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CITY COUNCIL OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF NEW CASTLE Present: Council President William Blest Also present: 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 following City Council Minutes were approved, as submitted: Approval of Treasurer’s Report City Treasurer Janet Carlin was unavailable for the meeting so City Administrator Thomas stated that the Total Monthly Payables were $405,791.01, a total of $507,932.32 in the Wilmington Trust Accounts. $1,585,557.59 in the Certificates of Deposit and DE Government Investment Pool and $2,093,489.91 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 City is experiencing technical problems with the telephone lines, e-mail system, internet system, etc., and that they have already been in contact with the vendor and the problems are being corrected. Approval of Staff Reports Chief McDerby, Frank DiSabatino and Jeff Bergstrom stated that they had nothing additional to add as their reports were in Council’s packets. Councilperson DiMondi stated that the YTD expenditures are at approximately 55.5% and revenues were at approximately 83.3%. Councilperson DiMondi also stated that he was expecting the finished audit in the very near future. B-7 State of Delaware - Municipal Street Aid Fund–An appropriation in the amount of $58,308.40 was received by the City in January from the State of Delaware for the 2006-07 fiscal year. B-13 DelDot Agreement #06-P-PROG-163–The City has been approved for $19,062.00 from DelDot’s Annual Capital Improvement Program for specified paving projects. The City has received 10% of the funding. The project has been completed and the City has requested reimbursement in the amount of $17,155.80. C-6 State of Delaware Department of Public Safety–The Public Safety Department has submitted an application for and been approved funds in the amount of $7,113.85 from the Emergency Illegal Drug Enforcement Program for 168.75 of drug enforcement overtime. C-7 US Department of Justice-Bulletproof Vest Partnership--Safety–The Public Safety Department has submitted an application for and been approved funds in the amount of $1,121.16 for 50% reimbursement of the purchase of three bulletproof vests. Communications Councilperson Churchill received a letter from Gray St. Subdivision Maintenance Committee requesting the authority to place “No Trespassing” signs on the rear of their properties as there is quite of bit of pedestrian foot traffic to and from Susi Park and other activities. If the signs do not work the Committee is requesting the help of Council in rectifying the problem. Council President Blest received an invitation from the State of Delaware Historical Affairs to attend their meeting on March 5, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. Council President Blest also received a letter from Bonnie White regarding the landlord issue. Ms. White was not happy with the application as it requests the social security numbers of tenants and birth dates and she felt this information was not necessary. Council President Blest also received communications from DelDOT informing Council of their intent to raise prices (i.e., E-Z Pass, etc) in order to increase their budget. There was no business from the floor. Business from the Mayor Unfinished Business 1. Discussion, First and Second Reading proposed Ordinance 447, amending §166-7 of the City Code by adding a new section under (d) Engine Compression Brakes. Councilperson DiMondi recited the First and Second Reading. The Third Reading will be held at a public meeting scheduled for March 1, 2007. 2. Discussion to schedule a public hearing to consider Ordinance No. 444, amending the Zoning Code to grandfather front yard setbacks in the R-1 classification legislated non-conforming by the Amended Zoning Act of1968. Councilperson DiMondi read the proposed ordinance and a public hearing on this matter is set for March 1, 2007. 3. Discussion, Third Reading of Ordinance 448, amending Chapter 171 of the City Code: Parades and Public Assemblies, proposing a new fee structure taking into account the status of an applicant, i.e., non-profit group based in the City of New Castle, versus any groups that are not non-profit and/or based within the City. The amendment to the ordinance changes the application fee from $50.00 to $5.00. Councilperson Churchill made a motion that the Ordinance be passed. Councilperson Reese seconded the motion and the Ordinance passed unanimously. New Business 1. Discussion, Motion and Vote on Resolution No. 2007-05, approving a minor subdivision for property located on Johnson Way in Centerpoint Industrial Park. Mark Ziegler of McBride and Ziegler made a presentation to Council and a motion was made by Councilperson Reese to approve the Resolution. It was seconded by Councilperson Churchill and passed unanimously. 2. Resolution No. 2007-6 in Memory of Senior Airman Elizabeth A. Loncki, who was killed in the war in Iraq while serving in the United States Air Force. The Resolution was read by Councilperson Churchill. Councilperson Reese made a motion to approve the Resolution. It was seconded by Councilperson Petty and passed unanimously. The Resolution will be presented to Elizabeth Loncki’s family. 3. Discussion, Motion and Vote on Resolution No. 2007-7, adopting the Rules of Procedure for the Board of Building Appeals. The Resolution was read by Council President Blest. 4. Motion to appoint David Skupien as the Absentee Ballot Clerk for the 2007 City Elections. After a brief discussion, a motion was made by Councilperson Churchill to approve David Skupien as the Absentee Ballot Clerk for the 2007 City Elections. It was seconded by Councilperson Petty and passed unanimously. 5. Discussion of requests from City residents to have vacated portions of 12th and 13th Streets in Baldton. After a short discussion, it was decided that these requests were more involved than just vacating a paper street. Council decided that these matters would be handled on a case by case basis and that the requesting party would have to hire private counsel and have a title search performed, etc., at their expense, and once all of the requirements were met, the paperwork would be turned over to the City Solicitor for recommendations to Council. 6. Discussion on Ordinance governing vacant buildings, similar to what is contained in the Wilmington City Code. After discussing why the City should enact such an Ordinance, Council President Blest opened the matter up for discussion with Council. Council felt that there were good points and bad points to Wilmington’s Code and it was decided that Council will move forward in enacting their own Code, using the Wilmington Code as a base to work from, and modifying it to meet the needs of the City of New Castle. 7. Discussion to refer to the Planning Commission a request from Newport Crossing, LLC and/or HDC, Inc. to rezone portions of the Twin Spans Business Park. Shawn Tucker, Esquire and Mark Ziegler made a presentation to Council. After discussing the matter, 8. Discussion, First and Second Reading of Ordinance No. 449, approving a major subdivision for the Riverbend Development. Councilperson DiMondi presented the First and Second Reading of the Ordinance. The Third Reading will be held at a public meeting scheduled for March 1, 2007. 9. Discussion, Motion and Vote on Resolution No. 2007-8, approving wage increases for non-union, part time, seasonal and temporary employees equivalent to the increases for employees covered under the AFSCME union contract. Councilperson DiMondi read the Resolution. Councilperson DiMondi made a motion to approve the proposed Resolution. The motion died for lack of a second. 10. Discussion and scheduling of a public hearing to consider proposed Ordinance No. 450, adding a section to the New Castle City Code regulating the feeding of wildlife on City and other public property. Councilperson Churchill read the proposed Ordinance. A public hearing on this matter is scheduled for March 13, 2007, at 6:45 p.m. Comments from the Floor There were no comments from the floor. A motion was made to go to Executive Session to discuss potential litigation and collective bargaining and the meeting was adjourned at 8:39 p.m. New Business (con’t.) 13. Discussion, Motion and Vote on Resolution No. 2007-9 concerning Censure of City Councilperson DiMondi for inappropriate conduct impacting on City business. Upon returning from Executive Session, City Solicitor Harker stated that personnel issues should be kept out of the public forum, hence the need for Executive Session. Council President Blest read the Resolution and it was passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Jill DiAngelo, |
