Duke Bennett says city situation normal

Mayor urges patience during Council meeting after legal decision on his office

By Arthur E. Foulkes

TERRE HAUTE — Mayor Duke Bennett tried to assure the Terre Haute City Council that he remains firmly in the mayor’s office despite a Thursday court decision from the Indiana Court of Appeals that said he had been an ineligible candidate in the 2007 mayoral election.

“I would ask and urge patience as we all work through this legal process,” Bennett told members of the council at the beginning of Thursday evening’s regular meeting of the council in City Hall. “Our goal is to get it resolved as soon as we possibly can.”

Bennett said the city government will continue to function normally while his legal team decides its next step. “There are more days to come and more things to be dealt with,” he said.

Council president Todd Nation, D-4th, asked City Attorney Chou-il Lee whether the City Council should take any special action in view of the court’s decision.

“My opinion is no,” Lee answered. “What we have is an opinion from the appellate court that is a non-final opinion.” The Court of Appeals decision can be appealed to the Indiana Supreme Court and until that court makes a decision – or 30 days passes without an appeal – the city government can carry on as usual, he said.

“It’s our intention to just soldier on and continue to do the things that we need to do,” Nation said.

n In other business, the City Council voted to postpone a vote until next month on a resolution that would have given the Board of Public Works authority to hire real estate appraisers for property on North First Street for possible relocation of the Terre Haute Police Department.

Councilman Jim Chalos, D-at large, asked Bennett if there had been any consideration of building a government center to house all government entities in one location.

“Really what we need to move is the Police Department exclusively at this point because we are paying about $80,000 a year in rent,” Bennett said. The rent is paid to Old National Bank, Bennett said after the council meeting.

The council also voted in favor of spending $2.35 million of economic development income tax (EDIT) revenue for property purchases along Margaret Avenue for the Margaret Avenue expansion project. The State of Indiana will reimburse the city for 80 percent of that expense, said Leslie Ellis, city controller.

The council also voted Thursday evening in favor of rezoning requests from Union Hospital for two properties on North Fourth Street. The properties will be used for a medical clinic, parking and a garage storage facility, according to an attorney for Union who spoke to the council.

During the public comment phase of the council meeting, officials from the Vigo County Health Department spoke to councilmen about the possibility of amending city housing regulations to include language regarding lead-based paint.

Nearly all cases of childhood lead poisoning discovered by the county Health Department involve children living within the Terre Haute city limits, said Marci DeBoy, an environmental health specialist with the Health Department. “If you work within the city limits, you see it a lot,” DeBoy said. “Most of the homes probably do have lead paint, but it’s the deterioration that causes the problem. The chipping and peeling [of lead paint] that can get into the hands of children,” she said.

Nation assigned the council’s Government Affairs Committee to investigate the possibility of adding a lead paint amendment to the city’s housing code.

Before Thursday night’s council meeting, the City Council had a special public hearing on the 2009 city budget. No members of the public brought any questions to the council on the budget so the meeting was adjourned after about one minute.

The council is set to vote on the 2009 budget at 6 p.m. Nov. 24 in City Hall.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.