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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-14-2004 ClericalCLERICAL COMMITTEE MINUTES City Council Chambers @ Historic Depot September 14, 2004 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Aldermen Jim Hartford, Mary Fillingham, Craig West & Larry Sarff. Other Aldermen Present: Bob Molleck, Les Carl & Rick Reed. Absent: Alderman Elny Harn. Others in attendance: Mayor Jerry M. Bohler, City Clerk Nancy Whites, City Treasurer Patty Beaird Franzoni, City Attorney Ron Weber, Budget Administrator Julie Smick, Police Chief Donald Edwards, Fire Chief John Stanko, Public Works Director Cliff O'Brien, Water Treatment Supt. Greg Pollitt, Wastewater Treatment Supt. Joe Carruthers, System Maintenance Supt. Bill Terry, Street Supt. George Spahn, Economic Development Director David Byerly, Zoning Officer Clark Wilson, Keith Plavec of Maurer Stutz Inc., Joe Ginger Video Services, John Green, Pete Fransicovich, Rod Heinze, Daily Ledger John Froehling. Mayor Bohler introduce each of the Aldermen that chairs the committees. Finance Committee Alderman Jim Hartford, Chairman Bills. Motion and second by Aldermen West/Fillingham, to send the bills to the Council for their consideration. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously. Treasurer's Report. Patty Beaird Franzoni handed out a revised report tonight before the meeting. She mentioned she had to revise as Locis was under her report twice because of the new payroll. Patty said she received $86,000 from reimbursement of grant funds on the Brownfield project. Also received $22,500 from the State of Illinois for Lifescan. Alderman Carl asked Patty to explain why the Health Care Plan has a negative of $350,000. Patty answered that Julie Smick is working on this very issue in more detail of where the money is going and why. Alderman Carl then asked Julie Smick about the Health Care fund. Julie said she is working on this issue and trying to receive more information. Basically year to date we have paid out almost %Z of the amount of claims we paid for the total of last year. Talking to the health care provider and asking if we have had a major claim that has skyrocketed or something major we need to look into. Once the reports are put together we may have to do something. Venovieh Road Water Main Extension -Maurer Stutz lne. Keith Plavec of the firm Maurer Stutz Inc. mentioned this is the extension off of Burkheads line. They have already put their pre-annexation agreement together, and also for their agreement of how to be reimbursed. There will be around 5 to 6 homes and the pressure in the area and the surrounding area has been checked. Pete Francisovich questioned about additional Clerical Committee meeting 9-14-04 homes wanting to be built in the area. Keith said Maurer Stutz Inc. would come to the City and advise this not be allowed. Keith mentioned this is for information only tonight. Payment No. 2 IH - N. E. Finch $445,500 -Maurer Stutz Inc. Keith Plavec said the work has been completed through July 31, 2004 for this project. The application has been reviewed and amended. The contract start date was April 6, 2004 in the amount of $1,163,000.00; amount of Contract Complete is $1,070,000.00 of 92%; the Contract amount remaining $93,000.00; the retainage being held $107,000.00. Keith said the city has almost $200,000 of the total contract. The remaining items as of July 31, 2004 is the removal of non friable asbestos (does not go through the air), demolition of brick towers, and demolition of manufacturing area. When this is completed, you will see one final pay request. We recommend the payment of this pay request in the amount of $445,500. Motion and second by Aldermen WestlFillingham, to recommend payment of $445,500 and sent to Council for their consideration. Discussion. Keith said he would inform the council when the towers come down at IH. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously. The Finance Committee adjourned at 6:44 p.m. Legal & Ordinance Committee Mary Fillingham, Chairman Intergovernmental Agreement - Stanko/Weber. Fire Chief John Stanko gave a brief update of about 6 weeks ago informed the council that Fulton County ESDA had been awarded a grant for the intent of purchasing hazardous materials equipment. When that application was made through Homeland Security Region 9 it was for the formation of the Hazardous Material team. Which was essential and was to be based out of our department since we had the personnel trained to use this type of equipment. At that time the Public Safety Committee authorized the City Attorney and the State's Attorney to work on an intergovernmental agreement, and that is before you tonight. John explained that there are three specific changes to be made, on page 1 insert the legal address of 101 North Main Street, Lewistown, Fulton County Illinois. Page 4 -insert legal address of 101 North Main Street, Lewistown, Fulton County Illinois. Final page - to specific the signature on behalf of Fulton County would be Uene Burchett who is the ESDA Coordinator for Fulton County for whom the grant has been awarded. The committee would purposely disburse the grant funds. There would be no funds paid by the city as this is 100% funded. The city would be responsible for storing, maintaining, utilizing and insuring it at a cost of $225.00 for $116,000 of equipment, with renewal around December. City .Attorney Ron Weber said the Fulton County Board is to consider this tonight at their meeting. 2 Clerical Committee meeting 9-14, 2004 Motion and second by Aldermen Sarff/Hartford, to approve the adoption of the agreement and sent to council for their consideration. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously. Alderman Sarff asked Ron Weber the city attorney about a $800.00 water bill back in the spring. Alderman Sarff wanted to know where this issue is on resolving? Ron Weber said, it is an issue with a title insurance committee that had the funds escrowed, and Ron said he heard the amount was paid, but cannot verify that. Alderman Sarff said the property .vas sold, the bill was for the former owner, the city put a lien on the property, but was too late. Ron said that is the issue being discussed. Alderman Sarff said, who is ever holding escrow needs to get it closed out. And the present owner does not feel he owes it. Ron said the situation is we have been trying to find out exactly what the issues are. We started with a cryptic note saying was paid, and we don't show paid. Alderman Sarff asked what does the person have to do now? Ron said he needs to give him the full time table on this and then it can be considered. The Legal & Ordinance Committee adjourned at 6:50 p.m. Community & Industrial Development Committee Craig West, Chairman Update of Activities. Alderman Hartford mentioned that the Friendship Festival starts tomorrow. Quarterly Report of Economic Development Activities Fall 2004 -David Byerly David mentioned that this represents the efforts of the Director of Economic Development, the Director's reporting Authority -The Canton Revitalization Committee and the multitude of public and private partners that compromise that organization and its support. David highlighted his report. It is as follows...The current involvement of the F,DP can be broadly categorized into 5 areas. These include; community development, transportation; tourism; business development; and workforce development. Collectively more than 20 projects or sub-projects are currently underway within these 5 broad categories. They reflect an ambitious effort to address those needs which offer the greatest return to future economic growth. Accomplishments and advancements at International Harvester are remarkable. These advancements have drawn national praise and recognition from both state and Federal EPA officials. The entire project will be profiled at the upcoming USEPA National Brownfield Conference. Some of the notable accomplishments include: The entire site has been demolished, clearing the way for additional remediation 3 Clerical Committee meeting 9-14-04 And development Master planning of the redevelopment effort is underway, clearing the way for the city to engage development and infrastructure More that $5.7 million has been invested in the site to-date since 1997. Of that figure, approximately $2.5 million has been invested within the past 18 months. 10% of the site has achieved NFR status, clearing the way for private development. Arulually the Canton Revitalization Committee establishes economic and community development goals for the EDP. Each of these seven core goals set forth the primary actions of the EDP. These seven core goals include: a. Have International Harvester made ready for development b. Develop a comprehensive plan for the City of Canton c. Secure funding and develop a plan to address needs for community growth and development. d. Explore opportunities that exist related to economic development through tourism entities. e. Address existing business concerns and look for new and existing business development opportunities f. Review current and potential housing and real estate development opportunities in and around the City of Canton g. Promote relevant economic development issues The total investment exceeds $5.7 million. Of that total, approximately $2.5 million has been secured in the past 19 months. This success is due to the organization and management of the Brownfield team and its members. The Brownfield team is currently seeking an additional $150,000 award from IEPA. The Brownfield team anticipates success in this application's pursuit. A listing of investments to date at the IH site is provided below: $200,000 USEPA Brownfield Assessment Demonstration Pilot Grant $120,000 Illinois EPA Brownfield Redevelopment Grant $150,000 USEPA Supplemental Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Grant 4 Clerical Committee meeting 9-14-04 $50,000 USEPA Supplemental Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot grant for Green Space $120,000 Supplemental Illinois EPA Brownfield Redevelopment Grant $1,991,462 USEPA Emergency Response Branch Removal Action $200,000 Contributed by USGS for Groundwater Monitoring and Installation $105,000 Contributed by USGS for Groundwater monitoring and Installation $250,000 Courtesy field and laboratory analysis services from USEPA, U.S. Geological Survey $110,000 Courtesy field and laboratory analysis services from IEPA * $100,000 USEPA Brownfield Petroleum Assessment Grant * $200,000 USEPA Brownfield Assessment Grant * $200,000 USEPA Brownfield Brownfield Clean Up Grant * $189,000 Illinois EPA Stipulated Grant * $236,000 Illinois EPA Stipulated Grant * * $425,000 Illinois EPA Stipulated Grant ** $200,000 USEPA Brownfield Clean Up Grant * * $200,000 USEPA Brownfield Clean Up Grant ** $700,000 City of Canton (Tax Increment Financing of Demolition) * * * $150,000 Illinois EPA Stipulated Grant (Current application) $5,746,462 total investment to date *2003 Funding **2004 Funding ***Anticipated Funding Alderman Carl asked for an update on the Theatre and the Ethanol Plant. David Byerly answered, the Ethanol Plant continues to move forward. The Theatre has had no 5 Clerical Committee meeting 9-14-04 movement for several months. We are not sitting on our hands, but we are at a critical point to move forward. The matter is in the hands of the developer. David mentioned that soil assessments will began soon and this will take a 9 month process. When N.E. Finch moves out the other group moves in to do the soil assessments. The Master Plan continues to move forward, went to the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting last night. Will be on the council's agenda next week. Next week Clark Wilson and David Byerly will be in St. Louis Missouri for a Brownfield Conference and Canton's Brownfield will be recognized as a success. We have a $150,000 grant application that we have applied for and feel confident of receiving, and will be earmarked for specific purpose. 336 meeting will be in the fall, and about proposal of alinements. This will be done in October or November. IDOT wants the council and citizens to attend this meeting. Alderman Reed asked about the soil assessments if the IEPA releases the information as they go, or for the whole site before releasing the information? David answered, some are done in phases and simultaneously. This needs to be done quickly to open up Third Avenue for development if a contractor would come in. Alderman Reed asked if there were funds available for soil contamination? Clark Wilson answered that no funds are available. The Community & Industrial Development Committee adjourned 7:10 p.m. Negotiations, Grievance & Personnel Larry Sarff, Chairman Reauest to fill Department Vacancies -Police Department Donald Edwards gave out his written report on this and then highlighted sections. The highlights are as follows: Requesting permission to hire two telecommunicators, one to replace Mary Wilkinson who retired in May, and one to replace Bonnie Ford who is retiring end of this month, and one officer to replace Denny Brown who also retired this past May 1. Don said his greatest concern is for safety for the citizens in our community as well as the officers who handle the day-to-day calls. The telecommunicator's job is one of high stress, employees under constant stress make mistakes and these mistakes could be costly. All of the telecommunicators must be LEADS (Law Enforcement Agency Data System) certified as required by the State and as Emergency Medical Dispatchers as required for the 911 PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point). This is no longer a position that we can simply 6 Clerical Committee meeting 9-14-04 move a person in and out of on an as needed basis. The annual salary for a new telecommunicator is $24,184. The replacement of a patrolman's position that was created with the retirement of Denny Brown. One observable fact is that as the workload, and therefore the street level increases over a period of time, as occurs when the shifts are operating at minimum staffing, the amount of time off also increases. Also K-9 Roko's work is down. One reason is that his handler is often one of the three minimum shift officers. The starting salary for a patrolman is $32,278. Don said he talked with Julie Smick the Budget Administrator today and she informed him the anticipated revenues are above our expectations for this time of year. This ends the report of Police Chief Donald Edwards. Fire Chief John Stanko added, the dispatch area is a big area that we deal with. We have notice the impact on a fire call since short one dispatcher. This is the time you see mistakes being made, and they can't, as it is a critical time. Alderman Jim Hartford mentioned you're talking about replacing three employees? I don't see really a problem here, you're not replacing with new people, the number of employees you already had. If you were asking for additional people that would be a problem, but your not, your asking to replace what is already there. I see this as no problem and you should not have to come back to us. Right? Alderman Sarff said, I think everything comes here. Two of these jobs were reduced in May. The reason we did not have to lay off more, we had a police officer retiring and a dispatcher retiring, and we still had a deficient budget. I don't believe any hiring gets done without the council knowing about it. Mayor Bohler said, what we're forgetting here is in the past some things were done that shouldn't have been done. The department heads don't have to come to council, all council does is set amount of employees each department has and the department heads can fill in employees. If the council does not think they need that many employees then the ordinance should reflect that by changing the ordinance. Once the council sets the amount of employees, no matter what department its in, that department head does not have to come back to council to fill in the spot. Alderman Sarff said, we have had several budget sessions last winter and spring and the threats of mass lay offs as we did not have enough money hung over the city. The council wanted the department at full staff, but that was a wish by the Telecommunications Tax and hopefully the passage of a sales tax increase. The budget 7 Clerical Committee meeting 9-14-04 was passed as a deficient with two reductions in people. We still don't have the money coming in to replace those two and now we have hired 5 new people. Mayor Bohler answered, everybody's understanding was if the Telecommunication Tax passed and the sales tax passed we would bring everybody back to full staff. It's unfair to employees and department heads as they need the employees to do the job. The five employees were hired in departments where there is no financial problem. Alderman Sarff, none of that came to the Personnel committee. Mayor Bohler, oh yes, before these people were hired I called you on the phone and advised you we were bringing the two back to the street department and would be replacing them in the water department. Alderman Sarff, and then again on August 17 I brought it up, you assured me that before anybody was hired it would come back to committee. Mayor Bohler, no, when you talked to me on that day you asked me if anything was coming to committee. And what does the committee minutes state, they state that I said that the police department is going to be bringing three new employees to committee. Alderman Sarff, I specifically asked about Public Works, that would be coming back to committee. Mayor Bohler, I'd have to see that in the minutes. The mayor asked Alderman Fillingham if she had something to say? Alderman Fillingham said she had a lot she wanted to say, but was not going to. Alderman Molleck said, the chief is not blowing smoke, the telecommunicators dial not have to be certified 20 years ago, and you could use policemen. Now you can not. Alderman Sarff said he has a problem with that when we have a deficient budget and don't have the money yet. Julie Smick said the money from the Telecommunication Tax will probably be next month before we receive funds. The Police Chief came to her and discussed this with her. She did some research on what we have received so far in accounts. One thing that was not anticipated, we received $900,000 in sales tax. It is now about $98,000 more than what it was projected out to be, because we are getting about $8,300 than what we received last year. The Telecommunication Tax we were conservative of projecting receiving $170,000, and we don't have that amount yet. 8 Clerical Committee meeting 9-14-04 Alderman Sarff said he believes a simple courtesy to council if we have movement within the city, and the Personnel Committee should know when we have someone hired or leaves. Mayor Bohler said the chairman of Personnel committee was notified. I also went to Julie and talked with her before these employees were hired. Alderman Reed said he agreed with Alderman Sarff, the city council should be made aware as a courtesy, and I mean on the council floor to have it mentioned. Alderman Carl asked about the position of the Dare Officer. Don Edwards said the officer is dedicated to the school and handles accidents in parking lots, and wherever needed. He keeps a handle on the high school when kids go into the businesses. He also handles truancy. The biggest advantage is putting an officer in the school. Why the school funds this? It gives them peace of mind having an officer in the building. Don said he really looked at this in the past year, but he had to agree it is a very viable program for the city and the school district. Alderman Hartford said he felt it would be good to have all information come to council. Motion and second by Alderman Hartford/Sarff, to hire three new employees as outlined by Police Chief and sent to council for their consideration. Voice vote, motion carried unanimously. The Negotiations, Grievance & Personnel Committee adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Recording Secretary, Nancy Whites, City Clerk 9 10