Votes at a glance: council adopts capacity fee and ethics-code updates; human relations ordinance passes; alley vacation continued

Ordinance 14-20-25 — Damon Run capacity fee (passed 7-0) Ordinance 14-20-25 amends the capacity fee for all new connections to the Valparaiso City Utilities–owned Damon Run area. At second reading the council approved an increase from $2,700 to $4,909 per new connection. Staff said the City of Portage receives $4,000 of that fee and the balance goes to Valparaiso City Utilities. A public hearing was opened and no members of the public spoke; the council voted 7-0 to adopt the ordinance.

Ordinance 15-20-25 — Ethics-code housekeeping (passed 7-0) Ordinance 15-20-25 updates the municipal ethics ordinance to reinsert five state statutory sections that were included in the city's original 2006 ordinance but were not present in the published code. Staff said the five sections relate to official misconduct, bribery, ghost employment, conflicts of interest and profiteering from public service. Council members described the change as a housekeeping action to align the published municipal code with previously adopted language. The council adopted the ordinance on second reading by a 7-0 roll call.

Ordinance 8-20-25 — Human Relations Council (passed 5-2) On second reading the council approved amendments to the Human Relations Council appointment structure and removed the label "advisory" from the council's name; see the separate, fuller article on this ordinance. The roll call recorded two no votes and five yes votes; the ordinance passed 5-2.

Ordinance 16-20-25 — Erie Street alley vacation (carried to next meeting, 7-0) The council opened a public hearing on a petition to vacate a platted alley between Erie and Chestnut streets near 254–256 Erie Street. Planning staff and the Planning Commission recommended vacating the alley; utilities research returned no recorded utilities in the alley. The council voted 7-0 to carry the item to the next meeting for final action.