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Muncie council adopts street, zoning and salary ordinances; controller clarifies opioid funds appropriation
Summary
The council approved several ordinances including an alley vacation, zoning change, and salary ordinance; the deputy controller clarified that opioid funds have not been pre‑appropriated and any expenditure this year will require further appropriations. Councilors also identified a missing 'paver' position line to be added by amendment.
The Muncie Common Council voted on multiple ordinances at its May 5 meeting, approving an alley vacation, a zoning change and a salary ordinance while introducing technical amendments to the city’s floodplain code.
Ordinance 13-25, to vacate a portion of a public alley at 2619 West Ethel Avenue, was moved, seconded and adopted by roll call after a property owner’s attorney explained the alley is an unimproved grassy area. Ordinance 15-25, which rezones property at 3300 North Milton Street from R-3 residential to BD variety business, was also adopted after motions and roll-call votes recorded at the meeting.
Council members spent more time on Ordinance 16-25, which amends ordinance 33-24 to set maximum salaries for appointed officers and employees for 2025. Matt Waggley, deputy controller, told councilors there had been a misunderstanding about available opioid-settlement funds: "we thought the opioid funds were like the ARP funds where multiple years were appropriated at once, and that's not the case with these funds. So if any of them are to be expended this year, we would need to do additional appropriations," he said.
Council discussion on the salary ordinance also flagged a personnel line described colloquially as a "paver position" that council members said does not yet exist in either the parks or street department budgets. Officials agreed to amend the ordinance to add the position or the appropriate line item before funds are expended and to provide clearer salary and staffing details before the next meeting.
Ordinance 17-25, correcting a scrivener’s error in the City of Muncie floodplain management code (chapter 159) that misstated the entity referenced in the special flood hazard area definition, was introduced at the meeting and will return for adoption in a later session.
Council also discussed a vacant ethics commission appointment; the mayor reported the prior appointee stepped down for medical reasons and said the commission position must be filled by a Democrat, per the requirements stated at the meeting.
Recorded motions and roll calls were made on the ordinances; the meeting transcript contains roll-call confirmations for adopting several of the measures. No new appropriations from opioid-settlement funds were executed at the meeting; staff said additional appropriation ordinances would be needed before spending those funds in 2025.
