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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-21-2025 Canton City Council Regular Meeting Minutes CANTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES TUESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. Historic Depot-Donald E. Edwards Way th 50 North 4 Avenue, Canton, Il 61520 A regular meeting of the Canton City Council was held on January 21, 2025 (6:30pm) at the th Historic Depot located at 50 North 4 Avenue Canton Illinois. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Kent McDowell, City Clerk Andi Smith-Walters, City Treasurer Crystal Wilkinson, Police Chief Mike Eveland, Fire Chief Scott Roos, Public Utilities Director Joe Carruthers. OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: City Attorney Chris Jump, City Engineer Keith Plavec, Comptroller Beka Shultz MEDIA IN ATTENDANCE: Fulton Democrat MEETING CALLED TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE OPENED THE MEETING INVOCATION – Mayor Kent McDowell ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderperson Gossett x Alderperson x Lingenfelter Alderperson Ketcham x Alderperson Hale x Alderperson Grimm x Alderperson Lovell x Alderperson Nelson x Alderperson x Chamberlin ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO THE AGENDA: PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: MAYORAL COMMUNICATIONS/REQUESTED ACTION: Mayor McDowell commended Joe Carruthers and the Public Works department for all the work they got done in 2024. Mayor also commended the fire and police department. There was an incident that had started in the county and turned into a semi-barricaded suspect that was on the run. The fire and police department worked very well together to resolve the incident. Public Works also helped to provide the barricades. CITY CLERK COMMUNICATIONS /REQUESTED ACTION: DEPARTMENT HEAD COMMUNICATIONS/REPORTS: City Treasurer Crystal Wilkinson presented a correction on the bill list. Julie Incorporated made a correction to their invoice and sent that into the city building to Nancy Mackey. The price had gone down from what was originally invoiced. The corrected decreased amount was $1,895.49. Fire Chief Scott Roos gave year end totals to the council. There was an 8% increase in calls. One of the key factors the guys have been working hard on are their training hours and by 2025 they had to meet a certain criteria to keep all licensing with the fire state marshal. Through 2024 the department completed 3,336 hours of training. The firefighters conduct smoke detector inspections, fire prevention talks with the schools, and maintain the fire station as well as their other regular duties. Public Utilities Manager Joe Carruthers presented his year end report for public works. It is a complete summary from each department head. Carruthers pointed out a few different things. One the first page and a half there is a list of things the departments have done including water main installations, solar units, and grant projects to name a few. Carruthers also explained the numbers totaled for the year for unaccounted water was 25%, which is high. If you go back to 2018-2019 when Carruthers first started the position, there was about 50% water unaccounted for. The goal for FY26 is to work on getting those numbers down. There are 42 Public Works staff people, not including part time workers, and Carruthers believes that is fully staffed and there are no current positions that need to be filled. There are about 1,730 properties yet to be identified in Canton determining whether they are lead or not. The department is currently in phase 2 with another 300-400 lead service lines being replaced which is being done through the EPA. The EPA considers those 1700 lines to be lead. There was a number provided in the report that reflected all of the receipts accumulated to give an idea what each department brings in. There was also a figure provided for the amount of water the city brings in from the collector well in Banner that comes to the Canton Water Treatment Plant. There were also 508 city garbage totes purchased in 2024. Lastly, Carruthers presented a report for the cemetery as well as Canton Lake and the campground. CONSENT AGENDA - APPROVAL OF THE COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES HELD JANUARY 7, 2025. BILL LIST Bill List to reflect amendment from City Treasurer Crystal Wilkinson previously talked about under department head communications. DISBURSEMENT REPORT TREASURER’S REPORT Alderman Justin Nelson pointed out that two of the funds seem to be off. The first one being the hotel motel tax and should be around $60,000. The second being the non-federal forfeiture which should be only about $62. Treasurer Wilkinson concurred and said she would get that fixed. At the end of November, TIF1 was at $895,434.48. Wilkinson stated that TIF2 and TIF3 were in good standing. There are some comparisons that need to be done with the BDDs but that could take some time. Alderman Ralph Grimm pointed out there is no inflow for the 204 fund. Wilkinson explained that it had not been posted yet, but that the city is getting anywhere around $88,000- $89,000 to over $100,000. Decembers report won’t reflect until around April, which is also when the city will get the money from the state. Wilkinson also pointed out that the water-sewer savings is doing really well. The general fund reserves are around $1,706,684.22. PUBLIC WORKS REPORT POLICE REPORT FIRE REPORT Motion and second were made by Alderpersons Hale/Gossett to approve the consent agenda. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderperson Gossett x Alderperson x Lingenfelter Alderperson Ketcham x Alderperson Hale x Alderperson Grimm x Alderperson Lovell x Alderperson Nelson x Alderperson x Chamberlin The motion carried. COMMITTEE REPORTS: PUBLIC SAFETY AND LEGAL ALDERPERSON JUSTIN NELSON, CHAIR REGULATORY AND POLICY ALDERPERSON ANGELA HALE, CHAIR APPROVAL OF A SPECIAL EVENT AND ROAD CLOSURE FOR THE RED DOG RUN FOR CF TO BE HELD ON MAY 3, 2025. All paperwork has been turned in as well as insurance. This is a repeat event. Motion and second were made by Alderpersons Hale/Ketcham for approval of a special event and road closure for the Red Dog Run for CF to be held on May 3, 2025. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderperson Gossett x Alderperson x Lingenfelter Alderperson Ketcham x Alderperson Hale x Alderperson Grimm x Alderperson Lovell x Alderperson Nelson x Alderperson x Chamberlin The motion carried. COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ALDERPERSON JOHN LOVELL, CHAIR Michelle Spiva from SRPED gave the council an update. Spiva did not receive any corrections regarding her five year plan, so she plans to move forward which will be updated each month and then she can update the council quarterly unless the council says otherwise. There were a few new economic development programs and software that the partnership has recently purchased. The first purchase was Placer AI, and it is location intelligence platform that provides real time data. It includes things such as foot traffic, consumer behavior, and market trends using cell phone data . With this program the partnership has already started helping local businesses. They can run reports for consumer demographics as well as where other customers shop at along with what social media sites they use. This program also has many other benefits that could be beneficial to the city. Another program that the partnership purchased was a customer relations management software program called Civic Serve. As of right now, it is a customer facing portal which means they have google imported all of the businesses in Fulton County and the partnership can communicate with the businesses through the portal. The businesses can go in and enter projects and then the partnership can update. ORDINANCE APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF A BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT NO. 1 REDEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN THE CITY OF CANTON, FULTON COUNTY, ILLINOIS AND THE JOSEPH COMPANIES, INC., AND BRAD M. JOSEPH (2073 N. MAIN ST. “STARBUCKS SITE”). There was another change made to the agreement that had been sent out. Attorney Jump was able to look over the agreement before the meeting started and was able to provide an updated agreement. Attorney Jump explained the change that was made had to do with the signing of the agreement. The agreement that was circulated over the weekend had language that stated it could not be signed unless council approved which is usually typical, however, they did not want to do that. The agreement also stated they could not sell any portion of the property without the cities permission. The condition that was put on the new agreement reflects that if they are going to sell any portion of the property the Joseph’s remain liable despite any sale of the property. They agreed and accepted this change. It is also believed that Starbucks will sign a 15 year lease. There are currently no concerns with this being a bad deal with the city. Motion and second were made by Alderpersons Lovell/Nelson for approval of an ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of a business development district NO. 1 redevelopment agreement by and between the City of Canton, Fulton County, Illinois and the Joseph Companies Inc., and Brad M. Joseph (2073 N. Main St. “Starbucks Site”). ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderperson Gossett x Alderperson x Lingenfelter Alderperson Ketcham x Alderperson Hale x Alderperson Grimm x Alderperson Lovell x Alderperson Nelson x Alderperson x Chamberlin Mayor McDowell x The motion carried. PUBLIC WORKS ALDERPERSON ANGIE LINGENFELTER, CHAIR FINANCE ALDERPERSON ANDRA CHAMBERLIN, CHAIR APPROVAL TO PURCHASE GARAGE DOOR FOR BAY 8 FROM TRI COUNTY DOCTOR, INC., IN THE AMOUNT OF $6,280.00 TO COME OUT OF THE CANNABIS FUND. Fire Chief Scott Roos explained they had an incident that involved squad 1 and the door itself. There is money set aside within the budget, however, this was an unexpected expense, so they decided to utilize the cannabis fund. Motion and second were made by Alderpersons Chamberlin/Grimm for approval to purchase garage door for bay 8 from Tri County Doctor, Inc., in the amount of $6,280.00. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderperson Gossett x Alderperson x Lingenfelter Alderperson Ketcham x Alderperson Hale x Alderperson Grimm x Alderperson Lovell x Alderperson Nelson x Alderperson x Chamberlin The motion carried. IT AND CYBERSECURITY ALDERPERSON GREG GOSSETT, CHAIR LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT ALDERPERSON RALPH GRIMM, CHAIR RESOLUTION APPOINTING THE CITY CLERK AS THE AUTHORIZED IMRF AGENT. Essentially, this is bringing the reporting to IMRF back to the City Clerk’s office since the City Clerk does most of the HR handling. Motion and second were made by Alderpersons Grimm/Nelson for approval of a resolution appointing the City Clerk as the authorized IMRF agent. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderperson Gossett x Alderperson x Lingenfelter Alderperson Ketcham x Alderperson Hale x Alderperson Grimm x Alderperson Lovell x Alderperson Nelson x Alderperson x Chamberlin The motion carried. DISCUSS POTENTIAL ADDITION OF A CITY ADMINISTRATOR POSITION BEGINNING IN FY26. Alderman Grimm explained what they are looking for tonight is a response from council and then permission from the Mayor for Alderman Grimm and Alderman Lovell to do research on a city administrator that is more specific to what they are wanting. Alderman Grimm believes the justification for the position has already been mentioned as there are a lot of things going on. Grimm is hopeful to take action on this within the next 4-6 weeks. Alderman Nelson stated that if they went through with this, they need to assign specific roles to the administrator as that is where they have gone wrong in the past. They are looking for someone who can provide significant oversight into the budget as well as the BDD and help to take on some of the responsibilities that Alderman Lovell has. Grimm also believes there should be a specific significant piece to this that focuses on the economic development of Canton only. Attorney Jump advised staying away from the title “city manager” as that has a very specific meaning, but that the council can call this position whatever they see is fit. Jump encourages taking a look at the report and seeing if those responsibilities are still appropriate. The current responsibilities were updated by ordinance around 2013. PROPERTY ALDERPERSON PATRICK KETCHAM, CHAIR OPERA HOUSE PROJECT UPDATE Alderman Ketcham stated there were going to be some final decisions made soon regarding colors of the building and the shelter. The city input is welcome as well. The big thing that is currently going on is the potential demolition starting on the property site in mid-February. Ketcham believes to start seeing some things happening unless the weather dictates otherwise. EXECUTIVE SESSION/CLOSED MEETING ADJOURNMENT Motion and second were made by Alderpersons Nelson/Lovell to adjourn without the need for executive session. ROLL CALL Yes No Absent Alderperson Gossett x Alderperson x Lingenfelter Alderperson Ketcham x Alderperson Hale x Alderperson Grimm x Alderperson Lovell x Alderperson Nelson x Alderperson x Chamberlin The motion carried. _________________________________________________________________ Andi Walters, City Clerk _________________________________________________________________ Kent McDowell, Mayor