City of Mount Carmel City Council met April 28.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
Meeting called to order by Mayor Maguire at 6:00 P.M.
Prayer led by Alderman Ralph Barbre.
City Clerk Tina Hutchcraft called the roll:
Mayor: Brent Maguire
City Clerk: Tina Hutchcraft
City Attorney: Darrin Rice
Aldermen: Ralph Barbre; Brett Coale; Jim Griffith; Tyler Lampley; Eugene McGill; Jerry Lisenbee; Terry Stahl; Gary Moore
Also Present: Ken Otey, WFIW Radio; David Mills, Wayne County Press; Keith Colclasure, Police Chief; Andrew Miller, Fire Chief; Tyler Lashbrook, Electric Department; Flo Simpson; and others from the community.
The minutes of the meeting of April 14, 2020, agendas and bills of April 28, 2020 were sent out to those entitled to receive them. Mayor Maguire asked for approval of the minutes for the April 14, 2020 meeting. Motion by Alderman Stahl, seconded by Alderman Lampley to approve the minutes of the meeting of April 14, 2020.
Vote yes: Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Mayor Maguire asked for approval to pay the bills for the April 28, 2020 meeting. A motion was made by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Coale to approve the bills for payment.
Vote yes: McGill; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Approval of an Ordinance Creating an Economic Development Committee – The Council previously voted to abolish the Fairfield Area Development Commission effective April 30th. A new committee will be formed to take the place of the Commission. This ordinance creates the Fairfield Economic Development Committee. A motion was made by Alderman McGill, seconded by Alderman Barbre to approve this ordinance.
Vote yes: Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 20-0428-208 approved and duly adopted.
Approval of Members of the Economic Development Committee – The Economic Development Committee will consist of nine members, seven of whom shall be voting members, one person appointed chair by the Mayor, and the economic development director. Flo Simpson will be the director and Alderman Brett Coale will serve as the committee chair. Mayor Maguire told the Council that he only received seven applications from the community and one of those doesn’t meet the requirements of being a city resident or owning a business located in the city. Mayor Maguire is reaching out to other potential members and will bring this matter back before the Council at a later meeting.
Approval of Mutual Aid Agreement with Wayne-White Electric Cooperative – We are having a difficult time finding contractors who can perform the necessary work we need on our electric system. Wayne-White has offered to do the work as part of mutual aid agreement with the city. The cost estimate for this work is $204,000. BHMG Engineers had previously conducted a study to prioritize the work that needs done on our electric system and this work was the number one item they suggested we take care of first. Alderman Lampley pointed out that BHMG’s estimated cost for this work was $330,000. He feels it is a great thing to have Wayne-White offer their assistance. There should be no interruption of power during this work. A motion was made by Alderman Lampley, seconded by Alderman Coale to approve the mutual aid agreement with Wayne-White.
Vote yes: Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Stahl
Vote no: none
Abstain: Moore
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Approval of Agreement with Hoosier Energy for Portable Substation – Mayor Maguire told the Council that we need to enter into a lease agreement with Hoosier Energy for the portable substation so the work on the underground feed can be completed. A motion was made by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Griffith to approve the agreement with Hoosier Energy.
Vote yes: Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Stahl; Barbre
Vote no: none
Abstain: Moore
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Approval of Resolution for Street Closure of a Portion of NW 6th Street – The work on the underground feed will require a partial closure of NW 6th Street. The closure will be 150 feet north of West Main Street and 180 feet south of West Water Street. The street will be closed for a period of time not to exceed 21 days from when the street is initially closed. A motion was made by Alderman Stahl, seconded by Alderman McGill to approve the resolution to close a portion of NW 6th Street.
Vote yes: Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Resolution No. 20-0428-331 approved and duly adopted.
Annexation of Carl & Melany Sawyer Property – A public hearing was held earlier concerning the annexation of property located at 2555 West Main Street. Carl and Melany Sawyer own this property and have asked for it to be annexed into the city and zoned B-3. A motion was made by Alderman Moore, seconded by Alderman Lampley to approve this ordinance to annex property located at 2555 West Main Street into the City of Fairfield.
Vote yes: Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 20-0428-209 approved and duly adopted.
Approval of Setting Aside Money for City Band – In the past we have set aside $7,000 for City Band. City Band is held in June of every year and at this time we don’t know what is going to happen because of the stay at home order. It is too early to know for sure if we will be able to have city band but we would need to appropriate the money just in case. Alderman Coale said he would rather see the money that would be spent on the band concerts and the fireworks be used to help our non-essential businesses that have been forced to be closed because of the stay at home order. The businesses could apply to city hall for funding and the finance committee could review the requests and the money would be divided among those businesses to help them out during this time that they are not able to operate. Mayor Maguire stated that we might be able to use some of our revolving loan fund money to help the businesses. Many of our businesses do not qualify for grant assistance that is being offered through the state. Alderman Lisenbee and Alderman Stahl were in agreement with Alderman Coale that helping our businesses is more important than city band or fireworks. Alderman Moore would like to be able to help the businesses but would also like to see us have the band and fireworks because it is important for residents to have something to celebrate. The aldermen were in agreement that they would like to see the city help the businesses in some way. Alderman Lampley expressed that he would like to see us be able to help the business and possibly still have city band. Alderman Lampley made a motion to set aside money for city band and the motion was seconded by Alderman Barbre.
Vote yes: McGill; Moore; Barbre; Griffith; Lampley
Vote no: Lisenbee; Stahl; Coale
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Discussion of 4th of July Fireworks – Mayor Maguire reported that he has spoken with the company that provides the fireworks and they have reserved July 4th for us but will work with us to reschedule for a later date if need be. There is no need to make a decision at this time as far as they are concerned. Mayor Maguire has also spoken to Clark Griffith with the Wayne County Health Department and he suggested we not make any decisions to cancel events until the current stay at home order expires. Mr. Griffith believes restrictions will be relaxed after May 30th.
Approval of a Redevelopment Agreement with XYZO Inc. (Your Flower Shop) – The flower shop is in need of some repairs and upgrades to their building and has requested help through TIF. The TIF Committee has met and they have recommended Council approve a redevelopment agreement with XYZO Inc. in the amount of $25,000.00. A motion was made by Alderman Griffith, seconded by Alderman Coale to approve this ordinance authorizing a redevelopment agreement with XYZO Inc.
Vote yes: McGill; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 20-0428-210 approved and duly adopted.
Miscellaneous – Alderman Moore felt Alderman Coale had a very good idea about trying to help our businesses in the city. He asked if Attorney Rice could draft paperwork to have ready at the next meeting so the city could set aside $20,000 to help our businesses. Attorney Rice said that he would work on the paperwork in order for us to move forward with this project and Flo Simpson will develop an application for the businesses to complete. The applications will be available Monday and once the applications are received the grant money will be distributed. We might also be able to use some of the money from the revolving loan fund to assist our businesses.
Miscellaneous – When Sunrise Sanitation began picking up the trash in the city they stopped all alley pickups and required the cans to be placed along the street. Alderman Stahl reported that a resident that lives on SW 10th Street is concerned about this because the steep hill on that street makes it very difficult to get the trash container down to the street. Mayor Maguire stated that he will be scheduling a meeting with the trash company to discuss several issues and he will speak with them about this problem.
Miscellaneous – Alderman Moore asked about the contract negotiations with the FOP. Mayor Maguire reported that there has been an issue about language in the contract concerning minimum staffing and the FOP wanting an actual schedule in the contract. This has caused the negotiations to come to a standstill. However, there have been discussions for possible language changes. These changes that have been proposed would ease their concerns they have about reduction of staff but also provide the city with the ability, if our financial situation took a turn for the worse, to reduce staff if we had to but it would provide them some protection. Mayor Maguire is waiting to hear back from them and hopes they will be responsive to this proposal.
Adjourn Meeting – Motion by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Moore to adjourn the meeting.
Vote yes: 8
Vote no: 0
Mayor Maguire declared meeting adjourned at 6: 41 p.m.
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