Council approves capacity-fee and ethics-code ordinances; proceeds on alley vacation after public hearing

Valparaiso Common Council approved two ordinances on second reading and final vote and took first-reading public hearing testimony on a proposed alley vacation during the meeting.

Ordinance 14-20-25: capacity-fee increase (adopted 7-0) The council adopted Ordinance 14-20-25 by a unanimous 7-0 vote to increase the capacity fee for new utility connections in the Damon Run area from $2,700 to $4,909. "The fee will increase from $2,700 to $4,909, of which the City of Portage receives $4,000 of that and then the balance goes to Valparaiso City utilities," Steve Pulos said during the ordinance presentation. The change applies only to new connections in the Damon Run area; existing customers are not affected, the record shows.

Ordinance 15-20-25: ethics-code housekeeping (adopted 7-0) The council adopted Ordinance 15-20-25 by a unanimous roll call to restore five state statutory code references to the city's published ethics code. Council members said the cited sections…