REGULAR MEETING OF THE BOARD OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SAFETY OF THE CITY OF PERU February 2, 2015 The Board of Public Works and Safety of the City of Peru, Indiana met in regular session at 9:00 am February 2, 2015 with the following members present, Mayor Jim Walker, Board Member Steve Gough, Special Board Member Bruce Carson, City Attorney Bill Berkshire, Acting Attorney for this Board, Pat Roberts, City Clerk Treasurer Jackie Gray and Deputy Clerk Dea Masters. Others present was Police Chief Ray Raney, Fire Chief Chris Betzner, department heads and other interested parties. ************************************************************************* Motion was made by Steve Gough, seconded by Bill Berkshire to suspend the rules and dispense with the reading and correcting of Journal of minutes of regular meeting on January 15, 2015. ************************************************************************* Motion was made by Steve Gough, seconded by Bill Berkshire to pay claims submitted on February 2, 2015. ****************************************************************************** OLD BUSINESS: NONE NEW BUSINESS: Interlocal Agreement: MCEDA INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT This Interlocal Agreement is made pursuant to I.C. 36-1-7 et seq. between the City of Peru, Indiana (City) and the Miami County Economic Development Authority (MCEDA). This Interlocal Agreement is effective and binding upon the undersigned parties upon its approval at a duly noticed public meeting of each entity together with the execution of this document by a duly authorized person from each entity. In the case of the City, both the executive and legislative branches of that governmental subdivision are included in the term City as used in this document. SUBJECT MATTER The City has received a blight elimination program grant from the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA). The grant is in the amount of $813,000.00 and is dated on or about January 14, 2015. As a part of the grant, the undersigned parties are required to enter into and execute a Recipient and Program Partner Agreement (the Agreement). Said Agreement is now incorporated into and made a part of this Interlocal Agreement. Because there are certain risks and expenses associated with the execution and implementation of the Agreement, the parties here have sought to clarify and modify the arrangements provided in the agreement with IHCDA. IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS AGREEMENT To implement this agreement, each of the undersigned parties agrees to fully cooperate in the execution and completion of the Blight Elimination Program/Grant. Each of the undersigned parties agrees to make a good faith effort to provide all information, personnel,
documents and such other resources as may be useful to the Blight Elimination Program and/or Grant. The undersigned parties do not expect the Blight Elimination Program will require any separate administration, or the employment of any additional personnel, nor will the project directly effect law enforcement or fire fighting services. With regard to the terms and conditions of the Blight Elimination Program Agreement, the undersigned parties note the following areas of concern and responsibility and how the same may be altered from the express language of the Agreement: 1. Acquisition of Title to Real Estate. The Agreement contemplates that MCEDA will acquire title to certain parcels of real estate (improved and unimproved) as a part of the Blight Elimination Program. In doing so, MCEDA risks being responsible for any environmental, asbestos or other hazard on, under or within the land. The City agrees to indemnify and hold MCEDA free from harm with regard to any environmental/acm/other hazard associated with the acquisition of title to the real estate involved in this project. To the extent that any environmental hazard must be remediated, the City agrees to pay all expenses associated with such remediation, together with the cost of filing any documents, permits or licenses required for the remediation. Once MCEDA has acquired title to the real estate, the City agrees to keep and maintain the real estate in a reasonable, attractive condition until the real estate can be sold or disposed of. MCEDA shall incur no expense associated with maintenance of the real estate, after receipt of title. 2. Insurance. The parties here acknowledge that insurance may protect all parties concerned from risks associated with the acquisition of title to the real estate, liability associated with personal injury or property damage, or a liability associated with demolition on the land or parcel, which are subject of this project. The City agrees to obtain, at its own expense, all available liability insurance with regard to each parcel of real estate which is the subject of this project. To the extent that the City cannot obtain sufficient insurance to protect MCEDA from the risks associated with holding title to the real estate and/or having demolition occur on the real estate, the City agrees to hold MCEDA free from harm and to pay all costs and expenses with any claims arising from a condition or circumstance involving each parcel. To the extent that the City can obtain insurance, it shall list MCEDA as an additional insured on all such policies. As a precondition of any contract for demolition on any parcel under the project, the City agrees to require such demolition contractor to provide proof of liability insurance concerning and including the demolition of all structures upon each parcel. Again, MCEDA shall be listed as an additional insured on each such policy. 3. Warranties and Representations. The City acknowledges the representations and warranties which it has made to the IHCDA in the Blight Elimination Agreement (see paragraph 5 thereof). The City makes the same warranties and representations to MCEDA. MCEDA acknowledges that it has made certain
warranties and representations to the IHCDA in the Blight Elimination Agreement (see paragraph 6 thereof). MCEDA agrees that said representations and warranties are also being made to the City. 4. Demand Notes. Under the terms of the Agreement, MCEDA is required to execute and deliver to IHCDA a demand note for each loan associated with each parcel of real estate under the agreement. (See paragraph 11(c) thereof). The City agrees to indemnify and hold MCEDA free from harm with regard to each demand note required by IHCDA. The City also agrees to appropriate all funds necessary to carry out the terms and conditions of this indemnification. The parties reasonably anticipate that all said demand notes should be considered paid or satisfied in full not later than, 2017. 5. Funding Tiers and Caps. The City acknowledges and agrees that under the terms of the agreement, there is a cap of $25,000.00 which may be spent on Tier II properties and a cap of $15,000.00 that may be spent on Tier I properties. (See paragraph 15 of the agreement). If for any reason these caps should be exceeded, the City agrees to pay all amounts due and owing by reason of exceeding the caps and all expenses associated with regard to the real estate. 6. Indemnification. In addition to any other hold harmless/indemnification provision of this Interlocal Agreement, the City agrees that it will indemnify and hold MCEDA free from harm with regard to any indemnification requirement under the Agreement (See paragraph 18(b) thereof). The City acknowledges that MCEDA is acting as a program partner for the benefit and assistance of the City and without receiving any fee or other benefit in return. 7. Miscellaneous. The parties acknowledge and agree that in accordance with the terms of the agreement, the Davis-Bacon Act does not apply to any work to be undertaken in fulfillment of the agreement. MCEDA agrees that it shall abide by all terms and conditions of the Agreement. Both parties will assist each other in the sale and marketing of the real estate, after all demolition and remediation has been completed. The parties anticipate establishing a separate fund for the received proceeds associated with the execution and implementation of the agreement. Such separate funds shall be administered jointly by the parties. Each of the parties also agrees to provide all documents, information and details in order that both parties may comply with the requirements for audits and maintenance of records under the terms of the Agreement. (See paragraph 4 of the Agreement). This Interlocal Agreement shall be construed according to the laws of the State of Indiana. Each of the undersigned persons warrants and represents to the other that the execution of this agreement has been expressly authorized and that said authority occurred after the terms of the agreement were approved in a duly noticed, public meeting of each of
the respective parties. James R. Walker, Mayor, City of Peru, Indiana Steve Gough, Board Member Bill Berkshire, City Attorney James E. Tidd, Executive Director, Miami County Economic Development Authority THIS INSTRUMENT PREPARED BY: JEFFRY G. PRICE, #5824-52 ATTORNEY AT LAW 15 SOUTH WABASH STREET PERU, INDIANA 46970 TELEPHONE: (765) 472-3339 Steve Gough made a motion to approve the Interlocal Agreement, seconded by Bill Berkshire. _ NEW BUSINESS: PFD request Approval of Retirement Letter from Phil Leffel 1/15/15 I m submitting this letter requesting my retirement from Peru Fire Department effective 1/16/15. Phil Leffel. Bill Berkshire made a motion to accept the retirement letter of Phil Leffel effective 1/16/15, seconded by Steve Gough. ******************************************************************************* NEW BUSINESS: Disciplinary Action on Peru Police Officer J.O. Buffington Mayor Walker stated that City Attorney Bill Berkshire cannot vote on this issue due to the fact that if there is an appeal by Police Officer Buffington, Mr. Berkshire will be representing the Chief of Police for the city. Bruce Carson was appointed as a special board member and will sit in on this matter. Also, Pat Roberts was appointed as city attorney for this matter. Chief Raney read aloud the incident that took place on January 26th, 2015 at approximately 11:00 pm in the squad room of the police station between Officer Buffington and Lt. Russ Tussey., in which Officer Buffington made a death threat after hearing that he would most likely not get a day off for his son s birthday party. Officer Buffington also used very fowl and offensive language before
leaving the squad room. There was 4 Police Officers present in the room at the time of this incident. Chief Raney then proceeded to read Policy # 12 Workplace Violence from the City of Peru Employee Policy Handbook. Chief Raney feels Officer Buffington violated this policy. Chief Raney recommended to the Board that Officer Buffington be terminated. Acting Attorney Pat Roberts asked that the Board recess for 10 minutes so that he can speak with Mayor Walker and City Attorney Berkshire in private. City Attorney Berkshire stated that this issued will continue to be in recess until Friday February 6, 9:00 am, so that legal situations can be verified. With nothing further to come before this meeting Steve Gough made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Bill Berkshire. James Walker Mayor of the City of Peru, Indiana Attest: Jackquan E. Gray Clerk-Treasurer City of Peru, Indiana