Jasper Common Council meeting for September 19

The council acknowledged Jasper Boy Scout Troop 185 being present. Assistant Scout Master Eric Hedinger told the council the troop was attending as a requirement for earning the Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge. This is the final step in the process to earn the badge. Additionally the scouts have to complete 8 hours of community service. The two patrols on hand were the Scorpion Patrol and Flying Eagle Patrol, comprised of students from Holy Family and Jasper Middle School.

Councilman Dave Prechtel joked he was in Troop 185 about seventy years ago.

Public Hearing

A public hearing was held for Meyer Distributing prior to the regular council meeting. After hearing no comments from the public for five minutes the Jasper Common Council adjourned the public hearing.

The Council completed the following:

Passed Resolution 2012-11 to confirm the economic revitalization area and approve the property for tax abatement benefits for Meyer Distributing, Inc.

Passed Resolution 2012-13 to repeal resolutions that designated and confirmed an economic revitalization area and approved a property tax abatement schedule in 2011 for 12 10 Ventures LLC and for Stens LLC.

Passed Resolution 2012-12 to designate an economic revitalization area for Stens LLC property tax abatement request. VP of Operations Kevin Mair and Financial Controller Lesli Graman  from Stens LLC were in attendance to answer questions from the council.

Reiterated that with continued extra volume of water being release by the Corp of Engineers to maintain the city water supply level, the city will continue with the mandatory water conservation measures. Residents are reminded that the current restrictions allow

Passed 2012-27 2013 Salary Ordinance for civil city employees and elected officials approving a 1.5 percent pay raise in the 2013 budget.

Passed 2012-28 2013 Salary Ordinance for utility employees.

Passed Ordinance 2012-13 for additional appropriations for 2012. Prior to reading the ordinance the mayor asked for public comment; none was offered.

Passed Ordinance 2012-25 to set the advertised tax rate for 2013 at $0.9048 per $100 of assessed value. This is the highest the tax rate can be set for 2013 and it is typically adjusted to a lower amount if the assessed value comes in at a higher value than the city’s estimates.

Jasper Cabinet building – The mayor informed the council he had met with the owner and further communication would continue about the process, but at this time he did not have much information to pass along.

He did inform the council that $40,000 of the appropriations passed during the meeting were to review the current plan for the development of downtown Jasper and to request proposals for creating a master plan for the area. The $40,000 is funded through the EDIT and COIT funds the State of Indiana did not distribute properly in 2011. The city received approximately $800,000 from the state’s mistake.

“We tore down a mill and rebuilt it and we tore down the train station and then rebuilt it,” Mayor Seitz said. “Do we want to immediately take down that building (Jasper Cabinet)? It is a good time to look beyond what ROJAC (Redevelop Old Jasper Action Coalition) has planned for that area and make good decisions.”

The mayor stated he is interested in seeing how the Schnitzelbank and other area attractions can be incorporated in the downtown plan. Seitz feels this is a good time for planning this because of the city moving forward with the Third Ave., repaving project.  Original story here.