CITY OF PROSPECT
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES
August 17, 2009

(A complete transcript of this meeting is available at City Hall and on the City's Web Site, http://www.prospectky.com)

PRESENT:

Mayor Todd Eberle; Council Members Loretta Ertel, Sandra Leonard, Mike Scott, Alan Simon, and Sandra Tucci; City Attorney Grover Potts; City Administrator Ann Simms; Chief Marvin Wilson;   Recording Secretary Ann Melton; Court Reporter Bruce Handy.  

Absent:   Council Member Loretta Ertel

Mayor Eberle called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.   We would like to welcome Rose Mary Kithcart as tonight's court reporter.  

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Council Member Alan Simon moved approval of the minutes of the regular City Council Meeting of July 20, 2009; Council Member Sandra Leonard seconded; passed unanimously.

MAYOR'S REPORT:

Mayor Eberle noted that the Council has several special orders on the agenda.   Sarah Kelly, immediate past chair of the Falk Reading Center/Library Committee, will give an update on the recent improvements to and activities of The Falk Reading Center: and Mark Adams with Doug Heberle of QK4 Engineering will give an update on planning for the access road to the Putney Pond and Woodland Natural Area.

Mayor Eberle gave a financial report.   The 2009 Property Tax bills for the City of Prospect have all been mailed.   He noted anyone who did not receive a bill should contact City Hall immediately.

           

We announced in the July newsletter that we will be giving the Mayor's Beautification Awards in recognition of external aesthetic improvements.   Residents as well as commercial areas may qualify.   Mayor Eberle was able to get Frank Otte Nursery to contribute a $200.00 gift certificate and True Value Hardware to give two honorable mention $50 certificates.   We hope to have quite a few entries.   They will be awarded on Mayor's Beautiful Day, which will be on October 31 along with the cities Book Sale.   We may also coordinate the Forestation Board to be here that day.

The Forestation Board has been busy looking at the removal of dead trees and stumps, as a result of the storms and some results of aging.   We have a team consisting of Peter Barber, Lee Tucci, Nick Nicholson, and Ron Cundiff going out tomorrow morning to look at remediation of some invasive species, the tree-of-heaven, along the creek banks or at least the flood plains of Harrods Creek.   They will be looking at ash trees that are having insect problems and they are also looking at the integration of our tree inventory data into i-Tree Software with the help of the Division of Forestry.

Putney Pond and Woodlands Committee has been working with Mark Adams of QK4 looking at several proposals for the access road to Putney Pond.   On August 7, Councilman Stuart Miles hosted a workday on the trails.   They were able to make some great improvements to the trails.   Our geotechnical engineer Peggy Hagerty Duffy, now with Construction Solutions, has done a reassessment of the dam; spillway and we should be getting a report from her soon.  

Our Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency Comprehensive Transportation Grant are making headway.   We have been handing out a transportation study form and encouraging citizens to fill these out and return them to us.   We want to have a public meeting soon for the transportation study.

Chair Loretta Ertel of the Ad Hoc Committee on Fence Regulation and Enforcements is not here tonight, but we did meet and make some adjustments.

SPECIAL ORDER:

Sarah Kelly, Chairman of the Reading Center Committee, gave a report on the Reading Center, beginning with a synopsis of the history of the Center. She spoke of the good relationship between the Committee and the City employees. Liaisons between the City Council and the Reading Center Committee are Sandy Tucci and Sandra Leonard. These have also served in the past three years (Sarah Kelly's tenure): Paul McAllister, Ruth O'Daniel, Louise Henry, and Jim Norsworthy.

The biggest accomplishment has been the Destiny System with its bar coding, which allows computerized records of inventory, circulation, and other Reading Center business. Our patrons can access the system via internet from any place to check the availability of a title, renew an item, write a review, and reserve something for later use and more. Currently we have 3,200 items and service 284 patrons. The 3,200 items include books, talking books, and CD's and tapes. A generous donation of DVD's has recently come in.

The Reading Center is not self-sufficient but does bring in income through book sales and the occasional sale of other items. Also, overdue fines are being collected to benefit the Reading Center.   In addition to Destiny System being added, there has been an extensive amount of cataloguing.

POLICE REPORT:

Police Chief Marvin Wilson presented the Council with the monthly police report, stating that most of the crimes in July were minor in nature.   He then discussed the route of the Ironman Triathlon and the proposed hours that Prospect would be affected. It is hard to say exactly how long the event will take. Be patient, as there may be some traffic jams. It is a good day to relax at home.

Chief Wilson reminded the Council of the upcoming Women's Self-Defense class on September 15 th , at City Hall. This is the 7 th year for the class, which is both fun and informative.

The St. Francis Transportation Day is coming up and will involve the Police, Fire, EMS, and other agencies in our city. The kids get to interact with city employees and also get some hands-on time with the agency vehicles. It is a great opportunity to relieve some of the fear associated with a uniformed employee...

Council Member Mike Scott had two questions about the stickers for the cars of Prospect residents. Discussion was held as to the placement of the stickers. Also, a resident had asked Council Member Scott, what is the significance of the number 10? The Chief explained it was signifying the year 2010.

COMMENTS FROM CITIZENS:

A Fox Harbor resident wanted to comment on the fence ordinance Section 152.06.   She is concerned the second paragraph sounds more like a garden ordinance than fence.   In that sentence it says that gardens can't be visible from the road.   I think if you're going to start getting into dealing with gardens, it has to be a completely separate issue. What is a garden?    I think this need to be defined separately.   I think that if this is going to be truly a fence ordinance that sentence, by itself, needs to come out completely.   Mayor Eberle told the resident he would take her comments into consideration.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS:

Council Member Sandra Tucci gave FIRST READING to ORDINANCE 500, SERIES 2009: THE ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 90 OF THE CODE OF ORDINANCES OF THE CITY OF PROSPECT RELATING TO DEER.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

Mayor Eberle indicated a need for an Executive Session to discuss litigation.   Council Member Alan Simon moved to go into Executive Session; Council Member Sandra Tucci seconded; passed unanimously.   The Council went into Executive Council at 8:46 p.m.

ADJOURNMENT:

Upon return from Executive Session; Council Member Alan Simon moved to adjourn; Council Member Sandra Leonard seconded; passed unanimously.

Mayor Eberle declared the meeting adjourned at 10:00 p.m.  

Respectfully submitted,

Ann Melton
Recording Secretary

Approved:
Todd B. Eberle
Mayor

ATTEST:
Ann R. Simms
City Clerk