Mayor and City Council of New Castle

City Council Meeting

Town Hall – 201 Delaware Street - New Castle

 

Tuesday, January 10, 2006 - 7:00 p.m.

 

Roll Call

 

Present:

Council President Blest

Councilman Reese

Councilwoman Churchill

Councilwoman Petty

Councilman DiMondi

 

Others present: Mayor Klingmeyer, Treasurer Janet Carlin, Police Chief Kevin McDerby,

Council President Blest convened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. and led those assembled in the pledge of allegiance.

 

Approval of Minutes to Date

 

Council President Blest made an amendment to the December Minutes and the Minutes were approved as amended. Motion passed unanimously.

 

Approval of Treasurer’s Report

Janet Carlin stated that the Total Petty Cash on Hand was $290.00, Total Monthly Deposits were $201,397.83, Total Cash in the Wilmington Trust Accounts was $305,794.09, Total Certificates of Deposit and De. Government Investment Pool was $1,285,961.39 and the Total Cash on Hand was $1,591,755.48. Councilman Reese moved to accept the Treasurer’s Report as submitted. It was seconded by Councilwoman Churchill. Motion passed unanimously.

 

Approval by Date of Director’s Report

 

Finance/HR Report

Marian C. Delaney was not available for the meeting.

 

Chief of Police Report

Chief McDerby stated that the new police officer, Mr. Woodson was in training until February 2006 and would then go on full time duty.

 

Councilman DiMondi gave a brief overview of the City’s finances. Taxes collected were at 95% and that basically, all of the City’s departments were on average (50%) except for the Planning Commission. Councilman DiMondi stated that the Planning Commission was extremely over budget. Councilman DiMondi also stated that the City’s audit was finalized and that the City is in healthy shape.

 

Councilman Reese stated that the Public Works Department hauled 232.33 tons of trash for the month of December as compared to 237.12 tons of trash for December 2004. Councilman Reese felt that this was due to the recycling program.

 

Grant Review

Councilman DiMondi spoke of the following grants that had been applied for:

 

1.                                          C6 State of Delaware Department of Public Safety–An application has been submitted by the Public Safety Department requesting funds in the amount of $7,326.40 from the Emergency Illegal Drug Enforcement Program.

 

2.                                          B4 Delaware Emergency Management Agency– The City has requested reimbursement of $5,000.00 under the Homeland Security Grant Program for the previous purchase of a Ricoh 240 wide format plotter/copier/scanner. The grant has been reviewed by DEMA and is in the final stages of processing for payment.

 

3.                                          C5 State Aid to Local Law Enforcement–An application has been submitted for $11,331.13 for the purchase of equipment in the amount of $4,445.00 to cover 180 hours of overtime for special investigations and drug enforcement.

 

 

4.                                          C1 Delaware Emergency Management Agency–The City’s application for a grant in the amount of $23,750.00 from the 2005 Homeland Security Grant Program has been approved for the purchase of laptops. The remaining funds are being used for the installation of the laptops into police vehicles.

 

5.                                          C2 Delaware Emergency Management Agency–The approved grant from the New Castle Citizen Corps Council, sponsored by the Public Safety Department, is to include a web page, which is currently in the design stage. The web site address is www.newcastlepd.us. This project has been given as a senior project for a Wilmington College student.

 

 

6.                                           C4 State of Delaware Department of Justice–The Special Law Enforcement Assistance Funds (SLEA) funds were received and 8 digital cameras and related equipment has been purchased for $9,439.20.

 

 

7.                                          SLEAF Grant - AFIS The automated fingerprint and identification system has been delivered and installed. The Public Safety Department is awaiting training from Motorola.

 

8.                                          B3 State of Delaware Department of Transportation–An agreement (Agreement #06-P-PROGRAM -11) to transfer $150,00.00 from DelDot to the City for the 9^th St. paving project is on file. Receipt of funds in the amount of  $79,688.47 for the paving of 9^th St. from Gray St. to Washington St. has been received. Invoices in the amount of $46,596.50 are in the process of being submitted to DelDot for reimbursement.

 

Councilman Reese acknowledged the work that Chief McDerby has done securing grants and stated that due to the Chief’s diligence, over $57,000.00 in grants has been secured for the Public Safety Department, which is money that the City will not need to expend.

 

Communications

 

Council President Blest received a letter from the Historical Society of Delaware inviting Council Members to their workshops for researching local history.

 

Council President Blest received a letter from Donna Ramsey of DelTech that the City will again be utilizing a group of first semester nursing students for the school’s Community Nursing Program.

 

Business from the Floor

           

Ms. Petty Johnson spoke to Council regarding Resolution No. 2006-01 approving a minor subdivision for properties located a t 102 and 104 Buttonwood Avenue . Ms. Petty Johnson asked Council to deny the Resolution as the properties have already been divided and built on and when she approached Council regarding her request to subdivide, it was denied.

           

Williams Robinett discussed Agenda Item #5, discussion and acceptance of the lowest bids for a new truck with plow and hydraulic lift. Mr. Robinett is a Public works employee and felt it was much more important for the City to purchase a new garbage truck before purchasing a lift.

 

John Houben asked councilman DiMondi to expand/explain his comments regarding the budgets of the City’s various departments.

 

Robert Ford, a City Public Works employee, requested that Council consider a raise for him (Laborer I), as he had been an employee for 3 years and the new full time Laborer I was making the same salary as him. Mr. Ford also felt that the Public Works Department did not need a hydraulic lift. Councilwoman Petty stated that she would look into the wage issue for Mr. Ford.

 

Business from the Mayor

None.

 

Unfinished Business

Council President Blest read Ordinance No. 430, An Ordinance Amending the Code of New Castle by Changing the Requirements of Section 230-1, 230-28 and 230-52 (Historic District Parking Regulations) in its entirety for the third and final time. A vote was taken by roll call: (Blest–yes, Reese–yes, Churchill–yes, Petty–yes, DiMondi–yes) and Council signed the Ordinance. The Ordinance will go to the Mayor for his signature or, in the alternative, his veto.

 

New Business

 

 

1.         Resolution No. 2006-01 approving a minor subdivision for properties located at 102 and 104 Buttonwood Avenue .  Since there was some discussion as to why the subdivision for the properties was needed and there were no representatives from either property to explain the situation to Council, a motion was made by Councilman Reese and seconded by Councilwoman Churchill to table this matter until a representative from one of the properties was contacted. (Blest–yes, Reese–yes, Churchill–yes, Petty–yes, DiMondi–yes). Agenda item #1 was tabled.

 

 

2.                  Resolution No. 2006-02 approving a minor subdivision for properties located at

226 East 2^nd Street . Carmen Casper spoke on behalf of the resident of 226 E. 2^nd St. requesting the subdivision and a Motion was made by Councilman Reese and seconded by Councilman DiMondi that the Resolution is passed. The Resolution was passed unanimously by Council.

 

 

3.         Approval of Trustees Appropriation List. Council will write a letter to Henry Gambacorta with Council’s requests but a footnote will be added to the letter stating that council feels a stipend should be given to Council as opposed to Council requesting individual items. A Motion was made by Councilwoman Churchill to send the letter with the additional footnote and was seconded by Councilman Reese. Motion passed unanimously that a letter signed by all of Council would request a stipend from the Trustees as opposed to requesting financial help with individual items.

 

4.         Discussion on installing stop signs at 10^th 7 Clayton Streets. It was brought up that      Resolution 85-10 gives the guidelines for installing stop signs and that a public hearing should be held to get the residents opinions on the matter. A public hearing on the matter will be held on February 14, 2006 at 6:15 p.m.

 

5.         Discussion and acceptance of the lowest bids for the new truck with plow and hydraulic lift for the garage.  Winner of New Jersey had the lowest bid and a Motion was made by Councilwoman Churchill that Council accept their bid. Motion was seconded by Councilman Reese and passed unanimously.

 

6.         Motion to set a Public hearing to amend the Code of New Castle by changing the requirements of Section 230-18B to permit Private Clubs and Lodges as special exceptions if approved by the Board of Adjustment.  A public hearing will be held on February 14, 2006 at 6:30 p.m. to get the residents opinion regarding this matter.

 

7.         Bank Resolution in the amount of $75,062.70 to pay Richards Paving, Inc. for contract #2005-02, “ Ninth Street Improvements”. A Motion was made by Councilman Reese that the Resolution be approved and seconded by Councilwoman Churchill. The Resolution passed unanimously.

 

8.         Comments from the Floor.

 

Ms. Dee Duszak asked when the problems with a property on Gray St. were going to be resolved. It was stated that the house would be going up for sheriff sale. 

 

 

Earl Carpenter questioned Item #6, Section 230-18B to permit Private Clubs and Lodges as special exceptions if approved by the Board of Adjustment. Mr. Carpenter felt that the public should know about this item and Council decided that a public meeting would be held.

 

Bill Simpson thanked Council for getting 9^th St. paved at least to the point where emergency vehicles now had access.

 

Dr. Padmalingam requested an update on the City Administrator position.

Dr. Padmalingam felt that since the City had gone without an Administrator for this length of time perhaps the money/salary should be used on a full time City Planner instead and City Council collectively should act as the City Administrator. 

 

Senator Dori Connor was in attendance and spoke about the new building projects along Rt. 9. She asked Council to give serious attention to negotiating with the various builders and should have in writing from the builders items such as who is responsible for maintaining the roads in front of the properties, who is responsible for installing red lights at the properties if necessary, etc. These types of items need to be addressed and put in writing when negotiating with builders in the City, as the City should not bear the monetary responsibility for these types of items. 

 

Councilwoman Petty addressed the issue of Howell Drive and the need for the road to be closed. Councilwoman Petty was informed that DelDot will not close the road because it would close off access to Collins Park . Councilwoman Petty felt the road causes safety hazards and should be closed.

 

9.        Motion for Executive Session to discuss personnel and legal matters. A Motion was made for Council to proceed to Executive Session and the council meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Jill F. DiAngelo,

City Clerk