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Mayor and Council of New Castle Roll Call Present: Council President Blest Others present: Mayor Klingmeyer, Treasurer Janet Carlin, Lt. Adam Brams, City Administrator Cathryn Thomas, City Solicitor James Harker, Esquire, City Engineer David Athey. Council President Blest convened the meeting at 7:04 p.m. and led those assembled in the pledge of allegiance. Report from City Administrator Mrs. Thomas reported that a PBS documentary would be filmed in the City this weekend. The City will receive a fee from the filming company and notices will go out to all residents who live in and around the areas of filming. Approval of Minutes to Date Not all of Council’s packages had a copy of the
Minutes so this matter was tabled until the next meeting so that all
of Council would have an opportunity to review the Minutes. Janet Carlin stated that the Total Petty Cash on Hand
was $290.00, Total Monthly Deposits were $103,835.67, and Total Cash
in the Wilmington Trust Accounts was $257,671.27, Total Certificates
of Deposit and De. Government Investment Pool was $688,239.91 and
the Total Cash on Hand was $945,911.18. Councilman Reese moved to
accept the Treasurer’s Report as submitted. Page 1
Lt. Adam Brams was in attendance as Chief McDerby was in Dover and unable to attend. Lt. Brams stated that the VIPS program would begin May 20, 2006. The Police Department has already had training sessions for the volunteers and that another training session for those who missed the first one or new volunteers is scheduled for the end of June. The volunteers will also attend a training session provided by DEMA. Councilman DiMondi stated that the City has collected 95.5% of its revenues for the YTD and the expenditures for YTD were at 83.7%. Council President Blest moved to accept the Directors’ Reports as submitted. It was seconded by Councilwoman Churchill. Motion passed unanimously.
Councilman DiMondi spoke of the following grants that have been applied for: 1. B2 DelDot Agreement #-6-P-PROG-70–No update. 2. B-5 State of Delaware Community Redevelopment Fund–The City has applied for a request for reimbursement of project costs from the State in the amount of $10,322.32. Invoices in the amount of $25,806.58 have been submitted at 40% reimbursement for the purchase of recreational equipment for City parks. The City received a check in the amount of $10,322.32 in April. 3. B6-Delaware Emergency Management Agency–The City is requesting funds under the Homeland Security Grant Program Funds in the amount of $32,000.00 towards the purchase of an emergency generator for 900 Wilmington Road. The City is gathering information and will present a proposal to DEMA for review of the generator in the amount of $30,950.00 The generator will be shared between Municipal Services and the Trolley Barn. 4. B7-Delaware Emergency Management Agency–The City is requesting funds under the Homeland Security Grant Program Funds in the amount of $11,300.00 towards the funding for security enhancements to the Public Works building to include 3 cameras, digital recorder, card access and related enhancements. The City is gathering information and will present a proposal to DEMA for consideration. 5. B8-State of Delaware Department of Transportation-The
City has incurred $24,335.45 in additional construction and related
costs under the Heritage Trail Project and will be applying to DelDot
for reimbursement by mid-May for these costs. Additional reimbursement
will also be requested for pending landscape work to include mulch.
8. 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 have been used for the installation of the laptops into police vehicles. A check in the amount of $1,062.64 was received in March from DEMA for the installation of docking station equipment. 9. C2 Delaware Emergency Management Agency–The approved grant from the New Castle Citizen Corps Council, sponsored by the Public Safety Department, has spent $14,069.67 of the $15,000.00 grant. In April the City received a check from DEMA in the amount of $1,190.75 for reimbursement towards equipment installed in the VIPS vehicle. 10. C5 State Aid to Local Law Enforcement (SALLE)–An application 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 was approved in December. The City received a check in the amount of $8,493.34 in January and received the remaining funds in April. 11. C6 State of Delaware Department of Public Safety–An application submitted by the Public Safety Department requesting funds in the amount of $7,326.40 from the Emergency Illegal Drug Enforcement Program was approved. The City has received a check in the amount of $5,494.80 in January and the remaining funds in April. An application for additional funds in the amount of $514.95 was submitted in February. This is for overtime enforcement concerning drug investigations. 12. C-7 US Department of Justice–Bulletproof Vest Partnership–No update. 13. C8-State of Delaware Law Enforcement Technology Fund-The Public Safety Department received a check in the amount $1,913.28 in March for expenses incurred for a mobile data terminal. An application in the amount of $1,138.56 was submitted for reimbursement for the mobile data terminal. The City received the check in April. 14. C9-Delaware Emergency Management Agency-The Public Safety Department has been approved for a State Homeland Security Grant Program grant in the amount of $9,000.00 for Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program for a motorized key card access gate.
Page 3 Council President Blest received a letter from the owners of the Chef’s Table stating that they were withdrawing their application for liquor and music on the patio. Business from the Floor Ned Hutchinson had questions concerning New Business, #2–Implementing an Inspection Schedule for Rental Units in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 Zoning Districts. Mr. Hutchinson asked if rental property owners would be notified of an inspection ahead of time and he felt that the inspections should be performed by a City code Enforcement Officer. Presentation City Council presented Debby Pullan and William “Erv” Thatcher with plaques commemorating 15 years of dedicated service to the City. Unfinished Business 1. Riverbend Issues: (a) Motion and Vote on proposed Resolution 2006-10, to amend Ordinance No. 435, with the language as follows: “Create a Route 9 bypass south of downtown New Castle, the exact location of which shall be determined by the City Council.” (Third and final reading). Council President Blest read the Resolution in full. James Harker, City Solicitor stated that this matter must be done via an Ordinance. (b) Motion and Vote on proposed Ordinance 435, to amend the 2003 Comprehensive Plan Update for the City of New Castle by removing the suggestion under the Transportation Plan (Goal No.2, Strategy No. 4) to “Create a Route 9 bypass of the downtown south of Dobbinsville and Washington Park”; and further, Regarding “Map 4: Priority Transportation Improvements”, change the map by eliminating the dashed line showing the “Proposed Relocation of State Route 9". (Third and final reading). Council President Blest read Ordinance 435. Councilwoman Churchill made a Motion to accept Ordinance 435 as amended by Resolution 2006-10. Councilman DiMondi seconded the Motion and roll call was taken. (DiMondi-yes, Petty-yes, Churchill-yes, Reese-yes, Blest-yes) Motion passed unanimously. (c) Motion and Vote on proposed Ordinance 436. to amend the 2003 Comprehensive Plan Update for the City of New Castle by changing the suggested Land Use for the Parcel where the Riverbend subdivision is proposed to be developed from IOP to R-3. Council President Blest read the Ordinance. Councilman Reese made a Motion to accept Ordinance 436 and Councilwoman Churchill seconded the Motion and roll call was taken. (Reese-yes, DiMondi-yes, Churchill-yes, Petty-yes, Blest-yes) Motion passed unanimously. (d) Motion and vote on proposed ordinance No. 432, to
amend the Zoning Code of New Castle by Rezoning a portion of land
designated IOP to R-3, i.e., the proposed Riverbend subdivision. (Third
and final reading). Council President Blest read the Ordinance. Council
amended the Ordinance to read, “...as more fully described on
“Exhibit A” attached hereto, owned by Parkway Gravel,
Inc....” Also, Mr. Eskin, attorney for Parkway Gravel stated
that the owner of Parkway Gravel also wanted restrictions added and
City Solicitor Harker read the restrictions into the record. After a discussion of the restrictions, Councilman Reese made a Motion to accept Ordinance 432 as amended. Councilwoman Churchill seconded the Motion and roll call was taken. (Churchill-yes, DiMondi-yes, Reese-yes, Petty-yes, Blest-yes) Motion passed unanimously. New Business 1. Discussion concerning 2005/06 Police Department budget to determine transfers that may be needed to balance through the end of the fiscal year. Councilman DiMondi requested authority from Council to have a plan in place in the event that the police budget cannot meet its obligations through the end of the 2005/06 fiscal year, i.e., transfer funds in order to make payroll. After a discussion, Councilwoman Churchill made a Motion that councilman DiMondi be given the authority to transfer funds from the Municipal Streets Fund (to be reimbursed by the General Fund) if necessary to balance the Police Department’s budget through the end of fiscal year 2005/06. Councilman Reese seconded the Motion and it was passed unanimously. 2. Discussion on implementation of an inspection schedule for rental units in the R-1, R-2 and R-3 zoning districts as a supplement to Chapter 140 of the City Housing Code. After a discussion on the pros and cons of this issue Councilman DiMondi requested that Council hire a part time Code Officer and authorize him to make the inspections. Council requested that City Solicitor Harker draft an Ordinance for Council’s review regarding this matter. 3. Discussion concerning process for street bids, where costs will be covered by various state grant programs. Councilwoman Petty gave an overview of how much state grant money is available to the City and the proposed streets to be paved. 4. Discussion and Motion to authorize the erection of
an iron fence similar to Deemer’s Landing at the corner of 9th
& Washington Sts. After a discussion, Council felt that a wooden
stockade fence would be a safety issue and that once Mrs. Arms signed
the easement, Council would erect the iron fence on her property.
Councilman Reese made a Motion to erect the iron fence at 819 Washington
St. once the easement is signed. Councilwoman Churchill seconded the
Motion and it was passed unanimously. John Houben spoke about the rental inspection issue and requested that the Code Officer not be a resident of the City of New Castle. Eugene Petty inquired about the sluice gate at Tjaden Farm asking when the sluice gate would be fixed. City Administrator Thomas will look into the matter. William Robinett was a city employee and left his position for new employment. Mr. Robinett left his new employment and requested to be hired back by the City. Mr. Robinett was not rehired and asked Council why he was not notified that he did not get the job. Mrs. Petty stated that when the applications were being reviewed, she was informed that Mr. Robinett had obtained other employment so he was not considered for the position. Councilwoman Churchill made a Motion that Council adjourn to an Executive Session and Councilman Reese seconded the Motion.
Respectfully Submitted,
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