City Council - Regular Meeting

I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Please remain standing for a moment of silence. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Clerk, roll call, please. Alexander. Spatelli here. Kowinski here. Selenus here. Tyler here. Emerson here. Warpole here. Rikos here. Venez here. Uh, eight present, one uh, one is um, Zoom. I can't think of the word. Zoom. Zoom. Yes. Thank you very much. Zoom. Zoom. Zoom. All righty. Thank you, Clerk. Goick. Mayor. Hi. Nice to see you. It's been that long since the pandemic, huh? [laughter]

All right. I'm here to give my report uh for the week of February 23rd, 2026. I know last meeting we talked about what was going on with the high schools. Uh I wanted to update the council on a meeting I had with school city Hammond. I met with trustee Carla Blake King who I believe is the president of the school board. I met with their attorney Joel Harris and their current superintendent uh their acting superintendent Tony Selenus. I think we had a productive meeting talked to them about the frustrations and the complaints that we're getting from the residents. Uh they asked if basically if I'd be willing to wait until March 31st before we took any action and before they got back to us and let us know what they have planned for those pieces of property so they could research it properly. And I said sure. So uh gave them till I think it's obviously that's like six weeks. So I think it's a good a good amount of time for them to try to figure out how to how to rectify this situation. So, I wanted to keep the council and the public that watches the council meeting up to date on those two situations. I don't know if you have any questions about that.

Think it was a good meeting. Uh, we'll have more in April. So, mayor, yes, I do have a question. Is that uh with regard only to the high schools? I only brought those two up, but that meeting there's obviously more schools that we have to talk to him about, but those are the two that I'm we're focusing on at first, but this is a problem with just those. It's more than just those two. Correct.

One of those two. Clark High School has no parking lot. And that's a point we were trying to make is there's a law out there that says if school cities give up building, they have to offer it to charter schools for a dollar. And obviously there's not a lot of school cities that are thrilled with possibly bringing in a charter school to use their building for a dollar. But if a charter school wanted to buy Clark High School, they have no parking. So offer it up for a dollar. If somebody does buy it a charter school, how are they going to ever open? They can't. The council would never allow that h allow that to happen. Neither would the city because they have no room to park. There was a problem with Clark Fields when it was open. Can you imagine how bad it would be if they had no parking? So, uh, Gavit High School is a different situation because Gavit High School is an entire piece of property with parking included right now. So, it's a little bit more complicated, but I think it was a good meeting. They asked if we could wait till March 31st before we did anything. and I agreed to do it. So, I do want to keep you up to date on that.

Thank you.

All right. Another issue that we've been dealing with in the council and the mayor is the extension for the data center. Um, we gave him until the end of February. It's end of February and the data center and more particular so we have multiple parties involved here. The parties with data centers uh it's a dennial group. We've been dealing with them. They're the ones that did the first data center we opened. And then their key client for the next phase is a company called Coreweave. This is a publicly traded company. Uh it's I know it has a lot to do with AI. That's about all I'm going to be able to give you on that. Okay. This is a big tech company. It's a worldwide company. They have multiple locations in the world and across America. The fact that they're the main client of our current data center and they want to take most of the capacity to the next data center is it's a real good thing. They could afford it certainly. um what they're asking for. So this is Dennial Group. This is Corewave. Dennial Group is represented by a gentleman named Dave Pavick. I'm I'm sure you've all met him over the years. We've been doing business with him. They're asking for a four-month extension and they're aware that this is the final extension we're going to grant. Okay. We've been sort of granting quicker exceptions because we wanted them to move along and this is I don't want to keep coming back here asking you for a one-mon extension. So, we're giving them four months and that's it. If they can't get it done in four months, it's time to move on. So, um I wanted you to know that this is more than enough time for them to get a power agreement with NIPCO completed. From what I understand, they're very close. I heard that from multiple parties involved. I heard that from data center group. I heard that from NIPCO. They can also get their lease agreement between Corewave and Dennial Group worked out once the power agreements worked out. And once those two are finished, we this is actually sort of a blessing because there's a bill working its way through the general assembly right now that says it's an encouragement to cities like us to open data centers.

And I can tell you I've been dealing with speaker of the house lately. I've been dealing with power brokers down there on this other bill that we've been talking about. And I specifically was told by the speaker of the house how proud he was of Hammond. I'm not used to hearing that from statewide leaders. Let me tell you why. It's because we opened a data center and we support data centers. And the speaker of the house happens to be a humongous fan of data centers. And this is a very powerful person in Indiana. Uh the speaker is also running a bill through the house right now that would give back 1% of the net proceeds of data centers to local communities as an incentive for them to bring in data centers.

1% of a very very very big number. So that was not worked out in our in our development agreement. If this passes, this fourmonth extension could be a blessing for us. Can you imagine if we made a deal six months ago and then all of a sudden the law changes and our deal is a bad deal. So, I'm asking you all to support the four-month extension. I think it's a good thing and we're going to renegotiate to make sure that we're properly compensated for bringing in a data center in accordance with this new law that the speaker is talking about. So, I don't know if you all have questions on that.

So, what percent of what? I'm not sure, Councilman Mark. I should have researched it a little more, but like this is all hitting me today. And obviously, we have a couple other things going on right now, but that's exactly what we want to research. It's a bill going through right now intended to encourage municipalities to open data centers in our city. Obviously, we we're in this business. The fact that we have an incentive package worked out without knowing what the effect that would have on us, just gives us a little chance to go back and do some homework, too. Okay. Question. Councilman. Um, correct me if I'm wrong. We had an incentive when we did this last uh extension. Was there an incentive for us? Yeah, there was. I'm not sure. So, by us circling back now and adding on an extra four months, what's the incentive?

Oh, that's exactly what I'm saying, Councilman. So, we worked out an incentive. It was It was a good incentive. It still is. I think it's a good incentive. I'm just not sure if it's as good as the 1% that's working its way through the House would be.

Well, the 1% would be something totally different. 1% of a big and and exactly what I'm talking about and and I should have researched it more before I brought it up but we have due diligence to do in the city. Okay. I want to make sure Councilman Councilman Al Council Mark all the councilmen that if we open this data center that we get a deal like Hobbert did. Okay. Hbert is the richest community in northern Indiana. I dare say down to Indianapolis because they opened a data center. I think the first check that over got was for $50 million, something around there and they get another check of around $50 million shortly and then they get another check after that and each time they open another building. Now, Cobra is much bigger than ours. They did their deal with Amazon. Okay. And it's much larger than the one we're talking about, but I I want to make sure that we're not making a bad deal for Hammond. I

think I read 22 buildings. Yes, sir. It's something like that. It's multiple. It's a campus. So, like obviously ours is not going to be that large, but so I wouldn't expect us to get as much as Hobert's getting on this deal, but I'm sure we could sharpen our pencils and make sure that we're being fairly compensated in him and and so this gives us that opportunity also. Well, yeah, I'm confident that uh you guys will get a good deal, you know, if it gets done. I am confident. But I'm referring to the incentive on just the extension. Did we give him anything to extend it? Did we receive an incentive for this last extension? No, sir. We did not. No, we're working out the incentives if the building end up they pull B building permits and start building. That's what the incentive is based on. Got it.

Like I think once they ink the deal in Hobert, they got a check and then once they pull their first building permit, they get a check and it's based on milestones like that. So we would work out ours in a similar manner. Good. And I have every intention on working with the council on how that's used. Obviously, we have a lot of work we can do in our city and I know the council people have a lot of work in our districts they want to do and I'm very cognizant of that. Yeah, you got you got it. Thank you. Okay. Very cognizant of that. I understand. So,

so anyway, we got some work to do on that. And then I know that's the first two. I wanted to go quickly through my schedule if that's that's all right. Madam President, met with Ty Warner, the CEO of Nerpsy in Chesterton. uh touching base with him, making sure you know Nerpsy is the business unit that's responsible for giving out federal funds. So, we always want to be on a good place with Nerpsy. So, meeting with meeting with Tai Warner is good business and he's a good person and it's always good to be on the same page with Nerpsy. Also, uh met with Councilman Mark Kowinsky and my park department team in regards to plans to redevelopment redevelop Palaski Park in North Hammond. Uh we're still working through the details right now and how we could pay for it, but I think it's been very productive meetings. Uh interviewed with ESPN radio about the bears bill. Um attended the bank's brew box ribbon cutting. It's a new coffee shop located in downtown Hammond. If you don't get a chance, please stop by. It's in our second district. The bank is a fully leased out beautiful building and they have a brand new coffee shop at the bottom floor, so you can get it right off Homeman Avenue. Plenty of parking right out in front of it. You can just park your car, run in there. Let's keep that place open. Uh you know, these the people that opened it are taking a chance on our downtown. It'd be nice if uh Hammond could help them out by stopping by for coffee every, you know, once or twice a week. All right. Uh attended virtual meeting with leadership from the Crossroads YMCA as well as city leaders over the plan to move forward with the expansion of the outdoor water park at the Hammond YMCA. As a reminder, the Dean and Barbara White Foundation have committed $15 million to the city of Hammond to build the outdoor water park, which will be between where the current Y is and 165th. So, there's buildings there. There's leases that have been involved. Uh it's a complicated process, but I'm not going to let that stop us from this $15 million expansion. So, we need to keep marching forward. It's a beautiful building. We're very lucky to have it in

our city. It's in Hammond's third district and it's something that I don't like turning down $15 million of money. So, we're getting involved as a city and helping spearhead this project. So, lunch with Rep. Mike Andrade for an update on the 2026 legislative session. Mike Andrade is not even our state rep anymore, but he always does a good job of keeping in touch and I appreciate that. It's always nice to have friends in the in the state house. Attended the White Roberts Chamber of Commerce installation dinner at the dynasty. That was very well attended. Very good event. And it's always nice to get together with our neighbors from Whiting. I know Councilman Mark was there. There's a number of people there. It was a really nice night. Uh leaders met with the leadership team from Tortillas Noeo Leon and Hammond second district. Jesse and Jamie Martinez. Check in with, you know, check in with them. Make sure business is going well. They're just great guys. They run a great business. It's really impressive what's going on there. I appreciate them meeting with me. Testified before the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee regarding the Bears bill, Senate Bill 27. held a press conference right here afterwards. There was a lot of TVs behind me. It was a I know you guys were mostly there. Appreciated that. It was a pretty crazy day. I've been mayor for 22 years. That was the craziest day of work I've ever had. So, and obviously we're all keeping our fingers crossed for the gamechanging development. I know that not everybody in our city supports it. I'm aware of that. Okay. In fact, I'd probably say 25% of our residents probably don't support it, but I think there's probably a good majority of people that do. I think it's a kind of project that could change our city for the better. I mean, we're talking about the stadium and the development around it would be basically worth what Hammond's worth right now. Hammond's worth about $4 billion. They're talking in that area, Wolf Lake area, putting around the same amount of money investment, doubling the value of our city and investing hundreds of millions of dollars into infrastructure. So, that's uh it's pretty incredible. I'll be honest with you and and just just

being honest while I'm sitting here on Goammon TV. The people spearheading this from the state are all on the other party. It's Governor Braun, Speaker of the House Todd Houston. It's the president of the Senate Robert Bray and and Senator Michler. And they're spearheading this and they're committing billions of dollars of Indiana money. It's pretty humbling. It's pretty humbling. It really is. And obviously we're the talk of the town in Chicago radio. We're the talk of the town across the country. And it was like everybody's going through the four stages of grief and they're definitely in the anger phase right now. So So Hammond's getting beat up, but everybody's talking about us. And uh let's just keep our fingers crossed. I hope the Bears choose us and I hope Hammond is the home to the next Bears Soldier Field or whatever we're going to call it and this city will be great partners to them. And you know, we'll be home of the Bears. Let's uh so keep your fingers crossed. And last but not least, I met with my economic development team today. Actually, I think this is a good project in the first district. It's a brand brand new Dairy Bell is going in. Everybody loves a Dairy Bell. So, Derry Bell and a laundromat development in Robertdale. Um you should be hearing more about this. The city council, we're going to have to bring it to you all. And I'm sure Council Council Mark can be briefed better on it. This just happened today and I know you're aware of it, but this is a great project. Anytime you're opening a new dairy bell in the city, I think that's a good thing. So, and that's all I have unless you have questions for me. I apologize about the long report. [snorts]

Mayor. Yes, sir. When you you mentioned that 15 million was coming from white for the Yes, sir. part are we putting in another portion to Good question. That's a good question. What happens if it comes back at 20? We haven't been asked. Okay. But that doesn't mean they won't ask. Okay. But it was 15 million estimated when we opened the Y. Y's been open for a year and a half now. I don't know, maybe it's 16 million now. But yeah, I I know the commitment from the Dina Barbara White Foundation was for 15 million. Okay.

And Mr. White, Craig White, when we were open, it leaned over and said, "You're going to get this done, right, Mayor?" And I said, "Yes, sir." And I don't make promises to billionaires without trying really hard. So, I think anytime somebody's offering us $15 million, we should do everything we can to to get that done. So, any money we put in, would that come from food and beverage? [snorts] It could. I'm sure. Yeah, I'm sure we could. That's interesting. By the way, council, close to Sportslex?

No. The interesting thing about that, this is a good question and I'm get I don't see Kevin or anybody here. So, um, our 1% was projected on Hammond's normal business climate. And we still, you know, under this proposal, Hammond still has a 1% food and beverage tax. And I don't think there was any thought that Hammond's food and beverage tax would quadruple because everybody that buys a beer in estadium is going to be paying a food and beverage tax. Everybody buys a beer at that Taylor Swift concert is going to be paying a food and beverage tax. Gosh, I hope Taylor Swift plays Hammond before. [laughter] But but what I'm saying is that 1% for us goes up a lot more than we thought, which will open the door to other possibilities. Okay. So, Council Barry, do you have something?

Yeah. [clears throat] I know you guys have done a great job of explaining kind of SB27 and the way the cost uh will work out in terms of paying for the stadium, but I know there's still a lot of misinformation out there and and residents are asking a lot of questions. Can you just briefly discuss the current structure of SB27 and how the stadium will be paid?

Not really being honest with you, cuz honestly, Councilman, I would be lying if I told you that we're in charge of this. We're like along for the ride, literally. Uh I imagine if we are chosen, okay, that we're going to be in charge because that's our this is our city. But right now, it's it's the big dogs down in Indianapolis that are calling the shots. being honest. It's the governor's team led by Indiana Finance Authority. It's the speaker of the house. It's the president of the Senate. And and quite frankly, I get drips and drabs. I think I got more than most people. And I can tell you there's a few things I'm definitely not supposed to discuss, and that's one of them, okay? And I'm just trying to honor the deal. And I'm not trying to be disrespectful to you. There's a few third reels that I'm not supposed to touch, and that's definitely one of them. But I'll be honest, Councilman, I'm not an expert on how they are talking about putting together right now because I haven't really been part of the negotiation in that regard. I'm aware of what's going on. I'm supportive of the deal. We're integral partners because without us and our ability to have 200 plus acres available in Hammond, this deal dies, you know. So, I'm not trying to avoid that question. And I really don't I know that there was some talk about uh inkeepers tax doubling. So I I can get into that kind of stuff. Inkeepers tax paid for by people that stay in hotels. Most of us here in northwest Indiana don't stay in hotels because this is where we live. Okay. I know that there was some talk about uh food and beverage tax countywide. I know that the county leaders have been briefed on that. Councilman Barry, um, county councilman and county commissioners in Lake County and in Porter County. The the hearing I testified in Councilman Barry had the Republican chairman of Lake County there and the Democratic chairman of Lake County there. So like the crazy thing about this is the speaker of the house is doing it. He's lining up his troops too. He's going out

into the counties and saying, "Hey, we need to support this. This is transformational not just for him and for the region. But you know as far as the intricate details I don't I'm not part of it and that could change tomorrow being honest with you because they're in session literally. Yeah. Well I think you touched on what I was getting to is the inseper tax and the food and beverage tax.

So inkeeper tax currently in Lake County is 5%. And most of that is eaten up already and it goes to the Southshore Convention and Visitors Bureau. Okay. You all have an appointment on there. Uh, I believe your appointment's uh Bernie, Chief Bernie, and I have an appointment on there. My appointment's Kim Roberts from the Hammond Sports Blacks. Those two represent Hammond. We're the only city in the region with two people on that board. The CEO used to be my chief of staff. We all know Phil Talon runs the organization. So, I think Hammond's well represented, but I can tell you that and it's a source of consternation with me. I don't think Hammond gets enough respect in the current budget that changes obviously Bear State income share, you know. So, I'm not sure if I Yeah, you did. Okay. Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, sir. Hi, C. Um, you touched on it. I watched all this starting Thursday when my phone blew up, people asking me and I seen I'm a big avid listener of sports radio out of Chicago and podcast listener. And I went from seeing shock to hearing a lot of good things about Hammond. And then I think they realized that this might happen. And starting Friday and Saturday, I seen a lot of bashing of Hammond. Yeah. Still

from a lot of people that podcast from their mother's basement, I think. But one guy went up there and gets out of the car and he was saying, "I smell gas. you know, another guy was all happy because a bar around here has pull tabs. You know, it's like the craziness that went on. You know, this and and besides that point, the one thing I heard you say and the one thing that I've been asked a lot is there you go. Hammond's going to raise our property taxes. They're capped at 1%. Correct.

And you know, it's interesting, Councilman. This sort of goes back to Barry's question. There was there isn't any component of the funding that I saw that affects Hammond at all. Affects Hammond citizens at all unless you choose to go to the Bears game. Okay. Or I guess go out to a restaurant. All right. But that affects Lake County. But if you don't go to a Bears, if you're the type of person that doesn't go out to eat, if you're the type of person doesn't buy a ticket for this this stadium, this won't affect you. So, like I told Tina that I guess if we go to a hotel and we don't want to pay the extra tax, we can't go to the one on Klein Avenue no more. The motel six, you know, [clears throat] but I'll just

three blocks from your house. We'll get into that later, I guess. But uh the last thing I'll say is, you know, we sit here every meeting and we have to hear a lot of disinformation and stuff that we're supposedly doing that we're not and we just sit back and we just take it a lot of times and you included. But I will say this, as far as I'm concerned, if an opportunity arises for the city to double your assessed evaluation, we'd be fools to say, you know what, we don't want it. And that's all I got to say about it.

This stadium would bring a couple thousand jobs along with it. Permanent jobs, by the way. And that doesn't even count all the construction jobs that'll go into building the stadium. Tens of thousands of jobs created during that phase. And it's a three or four year project. So for the next, it's like BPMO when they when they did that huge multi-billion dollar expansion. It would be a job creator for all the building trades, for all the unions. You know, I hear our neighbors in Porter County complaining right now. I don't want to pay food and beverage tax. Okay, but does that mean you don't want any of your people working on it? Because there's a lot of union people I know that are part of the building trades that are going to be working on this project. So maybe we should pass something, you know, I don't even want to get into that. There's no reason to get into that. This is a great project for Northwest Indiana and that includes Porter County and they should definitely help and it's the speaker of the house is rallying the troops. I think we should support him. And this is the first time I've ever worked on a project with Todd Houston. He's being incredibly generous to our city. Incredibly generous. The governor, Governor Braun, he's being incredibly generous to our city. Senator Senator Mishler, Senator Bray, they're being incredibly generous. These guys are going out of their way and trying to spend a couple billion dollars in Hammond, Indiana right now. So, I appreciate that. I really do. It's I think it's sort of refreshing in 2026 to see this kind of stuff going on. It really is. So,

Mayor, Mr. Sir, is that sports authority in place now that the state was creating through law?

It depends on the one you're talking about. Councilman Earl Harris created a sports authority last year. It's called the Northwest Indiana Sports Authority. That is not going to be in charge of this project. the one that and I'm not trying to be disrespectful to Earl. What the governor and the speaker of the house and senator Micheller are creating is something that they created in India. It's a board. It's an authority basically that's in charge of the stadium. There's one board that's responsible for that and one that's responsible for the area around the stadium and Hammond will have representation on that. But we will not be in charge. Make no make no mistake about it. The governor will be in charge of that district, the governor's people, and in charge of that that whole area. We'll have representation. I think it's a three member board. We have one. That means the two are coming from the state. So, that's going to be in our city, and we're not going to be calling the shots in that area. So, there's sacrifices for us to make, but the the good far outweighs the bad in my opinion.

And that sports authority, for lack of a better name, is already in place. The Earl Harris's is in place right now.

The other one has to It's in Senate Bill 27, the other one. Yeah, I didn't mean to dominate. I know we have a lot going on, so I appreciate the questions. Is there any other questions? I appreciate you guys. And I said this at the meeting the other day when all the press was here, and I mean it. We've been working hard over the last 20 years and getting our city ready over the last 20 years for an opportunity like this. So like that wouldn't have happened without all of our hard work. So all this all the stuff that we've been doing for the last 20 years, it's like we have an opportunity to double our our city's assessed value and and create thousands of jobs and create if this happens. Hammond, Indiana is going to be an NFL city again. Hammond pros that was a century ago. That's just incredible to me. That's just incredible to me that like we'd be up there with the Green Bays of the world. I smaller towns with an NFL team in it. So keep your fingers crossed. Appreciate you guys. one. I I said at lunch today, rather than see Taylor Swift in 2030, I want to see the Rolling Stones there.

Yeah. Good luck with that. [laughter] So, thank you all. It's good to see you. Have a nice meeting. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. All righty. Moving on to approval of minutes. I ask that we uh move the minutes from the February 9th meeting and place them on file. Second. Motion by Councilman Selena, second by Councilman Emerson to accept the minutes of February 9th. Any discussion? Any discussion? Any discussion? All those in favor? I opposed. I

minutes pass. Moving on to claims. Madam President, Councilman Warple, I make a motion we accept the claims dated February 4th, 2026 through February 18th, 2026. Beginning with claims dated I not dated beginning with claim number 1243 to claim 1654 inclusive in the amount of 6,521,825. Second motion by Councilman Warple, second by Councilman Reikos to accept the claims. Any discussion?

Any discussion? Any discussion? Clerk Olic, roll call vote, please. Alexander, yes. Spatelli, yes. Kowinsky, yes. Selenus, yes. Tyler, yes. Emerson, yes. Warpo, yes. Reikos, yes. Venez favor, one virtually, total of nine. Thank you. Pardon me. That was pretty good. You threw your voice.

Oh, okay. Okay. Moving on to public hearings. There are none. Communications. Madame President, Councilman [clears throat] uh Tyler, I would just like to uh give condolences to Councilwoman Alexander and her family on the loss of her aunt, as well as uh the Gillard family on the loss of Miss Anita Gillard. Uh both of those uh funerals and memorial services were held over the weekend. So, just want to extend condolences to both families. Thank you. Thank you. Any other communications? Madam President, Councilman Kellwinsky,

the Hammond Mohawks again this year will be sponsoring the Memorial Day parade which will be on Monday, May 25th and we'll end at St. Casmer's Church where we traditionally hold a memorial service at the church and following the ceremony at St. Casmer's there will be a refreshments at the Hammond Mohawks. If you would like to participate in it, have any questions or would like to donate or sponsor to the parade, please call Larry Fentress, parade chairman at the Hammond Mohawks. Phone number is 219-9339823. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman. Any other communications? Any other communications? Madam Chair, Councilman Reikos. Yes. HC3 will be having the St. Patrick's Day parade on March 14th at 100 pm. We'll go from Hesville Park to 165th down Kennedy. Uh if you anybody has any information wants any information to contact HC3, they can be contacted get the contact information off the Facebook page for HC3.

Thank you, Councilman. Any other communications? Any other communications? Any other communications? Communications are now closed. Moving on to committee reports. Madame Chair Lady, Madam President, Councilman Warple, Council, as a whole, I'll be bringing out 2605. Thank you, Councilman Selenus.

Thank you. The capital improvement board met on February 18th and there were four funding allocations on that agenda. I'll go through each one now. Funding allocation number 303 was a home and avenue phase one project and that was awarded to supplemental tree I'm sorry that was in regards to a supplemental tree replacement awarded to Reth and Riley in the amount of $2,2827. Funding allocation number 304 was a general engineering service contract awarded to NE Engineering in the amount of $60,000. Funding allocation number 305, JF Mahoney Drive ditch improvement awarded to H3 Concrete in the amount of $120,490. The fourth funding allocation number 306 was the realignment of Willow Court at State Street in the amount of $120,500 to First Group Engineering. That was the entire meeting. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilman. And as I do at every uh meeting, I'd like to read off the upcoming community and crime watch meetings. On uh Thursday, March 12th, the Whiting Roberts Crime Watch will meet at 6:30 p.m. Uh they are kind of being shifted around from room to room. could be room 200, could be room 300, but there are signs uh at the entrance. Uh Irving Community Watch will meet Tuesday, March 10th at 9:30 a.m. at Irving School. Uh Estville Crime Watch will meet Thursday, March 19th, 6:30 6:00 p.m. at the HC3 Community Center. Jefferson Crime Watch will meet Wednesday, March 11th, 6 PM at Jefferson School. Harrison Park Crime Watch will meet Tuesday, March 3rd, 6:00 p.m. at the VFW on Homeman Avenue across from Harrison Park. Community Watch at Mount Zion Pleasant View Plaza will meet Wednesday, March 11th, 100 p.m. Uh, and Edison Community Watch will meet Wednesday, March 4th, 6:30 p.m. at Edison School. Uh, at that particular meeting, um, uh, both of our police chiefs will be there. uh police chief uh Andy Short, who uh will be retiring shortly, and uh uh the new chief of police, Jeff Long. So, please come out

and uh meet them and uh thank particularly Andy for his service. Um uh both of these men a and the police department in general are just um uh a treasure to work with. They always listen to uh any questions that any of us may have and they tend to whatever issue may be out there. So, thank you to the Hammond Police Department. Uh and uh just remember community is not just about me, it's about us. Come out to a crime watch meeting.

Madam President, I was going to say thank you, Madame President, but I guess I don't have to do that. Thank you, Madam Councilman. Um I want to go back to the capital improvement board for one second.

Yes. The funding allocation for Mahoney Drive is in response to the ditch on the south side of the road that is constantly wet and catches nothing but debris. And a couple last year sometime there were several neighborhood complaints on the debris the debris floating in the ditch. And um we sent crews out there. I went out there myself and it's kind of hard to get the debris out of that ditch when your foot sinks in sinks in a foot like over a foot deep because of the mud and the and and um [snorts] the water that conjugates down there. So, this is in response to being able to get at the debris that constantly conjugates in there and maybe, just maybe, the people that drive there that won't, you know, will decide not to throw their McDonald's bags and cups out into the ditch as they drive by. But regardless of the fact they do that, we try to keep it clean over there.

Mr. Councilman Warple, the details surrounding that stated that it was to regrade approximately 1,000 ft of ditch and construct a concrete maintenance pad to improve drainage along the south side of uh JF Mahoney Drive says that in 2025 there was complaints that were raised about the condition of the ditch, including the debris and uh overgrown uh just overgrowth in general impeding the drainage along the roadway. So the project overall seeks to resolve the standing water and the drainage problems. Thank you. Y

thank you gentlemen. Uh committee reports is now closed. Moving on to ordinance third read and final passage. Ordinance 26-05, sponsored by Councilman Warpo, an ordinance creating a new fund, fund number 3399 for municipal flood and beverage tax funds. Food, municipal food and beverage tax funds. I apologize, Madam President. Yes, Councilman. I move for final passage and adoption at 2605. Second

motion by Councilman Emerson, second by Councilman Selenus for final passage of 2605. Any discussion, Madame President? Yes, Councilman. This is nothing more than creating a line item for the food and beverage tax to go into the budget on. Thank you. Any other discussion? Any other discussion? Any other discussion? Cleric, roll call vote, please. [snorts] Alexander, yes. Spatelli, yes. Kowinsky, yes. Selenus, yes. Tyler, yes. Emerson,

yes. Warpel, yes. Raikosl, yes. Annette, yes. 2605 passes, nine in favor, eight in chambers, one virtually. President Vanzac concludes the ordinances for final passage.

Thank you, clerk. Moving on to introduction of ordinances. Item A, ordinance 26-06, sponsored by Coun uh Councilman Tyler and Councilwoman Alexander. An ordinance recognizing Cecile Joseph Harper for his service to the United States and for his commitment to Hammond's youth and designating the 1100 block of Lion Streets as honorary Cecil J. Harperway. Madam President, Councilman Tyler, I

actually asked that clerk Goolick if you can read the ordinance in its entirety, please. Whereas Cecile Joseph Harper or Doc Harper was born on January 22nd, 1931 to Stanley and Jesse Harper in Hammond, Indiana. Whereas Doc Harper was a teacher and a mentor to hundreds of Hammond youths throughout his life. Whereas Doc Harper was an alum of Hammond High School where he graduated number 32 out of 660 students. Whereas after graduation he enlisted in the United States Army, served during the Korean War and received an honorable discharge. Whereas Doc Harper attended Southern University where he pledged Kappa Alpha Feist fraternity incorporated in spring of 1952 and Mahairi Medical College. Whereas Doc Harper was featured in the September 1964 edition of Ebony magazine as the most influential black man in Northwest Indiana for his work as a chemist at Rand McNal, his passion around education, his dedication to mentoring young men and women, and for his career as a teacher in the school city of Hammond. Whereas dark Doc Harper could usually be found running or walking around Martin Luther King part. Whereas Doc Harper was a faithful servant to God and a

longstanding member of the historic Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Whereas Doc Harper passed away in August 5th, 2021 at the age of 90. And whereas in recognition of his services and dedication to the community, the council finds it appropriate to acknowledge his contribution to our society by designating an honorary street in his memory. Therefore, be it resolved by the common council of the city of Hammond, that it duly recognizes Cecil Joseph Harper for his service to the United States and for his commitment to Hammond's youth and designates the 1100 block of Lion Streets as honorary Cecil J. Harperway.

Thank you, Clerk Goolick. Any [snorts] discussion? Yeah. Madam President, Councilman Tyler, I move that we pass uh ordinance 2606 on first and second. Second. Madame President, Councilman Warple, under discussion, I move for a suspension of rules so we can pass this tonight. Thank you. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Uh, clerk roll call on that, please. Just want to suspend suspend the rules.

Hang on. Hang on. I'm I'm early on that. Let's take a Let's take a vote on first and second reading first and then I'll make the motion. So, I withdraw my motion. Okay. So, he moved for first and second reading. Is there any disc with a second? Is there any discuss? Who's withdrawing the second? I jumped on that. Who's on left? [laughter] What's that? Um, I said who's on left. So, so Barry made the motion. I seconded.

Okay. So, everybody rescends their motion and uh we are now going to vote on first and second. And ordinarily I would ask for a referral to a committee, but since Councilman Warpul wants to pass this tonight, uh I will refrain from that. So, uh was was who was the second on the motion? I was. Okay. Councilman Selenus. Oh, boy. Got it. One mistake. Good job. Good job. You got it. Okay. Okay. So, um, any other discussion,

Councilman Warple? It pass on first and second reading. Oh, okay. Uh, all those in favor? I opposed. Okay. Passes on first and second. Now, Councilman Warp. Councilwoman Benz. Yeah. Yes. Yes. I would like to make a motion to suspend the rules to pass this on third and final passage tonight. Second. Okay. Motion by Councilman Warple, second by Councilman uh Tyler uh to suspend the rules. Clerk Golic, roll call. Alexander, yes. Spatelli, yes. Kwinsky, yes. Selenus, yes.

Tyler, yes. Emerson, yes. Warpole, yes. Reikos, yes. Vanz, yes. Suspension of the rules passes. Councilman Councilwoman Venez Madame President. [laughter] Councilman Warple here. Um, I make a motion that we pass it on third and final passage. We pass ordinance 2606 on third and final reading. Okay. Is there a second? Who second? Okay. Did we not just do this?

No, this is for the the final vote. Uh motion by Councilman Warple, second by Councilman Kellwinsky uh to pass 2605 on uh final passage this evening. Any discussion? Any discussion? 2606. Uh yes, you're right about that. Thank you. Um [snorts] title, madam. Uh pardon. read the title. Um, I'll read the title. Okay. Thank you.

Ordinance 26-06, an ordinance recognizing Cecil Joseph Harper for his service to the United States and for his commitment to Hammond's youth and designating the 1100 block of Lion Street as honorary Cecil J. Harper Way. Madame President, Councilman Tyler, during the suspension of rules, I ask that we allow representatives from the family to speak. Yes. Thank you. Take a vote. Go ahead. Uh ro and do I need a roll call? No, it's No, because we already suspended the rules to pass, but I'm staying out of it.

Then we came to third, but then we made a motion for third and final. Okay. Roll call vote to suspend the rules. Suspend the rules. Alexander. Yes. Spatelli. Yes. Kowinsky. Yes. Selenus. Yes. Tyler. Yes. Emerson. Yes. Warpel. Yes. Reikos. Yes. Venez. Yes. Oh, suspension of the rules passes. Okay, Councilman [snorts] T. [clears throat]

So, but then we went to third time. You had a suspension. You got a suspension right now. Okay. So, so right now I think for someone to come to the podium, correct? We got a suspension. But you got to pass it too. Why don't you move for suspended the rules? because we went back to business.

But we should What he's saying is we should have passed it and then [snorts] you sure [clears throat] Okay. Okay.

Okay. So, I need a motion to suspend the rules to allow the family don't you say a word. Um uh we I need a motion to uh suspend the rules to allow a member of the family to come to the podium. So is there a motion? Uh motion by Councilman Kellwinsky, second by Councilman Selenus. Roll call vote, please. Alexander, yes. Spatelli, yes. Gowinski, yes. Selenus, yes. Tyler, yes.

Emerson, yes. Warpo, can I talk? Yes. Yes. Yes, you may. Rikos, yes. Lanes, yes. Suspension of the rules. All righty. Uh, Councilman, would you like to invite a member of the family to the podium, please? Good evening everyone. Hello. My name is Kimberly Harper. I am uh Can you pull the mic down? You want to speak up a little? Hi. Hello everyone. There we go. That's better.

Hi, my name is Kimberly Harper and I am the daughter of Cecil J. Harper and I just would like to take this time to thank everyone for considering my dad and honoring him for this welldeserved venture. Thank you. Very welcome. Anybody else? [snorts] Don't be shy.

Hi, my name is Bernina Harper and I'm um Ceil J Cecil J. Harper niece and he was a you know he was more like a father to me than my uncle and like now today when I see people they be telling me that they retired from the job that Uncle Cecil gave them and um and it wasn't McDonald's and that was his favorite place where he was on Columbia all the time and um so they tell me you know they thank me you know they very thankful and they always say he was like a um mentor to him to them a advocate it. And um I remember he was my suspitude teacher at Hammond High back in the day for um Miss Warner. She went on um vacation. And so I seen Harper up on the um board. Um I was like, I know that ain't Uncle Cecil or Uncle Ivory. So then Uncle Cecil walked in and he was my teacher. And I was like, wow. I was like, because he was a substitute for H um school city of Hammond. And um everybody's like, "You don't get to take down the attendance." I said, "No, I'm not." And so he was like, "Um, Harper, take down the tendenc." So [laughter] I'm looking at him. I'm like, "Okay." But it was just a shock to see my uncle, you know, in there for biology teaching me. And um, but he's very known, you know, everybody, you know, from the park running in the park, Maywood Park, which which I grew up on, Maywood Park, but it's Dr. Martin Luther King Park now. And um, everybody knew him. We go into burgers back in the day, the grocery store. I mean, from multiculture, everybody knew him. My grandma, Big Mama, would send us to the store, Jesse May Harper. And um everybody I would have to do to finish the grocery list because he couldn't get to the grocery list that Big Mama gave him because everybody kept stopping him and he they be talking and stuff. So, and um but Uncle Cisa was very known and um you

know, he just made HMD, you know, Hammond, you know, he's just he was just the advocacy mentor for everybody, you know, from the younger everybody. And he ran track back in the day. And he told me he told me he said, "I don't know why your mom and um your uncle Curly went to Hammond Tech. I tried to get them to graduate at Hammond High, you know, cuz he said it was more studies and you know, we had more studies there like, you know, with the academics and um but you know, Uncle Ce just for Hammond, he's just a fatherhood for everybody, you know, that grew up back, you know, grew up here and if he went before his death, he know everybody. So, um, but I want to thank y'all very much for approving for, um, the honorable Cecil J. Harper to be on Lion Street, you know, cuz when he passed away, he lived on Lion Street

and then he ran the park. So, that's a, you know, excellent place for it to be. And I appreciate y'all and my family appreciate y'all for doing it. You're welcome. Thanks for sharing that. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you for sharing your uncle with us. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you for letting me. Anyone else care to speak? Anyone else care to speak? He was a good man. All righty. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you, Madam President. Yes. Motion to resume the regular order of business. Second.

A motion by Councilman Kellwinsky. Second by Councilman Selenus to return to the regular order of business. Uh, clerk Olic, do I need a roll call on that? No. All those [snorts] in favor? I I opposed.

Thank you. We're back to the regular order of business resolutions. Uh, there are none new and unfinished business. Any new and unfinished business? Any new and unfinished business? New and unfinished business is now closed. Uh, special zoning action adopted under Indiana Code 36-7. Uh, there are none. Public expression. Let's see. Uh, first speaker, Mary Jones,

Dave's girlfriend. Hi Mary. Hi. How are you doing? Good. How about you?

Good. I wanted congratulations on the new Cecil J. Harper drive. So away. Yes. Congrats. Congrats to the whole family. Uh so um I think there's I I only have three minutes every two weeks. Uh, so I I want to shift a little bit what I was talk that I have been talking to you about for the last several sessions because, you know, I've been listening to the mayor's address and I noticed tonight he seemed a little bit uh cool. He he seemed to have cooled off a little bit on the the AI data center. He says, "Well, you know, if it if it happens, it happens. If it doesn't," and that that seemed a little bit different. And so when he mentioned the name Coreweave, I decided, you know, I I I looked it up and I looked up the news about Coreeave. News about Cororeweave isn't great. Uh they have a B+ uh S&P global rating, which B+ sounds really great. Like if you get a B+ on your math test, that sounds really good. But a B+ as an investment is not good. That's below investment grade. That means that they're taking on way more debt than they're taking in money. There was also um was anyway if you want to look up blue blue owl and and coreweave cororeweave is rapidly expanding but they don't really have the the money that it takes to so you know when he's talking about 1% it could be 1% of I don't know what it would be 1% of it probably be most likely 1% of zero is what we would get for all of that and in turn, we would get poison water, higher electric bills, and most of those jobs go away after initial construction is done. Uh, the other thing I I wanted to

there's I wanted to point your attention to a uh Indiana Capital Chronicle article that was published today by Nikki Kelly talking about the stadium and uh about the proposed food and beverage taxes. Uh that would, you know, as long as you don't eat or drink, I suppose, you know, you you won't have anything to worry about. But imagine if we instead of raising 12 to $18 million for a stadium, wouldn't it be really cool if we raised 12 to$18 million to for our schools? I mean, I know that [sighs] well, I know that we tried to do a referendum and it didn't pass, but I think that a lot of it did had some a lot to do with uh a lot of residents did not have confidence in Scott Miller's uh vision for the city. And I think that was one of the reasons why I think people want funding for our schools, but we had no trust whatsoever. and the and uh the superintendent. It's uh so yeah, so we're raising money, but it doesn't go back to us. It goes to pay for the stadium. So, you know, but if we maybe if we wanted to use uh food and beverage taxes or hotel taxes to expand schools, pay for teachers, and pair professional staff, expanded programs instead instead of art and music programs to be specials, maybe they can we can have full-time music and art teachers in our classes. It's just a different vision of the city. Instead of a stadium, why don't we have schools? Thank you.

Next speaker, Ken Rosk.

Hello. Greetings, council. Um, building a bridge off Parish in Hesville does not create a quiet zone. in fact will be just the opposite for residents throughout Hesville. Building a bridge to create a quiet zone is the latest batch of snake oil whipped up by the mayor and served at the state of city. He has no problem telling a bunch of outsiders this garbage, but for us, he declares the topic completely off limits. No residents allowed to ask a question or even talk. Freedom of speech rights completely violated. Council Rake never even stood up for us. Not a word. I think he would be perfectly okay if residents were never allowed to speak even in here. Does building a bridge create a quiet zone? If you know the area, you know it's ridiculous. When trains come, it is they are required to make three long blasts and three short blasts before a crossing. We have six crossings in Hesville. A train must start honking at least a/4 mile before a crossing to get them all in. For 173rd and 169th streets, the train has to begin just after parish. Where is this quiet zone? I'm blocks away and I can hear all 36 blasts and so can everyone in town. cut down all the trees and it becomes louder for the entire town. Who do we think the city is pandering to off Parish crossing? Municipal workers. Certainly nobody on the east side of parish, that's for sure. They hate this project. Hundreds of residents will have their beautiful backyards and forest bulldozed and replaced with a new major

thoroughfare. Their properties ruined. Traffic will be non-stop. This will become the go-to route to get across town. Cars and motorcycles racing right outside their back doors. This will be Will this be a quiet zone for them? No. It's their worst nightmare. Have we seen any sympathy for them from the city workers on the other side of parish? No. The usual suspects, just to be rude, yelled, "Build that bridge." No sympathy. as long as it's not in their backyard. The mayor has pitted city workers against average residents. Put up proper gates on all six crossings and declared a quiet zone like every other town around us. Highland, Griffith, Monster all have quiet zones without building a bridge. Stop the land grabs and destruction of our neighborhoods and natural areas. Thank you. Public expression is now closed out of the positivity.

Madam President, is there a motion to adjourn? Madam President, before that? Yes, Councilman. I see we have a lot of youth uh in the building. Just want to acknowledge them uh and give them an opportunity to share if they want to share why they why they're here. You said Yeah. Come on up. Come on up. where you guys are from, why you're here. I know we got some leaders. There's some leaders in that group. Come on up. Somebody has something positive to say. Yes. Yeah. We're here um on behalf of Monster High School. I think we're all Monster High School residents here. Welcome.

And um our government teacher, Mr. Gordon requires that we attend a public policym meeting like this. So also not to mention we just have an interest as well in the subject. We think what you all do here is really respectable and admirable and we love the work that you guys do. Yeah, we thought it would be an interesting topic to talk about Hammond with everything that's as we've discussed today going on here and that's why a lot of us are here. Yes. Well, thank you very much. I hope I didn't confuse you all [laughter] and deter you from uh your interest in government. Not at all. Although I'm going to ask my teacher what a double suspension means. [laughter]

Get back to us. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you for your positivity. Yes. Yes, ma'am. Can I say one more thing? Yes, of course. I want to give a special thanks to Councilman Barry Tyler for making this happen. Indeed. Thank you. Oh, no problem. Thank you. Thank you. Great job, Barry. Great job. It's nice for the acknowledgement. Thank you very much. Yes. All righty. Motion to adjurnn. So moved. Second. All those in favor.