New Albany City Council contemplates final two years of term amid budget constraints

By DANIEL SUDDEATH

Most of the talk from New Albany City Council members concerning goals for the two years remaining in their terms centers around the obvious — money.

Strapped with budget woes since taking office in 2008, personal platforms have been hard to stand on for many members of this council.

“We don’t have as much ability to make initiatives on our own as I’d hoped we would have,” said first term Councilman John Gonder.

And the reason?

“So much of it hinges back on money,” Gonder said.

Dan Coffey, who served as council president for 2009, is proud there were reserve funds available to call on when budget shortfalls appeared over the last two years.

The rainy day and Economic Development Income Tax funds kept New Albany running when many Indiana cities were laying off workers, Coffey said.

“We’ve all been careful about our spending,” Coffey said.

But keeping basic services going isn’t all New Albany residents should expect from their government, some council members say. Yet quality-of-life projects more than ever are subject to scrutiny with the city’s property tax allotment from the state shrinking each year, Councilman Pat McLaughlin said.

One of his greatest desires for the next two years is seeing a water park come to fruition.

“It’s just financially, can we see it right now,” asked McLaughlin of funding a pool, as the city doesn’t have a public outdoor swimming facility.

It’s a struggle just to fund public safety and the other fundamental city services, Councilman Steve Price said.

Looking back on issues since 2008, Price said the council has been fairly conservative with spending. Still, he feels the council should have rescinded its city funded insurance option to save money.

Logs for take-home city vehicles, such as police cars, and other measures to monitor spending should be instilled in the next two years, Price said.

“I think it could possibly get worse. We’re in for some tough times,” he said.

Though New Albany has about $5 million in reserves, Price said that is hardly enough to feel confident about moving forward.

Along the lines of spending, Councilman Jeff Gahan targeted the sewer utility as a priority for 2010. He feels a sewer rate increase request is imminent, so he’s wary of New Albany’s contract with Environmental Management Corp. — which was recently purchased by American Water Enterprises — worth $3.6 million a year.

The contract should be reviewed for reasons including the deficit in the sewer fund despite $100,000 in raises scheduled for EMC workers in 2010, Gahan said.

He added the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is again investigating New Albany sewers.

Those issues should be quantified before any sewer increase is considered, Gahan said. And by the same token, he’s calling on Mayor Doug England’s administration to keep department spending in line with the budget.

“We can’t lose sight of the fact that we only have a certain amount of dollars to get the job done with,” Gahan said. “The administration has overspent the general fund by $3 million in two years.”

Councilman Bob Caesar said his top priority for the future can limit unforeseen expenses and emergency appropriations, while giving the city direction.

“I want to see the city more organized,” Caesar said.

Better planning would also provide residents better service for their tax dollars, Caesar said. For example, a fund should be setup for yearly paving so the council isn’t faced with the possibility of having to borrow money to fix decaying streets, he said.

It’s also a goal for Gonder, who said the founders of New Albany were able to see beyond trivial concerns into what the city might become in the future.

“We don’t tend to build for the long haul anymore,” Gonder said.

Some ideas from council members about the future overlapped — such as more paving, addressing drainage problems and better oversight of spending — and some were unique, such as Gahan’s calls for fixing Linden Meadows and getting the defunct state overpass project for Grant Line Road back on cue.

McLaughlin wants a resolution to the CCE, Inc. facility at the former Hoosier Panel site that was denied a request to move along Ind. 111 by the Board of Zoning Appeals.

Coffey said public safety will draw his attention over the next 24 months.

“We have to make sure that we have enough police to keep the city safe. We’re severely under-staffed right now,” he said.



The biggest vote

The public smoking ban vote drew a lot of publicity and even more debate, and was considered by most council members the most scrutinized decision they made in 2008 and 2009.

Television crews from Louisville showed up at council meetings, bar owners held rallies opposing the ban and statewide anti-smoking groups held press conferences to talk about how critical the New Albany vote was.

But though the council approved the ban, nothing changed. England vetoed the ordinance and the council members that supported the ban didn’t have enough votes to defeat the mayor’s decision.

A committee formed to consider revisions to the smoking ordinance never met, and the issue for the time is dead.

Gonder voted in favor of the ban, but said it might have been prudent to wait with the economy being down. Some New Albany restaurants seem to be teetering on the edge of going out of business, and a smoking ban may have unfortunately provided the push to send them over the brink, Gonder said.

But Gonder believes a smoking ban should be a given.

“It seems sort of unbelievable that we don’t have one,” he said.

Caesar joined Gahan, Gonder, Coffey and McLaughlin in supporting the ban, and reflected on the vote as a positive despite the lack of implementation.

He said he’s noticed fewer and fewer smokers, and Gonder said people seem to regulate themselves when it comes to smoking indoors at a public venue.

“Looking back, I’m glad that we brought the smoking issue forward. I think it’s made a difference in the town,” Caesar said.



What about 2011?

Council members Jack Messer, Diane McCartin-Benedetti and Kevin Zurschmiede either did not return calls or were unavailable for comment for this story.

But of the six members who did speak about their intentions, only Caesar said he’s unlikely to run for re-election in 2011.

When asked if he had to make his decision tomorrow to seek re-election, Caesar said “the answer is definitely no.” But he conceded he could change his mind in two years.

Gahan said he would not make up his mind until the end of 2010. Price, Coffey, McLaughlin and Gonder said they would seek re-election to the council.

When it convenes for the first time in 2010, the council will have to make a decision about who will lead it. Coffey’s term as president — as well as Benedetti’s run as vice president — expires at the end of the year, and he does not intend to seek another year at the helm.

The council will likely vote on a president Jan. 4.

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