[0:00] My goal is to meet the needs of today without compromising the needs of future

[0:06] generations by balancing economic growth, environmental stewardship, and

[0:12] social well-being. >> [clears throat]

[0:14] » This past summer, a member of my HOA

[0:18] discussed seeking a grant to remove invasive plantings from our

[0:23] neighborhood. While this would provide some personal

[0:27] benefit to myself and my neighborhood, the broader purpose and benefit would be

[0:34] to the entire community. A member of the administration took

[0:40] issue with this discussion and privately accused me, in writing, of using public

[0:46] resources for private benefit. This individual suggested that the

[0:52] proposed ethics ordinance apply to councilors to ensure I did not obtain

[0:58] such private benefit. While I respectfully disagree with their

[1:04] characterization, I appreciate [clears throat]

[1:06] the opportunity to turn their comments into a constructive educational moment.

[1:13] Environmental projects, such as removing invasive plants and restoring native

[1:19] species, provide benefits well beyond an individual property owner or

[1:24] neighborhood by supporting biodiversity, improving habitat, and contributing to a

[1:31] healthier community. I also want to reaffirm my support for

[1:36] the proposed ethics ordinance and for applying clear, consistent ethical

[1:42] standards to councilors, city employees, appointees, the city clerk, and the

[1:49] mayor alike. My commitment is to transparency,

[1:55] responsible public service, and helping ensure that our citizens can truly live

[2:02] longer in Lawrence. I remain steadfast in my belief that a

[2:08] healthy environment is fundamental [clears throat]

[2:11] to a healthy community and protecting it today is an investment

[2:17] in the quality of life and well-being of generations of Lawrence residents to

[2:23] come. >> Thank you very much Councillor Mazoore

[2:26] for those comments. Thank you so much. >> [clears throat]

[2:29] » Is anyone else with any comments? >> Yes, Councillor Wells.

[2:33] » Uh, thank you, sir. Uh, I just wanted to give an update on uh,

[2:38] Tom Burns uh, who is a member of our park board. I

[2:42] think I told or made the announcement here

[2:45] a few meetings ago that Tom uh, sustained an injury in his home

[2:50] uh, very serious one. Uh, I spoke with him over the weekend.

[2:53] He is back home and going to rehab and doing

[2:57] uh, pretty well. Uh, he's got a little bit of a road to hold

[3:00] uh, in getting back 100% but uh, it looks like he's going to do quite well.

[3:06] Uh, the next thing that I wanted to bring to the attention

[3:11] was I think about a week or so ago on a Sunday we had a big car show over Larks

[3:16] Park and uh, I had uh,

[3:20] I was out of town but I had numerous phone calls mainly from people that

[3:25] lived in Harrison Park which for those are not familiar with Harrison

[3:29] Park, it is right adjacent to the Larks Park uh, to the south and uh,

[3:37] apparently I mean this event obviously was huge and uh, from what I was told of

[3:45] it I don't know that uh, Larks Park has ever seen such a huge event even

[3:51] including the 4th of July events, Uh, uh maybe didn't compare to this event.

[3:58] The uh complaints or the calls that I got were

[4:02] complaints about people that were parking in Harrison Park on the streets,

[4:07] which is totally legal. Uh but they also were

[4:11] parking in front of people's driveways. One lady called me and told me who was

[4:17] on uh uh

[4:20] Patton on Patton Drive, which that street, the houses, the backs of them

[4:25] are right against the park property. People

[4:29] were going up her driveway and going over her fence to get into the park.

[4:33] And uh the uh

[4:36] And I also was told that Franklin Road was a complete gridlock. There was just

[4:41] no getting in or out of Harrison Park or the other uh neighborhood uh there on

[4:47] Boy Scout Road because of the traffic. Uh people were parking in where the old

[4:53] Mars parking lot, they were parking basically anywhere they could park.

[4:57] And I called and I finally got a hold of one of the police officers, who told me

[5:03] that they were supposed to park over at the finance center. Uh apparently

[5:09] I'm not sure whose responsibility that was, whether it be the administration's

[5:13] responsibility or the promoters of this car show, that there should have been

[5:19] signage, uh

[5:21] should have been flyers, uh something put on social media about the

[5:26] instructions as to where to park, cuz if obviously there were a lot of people

[5:30] that had no idea where to park. And uh the uh

[5:35] the front of the Lawrence Park, the main parking lot was shut off or blocked off

[5:40] where you couldn't park in there because that was supposed to be an overflow, but

[5:44] I I think most people were aware of that either.

[5:47] So, >> [clears throat]

[5:49] » with that said, I also would like to know and and I'm

[5:54] asking Eric, I see you're here and Jamie, I see you're here.

[5:58] Between [clears throat] the two of you or one of you, I would

[6:02] like to know as councilperson,

[6:06] what exactly did that car show cost the city

[6:12] of Lawrence? You know, bearing in mind

[6:15] most everybody knows I you know, I'm very familiar with the old car and

[6:19] classic car culture as I have a few myself and have had for a long time.

[6:24] Uh I probably would have been there had I not been out of town.

[6:27] But I still as a councilman like to know what did that cost the city of Lawrence?

[6:32] I was told by the police officer that I spoke with there were 15 police officers

[6:38] and Lawrence police officers in addition to the IMPD officers that were hired by

[6:43] the event coordinators.

[6:45] Um and now we're also I was told that there

[6:49] was a huge uh

[6:52] mess to clean up uh on park property and the next day. So, how much additional

[6:59] expense did that cost from our our park maintenance people?

[7:04] Um and uh

[7:07] and the additional 15 police officers and any other expense that may have

[7:13] occurred from that. Um I mean, I would assume that this event

[7:18] might be a yearly thing or it maybe it's a one-off thing. I haven't heard. But if

[7:23] we're going to do it again, I would certainly like to know, you know, who's

[7:27] responsible for this planning and how much exactly does this cost the city of

[7:32] Lawrence. Thank you.

[7:35] » Thank you for the comments. >> [clears throat]

[7:38] » Um I can tell you that I have a couple

[7:41] answers for you personally but oh, sorry. Let's

[7:44] We'll talk offline and I'll be able to answer your questions some of those

[7:47] after the meeting. >> Oh, I want to know.

[7:49] » Huh? Oh, you would like to I'll tell you

[7:51] guys. Um Councilor Jennings.

[7:54] » Yes. Um I had a constituent uh contact me

[8:00] yesterday evening um about uh 56 and County Line Road

[8:06] right there. Um she and almost got into a car uh

[8:10] accident. Uh someone barreled through the the

[8:13] intersection right there. Um uh and she wasn't exactly sure if that

[8:18] was uh Hancock County's responsibility or ours or the city of Indianapolis. Uh

[8:23] uh she so uh part of the reason why I was

[8:27] late to the first meeting was because I wanted to go by there and see for myself

[8:31] what that street looked like and there was the uh two things. There was the um

[8:37] a couple of police I mean the stop signs were bent over

[8:41] almost out of view of um uh

[8:45] uh if someone's coming down they they would

[8:47] miss they would miss the the stop sign. So, it definitely needs to be fixed. Uh

[8:52] I'm not sure if that's DPW or DPW or Indianapolis or or even can Hancock

[8:57] County. Um but it definitely needs to be looked at. Um

[9:01] Oh, and also the while I was there I did see that the

[9:05] mirror sign looked like there was some construction done and they they may they

[9:08] may have bent the mirror sign. >> [cough and clears throat]

[9:10] » It should have been put back. >> Excuse me.

[9:13] » All right. Uh >> [clears throat]

[9:14] » Councilor Freeman. >> Uh yes. So, uh one of my constituents um

[9:20] asked me about um a chicken coop in our subdivision which is not zoned for. So,

[9:27] our HOA had already [clears throat] voted on it and voted it down and I

[9:31] wanted everybody to be aware of that. And then the other one, the residents of

[9:36] the Lawrence Village came before the council back in June of this year with

[9:41] concerns about the purple line in their area.

[9:44] Each council member had a seven-page [clears throat]

[9:46] write-up of concerns that was mailed out to us back on August the 15th.

[9:52] » Mhm. >> And your concerns have not been ignored.

[9:57] It's just a lot of moving parts and that needs to be looked at regarding your

[10:02] concerns. I just want everybody to be aware of

[10:05] that. And that's about it.

[10:08] » Oh, no, great. Thank you for the update. It's a great I'm glad you did that.

[10:12] Thank you very much, Councilwoman Freeman.

[10:14] » [clears throat] >> Go ahead.

[10:15] » Here we go. Oh, yeah. Now it's Councilwoman Ford.

[10:17] » Good evening. I just wanted to update that Danita and Curtis Quickmore had

[10:21] come in. Her husband is profoundly deaf and had the whole issue with the

[10:25] mailbox. He did reach out to me over the weekend [clears throat]

[10:29] to advise that uh the accommodation was in progress and

[10:35] that the [clears throat] uh post office agreed to move the mailbox onto the same

[10:40] side of the street as their home uh and they encouraged her to reach out to a

[10:44] contractor to dig the hole. And so, she's just keeping me updated. I wanted

[10:48] to make sure the council was aware of that.

[10:50] » Okay. Anyone else? Um also, if there's no one

[10:54] else, I also wanted to give the city a shout-out. Um

[10:57] the Jamie put together a very nice music um a movie night. Um it was very well

[11:03] done. Uh highly attended. Uh beautiful night in Lawrence. Families. Uh it was

[11:08] just a really really good thing. Um I think those are sorts of things that our

[11:12] city should build on. So, commend Jamie for putting that together and uh look

[11:17] forward to more [clears throat] opportunities like that. I think also

[11:20] too, Heartland, I don't want to forget about them. I think they were a partner

[11:24] um in that. And so, um they've been an asset to the community. Look forward to

[11:28] seeing more more out of them and us. So, I think that was a good thing.

[11:32] All right, any other comments for the good? All right.

[11:35] » [clears throat] >> Let's move right along then.

[11:38] Okay.

[11:41] I do we announce it? Sorry. The next approval [clears throat] of minutes of

[11:46] the mid-month meeting. Do I have a motion?

[11:48] » So moved. >> All right, do I have a second?

[11:50] » I'll second. >> All right, motion Councillor Wells,

[11:55] second Councillor Mazour. >> [clears throat]

[11:58] » Um, do you get a vote? Um, are we doing this electronically?

[12:02] » Yeah, you could do that. I'll just have to vote for you.

[12:04] » Okay, so everyone can go ahead and vote electronically.

[12:09] » [clears throat] >> It's showing It's showing your request

[12:10] to speak. >> Hm?

[12:14] Mhm. >> It's showing request to speak.

[12:16] » Oh, it is? Oh, it's not showing what I hit. Oh, here we go.

[12:19] » Yep. >> All right.

[12:21] » How do we vote? The minutes.

[12:23] » We need to vote for the minutes. >> From the 19th.

[12:26] We did.

[12:35] » All right, good. All right.

[12:38] 8-0, [clears throat] motion carries. Minutes passed. Thank

[12:41] you, Councillors. Um,

[12:45] » [clears throat] >> okay.

[12:47] I'm sorry, I'm catching up with my little notes

[12:51] All right, do we have any approval of minutes from the special meeting? Um,

[12:56] can I get a motion for approval? >> So moved.

[13:00] » So moved, second. All right.

[13:02] » Because we have Shuron just It's She motioned it on

[13:05] » Yeah, that's our voting system, so I have Shuron

[13:08] » That's fine. Motion Motion Councillor Freeman. Um, second

[13:12] Councillor Jennings. Um,

[13:15] are there any are there any questions or comments?

[13:20] Seeing none, um, let's proceed to vote.

[13:28] » [clears throat]

[13:36] » Thank you very much counselors. Motion carries.

[13:42] » [clears throat] >> All right.

[13:44] Okay, the next thing on the agenda is the signing of vouchers, approval of

[13:47] claims, and authorizations of payment. Any any discussion?

[13:53] » Yes. Before we make a vote, I would like it

[13:56] to be known that I had made a request for a copy of the second agreement

[14:01] update for Catalyst Public Affairs.

[14:06] And I would like to I just want that to be a matter of

[14:09] record that that request was made before we vote on the claims.

[14:13] » All right. So, if anyone here that both of her counselor Robinson made a

[14:18] request for Catalyst claims, additional information. All right.

[14:23] » [cough] >> Any uh

[14:26] Any other further discussion? All right. Do we have a motion to

[14:30] approve the signing of vouchers and approval of claims and authorizations of

[14:33] payment?

[14:37] » I will make a motion. Oh, sorry. >> I'll get you there. It's not a fair So,

[14:43] we have a motion. Motion counselor Freeman.

[14:46] Second counselor Jennings. All right.

[14:53] Okay, we'll now proceed to a Yeah. Now we'll proceed to a vote.

[15:03] All right.

[15:06] Seven >> [clears throat]

[15:07] » seven to one. Thank you. Uh motion carried.

[15:11] » I'll call for roll call. >> Oh, because it was an actual call for

[15:13] roll call. Thank you so much. Counselor Wells?

[15:16] » No. >> Counselor Boyd?

[15:18] » Yes. >> Counselor Robinson?

[15:20] » Yes. >> Counselor Giles? Yes. Councilor

[15:22] Jennings? >> I.

[15:24] » Councilor Freeman? >> Yes.

[15:25] » Councilor Crown? >> Yes.

[15:26] » Councilor Mazur? >> Yes.

[15:28] » All right. Motion carried 7-1.

[15:32] Okay. Next item on the agenda is uh the reports of committees.

[15:40] Um do we have any reports from committees

[15:43] this evening? There was a committee of the whole that

[15:48] did occur this afternoon and this before this

[15:52] meeting. And what came from that was proposal number one and proposal number

[15:58] three have been tabled and are still in committee for further for further work.

[16:07] All right. Any other committees? Reports?

[16:11] All right. Seeing none. >> Call it.

[16:13] » Oh, sorry. Yes. >> I just wanted to just make a public

[16:16] request that the finance committee does more [clears throat] frequent meetings.

[16:21] Since we're getting into budget season, might be a good idea.

[16:24] » Duly noted. I take that suggestion. I am the finance chair. And upon the request

[16:31] of the council I will get with and get with

[16:37] with the clerk Latrice and get this

[16:42] and get and get something on the schedule.

[16:43] » Thank you. >> All right. So, we appreciate that. Thank

[16:45] you so much, Councilor Jennings, for that suggestion.

[16:49] All right.

[16:53] Okay. We are at Oh, we are at unfinished business.

[16:58] Um So, proposal Oh, let me just do proposal

[17:02] number one. It's still in I'm sorry, y'all. So, catching up.

[17:05] » We did the reports of committees, so so now we're good.

[17:08] » Okay, we are getting It's been a while, guys. I've been on the saddle here for a

[17:11] while. See. All right. So, here we go. Unfinished business, proposal number

[17:14] one. Clerk, if you if well, Clerk, if you can read it by title, please.

[17:19] » Proposal number 1 2026, an ordinance of the common council of the city of

[17:23] Lawrence, Indiana, amending title 1, article 1, chapter 2, section 12 of the

[17:29] municipal code regarding common council approval on expenditures of professional

[17:34] service contracts. >> Thank you. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Um at

[17:38] this time, that is still in committee of a whole.

[17:43] All right.

[17:46] Expiration. >> [clears throat]

[17:48] » Next item um is proposal number three. Um Madam

[17:53] Clerk, can you read that by title, as well?

[17:58] » Proposal number three 2026, an ordinance of the common council of the city of

[18:02] Lawrence, Indiana, adopting title 1, article 3 of the code [clears throat] of

[18:07] ordinances of the city of Lawrence, Indiana.

[18:10] » This proposal remains before the committee of whole for consideration and

[18:13] recommendation to the council of will be brought to the council when appropriate.

[18:16] So, it is still tabled in committee. All right.

[18:20] Um new business.

[18:23] Uh the next agenda item is new business. There's no new business this evening.

[18:27] Comments of the administration.

[18:36] » Good evening, councilors. Good evening. Thank you for your time. I first wanted

[18:40] to say we've had quite a few events since we were I've last been up here.

[18:43] So, we had community safety day, which we moved to Lee Road Park, and it was a

[18:47] huge success, as well. We had a lot of of new faces that we saw. We gave out

[18:52] over 1,000 hot dogs and over 200 bike helmets to the kids for the community.

[18:56] So, that was an excellent event. We did have

[19:00] our films at the fort with Heartland. Um that was amazing, as well. I think we

[19:05] had about 175 people out there for that. And then, yes, we had our Mike's Epps

[19:10] car show that we partnered with Mike's at Mike's Epps. And so, I would love to

[19:13] answer some of your questions for you. I can't give you exact numbers, but I can

[19:17] tell you that Mike Epps Foundation paid for 10 of

[19:21] those police officers. They did not come from our budget. The five police

[19:25] officers did come from police budget. Um cleanup [clears throat] crew came

[19:29] from Keys to Work on Monday morning to help clean up the park and worked with

[19:34] the park guys to clean that up. That was at no cost to us as well.

[19:38] » Excellent. >> Um but we did have some labor that we

[19:41] had to put into it, of course, as part of the partnership. We did provide the

[19:45] stage. Those guys came out and worked with that. And then throughout the day

[19:49] even, we had um members of Mike Epps Foundation and his team that came out

[19:55] and was cleaning up trash and putting trash away throughout the day. So, the

[19:59] park guys were there still, but the a full I don't can't give you a an exact

[20:04] amount, but they were there and um paid just like if it was a city event.

[20:09] » So, the 15 police officers, the Lawrence police officers, that was paid by the

[20:14] 10. >> 10 of them were paid by Mike Epps

[20:17] Foundation, five by our police department.

[20:20] » And the maintenance staff for park cleaning, that was also paid by

[20:25] the promoter. >> We had a group come in. I requested that

[20:29] a group called Keys to Work come in on that Monday to help clean up the

[20:34] park. So, they were there Monday. I don't know how long they were there. Do

[20:38] you know how long they were there? >> About 6 hours.

[20:40] » So, they were there for 6 hours to clean up the park on Monday morning.

[20:44] » And that was volunteer? >> The So, they are a foundation that's a

[20:47] re-entry program. So, they um that organization pays them them to come

[20:53] and they have asked on several occasions if there's

[20:56] ever anything that that they can do for us, let them know.

[21:00] » And the owner are Lawrence residents as well.

[21:03] » And the loners are lo- Just a little bit north.

[21:06] » [laughter] >> THAT'S WHAT THEY ARE.

[21:09] ARE WELL KNOWN in the Lawrence I'm sure, but they

[21:12] always said if there's anything that that we can do, they came out and helped

[21:15] for clean up day. They brought a crew of about 30 on clean up day and cleaned up

[21:20] a section and they always said that there's

[21:22] ever anything that they need that we need to call them and sure enough they

[21:26] came with a bus full of people to help clean up the community department.

[21:31] » Mhm. I'm just curious could they basically

[21:35] rented the entire park I take it for the entire day?

[21:38] » They did and it's also our first it was the first one that we've had together

[21:42] with them. So we're definitely a lot to learn. There was a lot of notes to take

[21:46] and there's definitely if you could allow us just a learning curve. So if we

[21:50] do this have this again in the future, we know some areas that we need to

[21:54] change. We definitely learned a lot with this event. Yes, it was it was a huge

[21:58] event. We did close down the whole park. There was there was signage outside.

[22:03] There was signage at the park stating where to park where cars were to go in

[22:06] to register where public was to park. We can't control what public does, but we

[22:11] can control in the future where we can't say this is where we would like you to

[22:16] park cuz we wanted them all to park at D-Fast and then the front of the park

[22:20] would have been overflow. Clearly it didn't work like that, but

[22:24] again it was a learning experience and we are learning a lot from this first

[22:28] event with them. >> It was a successful event.

[22:31] » Very successful successful event. We didn't have any issues inside the park

[22:35] at all. The there were some issues afterwards. As soon as we learned of

[22:39] those, IMPD and LPD went went right into motion and and started shutting it down.

[22:45] » I didn't even hear about it so whatever it was it must have been really minor.

[22:49] Thanks to our our public safety for nipping it in the

[22:52] bud. It did not get in on the Facebook no gossip circle.

[22:57] » [clears throat] >> Jamie, I want to say it was very well

[22:59] attended as you all know and I it was marvelous. I was there. Did a lot of

[23:04] walking. Did a lot of walking. But it it it was nice overall. I do want to say

[23:09] there was a sign on Franklin. >> Mhm.

[23:13] » At the community park and I live right there. And it was there earlier in the

[23:17] week. >> That's right.

[23:18] » said Epps parking, okay? And I'm saying, "Oh my god, we going to be we I won't be

[23:23] able to get in and out of my community, right?" The sign was removed

[23:27] » Oh. >> prior to the event day. It was removed.

[23:31] So we knew we couldn't park there. I had gotten an email, so I knew to go around

[23:35] to the to Post Road to to come in. But there

[23:39] was plenty of parking. Plenty of parking for people if they had just followed

[23:44] suit. >> We just got to do a little better.

[23:46] » social media posts as well. >> Just got to do it.

[23:48] » There were social media posts. There were flyers on post social media. We

[23:51] posted and reposted several different times. So there was a lot of

[23:56] communication that had gone out regarding it. Mike Epps team posted

[24:00] several times as well. So I mean, I went to the concert the Saturday before our

[24:05] car show here and it was pretty [clears throat] much the

[24:09] same thing. There's parking out through the neighborhoods. There was police

[24:12] presence. So this is their third year, so they have a little more knowledge and

[24:16] know-how of what they wanted to do over there. They weren't expecting our crowd

[24:19] to be as big. I'm excited that it brought so many people to Lawrence cuz

[24:23] that's exactly [clears throat] what we want, right? We want

[24:25] » Absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. >> not just a drive-through. So we we are

[24:29] bringing as many events as we possibly can, including Barbecue and Blues on

[24:33] this Saturday. From 4:00 to 8:00 at Fort the Fort

[24:37] Benning Cultural Campus. >> Mhm.

[24:38] » I tell you one other thing I want to also take note to is the using

[24:41] [clears throat] of our stage. That may have been the best advertisement for our

[24:44] city. The stage had our whole flag on the top, City of Lawrence. And this

[24:49] because of the star power, this was able to go viral. I also think

[24:53] it's important to also note this. Now, this ain't further north.

[24:57] Unless he sold. Last I knew Mr. Epps is also a person that owns owns land and

[25:02] property also in the city of Lawrence. So, it's not an outsider. It's a

[25:06] Lawrence resident. So, that's something that is also important um for folks who

[25:11] may not understand or may not know the significance.

[25:15] Um but uh it was big. Hollywood was in Lawrence.

[25:19] » Very much so. These are precisely the type of event that we have.

[25:22] We want to grow our businesses, restaurants. You know, after events like

[25:27] this, they could just file into restaurants. Uh

[25:29] » Well, this he also owns clubs, bars in Detroit. There was conversation about

[25:34] where he going to do it in Indiana. Right? So, you got to um

[25:41] invest in others. Be a place of opening for development to come. But, there are

[25:46] three two successful comedy clubs, restaurants across the country. And

[25:51] [snorts] uh hopefully he can uh he's listening to me.

[25:54] And um he'll put one over here on the fort.

[25:58] » Yes. >> I don't know.

[25:59] » We'll be debriefing sometime in the next week or two. So, we will be able to

[26:02] discuss some of the issues that we saw, some of the successes that we saw. So,

[26:06] we just want to continue to grow. There's no guarantee that this will be

[26:09] back. Do we hope that it'll be back? Absolutely. But, there's no guarantee.

[26:12] So, we don't know if it's a one-off or if it's going to be an annual thing.

[26:15] » [clears throat] >> But,

[26:16] we do know there was a lot of learning to do. We and we did.

[26:20] » Thank you again. >> Thank you.

[26:21] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[26:24] » Thank you.

[26:26] All righty. All right, next thing on the uh comments of citizen comments.

[26:32] Um >> [clears throat]

[26:34] » Citizen comments shall be limited to five uh or what is

[26:37] » Three. Three. >> Three. [snorts] Three minutes unless

[26:39] unless extended by the presiding uh officer. Um first name is Mr. Rapp.

[26:46] You going to let the Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Um the second name is uh

[26:52] Mary Lee Hensley. >> Please come up and state your address,

[26:56] name and address, please. >> Hi, I'm Mary Lee Hensley. I live at 6622

[27:00] Sparrow Wood Drive. And I am one of the officers of the

[27:05] Sparrow Wood Homeowners Board.

[27:08] And we have a major concern with our parking. And what we're requesting

[27:15] is two

[27:18] no parking signs in specific areas. We live in a circle if people haven't been

[27:24] to Sparrow Wood. It's just the 60 homes and all there is is one one way in and

[27:29] one way out. And what is happening is at the very front of our subdivision,

[27:37] there is an area where trucks and their their trailers and

[27:46] houses people that don't even live in our community are starting to park

[27:51] in Sparrow Wood. And it's causing a big cluster in that

[27:56] area. And what is happening is when people

[28:02] speed into Sparrow Wood, they've got

[28:07] the the roads are so close together. We're afraid of someone getting hurt

[28:13] because I personally have been in a situation where I was stopped there cuz

[28:17] people couldn't see me because there's so many cars parked in each direction

[28:22] that I almost had a head-on.

[28:26] Okay, because the person just came in and didn't even see me and come

[28:29] barreling around and it's on [clears throat] the corner where there's

[28:32] a curve in the road.

[28:35] And now with all those cars that are parked there in the very front of

[28:40] Sparrow Wood, there are already signs on one side, but

[28:45] on the other side, we have people from another community

[28:50] parking there now, too.

[28:53] So, that even makes it even harder to see the stop sign, to see the cars

[28:56] coming around the corners and all that kind of thing.

[29:00] Um I have tried previously to try to resolve one of the stop signs.

[29:07] Um I have contacted my my councilman. Um and that started back in October of

[29:14] last year. I did receive one comment from him saying, "We're doing the budget

[29:20] right now." I guess the impression I got was that

[29:24] was more important than my concern. So, he um he said, "When we finish with all

[29:30] the budget work, I will get back with you." Well, here it is almost

[29:36] a year later and I've received no other comment. I did follow up with him once.

[29:43] And um

[29:45] then I sent another one saying, "Hey, don't forget about me." You know, that

[29:49] kind of a comment there. And he's never received you know, returned any of my

[29:53] comments or any you know, any resolution to the sign that I was requesting.

[30:00] So, that and that's what we're asking for. We're just asking for two signs

[30:04] that will um clear that area so there's not a cluster

[30:09] of vehicles there. And it'd be for safety just in case an emergency vehicle

[30:15] needed to get in there because the way they're parked and the roads are narrow,

[30:19] I'm not sure if an ambulance could get in there or a fire truck or anything

[30:24] like that. So, there's concern in that area and we just want to get that

[30:28] remedied. >> Thank you very, very much. And stick

[30:31] around after the meeting and uh I think some folks will probably try to see if

[30:36] we can come to some sort of resolution. Thank you.

[30:41] All right. Let's wrap. >> Councilor Giles.

[30:43] » Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah. >> Would you ask them to state the district

[30:47] after they state their address? >> Okay, that is good to know. Okay. Some

[30:51] people don't know though. He's a five. Okay.

[30:55] » Thank you. >> Okay.

[30:57] Yeah, a lot of us don't know it though. Mr. Rapp, I'm sorry. Mr. Rapp, could you

[31:00] please come up? >> [clears throat]

[31:07] » Councilor Boyd.

[31:12] » Daniel Rapp, 5718 Wallingwood Drive. Three items tonight. Accountability,

[31:20] affordability, and

[31:23] parliamentary procedures. The first one on

[31:27] accountability, when I checked the city of Alachua webpage, I did not find

[31:33] the July financial or the monthly [clears throat] financial report.

[31:39] I am requesting that it get posted to the webpage immediately, like close of

[31:45] business tomorrow. I don't understand how you people

[31:49] approved the signing of vouchers for the month of August not knowing what was in

[31:54] July. Second item is the budget review and

[31:58] approval process that's coming out. Again,

[32:02] July is already passed. I request that also that the month of

[32:07] August be posted in accordance with city ordinance.

[32:12] That's first one. Next item is affordability.

[32:16] Item to trigger this is the motor vehicle license excise surtax.

[32:22] That it go in 2027, it's going to go from $25 to $100. 400% increase.

[32:31] Big picture on affordability, it was said in the meeting that was two

[32:37] three million dollars worth of tax revenue come to the city of

[32:42] Lawrence. I look at from my point of view.

[32:47] That's two to three million coming out of the community that they will no

[32:51] longer have to pay to go to a restaurant or buy food.

[32:57] But that's the big picture. Two to three million coming out of the community is a

[33:02] big chunk. Small individual plans.

[33:07] Landscapers. I'll just use them as my example.

[33:11] Their license fee for that truck is going to go from 25 to 100. $75

[33:17] increase. That utility trailer, less than 9,000 ton, uh, 9,000 pounds, it's

[33:24] also going for 25 to 100. So, that landscaper is going to incur a $150

[33:30] increase. So, mowing your yard next year is going to cost more.

[33:36] I am saying this so that the city, the residents of Lawrence, will know that

[33:43] things are getting more expensive for the city of Lawrence. Next thing I know

[33:47] is the water and sewer bills are going to go up.

[33:51] I'm just waiting for that one to happen. Last item, parliamentary procedures. I

[33:57] have a heartburn with the 19 August common council meeting that took place.

[34:05] The YouTube video

[34:09] has proposal number four, proposal number five being voted on.

[34:16] But when I look at the city of Lawrence webpage and I look at the agenda, there

[34:21] is no new business

[34:24] for proposal number four or proposal number five. So, I ask the question.

[34:32] How can the city council or common council vote on something that

[34:37] is not on the agenda that is posted on the city of Lawrence webpage? Yes, I

[34:42] looked at it right before I came. Yes, I have sent two emails requesting

[34:48] is it in error that the real agenda didn't get

[34:54] posted? No reply to my two emails. So, at this point

[35:01] I am requesting an investigation on parliamentary procedures that

[35:07] everything that was done on proposal number four and proposal number five at

[35:13] the special meeting be revoked because it is null and

[35:18] void and

[35:21] no. So, with that being said

[35:26] I am requesting that investigation because

[35:30] the agenda

[35:33] is not right. It does not agree and I would ask the

[35:37] question on the minutes that you just approved

[35:42] for 19 August, was there a proposal number

[35:46] four and number five voted on that it was tabled if what the video said?

[35:52] Those were my three items. I will add a fourth one.

[35:56] » Mr. Mr. Mr. The bell went off. I just wanted to give

[36:00] you all the time. So, if you can leave it with three, I'd really appreciate it.

[36:02] » you. >> Okay, thank you.

[36:05] » [clears throat] >> All right, any other comments for

[36:08] council? Can I get a motion for adjournment?

[36:11] » Motion. >> So moved.

[36:13] » Second.

Common Council 9.8.26

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