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CITY COUNCIL OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF NEW CASTLE Present: Council President William Blest Also present: Mayor John Klingmeyer, City Treasurer Janet Carlin, City Solicitor James Harker, City Administrator Cathryn Thomas, Police Chief Kevin McDerby, Interim Director of Public Services Frank DiSabatino, Building Official Jeff Bergstrom Approval of Minutes The Minutes for Council’s Executive Session for October 11, 2006, Special Meetings for October 23, 2006 and November 30, 2006, were voted on and accepted as presented. Approval of Treasurer’s Report City Treasurer Janet Carlin stated that there was
a total of $400.00 in the Petty Cash on Hand, $16,577.27 in Transfers
Between Accounts, a total of $415,517.50 in the Wilmington Trust
Accounts. $1,487,554.40 in the Certificates of Deposit and De. Government
Investment Pool and $2,182,525.80 Total Cash on Hand. A Motion to
accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented was brought by
Councilperson Reese. The Motion was seconded by Councilperson Churchill.
Treasurer’s Report was accepted as presented. City Administrator Thomas reported that the new recording
system was received but that the Trustees did not want holes being
put in the walls/floors upon installation of the new system. Therefore,
the City will amend its order with Collins to have a wireless system
purchased and installed. Chief McDerby stated that the monthly report of the Police Department was in the packets of the Council members and that he did not have anything to add to his report. Council President Blest noted that all the staff reports are available for any interested person to review at the City Administration offices. Councilperson DiMondi stated that the City’s
audit is almost complete and upon completion, Mrs. Thomas should
schedule a workshop meeting of the City Council to review the audit
and perform a mid-year budget review. A-2 The Friends of New Castle City Parks and Beautification Donor Program–The City received $5,000.00 from Valero Delaware City Refinery to sponsor Bull Hill Park under the City’s Beautification Donor Program. This is the third year Valero has been a park sponsor. C-10 State of Delaware - Office of Highway Safety–The Public Safety Department received reimbursement in the amount of $1,797.28 to cover the hours worked in October under the Checkpoint Strikeforce Task Force Impaired Driving Program. They also received $732.95 to cover additional hours worked under this program. C-12 State of Delaware - Department of Transportation–The Public Safety Department has been approved for funding under the Dep’t. Of Transportation’s Annual Capital Improvement Program in the amount of $4,375.00 for signage. The City signed a contract with Phillips Signs to install freestanding cedar signs. Bellanca Air Service Hanger–The City will act as the fiscal agent in administrating grants from the State level through a $300,000.00 grant from the Department of Transportation and from the Federal level through a $295,832.00 grant from Save America’s Treasures. Communications Council received a letter from Rep. Mike Mulrooney regarding the road closure in Buttonwood/Collins Park. Rep. Mulrooney was not happy with the road being closed and asked the Council re-open the road. Business from the Floor Genevieve Miller spoke on Ordinance 445. Dr. Miller thought that the City should have a right to know who owns the properties in the City, but did not think it was necessary to know who was renting the properties. Mr. Sean Tucker, an attorney representing the developers of Twin Spans Business Park, spoke about Ordinance 446 on behalf of his clients. In addition, Mark Ziegler, owner of the engineering firm of McBride and Ziegler, and Dave Sills, owner of Daystar Sills, also spoke regarding ordinance 446. Both Mr. Ziegler and Mr. Sills also work for the developers of Twin Spans Business Park. They are against Ordinance 446 and felt that it give the Municipal Services Commission too much power and that various building projects around the City will be held up indefinitely if the ordinance is passed. Mr. Dick Evans spoke about Mayor Klingmeyer’s veto concerning the Ordinance that reduced the annual salary for the Mayor’s Court. Mr. Evans questioned what overriding the Mayor’s veto would do. Mr. Harker explained that Council’s wish was to lower the Mayor’s salary for the Mayor’s Court since the Court is no longer in use. Should the Mayor’s Court be resurrected, the City Council could approve an increase in the salary for the Mayor’s Court, however it could not take effect until after a new Mayor is elected in a City Election in an odd-numbered calendar year. Mr. Harker said he believed it would be inappropriate for the City to allow the Mayor to personally retain court costs as compensation for the Mayor’s Court, and as well as it would be ill-advised to pay the Mayor on a case-by-case basis. Rather, the most appropriate method of compensation is setting an annual salary for the Mayor to be paid for Mayor’s Court. Mr. Fitzgerald spoke on the landlord issue (Ordinance 445). He felt that the tenants should have to be registered with the City. Mr. Joseph DiAngelo asked that since there were many family members in the audience regarding the Resolutions of deceased residents, that perhaps Council could present the Resolutions to the families. Resolution No. 2006-55–Honoring Cpl. Paul D. Allston–The Resolution honoring Cpl. Allston for his dedicated service and selfless acts of bravery was read and presented to Cpl. Allston. Also present for the reading was Cpl. Allston’s daughter and Chief Kevin McDerby. The Resolution was passed unanimously. Unfinished Business Discussion, Motion and Vote to override the Mayor’s veto of Ordinance No. 438 to set the salary for the Mayor’s Court for the new term of the Mayor beginning in the spring, 2007. Council President Blest read the Mayor’s letter to Council. The majority of Council felt that the Mayor’s salary should be lowered since the Mayor’s Court is not in use anymore. In addition to the salary for Mayor’s Court, the Mayor receives a salary of $3,500.00 for being the Mayor, separate from the Mayor’s Court salary. Councilperson DiMondi agreed but stated that he would like to see the Mayor’s Court re-activated to hear Code violations, etc. A Motion was made by Councilperson Reese and seconded by Councilperson Churchill. A vote was taken (Churchill-yes, Petty-yes, Reese-yes, DiMondi-no, Blest-yes) and the Resolution was passed. New Business 1. Resolutions Nos. 2006-50 through 2006-54 in Memoriam of Charles Burris, Joseph Octavio, John Ryan, Amadeo “Tiger” DeAscanis and Charles Moorehead were read by Council President Blest and presented to the families. Votes for taken on each Resolution and all were passed unanimously. Due to the number of audience members present wishing to speak on the road closure in Buttonwood/Collins Park, Council President Blest made an exception and allowed audience members to speak. Mrs. Thomas reported that the barriers currently blocking and closing the road are temporary and can be removed for emergency vehicles until a locking gate can be installed that emergency personnel will have a key to. Generally, the Buttonwood residents want the street to remain closed and the Collins Park residents want the street re-opened. Most Collins Park residents were upset because the road was closed with no advance warning to the residents. Councilperson Petty stated that she spoke with a representative of the school bus drivers and Mrs. Thomas notified Representatives Bell and Johnson. Mrs. Thomas also notified Good-Will Fire Company ahead of time. 2. Discussion to consider Ordinance No. 445, Amending Ordinance No. 441. New Castle City Code Chapter 140-Housing and Property Maintenance Code, to eliminate the requirement for landlords to provide the names of tenants when registering rental properties. After a heated discussion, no action was taken to set a public hearing on the proposed ordinance. 3. Referral to the Planning Commission of Ordinance No. 446, Amending the Zoning Code to require that MSC provide a sign-off on plans prior to the City issuing Building Permits. After a discussion and hearing from audience members, this matter was tabled until Mr. Harker could research the issues and a workshop could be scheduled. 4. Discussion of the fees charged for Parade and Assembly Permits. A discussion was held regarding whether the fees should be consistent across the board or if non-profit, religious groups and residents of the City should be charged a nominal fee or no fee at all. It was decided that the current application fee of $50 should be lowered to $5, and that all individuals and groups would be obligated to pay the $5 fee. A public hearing was set to consider the proposal, to be held on January 9, 2007, at 6:45 p.m., on the second floor of the Town Hall building at 201 Delaware Street. 5. Discussion on the reason for overtime being worked by the Public Works section of the Public Services Department. Since this issue involved individual employees, it was decided that this item should be discussed in Executive Session. Comments from the Floor Earl Carpenter asked why the road closure was not
on the agenda but Council President Blest allowed the audience members
to speak about it anyway, however Mr. Carpenter was not allowed
to address agenda items during the meeting. Mr. Carpenter also stated
that he felt the landlord issue should be left alone and asked if
the tenants’ names are available to any City resident, i.e.,
can you find out who is renting the property next to yours by contacting
the City? Respectfully submitted,
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