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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-15-2019 Council Meeting Minutes City of Canton Council Meeting The Donald Edwards Way (Historic Depot) Canton 11 61520 January 15, 2019 6:30pm A regular meeting of the Canton City Council was held on January 15, 2019 (6:30pm) in the Council Chambers, The Donald E. Edwards Way-50 North 4`h Avenue, Canton, Illinois 61520. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE Mayor Kent McDowell, Attorney Curtis Lane, City Clerk Diana Pavley Rock, Treasurer Crystal Wilkinson, Public Safety Director Richard Fairburn, System Maintenance Superintendent Dash Wilson, MEDIA IN ATTENDANCE: Daily Ledger, Fulton Democrat VIDEO SERVICES BY JOE GINGER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE OPENED THE MEETING INVOCATION— South Park Methodist Church PUBLIC PARTICIPATION— ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Hale X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA CONSENTAGENDA APPROVAL OF THE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES HELD JANUARY 2. 2019 BILL LIST DECEMBER DISBURSEMENTS TREASURER'S REPORT GREENWOOD CEMETERY REPORT FIRE REPORT PUBLIC WORKS REPORT Motion and second were made by Aldermen Hale/West to approve the consent agenda. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. COMMITTEE REPORTS: FINANCE ALDERMAN RYAN MAYHEW, CHAIRMAN FY 2017/2018 AUDIT PRESENTATION BY AARON PHILLIPS Auditor Aaron Phillips completed the 2017/2018 audit for the City of Canton. The annual financial report along with a TIF annual report was also completed. This report gets sent to the comptroller's office. Aaron is currently working with the police and fire pensions to get their report completed as well. The last few years the finances for the City of Canton has been something that the City has addressed very well. Good controls are in place and the City has good people in place. There were a few audit adjustments that were made as a result of the audit, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. Bank accounts all reconciled. Transactions that were tested in the payroll were all good and accurate. No concerns were found in the payroll audit. Aaron thanked Treasurer Crystal Wilkinson, City Clerk Diana Pavley Rock and the Clifton Larson team for the efforts they put in. One internal control finding was noted in the audit and management has taken steps to correct the issue. The statement of net positions in the audit include the general fund, special revenue funds, the water/sewer and cemetery all combined. The cash investments are at about 7.9 million as of April 30 2018. This amount compares very favorably to 2017 where there was 5.5 million dollars in cash. There was a 2.4 million dollars increase in cash balances over a 1 year period. The liabilities are mostly loans and bond debt. There is a TIF loan outstanding for about 5.8 million dollars and a street sweeper equipment loan for $120,000.00. The water/sewer side has an older EPA loan that still has approximately $875,000.00 outstanding. The sewer bonds are larger at an amount of 11.6 million dollars still outstanding. In total there is 18.3 million dollars of debt on the city books. This amount is 2.4 million dollars less than it was in 2017. Overall the City has 2.4 million dollars more in cash than it had last year and 2.4 million dollars less in debt than in 2017. Aaron stated that in a one year timeframe this is a huge swing to the positive. The general fund is the City's main operating fund. Typically what is wanted is to have revenues in excess of expenses and to have a balanced budget. In 2013,2014 and 2015 it had a negative amount. Expenditures were in excess of revenues. In 2016 it had approx $200,000.00 positive figure. In 2017 in was close to a break even. In 2018 it is up approximately $600,000.00 positive. Aaron said that the things the City has done is really starting to show positively on the general fund. In 2015 the general fund had only$90,000.00 cash on hand. In 2018 the City has approximately 2 million dollars in cash. Back in 2015 the City was borrowing on a short term basis until the property taxes came in during the summer. Aaron said that the bonding companies and rating agencies are looking at is the cash reserves. Typically the standard amount is to have half of the year of operating expenses in the reserves. The general fund currently has 2 million dollars and expenditures are a little over 8 million dollars, so the City only has about 3 months of cash reserves. The City still has a way to go, but from a trend stand point the improvements are very positive. Revenues from 2013 to 2018 shows a positive trend. The revenues are up $700,000.00 over the five years. Expenditures over the same timeframe have gone down. The operating expenses have gone down. Payroll controls, reductions in expenses on capital outlay is some of the main reasons for the decline in expenses. Aaron stated that he really had to complement everyone for really looking at the numbers and turning things around. The water/sewer fund shows the City raised rates in the beginning of 2018. The inflows reflects a large lump due to the increase. The water/sewer fund should be able to operate on its own and should not operate with subsidies from the general fund or property taxes. The City has the revenues, debt service, operating costs and then the City has this big system to upkeep. The City has to generate an excess on operations to keep up in the water/sewer fund. In 2013 there was not an excess. In 2014 it was break even. In 2018 the excess was 1.15 million dollars. The City needs to keep it at this level, because if you look at the system and how much it will cost to keep it up, the City will need millions of dollars every year to keep the system up. Cash balances in 2016 were less than 1 million dollars. In 2018 the cash balance was 2.5 million dollars. Better operations, increase rates and reduction in expenses have helped build the cash balance. The City really has not spent any money for capital improvements in the last two years in the water/sewer fund. At some point the City will need to do improvements. Aaron said he can't say enough about where the City was compared to where the City is now. The City is almost to the 6 month point for cash reserves on the water/sewer side. Aaron said he does not have any concerns on the internal controls, and does not have any concerns on the financial side--compared to where the City was a few years ago. Alderman Lovell asked where the biggest strides have been. Aaron said that revenues have increased. From 2018 to 2017 payroll was down approximately $200,000.00 in the general fund. Payroll was also down in the water/sewer fund. The big strides are really the revenues have increased across the board. The City received a big bump in the water/sewer fund due to the increase in rates. The city has done a good job in keepingthe health insurance rates low. Aaron said that he is surprised that the pension levies have not gone up more than they have because the fire pension funding is only around 30%. At some point the pensions are going to catch up with the City. When you levy taxes for the pensions, it takes away from money that can be used to levy for other things. Cutting back on expenditures has definitely helped the City's outcome with the audit. In 2013 and 2014 the City spent 1 million dollars in capital improvements. In 2015 the City spent 1.2 million. In 2016 the City spent 1.1 million and in 2017 spent$20,000.00. In 2018 the City spent $16,000.00 in capital improvements. Mayor McDowell explained that the State of Illinois is still behind on their water bill that is owed to the City. If the State gets these payments made, the City does need to make some improvements in the water/sewer area. Treasurer Wilkinson explained that the State is currently 5 months behind on their water bill. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Nelson/Ryan Nelson to accept the 2017/2018 audit report and place it on file. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Hale X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried. DISCUSS. CONSIDER AND VOTE ON A RESOLUTION APPROVING A RATE LOCK AGREEMENT WITH ADP RESOLUTION#5176 City Clerk Diana Pavley Rock explained that the City has utilized ADP for over 14 years for payroll services. A few years ago Diana approached ADP to negotiate lower rates as an effort to continue using their services. Diana also brought in a module for Human Resource and the Affordable Care Act reporting. Diana was then able to negotiate a 44% discount in cost with ADP along with a 3 year 0% increase. That contract recently expired so Diana again contacted ADP to negotiate pricing. The proposed agreement includes the continued discount along with a three year rate agreement that includes a 0°% increase for the first year, a 0% increase the second year and a 1%increase the 3rd year. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Ryan Mayhew/Quin Mayhew to approve the resolution and place it on file. ROLL CALL yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Hale X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried. LEGAL AND ORDINANCE ALDERMAN CRAIG WEST, CHAIRMAN NEGOTIATIONS, GRIEVANCE &PERSONNEL ALDERMAN JUSTIN NELSON, CHAIRMAN COMMUNITY AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ALDERMAN JOHN LOVELL, CHAIRMAN PUBLIC WORKS, WATER AND SEWER ALDERWOMAN ANGIE LINGENFELTER, CHAIRMAN Alderwoman Lingenfelter thanked the public works crew for their good work during the recent snow storm in keeping the city roads clear. Alderman Nelson reminded everyone about the no parking ban during snow storms and reminded everyone to remove cars from the roadway so plows can clear the streets. He also wanted to remind private plow companies not to pile snow in streets. PUBLIC SAFETY AND TRAFFIC ALDERWOMAN ANGELI HALE DISCUSS,CONSIDER AND VOTE ON AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY CODE FOR 2 HOUR PARKING BETWEEN 8:00AM AND 5:013PM MONDAY-FRIDAY ON WEST PINE BETWEEN AVENUE A AND MAIN STREET ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ROAD AND ON SOUTH MAIN BETWEEN PINE AND WALNUT (1st READING) ORDINANCE 714126 A concern was recently brought up about the Venue opening and parking along the streets in that area. Some parking on Pine street has prohibited work from being done. Once the Venue does open a concern was raised about parking on the street during the day when events are being held during business hours. The proposed 2 hour parking is an effort to eliminate the problem. The two hour parking would not be in place during the weekend. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Hale/West to waive the first reading. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Hale X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried Motion and second were made by Aldermen Hale/West to approve the ordinance and place it on file. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Hale X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried Amended motion and second were made by Alderman Hale/West to include Monday-Friday excluding holidays. ROLL CALL yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Hale X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried STREETS AND GARBAGE ALDERMAN QUINN MAYHEW, CHAIRMAN LAKE, BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS ALDERMAN TAD PUTRICH, CHAIRMAN DISCUSS, CONSIDER AND VOTE ON THE PURCHASE OF CEMETERY EQUIPMENT The cemetery was in need of a dump truck, but the City does not have this in the budget. Alternative ideas were presented and the option of a dump trailer was presented. The cost of a dump trailer is$8820.00. This bid was dated 9-14-2018. The cemetery is also in need of another mower. The current mower is going bad. The City will look into selling the mower or trading it in. The City has excess funds in the demolition and gaming fund, so discussion took place about using these funds to pay for the needed equipment at the cemetery. Alderman Putrich said he would like to take half from each fund to pay for the equipment. The mower would have a three year warranty. The trailer would also include a warranty. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Tad/ to approve the purchase of the cemetery trailer and mower with the funds coming from video gaming that goes to the street and the demolition fund. Discussion took place about the funding and how to properly transfer funds. Amended motion and second were made by Aldermen Putrich/Hale to take money from the cemetery investment acct and then will look later on how to replace it from either the sidewalk or the video gaming fund. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Male X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried. MAYOR COMMUNICATION Retired employee Chuck Jarvis has been painting and cleaning the depot. A new hand rail was also installed and painted by Chuck. Mayor McDowell thanked Chuck for his time and work. Glacial Golf will be taking place this weekend. Driver's take extra precaution for pedestrians walking especially during the snow and ice. OLD BUSINESS Alderman Lovell asked if there were any updates on the Old Siesta property. Attorney Lane said the City was provided a time table through the agreement. An engineer has been at the property and drawings have been submitted. Attorney Lane said they are suppose to complete the building by Oct/Sept of this year. There has been progress. NEW BUSINESS ADJOURNMENT MOTION and second were made by Aldermen Nelson/Putrich to go into executive session for 51LCS 120/2 C2 ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderman Quin X Mayhew Alderwoman X Lingenfelter Alderman Putrich X Alderwoman Hale X Alderman West X Alderman Lovell X Alderman Nelson X Alderman Ryan X Mayhew The motion carried. The meeting adjourned after the executive session and no further discussion took place in open session. Diana Pavley-Rock, City Clerk Kent McDowell-Mayor