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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-03-25 MINUTES OF COUNCIL MARCH 25, 2014 The Batesville City Council met in regular session on March 25, at 5:30 PM at the Municipal Building. Mayor Elumbaugh called the meeting to order. Utility Office Manager Nick Baxter gave the invocation. Upon roll call, the following council answered present; Chris Beller, Tommy Bryant, Margarett Henley, Paige Hubbard, Fred Krug, Douglas Matthews, Chris Poole, and David Shetron. Also present were the City Clerk and the City Attorney. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the minutes from the previous meeting. Councilmember Henley seconded and all voted for. Councilmember Bryant moved to approve the prepared agenda. Councilmember Hubbard seconded and all voted for. CITIZENS COMMENTS None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS A) PROCLAMATION AND CERTIFICATE PRESENTATION FOR NATIONAL DAY OF SERVICE Mayor Elumbaugh read a proclamation proclaiming April 1St as National Service Day. The Mayor then presented several certificates to volunteers who give their time to the Foster Grandparents Program, White River Area Agency on Ageing and the Literacy Project. B) MR. LARRY JONES WITH AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UPDATE Mr. Larry Jones with the Economic Development Commission addressed the council with a brief update on the status of current projects through the EDC. He also reminded the council that the '/4 cent sales tax which has funded the EDC for the past 5 years will end on March 31St. He said they hope to keep the EDC active through other means of funding. C) MR. BOB CARIUS REQUESTING APPROVAL FOR A TEST OF THE NEWLY DESIGNED STREETSCAPE FOR MAIN STREET Mr. Bob Carius and Mr. Joel Williams with Main Street Batesville addressed the council requesting the approval of a trial streetscape on Main Street from 5t" to Broad Street. Mr. Carius said the Advisory Panel is recommending the streetscape to help revitalize downtown Batesville. The streetscape will change the current 2 lanes into 1 lane with parallel parking on one side of the street and diagonal parking on the opposite side. The parking styles will alternate down the street. Several Cities' have implemented the streetscape and have reported great success with the changes. Mr. Carius said during the trial period, which will last several months, the current stoplights will be placed on blinking red. Phase 2 includes a downtown festival from June 6 and 7 to showcase the streetscape and to receive public comments. Mr. Carius said he has visited with the City Engineer and they believe they can have the trial streetscape ready by June 1St Councilmember Shetron moved to proceed with Phase 1 and 2 and Councilmember Krug seconded. All voted for. D) MS. HEATHER HOGGARD, TOBACCO COORDINATOR, WILL DISCUSS CONCERNS ABOUT THE USE OF E-CIGARETTES IN PUBLIC PLACES Ms. Heather Hoggard addressed the council regarding the use of e-cigarettes in public places. Ms. Hoggard explained how e-cigarettes work. She said the cigarettes are filled with liquid nicotine and a battery. The battery heats up the nicotine which is what the smoker inhales and then when exhaled it appears to be smoke but is supposedly water vapors. Ms. Hoggard said the products are owned by the tobacco industry and are not regulated by the FDA. Because the products are just now being studied, it is her concern that we really don't know what the e-cigarettes are admitting into the air. She also said the products are being promoted to help people to stop smoking when in fact, smokers are now smoking more with the e-cigarettes because there are currently no restrictions on where they can be used. Mayor Elumbaugh said Ms. Hoggard and the City Attorney are working on an ordinance that will be considered at a later date to possibly regulate the use of e-cigarettes in Batesville. E) PAID BILLS REPOTS The council was given a copy of the February 2014 paid bills report for review. MAYOR COMMENTS Mayor Elumbaugh welcomed back to the council Ms. Paige Hubbard who was appointed to fill the unexpired term of Mr. Davy Insell and Dr. Chris Beller who is filling the unexpired term of Ms. Hubbard, who moved out of her ward. The Mayor said Ms. Hubbard is no stranger to the council and even though Dr. Beller has never served on the council he has been heavily involved with the City for many years. The Mayor asked Parks Director Jeff Owens to address the council regarding issues at the new soccer fields. Mr. Owens said new soccer fields are not draining and were unusable in their current condition. He said he had visited with StoneBridge, the contractor for the job, and they are going to have a topographical survey done on the fields. Once that is done, the engineers at ETC will get with StoneBridge and hopefully have solutions to correct the problems. He said the issues need to be corrected by the first of August when the fall league begins. Mr. Owens said on a brighter note, the construction at the North Complex is moving along at a good pace. The Mayor asked the council to approve Johnathon Burgess to drive a City vehicle home from now till the pool closes in mid August. Councilmember Matthews so moved and Councilmember Beller seconded. All voted for. Mayor Elumbaugh said the annual Oaklawn Cemetery clean up is scheduled for April 7-12. He reminded the public to remove any artificial plants or any objects that they don't want thrown away during that week then they can take them back when the cleanup is over. The Mayor asked the council to keep the Luther Olinger family in their prayers. Mr. Olinger passed away last week. He was a loyal employee of the city for over 37 years. LIAISON REPORTS Councilmember Bryant reported on the groundbreaking ceremony at the Airport last week for the construction of a new six stall hanger. Congressman Crawford was present for the ceremony and while in Batesville also visited the construction improvements at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and the new soccer complex and improvements in progress at the North Complex. COUNCIL COMMENTS None ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, Councilmember Matthews moved that the meeting be adjourned. Councilmember Bryant seconded and all voted for. RICK ELUMBAUGH, MAYOR DENISE M. JOHNSTON, CITY CLERK