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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-10-2011 Mechanical Committee Minutes CLERICAL COMMITTEE Tuesday, May 10, 2011- 6:30 p.m. Donald E. Edwards Way Historic Depot, 50 North 4th Avenue Canton IL Aldermen in attendance: Eric Schenck, Jeff Fritz, Craig West, Justin Nelson, Jerry Ellis, Jim Hartford, Dave Pickel Aldermen absent: None Staff in attendance: Mayor Kevin Meade, City Administrator Jim Snider, City Attorney Chrissie Peterson, City Clerk Diana Tucker, City Treasurer Aaron Anderson, Interim Fire Chief Ernie Russell, Police Chief Dan Taylor, Public Works Director Clif O'Brien, SRPED Mark Rothert, ESDA Director Phil Fleming Others in the audience: Jay Smith, Dan Oaks, Royle White Media: John Froehling from the Canton Daily Ledger Video Services: Joe Ginger Finance Committee Alderman Craig West, Chairman Bills City Administrator Jim Snider explained the annual payment to MICA in the amount of $452,022.00 is on the bill list for payment. Mica is the company the city uses for worker's compensation and liability insurance. This amount reflects a 5.0% discount to pay the entire amount annually. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/Pickel to send the bills to council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote, and was unanimous. 1 Treasurer's Report City Treasurer Aaron Anderson reported the April report reflects total available cash in the amount of $2,154,939.91. Several changes were made in the investment schedule during the month. Some accounts were closed during the month and consolidated into new accounts. A CD previously held at Ipava State bank was closed and the funds were moved into a NOW accounts. The budget comparison report reflects a loss in the general fund in the amount of $228,078.00. This loss was due to some large expenditure during the month. The MICA premium was one of the large expenditures along with additional payroll for fiscal year personal and comp time payouts. The general fund carried a balance of $315,592.00 at the end of the year which is a 10% increase from last year. A few of the main reasons for the increase is an increase in sales tax and an increase in income tax. The water and sewer fund had a net gain in the amount of $133,806.00. The year-end total was 1.3 million. The water and sewer revenue was down 5.0% Compared to 2010. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to send the Treasurer's report to Council for consideration. Surplus Funds for Street Repairs City Administrator Jim Snider discussed having surplus funds put into a general fund for street repairs. Alderman Schenck originally presented the idea of creating a fund to supplement the MFT fund for this year's surplus. Alderman Schenck discussed the importance of having the street committee discuss plans for street improvements with the new public works director. City Administrator Jim Snider explained that if the funds were put into a fund the City could decide to change their mind about the use of the funds. The funds would not be restricted for specific use. This would essentially be a self imposed savings account. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to direct the treasurer to establish a capital fund with the proceeds from the previous year. The finance committee adjourned at 6:40 PM 2 Legal & Ordinance Alderman Jeff Fritz, Chairman Annual Identitv Theft Prevention Report Attorney Peterson explained that in 2009 the Council adopted an identity theft prevention program. This program applies mainly to the water and sewer accounts under the fair and accurate credit transactions account. The program was reviewed last month with the staff in the water department for an annual review. This has been a very effective program with no additional costs. The system was modified so most everything can be done electronically. Anyone requesting service must now provide a photo ID. The photo ID's are scanned and linked directly to the accounts. The program has been successful with identifying some problems and the police department was involved in an arrest. Electronic signatures will be reviewed in the future for additional enhancements to the program. Revisions/Additions to Liauor Control Ordinance Attorney Peterson explained a draft ordinance was previously prepared for establishing a hotel license. The Harvester Inn is not interested in pursuing the license at this time, but the council needs to decide if they want to continue with the hotel ordinance or wait until this comes up again. Alderman Fritz suggested bringing this back to Council since the draft ordinance was already created and it would not cause any problems to have this class of license available for someone who might be interested in the future. Alderman Schenck expressed a concern about having the ordinance very clear in language to prevent future confusion. Further discussion took place about not creating this type of license until future requests are made. Conflict of Interest Waiver- Housin~ Rehabilitation Grant Representative from WIRC Royal White discussed the Illinois Housing grant. The grant is for 12 homes approximately $480,000.00 that would rehab the homes for low/moderate income households. The primary purpose is to bring the homes up to code. 3 Kevin Reed, a homeowner applied for a grant. Kevin has a relative who was an alderman for the City of Canton. According to the HUD rules this creates a conflict of interest. Rick Reed was an elected official within the last year and this would cause a conflict of interest. Provisions within the HUD rules provide a waiver to allow Kevin Reed to be eligible for the program. This conflict of interest has to be acknowledged in open session, and the council would need to approve a waiver. An opinion from the city attorney must be issued to allow the waiver. A letter would be sent to the Illinois housing committee, along with the letter from the attorney to allow Kevin Reed to be eligible for the grant . The city council has not seen the application that was submitted to WIRC. WIRC completely handles the approval of the applicants set forth in the requirements. To his knowledge no elected official has contacted him regarding any of the applications including Kevin Reed's application. Attorney Peterson does not have a problem with council waiving for conflict of interest. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Pickel/West to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried. A-Z Risk Mana~ement Update Attorney Peterson explained that previously A-Z was severely delinquent in their revolving loan payment. This was brought to Council and Attorney Peterson was directed to move forward with legal action. After conversation they would like to have the monthly payment begin in June and not have legal action begin now. Attorney Peterson suggested making up the back payment. Attorney Peterson explained that a signature alone probably woutd not be enough to stop the legal action. Attorney Peterson asked if council would like to allow A-Z to have payments begin in June and hold off on a law suit. If a payment were made that would bring A-Z up to date the council would be more willing to make the payment arrangements requested. The total amount of $309.96/month. The $309.96 per month for October 2010-May 2011 would need to be paid before next week. Attorney Peterson will report back next week. The legal and ordinance committee adjourned at 6:59PM 4 Community & Industrial Development Alderman , Chairman Dave Pickel (acting chair) Update from Mark Rothert SRPED Executive Director Mark Rothert provided the following update: Downtown/Former IH Site: • Fa~ade projects are complete. • Canton Main Street is in process of painting the Gazebo, we will list times on our Canton, Illinois Community Face Book page of the next scheduled day to paint. • Illinois Main Street Day at the Capitol was 5/10. To support legislation to make the Main Street program a permanent program of DCEO. Tourism Development • Please see attached report from Dana Smith. • Article in InterBusiness Issues about Canton: Canton Reinventin~ Itself as a Tourism Destination Business Development, Attraction and Support: The SRPED is working with the following business development opportunities. Please call me if you would like to talk privately about any of these: • Helped plan and implement Cook's Celebration of Life event • Cook Polymer Technology-Canton announcement a success • Following up on Industrial Park expansion lead • Commercial/retail expansion meeting on Thursday • Processing small business loan application for local retailer looking to open up on E. Elm. • Researching the need and capacity for a commercial business incubator in the community. • Made contact with Steak 'n Shake about expansion to Canton. The company's reply was: "In evaluating the demographics [of Canton], it does not have sufficient population within a 1, 5 and 10 mile radius to meet our criteria." • Working with several local people looking to start their own small businesses • Coordinating with Brinshore Development and their affordable housing project. • Continue to track down various leads for commercial, retail and restaurant development Grant Work: 5 • Performed grant administration and reporting for DCEO, USDA, and Hotel/Motel tax grants. Other: • The SRPED annual luncheon was on May 5tn • Met with IDOT's District Director, Joe Crowe, about the status of IL Route 336 • Processed application for sales tax exemption for Ameren in the Enterprise Zone. • I will work on an orientation packet for new and existing council members that contain pertinent information and maps as it relates to existing TIF districts, enterprise zone boundaries, local economic development incentives and other community and economic development information. General Marketing & Tourism • Completed and submitted article for InterBusiness Magazine, with accompanying photos, for publication in their May 2011 issue. (See Attached) ~ Completed Hotel/Motel Tax year-end financial update. • Continued communication with Greg Knot of Bradley University regarding Capstone projects for Bradley seniors that might apply to marketing and/or tourism. Marketing & Tourism Committee • Arranged and attended meetings for each of the three subcommittees for Tourism: Website, Collateral Materials, and Tour Packages. • Met individually with Muriel Freeman of MidAmerica National Bank to discuss development of bus tour packages. • Met with Sherri Rader of MidAmerica National Bank, and Emily Schoenfelder, Peace Corps Fellow for SRPED, to begin development of Canton brochures, and to determine other pieces that might be downloadable files from the tourism website. • After approval by the Canton City Council, contracted with GovOffice.com to develop a separate website devoted to Canton tourism. The test website has been established, and design work will begin in mid-May. Canton Main Street • Attended Canton Main Street Coffee at Crawford's on April 12. • Attended the Main Street Board meeting on Monday, April 25 at Palm Cafe. 6 ~ Created "reminder" postcard for Open Air Market vendors and mailed to 108 pieces. ~ Processed registrations for the Open Air Markets, with approximately 23 setting up for the first event June 11. • Helped paint the gazebo in Jones Park on April 26-27. Will help complete the interior as weather permits. • Attended a public forum presented by Teska & Associates on new streetscape design at the Historic Depot on March 28. Scenic Drive • Obtained 2011 registration forms and advertising contracts. • Have begun contacting local businesses about advertising in the 2011 Spoon River Scenic Drive Guidebook. • Have secured Wildlife Prairie Park to bring their raptor birds and other animals on both Sundays of the drive, which should be a strong draw. Alderman Schenck stated that it is very important for people to think about ways to create something that will attract visitors to Canton for their leisure time. Utilizing the hotel/motel funds and the TIF dollars are important tools during this tourism effort. Alderman Schenck suggested having an outside firm work with the partnership and the City to identify the types of businesses that Canton could actively pursue for our community. Mark Rothert explained that additional costs would be needed to bring in an outside firm that could provide the tourism data that is being requested. Mark Rothert will bring back some ideas and cost that other communities have used. Alderman Schenck further expressed the importance of making decisions now. These decisions made now can positively impact the future of Canton. Alderman Pickel agrees. NEGOTIATIONS, GRIEVANCE & PERSONNEL Alderman Dave Pickel, Chairman Nothing for open session Adjournment Motion and second were made by Aldermen Pickel/West to adjourn for executive session to disc~fire union negotiations and personnel. a Tucker City Clerk 7