South Bend Common Council Meeting

 7:00 pm, County-City Building, 4th Floor
Present:  ALL

NEW Councilperson! NEW Coffee Shop! NEW Fire Station! NEW Menards! NEW Data Portal for City Info! NEW Ballroom! Update on Solar, Floods and Potholes

Bill #04-18 Ordinance Variances for the new #9 Fire Station at 2104, 2108, 2112 E. Mishawaka Ave and 914, 918 S. 21st Street - Passed Unanimously
* One resident decided to remain in their home instead of sell
* 3 Owners of the 5 properties did sell to the City
* The Station will be funded by a bond
* The resident to the South of the Station requested a 6' White Vinyl Fence to seperate the properties and this was granted
* Station will be 10,000 square feet with 3 Bays, one is for the Boat Truck/Trailer
* This station will have an Ambulance
* Bids for the building of the Station will be opened on Tuesday
* See Picture for future view

Bill #18-07 LaSalle Apartments need to be reassessed now that they are renovated - Passed Unanimously
* 67 Apartments
* 90 Spaces for Parking
* New Ballroom for Weddings and Events
* Apartments are at 100% Occupancy

Bill #10-18 Menard's US 31 and Ireland Road  - Passed Unanimously
* They will be building the new Menard's on the old K-Mart site and needed a piece of St. Joseph Street.
* This will clear the way to begin construction on the site.
* BigR owns the building they are currently in on Ireland.

Bill #10-18 Change in Venues, Parks and Arts Staffing - Passed Unanimously
* The City will be making 8 people direct employees that were previously under a management contract.
* These are at the Century Center.
* There is a new organizational chart
* Aaron Perri thinks this will save $200K. He would like to spend the money on Business & Development
* Councilman Davis questioned if this if the is the case since now the City will be paying their benefits
* Transition will occur on April 2nd
* No firm amounts were given in the Early Council Meeting

UPDATE: 2018 Budget Amendment Schedule & City Wage will be given to the Council 4 times a year.
* Councilwoman White asked for a list of those who are at the top of their pay.
* Councilman Voorde asked about structuring the salary increases differently since 2% is different amount for those with higher/lower wages.
(Per past discussions, this means higher salaries would not get a full 2% if their increase exceeds a certain dollar amount to be more fair.)
* Information will now be posted in "Gateway" so you the Citizen can get financial information directly on this link:
https:// gateway.ifonline.org
Go to "Indiana Gateway", "Report Builder", "Employee Compensation", "St. Joseph County", "City of South Bend"
The nice part is you can choose how to sort it different ways. 
This has to be updated on the site by January 31st every year
* New Assistant Controller is Ben Dougherty from the Legal Department

UPDATE: Solarize Program with Leah Thill, Environmental Planner, MACOG
For more information:  Look at the Michiana Observer post on July 19, 2017
* They held 8 workshops with 320+ Participants
* 97 Projects with 76 of them installed in 2017
* South Bend 164.4 kW, Goshen 485.8 kW, Others 55.4 kW for a total of 705.8 kW hours new Solar!
* Average Home 6 - 9 kW required
* 5.8 kW replaces 60% electricity for an average Hoosier household

Bill #18-04 Former Bank at 2602 Mishawaka Avenue to become a Coffee Shop with a drive through - Passed Unanimously
* There were 5 setback variances approved so this can become the future location of a Biggby Coffee
* Councilman Davis asked if they will be serving hot chocolate - answer was "yes" both hot and cold
* The City is planning to award Facade Grants to businesses along this area

Bill #18-03 was postponed until 3/25/18

Bill #13-18 FIRST READING for ALLEY VACATION for E/W of Emerson Street and N/S between Northside Blvd and Hildreth Street
* If you live along these Alleys you need to come to the Council if you do not want this or have concerns and let them know in advance

UPDATE: Ardmore Study with South Shore
* Councilman Davis asked where they are in the process and to be apprised of the report

UPDATE: Zoning and Annexation 
* The City owned area between Taylor, Lafayette, Western and Wayne is being made all the same Zoning so it can be sold
* Disposition process will begin after zoning is uniform

UPDATE: Household Hazardous Waste Disposal and Recycling Programs
* The $11 fee for HHW passed
* The $28 fee for Curbside Recycling passed
* If they had not extended this fee schedule, the cost for curbside recycling would have gone back up to $40

UPDATE: Flood Information from Enginering - Eric Horvath
Mayor is out of town so he gave a letter to the Council stating he is "Concerned about roads and parks as the waters recede"
There are currently 17 parks and trails closed, so those remain his top concern.

* River crested at 12.7' on Thursday at 1:30 am
* Past highest crest was 10.9'
* Level at 4pm on Wednesday is expected to be 8', currently 9.8'
* Streets still closed include: Riverside east/west, Buckhorn and Northside
* Bowman Creek was kept clear and running which reduced some of the flooding
* River water is pushing back up into the sewers instead of running out
* Wastewater Treatment plant still has the chlorine section under 2' of water
* Treating industrial waste from IN/Kote and others first and letting regular waste continue to enter the river
* The entire plant was closed on Wednesday at 9 pm and reopened at 6 am on Thursday
* 315 reports of flood damage have been submitted, 180 are in South Bend
* Be sure to report any damages to 574-235-9378
* There will be "Solid Waste Amnesty" for those disposing of flood damaged carpet, etc. Free of Charge, just call 311 for the pick-up
* There are 500 homes that had electricity turned off that need to be inspected before it can be turned back on. Contact the Building Department for the Inspection through 311.
* Homes on Emerson Drive may be a total loss. There were 30 electrical shutoffs there.
* The new 3rd District Councilwoman, Sharon McBride previously had done Waste Water Treatment Plant inspections
* In 2016, the SBA offered lost cost loans to people. Some of those were wrapped into mortgages. For those who could not afford loans, there was $500K in grants available.
* At this time, drinking water for the City has not been affected, however, if you have a well, it is recommended you test it.

UPDATE: Pot Holes
* 4 State Crews have been out filling holes
* The State is responsible for Sample Street and it is scheduled to be resurfaced
* Councilwoman Preston would like two maps posted online - One for pot holes reported/filled so people don't continue to call for the same ones and a map for Code Enforcement violations

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