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COMMON COUNCIL MINUTES
March 4, 2002
Approved April 1, 2002
The Common Council of the City of West Lafayette,
Indiana met in the Council Chambers at City Hall on March 4, 2002 at
the hour of 7:30 p.m.
Mayor Margerum, who presided, called the meeting
to order.
The Pledge of Allegiance was repeated.
Mayor Margerum said before we call the roll, I
want to call your attention to the empty seat where Arni Cohen sat.
We are sorry that he is no longer with us and I think you all know
of the many contributions that Arni made to the entire community as
well as the Council. So, we wanted to honor him by the flowers at
his place. Linda Cohen was voted on last Saturday by the precinct
committeemen and sworn in as a new member of this Council. She will
take office in May, at her request. We pause for a moment and then
go ahead with the roll call. Thank you.
Clerk-Treasurer Rhodes called the roll:
PRESENT: KEEN, MILLS, O'CALLAGHAN, SATTERLY, SPARBY, WINDLER
ABSENT: COHEN
ALSO PRESENT: City Attorney Bauman, Director of
Development Andrew, Street Commissioner Downey, Fire Chief Ford,
Parks Superintendent Payne, City Engineer Snyder, and Police Chief
Marvin.
MINUTES
Councilor Sparby moved to approve the minutes of
the January 31, 2002 Pre-Council Meeting
and the February 4, 2002 Common Council
Meeting as distributed. Motion was seconded by Councilor
Satterly and passed viva-voce.
COMMITTEE STANDING REPORTS
Street and Sanitation: Councilor Satterly
presented this report.
On the monthly highlights, the construction of
the east wing of the building that is being constructed for the
Street Department is 80% complete. Rose Street curb/sidewalk
renovation is to start in the spring of 2002. The Street Resurfacing
project for 2002 has been let to Milestone Construction and the work
is to be completed before August 15, 2002. Approximately 3.1 miles
of roads will be resurfaced for a cost of $240,000.
Planning and Zoning: No report.
Public Safety: Councilor Keen presented
this report.
For the month of February 2002, the West
Lafayette Police Department answered just under 1,700 calls for the
month and I thought it was interesting to note that just over 700 of
those were traffic stops and accident calls. So, you're doing a good
job and having a good presence out there. For the month, the West
Lafayette Fire Department answered 96 calls. Three of those were
fire related, 72 of those were medical related, and 21 of those were
investigative related. That completes my report.
Purdue Relations: Councilor Windler
presented this report.
Madam Mayor, I would like to take this
opportunity to introduce Brenda Shea, who is Student Body President
at Purdue University. She would like to address the Council.
Ms. Shea said I appreciate the opportunity to
come and speak tonight at City Council. I'd just like to briefly
highlight a few of the things we've been working on within Purdue
Student Government this year. We started off the year, obviously,
with the terrible news of September 11, but immediately we were able
to gather almost 30 student organizations to spring into action and
raised about $15,000 for Red Cross. We're glad to say that we
recently, in February, sent that check off along with a banner
signed by about 200 students, and faculty and staff, that's headed
to Ground Zero. Also, I've been working with Councilor Mills on the
Community Issues Study Committee, which we are pleased to see a
stronger new relationship formed between the City and the
University. We've done a lot of work on the large number of
off-campus students that were formerly disconnected. Glad to see
that through this Committee we're able to organize them for service
related activities between the University and the Community and also
we can better inform the students about new regulations, laws, and
policies. Just recently, we invited Senator Bayh to come and speak
at campus and he came to speak about his "Call to Service" bill that
he is co-sponsoring with Senator John McCain. That got a lot of
great press and inspired a lot of people to ask questions about
getting involved in service and we're really pleased to see that
happen. Right now we are in the middle of our own elections in
Purdue Student Government. So, I'm happy to come tonight and speak
and just say that, hopefully with our transition, whoever succeeds
me next year can just keep a strong relationship with the City
Council and work together on a number of initiatives. Do you have
any questions at all?
Mayor Margerum said thank you very much and I
appreciate the efforts that you've made on that Community Issues
Committee. I think that's a very good forum and will have continuing
value. So, thank you for your work.
Councilor Sparby said Madam Mayor, I would also
like to take this time to thank Kyle Kasting for all of the time he
spent as the PSG Rep to the Council and we will miss him. I was
sorry to learn that Kyle had stepped down. He's been very dedicated
to coming to our meetings and working with us.
Parks and Recreation: Councilor
O'Callaghan presented this report.
The Park Board met on February 25 and were
presented with maps of the Celery Bog and trail system that were to
be discussed at the Redevelopment Commission meeting later that
week. We'll talk more about that later. Basketball is completed and
wrestling clinics are beginning. There were over 1,400 registrations
for winter and spring classes at Morton and there was also an open
house at Morton for the West Lafayette Library satellite and that
seems to be working well. Beautification is scheduling volunteer
workdays April 6, the 20th, and the 21st, so
anyone who is interested in volunteering should call Brian Tunis at
the Parks Department. They also approved the Park Board Master Plan
for 2002-2006 and also voted to honor the memory of Arni Cohen by
naming the City softball complex in his honor. Arni gave so much to
the community and loved baseball and softball so this seemed a very
fitting tribute for Arni.
Department of Development: Councilor
O'Callaghan presented this report.
The Redevelopment Commission did indeed discuss
those maps of the Celery Bog and trail system and a very exciting
500 new high paying jobs and at the same time increase the quality
of life with additional park land and an extensive greenway trail
all the way from the Research Park to Pickett Park on campus. And,
we'll talk about that later when we get to the bond issue discussion
and have a PowerPoint presentation that I think you will all enjoy.
PERSONNEL: No report.
BUDGET AND FINANCE: No report.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT UTILITY: No report.
REPORT OF APC REPRESENTATIVE: Councilor
Mills presented this report.
I have just two items from the February 20 Area
Plan Commission meeting. We gave unanimous approval to Resolution PD
02-01, which were the final detailed plans for a Planned Development
on Andrew Place. It's going to be 12 efficiency units and parking in
a three story building by Balaji Modur. And the second item was
unanimous approval of a plat vacation on the southwest corner of
Fowler and Vine and this was for John and Connie Basham. They are in
the process of demolishing Fairway Cooperative and that's going to
be replaced with 8 four-bedroom townhomes.
REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES: No report.
PUBLIC RELATIONS:
Mayor Margerum said I would like to bring to your
attention that Monday, noon, on March 11 on the bridge will be a
commemoration of the September 11 tragedy and there will be a
proclamation. Anyone in the community obviously is invited and I
hope that many of you can be there.
FINANCIAL REPORT:
Councilor Sparby moved that the financial report
be approved as distributed. Motion was seconded by Councilor
Satterly and passed viva-voce.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Resolution No. 7-02
A Resolution To Adopt The Written Fiscal Plan For The Annexation Of
Certain Lands Into The City Of West Lafayette (Prepared by the City
Attorney)
Councilor Sparby moved to change the order of
business to hear Resolution 7-02 before Ordinance No. 49-01 in order
to adopt the fiscal plan before the annexation. Motion was seconded
by Councilor Satterly and the vote was AYE.
Councilor Sparby read the resolution by title
only and moved that Resolution No. 7-02 be passed on first and only
reading and vote be by roll call. Motion was seconded by Councilor
Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said is there any discussion by
the Council? You have received the fiscal plan and, due to the fact
that there are no plans in place, at this time there is nothing to
report on the fiscal plan. But, it is a requirement of the
annexation. Are there any questions?
There was no further discussion.
Resolution No. 7-02 passed first and only
reading, 6-0.
Ordinance No. 49-01
An Ordinance To Annex Certain Lands To The City Of West Lafayette
(Prepared by Stuart & Branigin LLP).
Councilor Sparby moved that Ordinance No. 49-01
be amended by substitution to reflect the change in the legal
description. Motion was seconded by Councilor Satterly and the vote
was AYE.
Councilor Sparby read the ordinance by title only
and moved that Ordinance No. 49-01 (Amended) be passed on second and
final reading and the vote be by roll call. Motion was seconded by
Councilor Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said I would like to call the
attorney for the petitioner.
Ms. Marianne Owen [Stuart & Branigin] said I'm
here on behalf of the Trustees of Purdue University, the owner of
this property. This has been a long road, as it always is with an
annexation, even a voluntary one, but in this case this will,
hopefully, be the last time you have to see this mug for awhile.
We've gone through all of the steps. By the approval of the fiscal
plan, we are now in a position to have your second and final reading
of this matter. What it is is a property that is adjacent to the
City. It is to the west of the Westport development. It is to the
north of the University Farm development. We've come to the City
with the idea that you'd like to have an involvement with the future
development of this property because we are in the process of
selling it and we're selling it for the purposes of development.
Thus, we request your approval this evening and I'm here to answer
any questions I can in regard to this request.
Mayor Margerum said are there any questions?
Councilor Windler?
Councilor Windler said the last time this was
brought up at the Council Meeting, it was mentioned that there was a
bird habitat on the northeast corner and you said you would look
into the environmental impact of any development. Do you have
anything further on that?
Ms. Owen said to clarify, it wasn't a matter of a
bird habitat but just a natural habitat and that's a part of the
idea of the annexation proceeding, is that the City would like to
have a hand in that future and be involved in that. So, anything in
regard to that will happen down the pike. So, it's essentially a
non-answer answer. No, nothing at this point is happening but as the
property is considered for future development that is the time for
raising those issues.
Mayor Margerum said are there any other comments?
I would comment that this is the largest annexation that the City
has ever been involved in and I think it will set the stage for the
future growth of the City and thank PRF for including wanting to
include it so the City does have a say in how it is developed.
There was no further discussion.
Ordinance No. 49-01 (Amended) passed second and
final reading, 6-0.
Ordinance No. 9-02
An Additional Appropriation (Police, Lindberg/McCormick Road
Improvement Fund) (Prepared by the Clerk-Treasurer) PUBLIC HEARING.
Councilor Sparby read the ordinance in part and moved that Ordinance
No. 9-02 be passed on second and final reading and the vote be by
roll call. Motion was seconded by Councilor Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said we need to conduct a public
hearing, as this is an additional appropriation. You heard the
purposes for which the appropriation is being requested. Are there
any comments from the audience? Hearing no comments, I'll close the
hearing. Are there any further comments from Council?
There was no further discussion.
Ordinance No. 9-02 passed second and final
reading, 6-0.
NEW BUSINESS
Ordinance No. 10-02
An Ordinance Of The City Of West Lafayette, Indiana, Appropriating
The Proceeds Of The Sale Of Real Estate To The West Lafayette
Building Corporation In Connection With The Financing Of A Police
Station (Prepared by the City Attorney). Councilor Sparby read the
ordinance by title only and moved that Ordinance No. 10-02 be passed
on first reading and the vote be by roll call. Motion was seconded
by Councilor Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said I'd like to ask the City
Attorney if he would review this ordinance and the purpose for it.
City Attorney Bauman said this is based on the
recommendation of bond counsel that this was what was required, that
the City needed to be paid for the land by the Building Corporation.
The $650,000 figure is based on the same per square foot price as we
had the appraisal for the western most piece at the end of the
block. Lucy [Emison], did you want to comment further on that?
Ms. Emison [Ice Miller Danadio & Ryan] said no,
it's just a statutory requirement that the Building Corporation buy
the land from the City and actually the lease/financing. This just
allows the City to spend the money on its portion of the project
when the bonds are issued.
Mayor Margerum said and the plot plan is over
there and you can see where the location of the building is and then
that is the land over there that would be technically sold.
City Attorney Bauman said the lot that will be
sold to the Building Corporation will run from about the middle of
the parking lot adjacent to this building all the way to the west
end of the block.
Councilor Satterly said does it include the other
lot, too, for the parking or not?
City Attorney Bauman said no. We won't be
constructing the building on there so that's not necessary.
Mayor Margerum said I would also like to
acknowledge Dick Bossung, who has been the chair of the Police
Building Committee, which was the one who chose the architect and
also reviewed the plans up to this point. So, was there anything you
wanted to say, Dick?
Mr. Bossung said thank you Madam Mayor, members
of the Council. When we started this project a long time ago, we had
several things in mind that we wanted to do with this particular
project. Through the work of the Committee and a tremendous amount
of work by the members of the Police Department and the
architectural firm that we consulted with, we've come up with
something that we think is going to work well into the next 25 to 30
years. It will be something that the City can be proud of with its
architectural design and the cost feasibility of it with the work
that the Department has put into it and stuff makes it a realistic
thing for us to proceed with. On behalf of the Committee, we would
request that the Council do everything they can to expedite this so
that we can get it under way and, hopefully, be into it by the
summer of 2003. Thank you.
Mayor Margerum said thank you.
City Attorney Bauman said in addition to this
item, later in the agenda you will be asked to vote on Resolution
No. 8-02, which is a resolution finding the need for the
construction of the police station.
Mayor Margerum said all right, are there any
questions about this?
There was no further discussion.
Ordinance No. 10-02 passed first reading, 6-0.
Ordinance No. 11-02
(Amended) An Ordinance Regarding Approval Of A Lease Between
The West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission And the West Lafayette
Redevelopment Authority (Prepared by the City Attorney). Councilor
Sparby read the ordinance by title only and moved that Ordinance No.
11-02 (Amended) be passed on first reading and the vote be by roll
call. Motion was seconded by Councilor Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said we have a presentation by Mr.
Andrew, the Department of Development, with a summary of the project
and Mr. Payne [Parks Superintendent] will assist him.
City Attorney Bauman said the purpose of the
ordinance is to approve the lease between the Redevelopment
Commission and the Redevelopment Authority for this project. That
would also include what's called a property tax backup. If there are
questions about that then Lucy Emison [Ice Miller Danadio & Ryan]
and Gary Malone [H.J. Umbaugh & Associates] are here and can answer
that. I think Gary will also be prepared to discuss some of the
financial information.
Director of Development Andrew said we'd like to
talk with you today about the PRF and Greenway Project. Actually,
there are three elements going on here. We have the Research Park
infrastructure, we have the greenways, and we have additional
parkland that will be added to the park system. The project goals
are to build infrastructure for the next phase of economic
development of the Park, connect West Lafayette neighborhoods, the
Research Park and the University together with greenways for
recreation and commuting, and I might add that this would be the
first research park in the state that would have this type of
linkage, and purchase greenspace for parks while it is still
available. The Research Park is the City's economic engine. We have
approximately, in Phase 1 and Phase 2, Part 1, 90 companies, 2,500
jobs. We have recent growth that has taken place over the last year
with Innovation Place, Med Institute's expansion, the Purdue Tech
Center, VISTECH, which is a private incubator, and BAS just expanded
and they will be expanding again. They just purchased the IBM
building. So, we have quite a bit of activity out there. Future
growth, there are two lots left in the current phase. This is Phase
2, Part 1. The new phase requires new infrastructure and we're
keying in on the knowledge-centered livable community, which is from
the Strategic Plan and the Forum. In terms of infrastructure, we're
talking streets, sidewalks, sanitary sewers, storm sewers,
streetlights, stormwater retention ponds, common areas in the park
itself (plazas, paths, greenspace), and then utilities that would
have to go in, in addition to that. The City's role will be to
construct the streets, the sidewalks, the sanitary sewers, the storm
sewer, and the streetlights. We will install those. PRF's role will
be the stormwater ponds, the common areas, and the other utilities
in the area. This is an artist's conception of what that area might
look like. This is Yeager Road on the east. We have Kent Avenue on
the west. We have Hentschel Boulevard extending into a rotary. Then
we have a road connecting with Yeager Road and with Kalberer Road to
the north. This is around 800,000 square feet of new Research Park,
an additional 2,500 new jobs, roughly 80 new businesses. We're also
going to be increasing the tax base. The cost to the City for the
infrastructure installations is roughly $2 million. New taxes
generated once the total 800,000 square feet is built out would be
annually about a million, $1.1 million, above and beyond what the
TIF currently generates. This then opens the stage for Phase 3,
which is immediately across the street from Phase 2, Part 3. This is
around 240 additional acres of Research Park. The University is
talking about developing that and that will give us area to the
north to expand into. We are looking at a 40-acre retention pond
lake that will be stocked and some additional ponds in the area. One
of the things when you look at why companies locate in an area, it's
not necessarily tax incentives. It's, as the Wall Street Journal
has documented here, access to a skilled and educated workforce,
proximity to a world-class research institute, and an attractive
quality of life. We don't have mountains but we can have greenways
and this is one way to bring people from the coast. They are used to
this in some of the other areas throughout the country. Greenways
and linear parks are essential to tie together West Lafayette's
neighborhoods, the Research Park and the University. Greenways play
a key role in the quality of life and the economic viability of a
community. The livability of a community is expressed in the ease of
mobility through and around the community without the use of an
automobile. With that, I'll turn it over to Mr. Payne.
Parks Superintendent Payne said this graphic just
represents part of the work that was recently done by a study of
trails in Indiana, in 6 different communities, primarily rail
trails. The research was put together through the Eppley Institute
at Indiana University with sponsorship from the Indiana Department
of Transportation, Department of Natural Resources, and the National
Park Service. The entire study is available on a web site, if you
wish. There are some interesting pieces of information in the study.
What this largely shows is that the bulk of the users are pretty
much the folks that we would think. It's not necessarily just the
college kids. It's the folks that work and make up the people who
are employed in the City, that serve on the City Council. It's the
bulk of the population. Here in West Lafayette, I think we would
have a little different skew than you see here. We would have more
older people and I think we would have more younger people. We'd
have a broader spectrum of the population. So, the type of
activities found on these 6 trails are largely walkers, bicycling
being very close, and a little less in the way of running and
skating. Again, I think we would have a broader spectrum in West
Lafayette because of the broader age range. As you know, we put
together a brochure as a result of the Five-Year Master Plan we
completed in 1997. We have been able to develop at least partially
three greenways at this time. We also have the Wabash Heritage Trail
in parks along the Wabash and we are working to connect that. The
Northwest Greenway Trail begins at Kalberer as it proceeds north
right across from what's known as the Whirlpool Building. It
proceeds around the Tippecanoe Memory Gardens, across Morehouse, and
out to almost Hadley Lake. This is the Cattail Trail. This is just
north of the intersection with Lindberg Road. It proceeds up to the
Nature Center and south to McCormick Woods on Cherry Lane. Recently
paved just last fall, the Trolley Line Trail segment bisects Happy
Hollow Park and except for about 50 feet is a complete paved
connection from Indian Trail, the road, and the lower part of Happy
Hollow, which provides pretty easy access right on down to the
Wabash and Mascouten, as well. This is a map that I know the
Councilors received. There is a large poster of it over by Brad
[Councilor Windler]. It indicates the locations. I would also point
out particularly the location of Cumberland Park, for which we just
a little over a year ago completed a master plan for, and Pickett
Park, which is just north of the Horticulture Park and the Purdue
West service center. A closer look at the Northwest Greenway Trail,
I mentioned where it travels from Kalberer across Morehouse through
Sagamore Point Subdivision, and actually the piece from there on to
just short of Hadley has recently been rebuilt and we will be
reinstalling the trail on a new greenway easement as part of the
Lakeshore Subdivision development. In the upper left you see
probably the part that is in most need of rehabilitation and that's
in a very narrow area along the ditch through the Sagamore Point
Subdivision. The lower left is the part that has recently been
rebuilt, a new detention area. Looking from what is the new greenway
easement you see Hadley Lake through the trees, just above the
horizon. The lower right is a piece that we've had an interest in
for some time. That's part of the four acre parcel that's being
donated by Purdue Research Foundation to serve essentially as a
trailhead park and that again is right at the south end of the
Northwest Greenway Trail, across from the Whirlpool Building. That
provides an interesting point for joining the trail that would
continue on east to Cumberland Park. The Kalberer Road area, of
course, as it proceeds east it is along Kalberer Road. Some of that
alignment has to be fully determined, work in Purdue Research
Foundation. Part of that is because the property Josh [Director of
Development Andrew] showed earlier north of Kalberer Road is still
in the design stage. Amberleigh Village is actually under
construction, houses are up and slabs are going in. The lower right
is existing trail that has already been developed around the
detention area that is even partly on the Cumberland Park property.
In the graphic in the upper right it shows the loop just to the
right center, brown, that goes around that detention area. Then, the
Master Plan pieces of trail that connect through Cumberland Park up
to the intersection of Kalberer and Salisbury. On south, southeast
of Michaud-Sinninger Woods, south of the Arni Cohen Memorial
softball fields to the parking area for the West Lafayette High
School Athletic Complex. The piece that extends south from Kalberer
Road to Cumberland is in the design phase. We are completing
greenway easements. That goes right through the heart of the
Research Park. You see some of the buildings, Purdue Technology
Center of course, being essentially the nerve center for the
Research Park. In the lower left, Med Institute, which has expansion
plans in the future and the newest opened operational building
VISTECH. The trail also goes along the PEFCU building and two other
lots yet to be developed that are owned currently by the Research
Foundation. The Cumberland Avenue piece was constructed as part of
the extension of Cumberland Avenue. The lower right shows that piece
that is on the south side, across from the Cumberland Place
Exhibition Center with the new Lodge residential complex, student
housing complex, in the background and the beginnings of the
restoration work that's part of the mitigation for the wetland for
Lindberg Road construction on the north end of Celery Bog Nature
Area, on property that was donated to the Foundation for inclusion
in the Nature Area. Of course, on the left are slides of the signs
for the two newest developments there, The Lodge and Cumberland
Place Exhibition Center. The Celery Bog Nature Area is a piece that
extends a piece of the Cattail Trail south of Cumberland Avenue. We
had hoped to try to build that last year and we did acquire the
necessary land but we were prevented by the construction of The
Lodge. We had to wait for that to be completed. The trail goes along
the east side of The Lodge through land that we acquired partly by
acquisition and partly through donation and then connects to the
trail near the Nature Center. In the upper left, you see part of
what the field looks like. We are in the process of restoring that
to savanna. There, in fact, will be additional mitigation work going
on as part of the McCormick Place project on the Celery Bog and it's
a nice mutual arrangement between the developer and the use of our
property and it accelerates some of our restoration of agricultural
fields to more of a pre-agricultural condition. The lower right is
the roundabout at the north end of the current Cattail Trail very
near the Nature Center. The Cattail Trail proceeds on south. The
lower right shows the fenced area behind the backyards of 12 homes
in Blackbird Farms. Then on the left, which is to the east, is the
Purdue Golf Course. In the lower left you see the McCormick Place
development. The upper left, of course, is Blackbird Farms. There
are other developments in that area, most notably perhaps is
University Place, which has accomplished a significant amount of
site work this winter due to a mild winter that we've had. It's a
very heavily used stretch of trail. It's been much more so since
school started. Many of the students use this that live along
Lindberg Road or in that area for commuting. They actually asked us
to stop closing the gates at night, which we started doing at the
request of some of the folks involved with our trail design. We
haven't had any problems. They are happier. We're keeping people off
the road in a pretty dangerous area, particularly that stretch of
McCormick between Lindberg and Cherry. Our plan is to extend the
trail on west along Cherry Lane, actually on the north side of the
road in the road right-of-way to McCormick, crossing at the stop
sign and going along the east side of McCormick on Purdue easement
out of the road right-of-way until the trail meets the woods and the
golf course. Then it would go back in the road right-of-way. That's
shown in the lower left. That is the east side of McCormick Road
along the golf course. If you've been by there recently, that's
quite a bit changed even. They completely have fenced that and
removed much of the worn out landscaping, if you will. That's going
to be an expensive piece of trail for us to construct. We have to do
storm pipes as part of the trail construction. It will also probably
be the most heavily used piece of trail that we'll ever build
because I'm sure you've seen all of the folks that run and jog and
bicycle along that area. The lower right is the south end of the
current Cattail Trail at Cherry Lane, across from the corner of
McCormick's Woods. The Pickett Park sign. In the lower left is Hort
Park. The lower right is a view from Pickett Park overlooking the
residential housing units on the west side of Purdue campus. This
has been worked out as a plan mutually with Purdue Physical
Facilities and the planners over there and our interests in trying
to connect Purdue West, Hort Park, Pickett Park with the Celery Bog
and, of course, continue the connection all the way up to near
Hadley Lake and back east to the Cumberland Park area, which in
itself serves two of the bigger residential areas of the City,
University Farm and Barbarry. The part of Cattail Trail that goes
along Lindberg, of course, connects back to the bicycle lane system
on Lindberg at Northwestern. This is the northern part of Cumberland
Park, a look at the Master Plan that was prepared for that. The
major thing that came out of that plan, and we knew this going in,
is that we need more open space. That's come out of our master
planning for Parks. That's been part of the Community Forum and
Strategic Plan process results for forever, I think, relative to
Parks and Recreation. We have a large ditch that bisects this north
part of the park. We would like to re-route part of the water that
comes out of the pipe that was installed to help handle the drainage
off the high school athletic complex, handle the extra water that's
going to be coming out of the ditch out of the woods, which comes
from the detention area for Amberleigh Village, handle that in a
wetland area, that detention pond. Then the outlet from that, put
that in a storm pipe and take it underground up to near Kalberer
Road into the existing detention area with perhaps minor
modifications. That will virtually double our amount of existing
open space there at a very reasonable price. I think many of you are
aware that we've been paying upwards of $90,000 an acre for recent
acquisitions of former farm fields for Celery Bog Nature Area.
That's the primary first step that's needed for Cumberland Park.
Then, of course, we want to complete the trail network within the
park. This will enable us to have a much better layout of existing
soccer fields and we've recently just signed our agreement again
continuing letting the Greater Lafayette Recreational Soccer
Alliance use the fields at Cumberland Park. The area highlighted in
red, just to the left middle-center of the slide is a 30 acre parcel
owned by McNorman Realty. We have reached an agreement with the
owner to acquire that. It has not been available for our acquisition
for some time. We are pleased to be to that stage. The agreement is,
at this time, for $80,000 an acre for the R3 zoned portion, which is
approximately 20 acres, with the 10 acres being provided as a gift
as part of the acquisition. It's the final piece in a 10-step
process for acquisition of the 185 acre Celery Bog Nature Area and
it certainly isn't going to get any cheaper and there is probably
very real development potential for that site, particularly due to
some recent legal proceedings about wetlands and their development.
That would be in a total package, obviously, the $1.6 million. We're
looking for assistance on that development and on that acquisition
perhaps from the Indiana Heritage Trust, as well. The summary of
project costs, do you want to provide this, Bob [City Attorney
Bauman]?
City Attorney Bauman said the PRF infrastructure,
as we discussed before is $2,047,000, the greenways a $1,600,000,
the parks $1,550,000, for a total under the bond issue of $5,212,000
with additional costs from grants and TIF funds on-hand or coming in
of $1,877,000. Here's a little summary of costs versus benefits. Of
the costs here, the projected payment, which Gary Malone can speak
to, is $615,000 a year. The total construction and acquisition cost
is $7,089,000. For that the, we're looking at 27 acres of park land
from PRF, 30 acres to complete the Celery Bog Nature Area, providing
infrastructure for future development of Research Park which should
bring in, when fully developed, $1.1 million of additional
increment, and we're looking at taking the pieces we have now and
forming a comprehensive greenway network for recreation and
transportation and it's securing the next generation of parks for
the community. We think it is important that we need to act now.
Originally, the staff looked at this project that might be done
incrementally out of revenues as it became available, but studying
it more closely it became obvious there were some unique
opportunities to do it all now, one of which is that the Research
Park needs new infrastructure for expansion now. Right now, we have
very low interest rates. We have sufficient available TIF income and
to get that in place before any negative changes in the tax law. We
have available to purchase some scarce lands for parks at this time.
We see a certain efficiency in combining the projects in one bond
issue rather than doing them separately. It's a unique opportunity
to take existing greenway segments and turn them into a usable
network where the whole is more than the sum of the parts and it's
certainly an opportunity to address some quality of life issues at
the same time we're working on economic development. Here's a
collage of some of the Research Park developments and some users on
one of the trails.
Mayor Margerum said thank you. I would like to
thank Mr. Andrew and Mr. Payne and Mr. Bauman, who put this together
and took pictures themselves. I think it gives us a good
comprehensive view of what this bond issue will entail. At this
time, call on Gary Malone from Umbaugh and Associates who will talk
about the financing in greater detail.
Mr. Malone said you should have in front of you a
set of schedules that is addressed to the members of the
Redevelopment Commission. You should find two sets of schedules, but
we'll talk about the other one a little bit later. These schedules
contain information relating to the financing of this project. The
structure that is intended will be identical to Wabash Landing. You
recall, late last year the City issued bonds for the parking garage
at Wabash Landing. That bond issue was very successful. The City
received a AA rating on the bonds. The bonds were well received in
the marketplace. The interest rates the City received were very
competitive for that point in time. So, the model that will be used
for this project will be identical to the Wabash Landing project and
just to refresh your memory, those bonds were financed using the
Redevelopment Authority. The Redevelopment Authority issued bonds,
tax-free bonds, used the proceeds to construct the improvement, and
once the improvements were finished those improvements were leased
back to the City's Redevelopment Commission. The Redevelopment
Commission paid lease rentals to the Redevelopment Authority and
those lease rentals were then used to repay the bonds. So the same
structure will be used here. The lease rentals in this instance will
be paid from the tax increment revenues now being generated within
the KCB economic development area. That's the area where the
Research Park is located. In addition to those revenues, there would
also be a special benefits tax as a property tax backup and, as we
will see in a moment, we do not have any expectation that a property
tax would actually need to be levied. Page 2 summarizes the
estimated cost of the project. In addition to the $5.2 million of
construction costs, there are a variety of other costs that need to
be taken into consideration with respect to issuing the bonds, one
of which is capitalized interest. As you recall, when a
Redevelopment Authority and Redevelopment Commission enters into a
lease, there are no monies available to pay interest on those bonds
until those facilities are completed and ready to be leased back to
the Redevelopment Commission. So in the meantime you'll need to
borrow money to pay interest on the bonds until those lease payments
begin and we've estimated that cost at about $180,000. Another cost
is to fund the debt service reserve. We will set aside about one
year's payment into a reserve account so in the event that there is
a shortfall in the TIF revenues due to timing or other factors,
there is at least one year's payment on hand that can be used to pay
the principal and interest on the bonds. Any further reductions
would require an ad valorem tax, at that point, as a backup. Total
costs are estimated at about $6.2 million. Since the bids have not
been received on these, you'll find in the lease where the lease
provides for a maximum project cost of $6.8 million. Page 3 shows
how these bonds might be repaid. We're anticipating the bonds would
be repaid over a 15-year period. Even though the lease provides for
a 20-year maximum period to provide some flexibility, we fully
anticipate the bonds will be paid off over 15 years. If they were
issued today, those bonds would bear interest ranging from 2.5% to
5.3% but, as you know, interest rates change daily. So we'll build
in some flexibility in the lease to accommodate that. Payments at
today's rates are expected to average about $615,000 per year.
You'll find in the lease it provides for a maximum lease rental
payment of $725,000 and that's to take into consideration the
uncertainty of the cost of the project and the uncertainty of
interest rates. Once the bonds are sold and we know the exact amount
of bonds to be sold and we know the exact interest rates on the
bonds, that lease rental will be reduced to reflect only the actual
principal and interest payments on the bonds and the related trustee
fees. So, the $725,000 is a maximum lease rental payment. Page 4
compares the expected lease rental payments with the TIF revenues
within the KCB area. TIF revenues for the year 2002 are expected at
$1.1 million. These revenues are shown to grow to about $1.4 million
over the next few years as properties that have received tax
abatements, as those tax abatements go away, and as construction
that is now underway is fully completed and assessed. The new
development in the future phases, the increment from that
development is not reflected in this schedule. The only tax
increment reflected in this schedule is the increment based on the
investment that presently exists. So as the park develops, those
incremental tax revenues should be greater than shown here. When we
compare those revenues with the lease rentals we find that there is
a sufficient amount of TIF available to pay the lease rentals. As a
matter of fact, we can pay those rentals 2.3 times, so there is
sufficient coverage to market the bonds. As I said, we're also
suggesting that there be a property tax backup and this is done as a
credit enhancement. As you may recall from earlier discussions, TIF
bonds tend to be the more risky types of bonds that local
governments can issue. By using a property tax backup we can reduce
the interest rates on those bonds and conservatively, for a TIF bond
issue, the property tax backup would reduce the effective interest
rate at least one-half of one percent on these bonds. I'd be happy
to answer any questions you might have.
Councilor Keen said Gary, is the minimum coverage
percentage, is that 125% or is there a minimal amount?
Mr. Malone said well, on the Wastewater there is
a minimum coverage of 125%. That is standard by the SRF. The
coverage on this is really dictated by the marketplace and the
coverage is simply the relationship between the revenues available
and the amount of the lease rental payments. It's simply a
mathematical calculation and it's really shown to give you some
comfort that it's not likely that that property tax backup will be
necessary.
Mayor Margerum said and I think mentioned at the
Pre-Council meeting, this is based on the present buildings there.
This doesn't take into account the new buildings that would be
constructed after the infrastructure is done.
Mr. Malone said that's correct. Nothing in the
new park is reflected here. This is existing investment only.
Councilor Satterly said you made some comments
about possible changes in the tax structure? How are we doing down
in Indianapolis as the present time?
Mr. Malone said well, as of about 9:00 this
morning, that bill has passed the Senate. It's known as House Bill
1004. It's passed the House. It's gone to the Senate. The Senate has
its own version that's gone past the Senate. It's going to go into
conference committee and we have been meeting with lobbyists and
various representatives over the last several weeks trying to
convince them of a need to provide replacement revenues for TIF bond
issues in areas. The present version that exists would result in a
reduction in revenues of about 38% for this area, if those revenues
weren't replaced. A 38% reduction in the revenues would still leave
a 125% coverage with this bond issue. We think that is an extreme
outcome and we're hopeful that that's not going to be the case.
Councilor O'Callaghan said as of 2:00 this
afternoon the House did officially dissent so it now will officially
go to conference committee.
Mr. Malone said this changes by the moment. Thank
you.
Mayor Margerum said does anyone have any
questions or comments? Does anyone from the audience have any
comments? I think it's a rare opportunity to be able to do these
things with money that we will be generating from that TIF district.
I think it's a rare opportunity to be able to complete these
segments of the greenway but, more importantly, to do the
infrastructure in the Research Park.
Councilor O'Callaghan said I think it's very
exciting that all three of the projects can be together to increase
economic development and increase the quality of life. It's just
exactly the kind of things that TIF districts are made for.
Councilor Mills said I actually got on the
Research Triangle Park web site and it's actually part of the Durham
city web site. But Durham has just approved 113 miles of greenways
that go all through their city and link up the Research Triangle
Park. So I think that's the type of thing we'd like to do here, to
be competitive with that great Research Park that I think is one of
the most well-known in the country. It's a great idea to me.
Mayor Margerum said any other questions?
There was no further discussion.
Ordinance No. 11-02 (Amended) passed first
reading, 6-0.
Ordinance No. 12-02
An Ordinance Adopting A Revised Deferred Compensation Plan For The
City Of West Lafayette (Prepared by the Clerk-Treasurer). Councilor
Sparby read the ordinance by title only and moved that Ordinance No.
12-02 be passed on first reading and the vote be by roll call.
Motion was seconded by Councilor Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said this is a copy of the
deferred compensation and this will just bring us into line with the
changes in the state. Was there anything you wanted to add to that,
Judy [Clerk-Treasurer Rhodes]?
Clerk-Treasurer Rhodes said this is actually a
benefit for our employees so that they can take advantage of some of
the very good features in new federal legislation. Our state plan
has implemented those. It also gives the City additional flexibility
in designing the plan. So, we have been participating for a number
years and we ask for your support so we can continue in that
program.
Mayor Margerum said any questions?
There was no further discussion.
Ordinance No. 12-02 passed first reading, 6-0.
Clerk-Treasurer Rhodes said I would like to ask
the Council to consider a second vote tonight as we are actually
adopting the revised plan, effective January 1.
Councilor Sparby moved to suspend the rules and
vote for Ordinance No. 12-02 on second reading. Motion was seconded
by Councilor Satterly and the vote was AYE.
Councilor Sparby read the ordinance by title only
and moved that Ordinance No. 12-02 be passed on second and final
reading and the vote be by roll call. Motion was seconded by
Councilor Satterly.
Ordinance No. 12-02 passed on second and final
reading, 6-0.
Ordinance No. 13-02
An Ordinance Amending Ordinance No. 4-02 Fixing The Biweekly
Salaries Of Appointed Officers, Employees And Members Of The Police
And Fire Departments Of The City Of West Lafayette, Indiana For The
Year 2002 (Prepared by the Clerk-Treasurer). Councilor Sparby read
the ordinance in part and moved that Ordinance No. 13-02 be passed
on first reading and the vote be by roll call. Motion was seconded
by Councilor Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said I think you have a memorandum
from Diane Foster, the Human Resources Director, to state that this
reflects the additional accounting responsibilities and web site
duties that have been added to this position creating a need for a
higher skill and competency level. Do any of you have any questions
on this change?
There was no further discussion
Ordinance No. 13-02 passed first reading, 6-0.
Mayor Margerum said I would like to ask for
suspension of rules and passing on second reading.
So moved Councilor Sparby. Motion was seconded by
Councilor Satterly and the vote was AYE.
Councilor Sparby read the ordinance by title only
and moved that Ordinance No. 13-02 be passed on second and final
reading and the vote be by roll call. Motion was seconded by
Councilor Satterly.
Ordinance No. 13-02 passed second and final
reading, 6-0.
Resolution No. 8-02
A Resolution Finding A Need For The Construction Of A New Police
Station And Pledging Economic Development Income Tax Distributions
For Lease Payments (Prepared by the City Attorney). Councilor Sparby
read the resolution by title only and moved that Resolution No. 8-02
be passed on first and only reading and the vote be by roll call.
Motion was seconded by Councilor Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said you have this resolution.
There is a petition by 64 taxpayers stipulating the need and this
will be financed with EDIT funds. There will not be any property
taxes committed to it but there will be a request for a property tax
backup for the same reason that Mr. Malone stated earlier, to make
the bonds more saleable. Does anyone have any questions about this?
City Attorney Bauman said I would just call the
Council's attention to the presentation that we had last month about
the need for the facility. The Police Department has certainly
outgrown what was planned and completed 30 years ago and the
Department has doubled in terms of personnel and, while many of them
work in the field, all have some duties every day at the facility.
If you recall, the presentation also discussed at length the work
that the Committee went through arriving at the plan that has been
proposed.
Mayor Margerum said Mr. Malone, would you review
this one also?
Mr. Malone said you should find a second
schedule, a set of the presentation schedule, dated February 20 and
this presentation includes information regarding the police station.
Once again, this project will be financed through a lease. Instead
of using the Redevelopment Authority though, this will be using the
West Lafayette Building Corporation, which is a not-for-profit
corporation. But, it works very much the same way. The holding
corporation will issue bonds on behalf of the City, construct the
facilities, and once the facility is completed, it will begin
leasing the facilities back to the City, and the lease payments will
then go to repay the bonds. The lease will be payable from the
Economic Development Income Tax and then with a property tax backup
as a credit enhancement to reduce the interest rate. The costs are
laid out on page 2 and those are estimated at just under $6 million.
If I might call your attention, we have capitalized interest for the
first couple of payments and that's to allow sufficient time to
complete construction. The interest on the bonds during the
construction period will be paid from bond proceeds and that gives
us sufficient time to begin the lease payments, to start making
payments in the future. I might point out something that is not
there that is on the other financing, is the debt service reserve.
There's no reason to fund the debt service reserve with this
financing because it's paid from the Economic Development Income
Tax. The City receives a certification from the State each July
spelling out the exact amount of dollars the City should receive in
the Economic Development Income Tax for the subsequent year. So,
there's no real reason to fund reserve in that instance. Once again,
since the costs are still being determined, the lease provides for a
maximum project of $6.6 million so it provides a little flexibility.
Page 3 shows how the bonds might be repaid. We are anticipating that
these bonds would be paid over about a 20.5-year period. We're going
to stretch the payments out over a little longer time than the other
bond issue. Interest rates are shown to range from 2.6% up to about
a little over a 5.5% at today's rates. At today's rates, those
payments would average about $485,000 per year. Again, to provide
some flexibility, because we know interest rates will change before
the bonds can be sold, the lease provides for a maximum annual
payment of $580,000. Again once the bonds are sold, the lease
payment will be reduced to reflect the actual bonds sold and the
actual interest rates. After all of the bonds are paid off then the
ownership of the building reverts back to the City. Page 4 compares
the lease payments with the EDIT distributions and, conservatively,
we've estimated the EDIT revenues at about $1.1 million. When we
compare those revenues with the lease rentals, we find that those
revenues are sufficient to pay the bonds about two and a quarter
times. So, there is more than sufficient coverage to market the
bonds. The property tax backup is simply in place to reduce the
interest rate. Unlike the TIF revenues though, the EDIT revenues are
a little more secure than the TIF revenues so we would expect the
savings in interest rates on this bond issue to be closer to 25
basis points, or in other words one quarter of a percent, as opposed
to one-half a percent as we would expect on the other bond issue.
Any questions?
Mayor Margerum said does anybody have any
questions? Councilor O'Callaghan?
Councilor O'Callaghan said do we anticipate using
the EDIT funds for other things as well, and so that's why it's good
that there is extra coverage? We can still use the EDIT funds for
other things but at least we have this set aside for the Police.
Mayor Margerum said yes.
Councilor Keen said great segue into my question.
I was going to ask Josh [Director of Development Andrew], with the
EDIT that's remaining on each one of these years, and I know this is
kind of a forecast kind of a thing and it's going to be kind of hard
to say, do you project that with all of the other things that we do
fund out of EDIT that these amounts that are left over would be more
than sufficient to cover those kinds of things?
Director of Development Andrew said yes.
City Attorney Bauman said one point of
clarification. The amounts set forth here are for the amount of the
project that is going to be financed through the bond issue. There
have been other related facilities such as the purchase of the land
and the construction of the parking lot over on Salisbury Street,
which are being paid out of savings or funds on-hand.
Mayor Margerum said are there any other
questions? We worked very hard, the Police Department as well as the
architect and the Building Committee, to keep this within the limits
that we felt that we could afford and we think we're going to get a
very good project and still keep it within a very conservative
payment. Any other questions?
There was no further discussion.
Resolution No. 8-02 passed first and only
reading, 6-0.
Resolution No. 9-02
(Amended) A Resolution Requesting The Transfer Of Funds
(City Hall, MVH, EDIT) (Prepared by the Clerk-Treasurer).
Councilor Sparby read the resolution in part and moved that
Resolution No. 9-02 (Amended) be passed on first and only reading
and the vote be by roll call. Motion was seconded by Councilor
Satterly.
Mayor Margerum said the City Hall transfers are
related to computers in Parks and my office and some additional
troubleshooting. The transfer in MVH is to install a shelter to
cover the newspaper and oil and also to replace a lower section of
the outer west wall of the old garage building. I believe you are
thinking you will get some help on that recycling building?
Street Commissioner Downey said we're attempting
to get $2,000 of the estimated cost to construct that. The estimated
cost was $11,000, so we should get $2,000 of that back through a
grant through Wildcat Solid Waste District.
Mayor Margerum said OK. Then, from EDIT, this is
to pay for additional required work at Wabash Landing. Are there any
questions from the Council?
There was no further discussion.
Resolution No. 9-02 (Amended) passed first and
only reading, 6-0.
COMMUNICATIONS
None
CITIZEN COMMENTS
None
ADJOURNMENT:
There being no further business at this time,
Councilor Sparby moved for adjournment. Motion was seconded by
Councilor Keen and passed viva-voce. The time being 8:41 p.m.
Office of the Clerk-Treasurer Judy
Rhodes
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