The South Bend City Council met for their regular bi-monthly meeting on Monday, Nov. 14. The first item the council attended to was a cooperative development and use agreement between the South Bend School District and the City of South Bend, which the council voted on and approved.
"What this is," Mayor Julie Struck explained of the agreement, "is a lease agreement. The school is wanting to develop the baseball field, so that they can do high school softball and baseball. There's a plan for engineering, but this is an agreement that the city and the school district would like to enter into so that they could use the park and develop it using mostly grant funding to develop the infield into a synthetic turf infield, as well as re-sculpt the outfield to make it flatter and put in six-foot fencing."
The council then opened a public hearing for the final version of the budget for 2017. After finding there was no comment from the public, the hearing was closed. After the hearing, the 2017 budget was voted on and adopted by the council.
The council next passed a round of ordinances, the first one being the 2017 Property Tax Levy on its second reading. The levy represents a standard one-percent annual increase that will allow the municipality to be eligible to receive certain grant funding.
The next ordinance discussed was the first reading of a garbage rate increase, which would increase rates by $7.80. The ordinance was voted to be moved to its second reading.
The council also had an existing agreement with Three Rivers Mosquito and Vector Control to consider. After having discussing a $2,000 annual increase to the agreement, the council thought this is still a reasonable cost and noted that the city needs mosquito control. Mayor Struck added that the mosquito control has made a noticeable difference, and the council voted on and approved the agreement.
The next South Bend City Council meeting will be held Monday, Nov. 28, at 5:30 p.m.