Ordinance actions

An ordinance creating a “sick bank” was fast-tracked.

Another regarding the sale of alcohol in city parks passed on first reading while city council put the brakes on second reading on an ordinance to create a new four-way stop.

Portland City Council addressed three ordinances during its meeting Monday, including approving the ordinance regarding sick leave benefit donations on first and second reading.

Mayor Jeff Westlake brought up the sick leave benefit donations ordinance as a way to provide additional time off for employees who may need it for personal or family illnesses or injuries. Employees can voluntarily donate paid time off (sick days or personal days) to other employees in need.

In order to be eligible for the additional days, an employee must:

•Be a full-time employee

•Need time off related to their own personal health or the serious health condition of a spouse, child, sibling or parent

•Have exhausted all sick and personal time and all but one week of vacation time

Employees in need of the additional time off must fill out a request form to be approved by the mayor, clerk-treasurer and department head. Those wishing to donate days must do the same. (Once days are donated, they may not revert back to the original employee, even if they are not used.)

Council members expressed support for the idea, with council president Kent McClung and member Dave Golden both indicating similar programs they had available through their teaching careers.

The ordinance passed unanimously on first and second reading.

Council members Michele Brewster, Matt Goldsworthy, Mike Aker, Ashley Hilfiker, McClung and Golden also approved an ordinance regarding the sale of alcohol in city parks.

The ordinance calls for any organization seeking to sell alcohol in a city park to receive a permit to do so by petitioning the park board. (Park board president Brian Ison explained that current regulations only allow permits for the sale of alcohol in Hudson Family Park.) Any such vendors must be licensed by the state, have licensed bartenders for the event, provide adequate security and follow any other terms or conditions imposed by the city. The permit application asks for the anticipated number of guests at the event and whether it will be open to those under 21 a well as the time, date and location.

The ordinance also allows a $250 fine for anyone found in violation of the ordinance.

The version of the ordinance approved on first reading Monday — it will need to be approved on second reading before going into effect — differs from one that was previously posted on the city’s website. The ordinance that moved forward does not address individuals bringing their own alcoholic beverages to parks or the consumption of alcoholic beverages in the parks.

On a related topic, Hilfiker asked about whether permits are needed to hold events in city parks. Ison responded that there is not, but that the sale of any food is regulated by Jay County Health Department.

After passing 4-3 on first reading at the previous council meeting, the second reading of an ordinance to make the intersection of Middle and Water streets a four-way stop failed by the same margin.

Westlake, Golden and McClung advocated for the ordinance. May said he received mostly comments in opposition and Hilfiker said most of the thoughts she heard from residents were against the stop signs as well.

Golden made a motion to approve the ordinance on second reading with McClung seconding, but it failed 4-3 with May, Brewster, Goldsworthy and Hilfiker voting against. (Hilfiker said she was on the fence prior to voting in favor on first reading and flipped her vote Monday after hearing from her constituents on the issue.)

In other business, the council:

•Approved a $15,000 contribution to Arts Place for its Hudson Family Park Amphitheater concert series. Arts Place executive director Carolyn Carducci noted that a crowd of more than 700 attended the Phil Dirt and the Dozers concert that kicked off this year’s series last month. The series continues this year with Whoa, Man! Band at 8 p.m. July 18, Liverpool Lads at 8 p.m. Aug. 8 and Sounds of Summer at 7 p.m. Sept. 12.

•Heard a reminder from clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips for parade-goers to be careful around construction areas along Meridian Street while attending Thursday’s 4th of July parade.

•Approved a one-year tax abatement for Joyce/Dayton Corporation on about $220,000 in new equipment to the city’s tax abatement advisory committee. The abatement would save the company $2,644 while the new equipment would generate more than $20,000 in taxes over a 10-year period. Council also approved abatement compliance forms for 26 open abatements on about $78 million in investments.

•Received the following updates from Phillips:

    —Crack sealing, funded mostly by an Indiana Department of Transportation Community Crossings grant, will begin next week

    —A pre-construction meeting for upgrades at the wastewater treatment plant is scheduled for Wednesday with construction to begin later this month. (The project, which involves constructing and equalization basin and a wet weather pump station, is expected to take 15 months.)

    —The city is still waiting on equipment to arrive to allow the livestreaming and recording of meetings, which will be required by state law beginning July 1, 2025.

•Heard May ask council to consider extending the paved path along Blaine Pike to Water Street. (The project that was officially completed early this year stops about 500 feet from the intersection.)

•Following a question from Brewster, Westlake said traffic lights along Meridian Street in Portland are expected to be back in place by mid-August. (They were taken down as part of an Indiana Department of Transportation project that includes paving and sidewalk improvements.)

•Heard Golden praise Portland Fire Chief Mike Weitzel following a letter to the editor from a Bluffton woman published in Saturday’s newspaper thanking him for his off-duty efforts to help her husband when he was in medical distress.

•Approved closure of the alley between the Eagles Lodge and its parking lot for an event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 7.

•Heard a question from Jim Wasson regarding his water and sewage bills.