(A) Creation of Department of Redevelopment. There is hereby created the Department of Redevelopment of the City of Washington, Indiana (the “Department of Redevelopment”), which shall be entitled to exercise all the rights, powers, privileges and immunities accorded to such Department by I.C. 36-7-14.
(B) Composition. Such Department of Redevelopment shall be under the control of a Board of 5 members to be known as the City of Washington Redevelopment Commission.
(C) Redevelopment Commission.
(1) The Common Council of the city now deems it to be in the best interest of the city and its citizens to establish and create a redevelopment authority as a separate body corporate and politic and as an instrumentality of the city with all of the powers under the Act to be known as the “City of Washington Redevelopment Authority” (the “Redevelopment Authority”), which Redevelopment Authority is hereby created.
(2) Pursuant to the Act, the Redevelopment Authority shall be governed by a Board of Directors (the "Board") composed of three members, each of whom must be residents of the city. The Mayor of the city shall appoint the members of the Board. Members of the Board shall serve for a term of three years and may be reappointed for subsequent terms. The Mayor shall fill any vacancy on the Board by appointing a new member for the remainder of the vacated term. Any Board member may be removed for cause by the Mayor. Board members shall not receive a salary, and no profit or money of the Redevelopment Authority shall inure to the benefit of a member.
(3) Upon their appointment by the Mayor, the members of the Board shall take and subscribe an oath of office under I.C. 5-4-1, which shall be endorsed upon the certificate of appointment and filed with the records of the Redevelopment Authority.
(4) The Board shall hold its meetings and carry out all of its functions, powers and purposes in accordance with and pursuant to the Act, as it may be amended from time to time.
(D) Qualifications of Redevelopment Commissioners. Such Commissioners shall have the qualifications prescribed by the laws of the State of Indiana as from time to time amended and shall qualify as therein provided; and shall exercise and enjoy the rights and powers and assume the duties and obligations conferred and imposed by I.C. 36-7-14, including but not limited to the following qualifications:
(1) A Redevelopment Commissioner must be at least 18 years of age and must be a resident of the city. If a Commissioner ceases to be qualified under this division (D)(1), he or she forfeits his or her office.
(2) No Redevelopment Commissioner of the city shall receive a salary; but such Redevelopment Commissioners are entitled to reimbursement for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties.
(3) A Redevelopment Commissioner may not have a pecuniary interest in any contract, employment, purchase or sale made under the provisions of this section and I.C. 36-7-14. However, any property required for redevelopment purposes in which a Commissioner has a pecuniary interest may be acquired, but only by gift or condemnation. A transaction made in violation of this section is void.
(E) Duties of Clerk-Treasurer. The Clerk-Treasurer of the city charged by law for the performance of duties in respect to the funds and accounts of the city, shall perform the same duties with respect to the funds and accounts of the Department of Redevelopment, except as otherwise provided for in I.C. 36-7-14.
(Ord. 9-2008, passed 5-27-2008; Am. Ord. 7-2019, passed 3-11-2019)