At its meeting Tuesday, the Gary Common Council postponed multiple American Rescue Plan Act ordinances and approved multiple city finance-related items.
Council members also heard an update on the “Relight the City” project.
Seven members were present at the meeting, including new Councilman Kenneth Whisenton, D-At Large. Vice President Lori Latham, D-1st, and Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, were both absent.
Whisenton filled the absence of former Councilman Mark Spencer, who was elected to the Indiana State Senate in the Nov. 5 general election. Whisenton was elected in a Democratic party caucus, which President Tai Adkins, D-4th, said occurred Monday.
“To the city of Gary, thank you for being here,” Whisenton said Tuesday. “Thank you for speaking up, thank you for voicing your concerns. I’m open for conversation, I’m open to criticism, I’m open to support, and I’m open to helping you.”
The council unanimously voted to postpone multiple ordinances Tuesday, including some relating to ARPA spending plans that would help with demolition of blighted properties and the construction of a new animal shelter.
The ordinances were sent back to the Ways and Means committee, Adkins said, because the committee had to postpone its Monday meeting due to Gary City Hall’s closure. The building closed because of NIPSCO gas outage, according to the city’s website.
The committee will meet on Dec. 5, and the council is expected to vote on the ARPA funds at its Dec. 10 meeting. ARPA funds provide additional funding to state and local governments and must be obligated by the end of 2024 and used by the end of 2026.
City Controller Celita Green explained two finance-related ordinances to the council, both of which were passed unanimously. The first authorized temporary interfund loans between city funds.
Green said the interfund loans are part of an end-of-year process through the Indiana State Board of Accounts. The loans borrow from one government fund to another and are expected to be paid back over time.
The total loan rollover this year is $10,986,446, with the general fund owing the most money to other departments.
The interfund loans must be repaid by Dec. 31 or rolled over for a maximum of six months, according to the ordinance.
Green also explained an ordinance that would transfer money between city departments, which the council also approved unanimously. More than $280,000 of the city’s dollars were moved between departments.
“This is done at the end of every year,” Green told the council. “The finance department reviews all of our tax-based funds to determine whether or not we expect those funds to have budget deficits at the end of the year.”
Green said “a few” accounts would have negative balances, including the city court, which had $40,000 moved from its salaries and benefits to its professional services, contract maintenance and machinery and equipment.
The administration transferred $42,500, which included $35,500 in payouts to previous Mayor Jerome Prince’s administration. Green said that amount included sick time for past employees.
City Engineer William Allen updated the council on Gary’s “Relight the City” program, which aims to fix all streetlights in the city by early 2025. The city received more than $3.4 million in ARPA funds, which will help replace and repair streetlights and poles and upgrade all fixtures to LED.
The city assessed about 2,000 lights, Allen said, and found that about 1,200 don’t have LED bulbs.
Midwestern Electric will help repair lights, Allen said, and the process is expected to start the week of Dec. 16. The city is expecting more than 400 fixtures to arrive Dec. 13.
Fixing lights along Broadway is the first priority, Allen said Tuesday. After addressing Broadway, the city plans to work on Second Avenue, Fifth Avenue and proceed south.
“For Broadway, we’ve been working on fixing where the wiring issues are, communicating with NIPSCO to make sure that power is sufficient for the bulbs,” Allen said.
Weather permitting, the city hopes to complete Broadway updates by the end of February.
“Our residential plan is to start the week after we begin on Broadway with a separate crew,” Allen said. “We have materials in order with our contractor and our sourcing agents so that we can get the residential parts, let’s say, the week of Christmas.”
Allen thanked the council for allocating funds earlier this year and said the city will do all it can to ensure the project is executed fully. Adkins asked Allen to come back to the council with a more defined milestone plan after the holidays.
“I’d like a level of detail that says something like, ‘We plan to be 50% complete by the end of April, 70% complete by the end of September,’” Adkins said. “I think the public will be looking for that level of input and insight from us as their representatives, and that will be helpful.”
