The Terre Haute City Council on Dec. 5 approved several funding and rezoning measures and postponed a package of other items until January.

The council voted to approve Appropriation 43-20-24, moving $37,000 from the EMS nonreverting fund to services contractual to cover ambulance-billing company fees. Deputy Chief Diana Luther said higher billing charges reflect increased ambulance revenue and that the department will present additional detail at next week's meeting. Councilman Denkel moved the appropriation and Councilwoman Hinton seconded; the voice vote passed.

On zoning, the council approved Special Ordinance 38-20-24 to rezone multiple parcels north of Union Hospital from C1/R2 to C2 to create about 163 staff parking spaces. Eddie Felling, representing Union Hospital, said the off-site parking is intended to relieve on-street congestion and keep visitor parking near the hospital. After discussion about neighborhood impacts, the motion passed.

Council also approved Special Ordinance 39-20-24, rezoning parcels on Lafayette Avenue from C1/C2 to C3 for a chain restaurant; the area-plan commission had recommended approval with conditions. Richard Shaglin, the petitioner’s attorney, acknowledged a staff note about a possible unmapped flood zone; the council approved the rezoning but flagged the need for follow-up on floodplain questions during site-plan review.

Several items were tabled for further review: General Ordinance 16-20-24 (tobacco and drug paraphernalia ordinance) was pulled to add a registry section and set for 01/02/2025; Special Ordinance 40-20-24 (rezoning at 1211 Wabash and 30 S. 12th St.) was tabled to 01/09/2025; Resolutions 28-20-24 and 29-20-24 (economic revitalization area tax-abatement requests) were tabled to later meetings. The council also approved General Ordinance 19-20-24 to raise the septic receiving rate by 2% ($0.02 per gallon).

Procedural business included approval of the 2025 meeting schedule and opening the application window for multiple city advisory boards with a deadline of Jan. 3, 2025.

The council’s recorded motions, movers and outcomes reflect voice votes on the council floor; the council president supplied final vote confirmations on passed items.