petitioned the council to permanently close the alley next to his
property at 1011 North Street to Taylor Street. Mrs. Maus made a motion to table the request and publish,
seconded by Mr. Craft. All ayes.
DEPARTMENT
HEADS
Chief
of Police Snoeberger said progress was being made with those citizens who had
been notified of violation of city ordinances.
NEW
BUSINESS
Mr.
Eric Smith, of Hannum, Wagle & Cline, reported that their firm met with
representatives from the Indiana Department of Commerce who requested a
preliminary engineering report to document the city’s request for funding of
the water project in the north end; Hannum, Wagle & Cline are authorized to
prepare that study. Also, IDOC wants
documentation to show where the need is and engineering background. One of the criteria for grant award is that
the community provide evidence of being “ready to proceed” with the project
including being ready to apply for all necessary permits. Mr. Smith presented an agreement for
engineering services for the council’s consideration. The agreement provides for design and preparation of permit
applications and approvals prior to submission of the grant application in
September. Mr. Smith said he had
structured the contract such that only minimal work necessary for permit
application submission will be completed prior to submitting the grant
application. As a result, the city will
only be required to compensate Hannum, Wagle and Cline Engineering for 30% of
the engineering fee ($14,325.00) prior to notification of grant award. Therefore, if the city is not awarded the
grant and does not wish to pursue the project further, our expense is limited. However, if the grant is awarded and the
project proceeds, the remainder of the services and associated compensation
amounts will become effective as described in the agreement. It is not required that the city council
execute the agreement immediately, however, Hannum, Wagle and Cline will need
to be given authorization to proceed at the August meeting at the latest in
order to complete the work prior to submission of the grant application. Mr. Smith suggested Mr. O’Connor review the
agreement. A copy will be available in
the clerk’s office if anyone would like to read it.
Mayor
Swift explained Mrs. Mitchell had informed him that Public Law 280, Acts of
2001, effective July 1, 2001, allows city and town courts to adopt a local rule
to impose a late payment fee of twenty-five dollars on defendants who fail to
timely pay court costs, fees, fines or civil penalties in each criminal,
infraction or ordinance violation case.
Mr. O’Connor said the council would have to amend the late payment fees
in order to put this into effect. Mr.
Phelps made a motion to read Ordinance #8 for the first time, seconded by Mrs.
Gustus. All ayes. Mr. O’Connor read in full: ORDINANCE #8, 2001, AN ORDINANCE OF THE
COMMON COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF ATTICA AMENDING CHAPTER 4, ARTICLE 2, SECTION
4-15 BY THE INCLUSION OF SECTION 4-14 ENTITLED LATE PAYMENT FEES. Mr. Phelps then made a motion to read
Ordinance #8 the second time by title only, table and publish, seconded by Mrs.
Gustus. All ayes. Mr. O’Connor then read: ORDINANCE #8, 2001, AN ORDINANCE OF THE
COMMON COUNCIL FOR THE CITY OF ATTICA AMENDING CHAPTER 4, ARTICLE 2, SECTION
4-15 BY THE INCLUSION OF SECTION 4-15 ENTITLED LATE PAYMENT FEES.
Mr.
David Cleveland, of Pre-paid Legal Casualty, presented to the council
information regarding a general overview of legal services offered by their
company. He requested permission to
speak to and offer their legal coverage to the city employees. The plan provides members, their spouses,
and qualified dependents assistance with many legal issues through unlimited
telephone consultations and letters from attorneys. If an employee chooses to go with Pre-Paid Legal Services, they
enroll in a membership and pay a monthly fee of $15.95. They may drop the coverage at any time. The monthly fee may be deducted from their
payroll check. Permission was given and
Mr. Cleveland made appointments to speak to the various departments.
Mayor
Swift presented to council members, for their perusal, copies of the proposed
salary and wage increases for the city employees for the year 2002.
Discussion
was held among council members concerning building permits and the time frame
citizens have to complete the project for which they have requested the
permit. The general consensus was for
the building permit to have a provision for when the construction would be finalized
and then the building commissioner can approve or disapprove. The council requested Mr. O’Connor to
prepare an amendment to the present ordinance and present it at the August
meeting.
ADJOURNMENT
There
being no further business to be brought before the council the motion to
adjourn was made by Mrs. Gustus seconded by Mr. Phelps. All ayes.
_________________________
Deon
H. Swift, II, Mayor
ATTEST:
____________________________
Nancy
Jo Mitchell, Clerk/Treasurer