The Rest of the story - South Bend City Council

As Mayor Julie Struck closed out the public session of the Jan. 12 meeting, the council had a few others things to discuss.

During the reporting of correspondence that was received to the ;lcity, a letter from Phil Hedrick, representing the Joint Pacific County Housing Authority, was brought to the attention of council that was in support of the proposed Discovery Village Apartments.

The proposed complex would reside next to the Pacific Pearl Apartments, which occupies 330 Broadway. The letter, actually addressed to the Executive Director of the JPCHA, Christina Pegg, was discussed with council and voted on to approve Mayor Struck in signing the letter as presented. The letter will be part of the JPCHA project funding application.

An additional Public Hearing was open on Resolution #2015-01, the revised Six-year Transportation Improvement for 2015-2020.

With no public comment the session lasted only long enough for Mayor Struck to advise the council that the City of South Bend had received a transportation Improvement grant for the Cedar/Cowlitz Sidewalk replacements - Second Street to Memorial Drive. As this grant was not part of the original Six-Year plan it was added, and is now Revised.

Closing the Public Comment portion of the Transportation Plan, the council approved the revised resolution 2015-01, unanimously.

Resolution #2015-02, was also voted and approved, dealing with the damage assessment suffered from the city.

During Department Head reports, Police Chief Dave Eastham noted that car prowls are on the rise again and that of the cars that have been targeted, all vehicles were unlocked. Chief Eastham suggested that people should be more vigilant and lock up their property. The Chief also reported on the status of the South Bend Police Department latest acquisition of a Police Vehicle that is under the patrol with Officer Stigall. As the new car has been on the road already, it will be getting finishing decals and touchups and will finally be 100% police road ready. He further reported that the now oldest vehicle in the South Bend Police Department fleet, a 2007 crown Victoria, will be maintained as a reserve officer vehicle as required.

City Supervisor Dennis Houk gave an update to the sinkhole at Highway 101 and Kendrick. The Supervisor advised that it was part of the city's storm drain system and was currently covered, not posing a threat to anyone and is under a repair schedule.

Clerk/Treasure Dee Roberts advised the council that due to schedule conflict that the next city council meeting packets would possibly be a little later than normal. But ensured the council that the packets would arrive prior to their next scheduled meeting.

As her Mayor's Report, Mayor Struck thanked the city crew for all of their hard work during the period of high water. She noted several tasks that the crew had performed like the hauling of gravel and repairing of leaks working in difficult conditions.

"A great job," she exclaimed.

The meeting wrapped up with counsel comments. Touting first a big thank you to Mayor Struck, the city crew and the South Bend Police, for being proactive during the past eight inches of rain, Councilor Olsen also noted that the city will work toward improving outcomes for situations like this, (speaking of the Public Forum highlighting several issues from citizens). Councilor Williams agreed with the previous statement and noted that sometimes Mother Nature wins. Councilor Neve also agreed and remarked at how well the Wastewater Treatment Plant functioned exceeding the recommended capacity of 7 million gallons of water per day to an estimated 10 million gallons a day during the storm period.

Councilor Karla Webber noted that she was out of town during the rainfall, but had the town in her thoughts able to track the area via social media and news updates. She also thanked Mayor Struck for her work during that period. Councilor Hall followed suit by thanking the Mayor for the continual updates during the storm and had questions about the city water and its drink-ability. He was advised by Mayor Struck that the sediment had cleared the system, and Supervisor Houk verified that the water system is being treated as well. Councilor Hall also took time to thank Richard Glover of South Bend for attending to drainage gates for the community.

The next South Bend City Council meeting is scheduled for January 26, 5:30 pm at the South Bend City Hall.