MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE COMMON COUNCIL VALPARAISO, INDIANA

October 10, 2022

The Common Council of the City of Valparaiso, Indiana, met on Monday October 10, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. in City Hall. Mayor Murphy called the meeting to order. The Pledge of Allegiance was said. Present were Councilmembers Reed, Cotton, Schmidt, Pupillo, Anderson, Costas, and Peterson.

GIRLS VARSITY 4 X 800 RELAY PROCLAMATION

Mayor Murphy introduced the Girls Varsity 4 X 800 relay team. They have won first place at the State meet. They set a new sectional record. They beat their number one competitor Columbus North by nearly 5 seconds. Their time was among the top 10 nationwide for the 4 X 800. Mayor Murphy read a Victory Proclamation.

MINUTES

Councilmember Schmidt moved to adopt minutes of the September 26, 2022 meeting. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Upon voice vote the motion passed with a 7-0 vote.

RESOLUTION NO. 16, 2022

ARESOLUTIONAPPROVINGTHETRANSFEROFFUNDSINTHEGENERALFUND,PROJECT MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

Councilmember Schmidt moved that Resolution No. 16, 2022 be read and considered for passage. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Clerk-Treasurer Taylor read Resolution No. 16, 2022.

Clerk-Treasurer Taylor addressed the Board. She explained this is a transfer in the General Fund, Project Management in the amount of $2,597.75. The funds will be used for fuel, unexpected vehicle expenses and office supplies.

MOTION: Councilmember Schmidt moved to adopt Resolution No. 16, 2022. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote the motion to adopt Resolution No. 16, 2022 passed with a 7-0 vote.

RESOLUTION NO. 17, 2022

ARESOLUTIONAPPROVINGTHETRANSFEROFFUNDSINTHEFIREPROTECTION TERRITORY FUND

Councilmember Schmidt moved that Resolution No. 17, 2022 be read and considered for passage. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Clerk-Treasurer Taylor read Resolution No. 17, 2022.

Clerk-Treasurer Taylor addressed the Board. She explained this is a transfer of $18,000.00 into operating supplies for fuel and garage and motor.

MOTION: Councilmember Schmidt moved to adopt Resolution No. 17, 2022. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Upon roll call vote the motion to adopt Resolution No. 17, 2022 passed with a 7-0 vote.

ORDINANCE NO. 21, 2022 VALPARAISO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS 2023 BUDGET

Councilmember Schmidt moved that Ordinance No. 21, 2022 be read a second time by title and a third time in full and be considered for adoption and the opportunity be given for the offering of amendments.

Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Clerk-Treasurer Taylor read the Ordinance.

Jim Holifield, CFO for Valparaiso Community Schools, presented their 2023 budget. At the last meeting they had the Public Hearing. Tonight they are asking for approval of the budget so it can be submitted to DLGF.

Councilmember Cotton asked the balance of the Rainy Day Fund. Jim Holifield replied $6 Million Dollars.

MOTION:Councilmember Schmidt moved to approve Ordinance No. 21, 2022. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion and so approved with a 7-0 vote.

ORDINANCE NO. 22, 2022

CITYOFVALPARAISO2023BUDGET

Councilmember Schmidt moved that Ordinance No. 22, 2022 be read a second time by title and a third time in full and be considered for adoption and the opportunity be given for the offering of amendments.

Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Clerk-Treasurer Taylor read the Ordinance.

MOTION:Councilmember Schmidt moved to approve Ordinance No. 22, 2022. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion and so approved with a 7-0 vote.

ORDINANCE NO. 23, 2022

CITYOFVALPARAISO2023SALARYORDINANCE

Councilmember Schmidt moved that Ordinance No. 23, 2022 be read a first time and considered on first reading. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Clerk-Treasurer Taylor read Ordinance No. 23, 2022.

Mike Jessen addressed the Board. An extensive refresh has been done on the wage study analysis. The philosophy this year was to get everyone halfway to the midpoint of the new recommendation with a maximum of a 4% salary increase. For those already at the midpoint or beyond, they will receive a $500 salary increase.

Councilmember Cotton asked if the raise would bring everybody to the midpoint. Mike Jessen replied there will still be some that are further away. Next year they will see if everyone can be brought to the midrange. Councilmember Cotton suggested it would be more fair and equitable if the $500 were not given as planned but used to bring more employees to the midrange.

Councilmember Reed asked if the City tracks the turnover rate from Departments. Do we have an area where we are losing more employees than others? Mike Jessen replied with the analysis of the Human Resources Department, that with a more centralized approach, they could get a better handle on looking at employee turnover. The City has minimal turnover. Rarely has pay been cited as a reason for leaving.

Councilmember Pupillo asked if 4% gets everyone to the mid-point or are some still lacking? Clerk-Treasurer Taylor replied some are still low. Police and Fire are all at midpoint.

Councilmember Schmidt reported there have been 210 applications for the Fire and/or Police Department. That shows Valparaiso is a place where people want to work.

MOTION: Councilmember Schmidt moved to carry Ordinance No. 23, 2022 to the October 24, 2022 meeting. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion and so approve with a 7-0 vote.

ORDINANCE NO. 24, 2022

ORDINANCE OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VALPARAISO, INDIANA, AMENDINGORDINANCE9-2019ANDACCEPTINGTHERECOMMENDATIONSOFTHEST. PAUL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT BOARD

Councilmember Schmidt moved that Ordinance No. 24, 2022 be read a first time and considered on first reading. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion. Clerk-Treasurer Taylor read Ordinance No. 24, 2022.

Attorney Patrick Lyp addressed the Board. He went through the history of the EID fee. There was some misunderstanding with the residents regarding the EID fee. When the first full year of the fee came due, there were some surprises. Everyone worked together to produce a solution. The Board is now Robert Coolman, Carol Carden and Brian Nosbusch. They will prepare a schedule of payments that property owners will receive. The schedule will show what payments have been made and what payments will be made over the next 10 years. The amount of $1.6 Million Dollars will be reimbursed to the Developer. The Developer has agreed and signed off on all changes.

Attorney Lyp asked for this to be considered under suspension of the rules.

Councilmember Cotton asked to see a copy of the schedule. Attorney Lyp advised it was included in a recent email he sent to Councilmember Cotton.

MOTION:Councilmember Schmidt moved to approve Ordinance No. 24, 2022 on first reading. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion and so approved on a voice vote of 7-0.

MOTION:Councilmember Cotton moved to suspend the rules on Ordinance No. 24, 2022. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion and so approved on a voice vote of 7-0.

MOTION:Councilmember Schmidt moved to adopt Ordinance No. 24, 2022 on final reading under suspension of the rules. Councilmember Reed seconded the motion and so approved on a roll call vote of 7-0.

Council Liaison

Councilmember Reed reported the next School Board meeting is October 20^th.

Councilmember Schmidt reported on the status of the redistricting. Plans are due by October 19^th. The Bosma group will get the plans together. Packets are available in the Clerk-Treasurer’s office.

Councilmember Pupillo reported Coffee with a Cop is October 13^th. Councilmember Costas reported the RDC meets on October 20^th.

Councilmember Peterson reported October 12^th is an Open House on the Sports Complex.

Councilmember Cotton reported the water tower at Tower Park is done. He also discussed the accessibility of the redistricting packets at the Clerk’s Office. This is cumbersome. He asked who is driving this. Attorney Lyp replied all Boards want to know who has the original of documents in case there is a change. He has not heard of any problems with citizens picking up the packets. He reminded Councilmember Cotton there is no

requirement to have public input on this project. It was a joint decision to have public input as part of the process.

Councilmember Anderson reported the Shared Ethics Advisory Committee has a meeting scheduled for October 27^th. There will be a summit at Avalon Manor with Jose Padilla from VU who will be speaking on ethics.

Clerk-Treasurer Taylor reported the redistricting packets each have a usb drive in them with all the documents. Any Councilmember can come in and sign out a packet and they will have the usb to use for printing off copies for their constituents.

Public Comment

Barbara Domer – 614 Yellowstone. She has submitted her objections to the Guidelines by noon today. Precinct boundaries must be equitable. The citizens do not have a program to do the changes they propose. This is not an even playing field. She has requested to meet with the coordinators but has not had any response.

Mary Abraitus – 605 Yellowstone. Yellowstone should be a no through truck zone. Trucks are using Yellowstone to Howe to 130 day to day at all times of the day. This is heavy truck traffic through a residential area. This started happening during the remodel of VHS. She has sent a letter to the Porter County Commissioners and provided a copy to the Councilmembers. She also has a signed petition she could present.

Brian Nosbusch – 207 Academy, Unit 301. He thanked the team for work on the EID. This shows the City works with people within the City. Thank you to the Council and Mayor for approving the Ordinance.

Kennard Taylor – 306 Napoleon. He discussed redistricting confusion by the public and how they got where they are today. He also discussed how the census affects the change. What matters is the voter count not the population. He gave the example of VU. Census tracks cannot be messed with. Before a precinct is split, permission must be gotten from the County.

The meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m.

/s/ Holly Taylor, Clerk-Treasurer