Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Municipal Votes topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves Damon Run capacity fee increase and ethics-code update; alley vacation hearing carried over
Summary
The Valparaiso Common Council unanimously approved Ordinance 14-20-25 (capacity fee increase) and Ordinance 15-20-25 (ethics code housekeeping). Ordinance 16-20-25, a petition to vacate a platted alley, received public comment and was carried over for a later vote.
The Valparaiso Common Council on July 28 approved two ordinances on second reading and final vote and conducted a public hearing on a third ordinance that was carried over.
Ordinance 14-20-25: Capacity fee change (passed 7-0) City Utilities staff explained that the capacity fee for all new connections in the Damon Run area will increase 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,” Valparaiso utilities staff said during the hearing. The ordinance applies only to new connections and was supported by the City Utilities Board of Directors; the council adopted the measure unanimously.
Ordinance 15-20-25: Ethics-code clarification (passed 7-0) Ordinance 15 restores five state statute references to the city’s ethics code that had been included in the original 2006 ordinance but were not present in the published municipal code. The sections added back pertain to official misconduct, bribery, ghost employment, conflicts of interest, and profiteering from public services. Supporters described the change as a housekeeping amendment to align the published code with previously enacted language; the council approved the ordinance unanimously.
Ordinance 16-20-25: Vacation of a platted alley (first reading; public hearing; carried over) The council held a public hearing on a petition by Lee Lane and Jerry and Patricia Deutsch to vacate a 16.5-foot platted alley between Erie Street and Chestnut Street adjacent to 254–256 Erie Street. City staff reported no record of a prior official vacation in city or county records and utility reviews found no buried utilities in the alley; Valparaiso City Utilities and NIPSCO reported no utilities running through the alley except service lines to 256. The Planning Commission recommended vacating the alley (vote noted in the record as 7-0); the Board of Public Works recommended vacating (3-0); during council, members and nearby residents spoke in favor of vacating, citing long-standing residential use and historic lot patterns. The council voted to carry the ordinance over to a future meeting for a final vote.
The meeting record includes the following formal actions and outcomes.
