COUNCIL MEETING

CITY OF ATTICA

AUGUST 12, 2002

The Common Council for the City of Attica met on the 12^th day of August 2002 at the hour of 7 p.m. at city hall. Those present: Mr. Larry Grant, Mr. Bill Craft, Mrs.Valarie Maus, Mrs. Kay Gustus, Mr. Curt Phelps, Mr. Tom O’Connor, and Mr. Deon Swift.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETING

Mr. Phelps made a motion to approve the minutes of the July 8, 2002 council meeting, seconded by Mrs. Gustus. All ayes.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Mr. Grant informed the council the Traffic Committee met after the July council meeting to discuss parking at the library where the drainage ditch had been covered with concrete. It is the committee’s recommendation for people to park straight in and not angled with the stipulation there be bumpers as such so people could not pull up over the sidewalk with their vehicle, blocking the sidewalk. Mrs. Gustus made a motion to accept the recommendation from the Traffic Committee, seconded by Mrs. Maus. All ayes.

Mayor Swift told the council he had received a note from the Library Board thanking the city employees for all their hard work in the extreme heat and for a job well done.

CITIZENS PETITIONS

Mayor Swift presented a letter to the council from Community Action/MacVans requesting a $1,000 donation toward their van and a Taurus Wagon. This is the first time they have ever requested donations from the surrounding communities.

Mr. Jim Small, Attica businessman, was present to discuss downtown parking. He said he doesn’t understand why angled parking can’t be done downtown. He had a letter from State Senator Joe Harrison who said it was up to the city to pass the ordinance. Mr. Small is asking for angle parking on one side of the street. He pointed out there was angle parking at churches, and on Main Street and he feels that if those streets with their widths can accommodate angled parking so can the downtown area. He feels it is easier to angle park and it will gain additional parking for businesses. He feels if it can’t be done in the downtown area it should only be fair to eliminate it on Main Street and at the churches. Mrs. Mirriam Fogel, a downtown merchant, presented the letter from State Senator Harrison dated March 7, 2002 stating that after research, angle parking can be adopted by the city council by the authority provided to cities and towns in state law. Mr. Harrison recommended they contact the council. Mrs. Fogel said they have customers who want to park in front of the businesses in which they are going to shop. Mayor Swift said he was trying to go by the rules put into the uniform traffic code when they redid the downtown area. Most people, not everyone, but most people were for it. It says there is not enough room to angle park downtown. The Traffic Committee had the Chief of Police Snoeberger and Mr. Grant measure the streets. Mr. Grant, chairman of the Traffic Committee, said, “My recollection was that we could angle park on one side according to state guidelines but we could not park at all on the other side of the street; if that were the case, due to the width restrictions, then that was their recommendation. It’s not concrete that we have to do that, we could override it, but our insurance company recommends we go with the state recommendation as well; they will either pay or they won’t. If we follow the uniform in the traffic code, it says the street has to be X number of feet wide in order to park parallel on one side and angled on the other and it has to be X number of feet wider to park angled on both sides. With the street width we have you could conceivably angle park on one side, but you have no parking on the other if you follow their guidelines; there is nothing set in stone that we have to follow their guidelines”. Mr. Small said, “Following that premise then on Main Street shouldn’t there be parallel parking now?” Mayor Swift, “Yes”. Mr. Small said, “Then lets do it equal for everybody or lets not do it at all”. Mrs. Fogel said, “If it’s been so successful in these other areas why would you not try to see if it could be successful on Perry?” Mayor Swift said, “The Traffic Committee and Chief of Police, who is the Traffic Control Officer, and the insurance company comes back and says we can’t do it and be under their insurance program”. Mrs. Fogel said, “ I understand they don’t recommend it, they are not saying you cannot”. Mr. Small said, “Do you follow all the insurance recommendations one hundred per cent?” Mayor Swift said, “Yes, we certainly try too”. Mrs. Maus, who is a member of the Traffic Committee said, “It is not our desire to be a hindrance and we really want to help. We would have made it angle parking but after talking with the Police Chief and others and when we collected all the information, we thought that with the insurance proposal it would not be in the city’s best interest. We are not against you, we are trying to work with you and if we can change it we will”. Mr. Phelps said, “I agree with Mr. Small’s statement one hundred ten percent; it should apply to everyone or not at all”. He feels the ordinance needs to be very specific as to the direction of the parking. Chief Snoeberger said, “If angle parking were permitted on one side of Perry Street from Main to Jackson, the benefit of adding additional parking spaces is not going to be as great as what they (Mr. Small and Mrs. Fogel) think it will be. The ordinance says that the first space in each block has to be vacant. There are alleys and cross streets on Perry. The first space in each block has to be a parallel spot; if you put angle spots in there what you are gaining is not, in the opinion of the committee, significant”. Mrs. Fogel also suggested the city should be marking public parking spots such as the city parking lot across the street from the old library; people are not aware it is public parking. Mr. O’Connor said, “Do you know how we got to the point where we are at now? It was when we redid Perry Street—what we called ‘The Downtown Project’. We redid the sidewalks and the streets. We didn’t redo them on Brady or Main Streets. It was the city engineer who brought up the uniform traffic code telling us how to redo Perry Street. We weren’t paying attention to any other parking in the city of Attica. We checked with the insurance company who said, “we may not insure you or we may raise your premiums if you don’t follow the recommendations of the state traffic code; because if you don’t, it’s easy for somebody to prove liability”. That’s how we got to this point. That’s why we changed the parking; it’s because we were spending time, money and interest on Perry Street and the negative result was that we had Perry Street in compliance and we ignored all the others when we probably shouldn’t have. I’m not saying whether it’s right or wrong. But it explains why we changed from angle parking to the parallel parking. It wasn’t anything anybody did to hurt the merchants, it was just one of those things; once it got going, the logical extension of the improvement was to comply with the traffic code”. Mrs. Fogel said, “And we understand that; the point is time has gone by and we need more parking downtown—we have more traffic there and hope to have even more. We hope to have more people coming. People are coming to town that didn’t live here before; they are coming from the surrounding areas that didn’t live here before. They would like to shop in Attica if it were convenient. We would like you to please help us make it convenient. We are not trying to be adversarial, we are not trying to be difficult, and we are just trying to be good merchants so we can pay taxes to the City Council of Attica. Don’t make it more difficult for us. You tell us you are for economic development and I believe you. A prosperous Perry Street is economic development. You can make it impossible for us or you can help”. Mayor Swift said, “After Mrs. Fogel’s statement I want the council and the Traffic Committee, in all their wisdom, try to see if we can have angled parking on one side. I am going back on what I said in the past if it is going to help the merchants. I don’t know how we will ever know if it will help if we don’t try it. I would like for Chief Snoeberger and the Traffic Committee to take another look at it”. Mr. O’Connor said he has no disagreements with what has been said. He has also received a letter from Senator Harrison and what he is referring to is home rule. How it will affect the city later on he doesn’t know; how it will affect our insurance coverage he doesn’t know. Bunny Jordan suggested the city also consider handicap-parking access downtown. Mr. O’Connor will check the requirements for the traffic committee.

DEPARTMENT HEADS

Chief Snoeberger spoke to the driver of the ice cream truck who said he represented a company from Dayton, Indiana. He instructed the driver that he was to have a permit under city ordinance to sell ice cream; therefore, he should contact the clerk’s office. However, at this time Chief Snoeberger said he didn’t believe he has returned to the city.

Chief Snoeberger also informed the council he and his department continue to maintain coverage of the gathering of juveniles in the downtown area.

Mayor Swift spoke positively regarding events in the city’s parks this summer. He thanked the Park Board and Mr. Turpin for installing new benches in Ravine and McDonald Parks. He said the pool business was overwhelming due to the extremely warm summer. He also thanked Mrs. Cindy Mason and Child and Family Services who took care of the park program and extended it from eight to ten weeks. It was a huge success.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

Mr. O’Connor presented Resolution #2 that he was requested to prepare transferring $3,000 from the Deferral and Diversion Program Fee Fund to Police Law Enforcement Fund for the purpose of purchasing equipment. Mrs. Gustus made a motion for Mr. O’Connor to read Resolution #2, seconded by Mr. Phelps. All ayes. Mr. O’Connor read RESOLUTION #2, 2002 A RESOLUTION TRANSFERRING FUNDS FOR THE DEFERRAL AND DIVERSION PROGRAM FEE FUND TO POLICE LAW ENFORCEMENT FUND. Mrs. Gustus made a motion to accept Resolution #2, seconded by Mr. Phelps. All ayes.

NEW BUSINESS

Mrs. Gustus made a motion to read Ordinance #11 the first time in full, second time by title only and publish, seconded by Mrs. Maus. All ayes. Mr. O’Connor read in full ORDINANCE #11, 2002 AN ORDINANCE FOR APPROPRIATIONS AND TAX RATES. He then read by title only ORDINANCE #11, 2002 AN ORDINANCE FOR APPROPRIATIONS AND TAX RATES.

Mr. Phelps made a motion for Mr. O’Connor to read Ordinance #12, seconded by Mrs. Maus. All ayes. Mr. O’Connor read: ORDINANCE #12, 2002 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING WAGES AND COMPENSATION FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS, APPOINTED OFFICIALS, EMPLOYEES, AND MEMBERS OF THE ATTICA POLICE DEPARTMENT AND FIRE DEPARTMENT.

Be it ordained by the Common Council for the City of Attica, Fountain County, Indiana:

SECTION 1. There are hereby established the following maximum salaries for the following elected officials for the City of Attica, Indiana for the calendar year 2003:

Position Salary

Mayor 9,279.00

Clerk-Treasurer 32,329.00

Judge 7,229.00

Council Members (each) 2,081.00

SECTION 2. There are hereby established the following titles and maximum salaries for the following appointed officials for the City of Attica, Indiana for the calendar year 2003:

Attorney 9,000.00

Director of Public Works 43,448.00

Chief of Police 40,000.00

Assistant Chief 33,480.00

1^st Class Police 32,550.00

Reserve Police Officer 4,000.00

Fire Chief 2,000.00

Park Program Director 2,200.00

Park Program Asst. Director 1,680.00

Park Program Assistants 1,200.00

(Each, maximum 4)

Pool Manager 5,500.00

Park Custodian 2,500.00

Building Commissioner 3,000.00

SECTION 3. There are hereby established the following titles and maximum rates for hourly employees for the City of Attica, Indiana, for the calendar year 2003.

Position Qualifications Wages

Water Operator Entry level 10.55

Certified Water Operator Mid Level, i.e. certification & 90 days

On Job 12.55

Certified Water Operator Journeyman Level, i.e. certification 14.55

(Maximum 1)

Wastewater Operator Entry Level 10.55

Certified Wastewater Operator Mid Level i.e. minimum of 90 days

On Job 12.55

Certified Wastewater Operator

(Maximum 1) Journeyman Level, certification 14.55

Common Laborer Entry level 10.29

Common Laborer Mid Level, i.e. 90 days on job 12.94

Group Leader journeyman Level i.e. min. 2 years

(Maximum 1) On Job 13.55

Clerical Entry Level 10.29

Clerical Mid Level, i.e. min. 90 days on job 11.29

Clerical Deputy Journeyman Level, i.e. min 2

(Maximum 1) On Job 12.29

Clerical Part Time 8.75

Public Building Janitor 9.00

Animal Control Officer 8.50

School Crossing Guard 7.00

Park Mower 9.00

Head Lifeguard 6.85

Lifeguard 5.75

Meter Reader Pay scale at usual job rate

SECTION 4. In addition to the established maximum rates for hourly employees for the calendar year 2003 as established in Section 3, it is hereby ordained that the Mayor of the City of Attica, upon approval by the Common Council, shall be authorized to allow additional pay of a maximum of 25 cents per hour to that above established hourly employee rate.

SECTION 5. In addition to the established maximum rates for full time and salaried employees for the calendar year 2003 as established in Section 1, 2, and 3, it is hereby ordained that the City of Attica will pay mandatory contributions for all full time elected officials, appointed officials, and employees as required by the Public Employees Retirement Fund.

SECTION 6. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its publication as required by law and its adoption by the Common Council of the city of Attica, Fountain County, Indiana.

Mr. O’Connor read then by title only: ORDINANCE #12, 2002 AN ORDINANCE ESTABLISHING WAGES AND COMPENSATION FOR ELECTED OFFICIALS, APPOINTED OFFICIALS, EMPLOYEES, AND MEMBERS OF THE ATTICA POLICE DEPARTMENT AND FIRE DEPARTMENT.

NEW BUSINESS

A decision was made among members to have a Traffic Committee meeting on the August 20 after the Board of Works. The mayor also requested the Traffic Committee to not only give us the angle parking but how many parking spots we are going to gain. Everybody is invited to the meeting.

MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS

Mayor Swift informed the board that Cinergy’s lighting survey meeting will be in the council room tomorrow, August 13 at 10 a.m. Everyone is invited to attend.

Trimming has been done at the cemetery on trees. Before any more work is done he would like to have the Cemetery Committee to suggest what needs to be accomplished in the front entrance.

ADJOURNMENT

They’re being no further business to come before the council, Mrs. Gustus made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Phelps.

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Deon H. Swift, II, Mayor

ATTEST:

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Nancy Jo Mitchell, Clerk/Treasurer