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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-10-2012 Clerical Committee Meeting CLERICAL COMMITTEE Tuesday April 10, 2012 6:30 p.m. Donald E. Edwards Way 50 North 4th Avenue Canton IL 61520 Aldermen in attendance: Eric Schenck, Dave Pickel, Justin Nelson, Jim Hartford, Jeff Fritz, Gerald Ellis, Craig West, Jeremy Pasley, Aldermen absent: Staff in attendance: Mayor Kevin Meade, City Clerk Diana Pavley, City Attorney Chrissie Peterson, City Administrator 1im Snider, Comptroller Caty Campbell, Treasurer Nicole Marter, Police Chief Dan Taylor, Fire Chief Keith Frank, Interim Public Works Director Bill Terry, Joe Ginger Video Services. In the audience: Ken Barker and Trenton Mahr from Canton Crop Services, Jamie Whitmer with Mighty Pits Rescue News Media- John Froehling from Daily Ledger. Finance Alderman Craig West, Chairman CHECK REGISTER Chief Frank explained that the tower has an issue with the suspension and the city mechanic does not have a lift that will allow him to work on it. The tower will be taken to Washington to be worked on. An estimate of no more than $2,000.00 to repair the tower should be incurred. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Fritz to send to council for consideration. The motion carried. TREASURER'S REPORT Treasurer Nicole Marter reported the available cash at the end of March was 2.9 million. The schedule of investments at the end of March was 5.5 million. The budget comparison report in the general fund had $9595.00 gain with a YTD loss of $122,271.00. The water/sewer fund had $155,701.00 gain at the end of March with a YTD gain of 1.3 million. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. FUND BALANCE POLICY/BUDGET AMENDMENT ORDINANCE Comptroller Caty Campbell explained that attached is a draft policy regarding changes in governmental fund balance presentation required by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board, also known as GASB. These changes were issued in GASB Statement Number 54, which was released in February 2009. The Statement requires implementation for fiscal years beginning after June 15, 2010. Therefore, the City of Canton is required to implement these changes in the April 30, 2012 audited financial statements. However, this also means most local governments also must implement this statement for the same fiscal year. Because most governmental units of similar size and accounting structure have the same fiscal year, there are not many available examples of the required revisions to the financial statements. Therefore, it will be a point of focus for this year's audit as the auditors and I will be working through how to properly present the City's fund balance. The purpose of this document is to provide a policy and procedure regarding the classification of the City's fund balance. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued Statement No. 54 Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions in an effort to "enhance the usefulness of fund balance information by providing clearer fund balance classifications that can be more consistently applied and by clarifying the existing governmental fund type definitions." It also classifies fund balance based on the amount of constraints placed on the resources reported in the governmental funds by other governing bodies or the governing body itself. Background: Fund balance is the difference between assets and liabilities in a Governmental Fund. Currently, the fund balance is classified between reserved and unreserved in the financial statements. The reserved portion is defined as unavailable for use within the next budget period. Reserved fund balance is legally separated for a specific future use. The unreserved portion can be classified as either designated or undesignated. Designated fund balance has a tentative plan for the monies in a future period. However, it is not legally binding and may change as needs change. The undesignated portion of the fund balance may be used for any purpose. Due to a lack of consistency between among government entities and easily misinterpreted financial documents, the GASB felt the need to further segregate the fund balance classifications and revise the terminology. They then issued Statement No 54 to provide for a better understanding of the financial statements. New Fund Balance Classifications: 1. Non-spendable fund balance Amounts are not in a spendable form (i.e. inventory, prepaid assets, long-term loan and notes receivable) or are legally and/or contractually required to remain intact (i.e. the principal of an endowment fund). 2. Restricted fund balance Amounts are subject to constraints imposed by external parties, constitutional provision or enabling legislation. 3. Committed fund balance Amounts have constraints imposed by formal action of the government's highest level of decision-making authority, the City Council. These constraints can only be changed or removed by the same formal action. Action to place constraints on funds must take place before year-end. However, the amount to be constrained may be determined after year-end. 4. Assi~ned fund balance Amounts are intended to be used for a specific purpose. These intentions are set by the governmental entity itself or a body or individual within the entity that has been delegated the authority to assign amounts by the governing body itself (i.e. the City Administrator or the City Treasurer/City Comptroller). Assignments are not required to be made by the highest level of authority, nor are they as difficult to modify as needs change. For the general fund, the amount assigned should not result in a negative unassigned fund balance. For all other governmental funds, any remaining positive amounts not classified as non- spendable, restricted or committed may be assigned. 5. Unassi~ned fund balance Amounts are available to be spent for any purpose. They are essentially the same as the pre- GASB 54 unrestricted, undesignated funds. This is the only classification that may have a negative fund balance, if necessary. For the general fund, amounts not classified as non-spendable, restricted, committed or assigned may be classified as unassigned. The general fund is the only fund that would have positive unassigned fund balance. For all other governmental funds, amount expended in excess of amounts that are non- spendable, restricted, committed or assigned would be residual deficit. If a deficit occurs, not amount should be reported as assigned. Note Disclosures: Disclosures regarding the initiation of specific fund balances, the order of spending, and financial statement presentation will be made within the City's annual audited financial statements. • The City of Canton deems the following to be the authority and/or action to initiate the reporting of certain fund balances: o Committed fund balance will be determined by the Council with the approval of a City Ordinance or Resolution. o Assigned fund balance will be determined by the City Administrator with the assistance of the City Treasurer/City Comptroller. These funds will be noted as assigned within the accounting system and tracked internally. • The City will spend the most restricted dollars before the less restricted dollars, in the following order, in order to ensure use of all restricted dollars: o Restricted o Committed o Assigned o assigned • If there are a large number of balances within each classification, the fund balances will be displayed in aggregate in the financial statements with the detail of each classification disclosed in the notes to the basic financial statements. ~ Governments must also disclose the purpose for each major special revenue fund and the source of revenue for the fund. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to adopt the policy and send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. FIRE DEPT TRAINING FACILITY BIDS Chief Frank explained that for FY 11-12 Interim Fire Chief Ernie Russell asked for the council to budget $24,800.00 for a training facility for the Canton Fire Department. The facility is in the CFD budget for this year and he would like to proceed forward with it. Chief Frank explained that he searched for alternate funding sources and asked his network of Chiefs for ideas, but nothing is currently available. Bids were received from SRV Builders, Jon Newburn Construction, Laverdiere Construction and Greg Foose Construction for three separate bids. The first bid would be for a 4 inch slab, the second would be for a 6 inch slab and the final bid was for a 8 inch slab. The low bidder was SRV Builders LLC. The low bid from SRV Builders for the 4 inch slab was $9,731.00. The bid from SRB Builders for the 6 inch slab was $11,855.00 and the 8 inch slab low bid was from Jon Newburn Construction in the amount of $13,400.00. Mayor Meade explained that a meeting will be held Friday to discuss some additional funding options. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel accept the bid of $24,800.00 along with the bid for the concrete from SRV Builders and send to council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. SQUAD ROOM WORKSTATIONS Chief Taylor explained that your police officer's squad room is where the officers do their paperwork, hold roll call training, and complete all of their police reports. They currently operate in this room with three very old and large desks that were obtained for free from State Farm Insurance approximately twelve years ago. They are extremely outdated and do not look very professional. With the installation of the new carpet now would be a good time to also update the furniture for this room. The quote from Mills Construction is in the amount of $4320.00 and the quote from Lincoln Office is $6320.43. Chief Taylor is requesting authorization to update your officer's squad room with the quote from Mills Construction in the amount of $4320.00 not only because it is the lowest quote but also because it is custom designed for the room. Chief Taylor is requesting to use non-taxpayer money from the Canton Police Department's DUI Fund 15-00-468. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to send to council for consideration for Mills Construction for $4320.00. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. CELL PHONE PLANS Treasurer Nicole Marter explained that she received prices from US Cellular, Verizon and Sprint. US Cellular does not offer the push to talk option that is utilized by the police department. This option is only offered by Verizon and Sprint. Nicole stated that it is best to stay with US Cellular and not incorporate all phones together. It is recommended to leave the phone plans as is. The finance committee adjourned at 7:26 pm Legal & Ordinance Alderman Jeff Fritz, Chairman RESOLUTION BETWEEN THE CITY OF CANTON AND MAURER AND STUTZ Keith Plavec explained that the first page of the agreement outlines the standard agreement. The document lists various projects that the firm works on. The GIS database is a talk that the firm has been working on. The goal is to take a small area and outline parcel by parcel how the GIS could be utilized. The City receives a 15% discount by utilizing Maurer and Stutz. A certificate of insurance is on file for another year. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/Pasley to send to council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. PARKING AT INDUSTRIAL PARK Attorney Peterson explained that recently, there has been some discussion regarding the parking regulations applicable at the Industrial Park and for commercial vehicles, in general. Section 9-5-16 of the City's municipal code generally prohibits parking trailers, motor homes and no motorized vehicles on the street. The ordinance was originally adopted in 1986. Section 9-5-17 generally prohibits larger trucks (D license or larger), truck tractors, buses or refrigerated trucks from being parked on the street except when making a delivery or it is mechanically disabled. This ordinance was adopted in 1995. The state statute (625 ILCS 5/11-208) allows local authorities to exercise reasonable police power on streets and highways. In order for a local ordinance to be effective, however, the municipality must post signs informing the public of such regulations. The statute requires a municipality to post signs when regulating any of the following: 1. Standing or parking of vehicle 2. Designating streets as one-way 3. Regulating speed of vehicles in public parks 4. Designating a highway as a through highway; requirements that vehicles stop or yield before entering an intersection 5. Restricting the use of highways 6. Regulating or prohibiting the turning of vehicles 7. Altering the speed limits 8. Prohibiting U-turns 9. Prohibiting parking during snow removal operation. The state statute does not require a municipality post signs when regulating any of the following: 1. Regulating traffic with a police officer or traffic control signals. 2. Regulating or prohibiting processions or assemblages on the highway. 3. Regulating the operation of bicycles. The City posts signs each time it passes a new ordinance regarding "no parking" areas, one-way streets, stop signs, yield signs, etc. Unfortunately, we have determined that when the parking regulations listed above that were passed in 1986 and 1995, respectively, the City did not have the appropriate signs posted. In order to enforce the regulations in sections 9-5-16 and 9-5-17, the City will be required to post signs as to the ordinance. In discussion the matter with the police department, it appears that these two code sections present a problem at the Industrial Park more often than anywhere else in town. In order to consistently deal with parking issues at the Industrial Park, I suggest adopting a"no parking" regulation for all of Enterprise Drive. This will eliminate any arguments about enforcement against particular types of vehicles or in particular sections of that roadway. As to the rest of the City, signs should be posted in order for the Police Department to have the authority to issue citations under the particular code sections referenced above. Signs also need to be posted in regards to snow removal, as we prohibit parking on any public street for 12 hours after 3" or more of snow has fallen. I have discussed with this Bill Terry and he is going to order signs and post at the entrances to Canton and then throughout the main roadways in town. These may be seasonally taken down. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/Pickel to direct the city attorney to prepare an ordinance for parking at the Industrial park CANTON LAKE ORDINANCE CHANGES Attorney Peterson explained that about 1 year ago the city revised some of the regulations in regards to Canton Lake. One of the regulations had to do with allowing boating between sunset and sunrise. The campground rules on boating would be consistent with the ordinance prepared with the new revision. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/Pasley to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. RIGHT OF WAY CLOSURE REQUEST- MIGHT PITS RESCUE WALK The event for the mighty pits rescue walk will be held on June 2, 2012. Attorney Peterson explained that the auction will be held at South Park, but the route for the walk will be using 2"d Avenue and going down to the park. The certificate of insurance will be submitted. Mayor Meade suggested using 2"d avenue and going down to the park Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pasley to send to Council for consideration upon receipt of the certificate of insurance. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. A RESOLUTION APPROVING OFFICIAL ZONING MAP Attorney Peterson explained that the 2012 zoning map reflects changes that were annexed into the city. Anything changing the zoning in the city or annexing is reflected in the changes of the map. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/West to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. A RESOLUTION APPROVING A PURCHASING POLICY FOR THE CITY OF CANTON City Treasurer Nicole Marter explained that back in February the new purchasing policy was approved however a resolution was not done at that time. Some language changes to the credit card purchasing policy needs to take place. A refusal to sign the agreement by an employee was addressed in the revised policy. If an employee refuses to sign the agreement employees can use their own personal credit card and submit an itemized statement for reimbursement. Employees not under a union contract could use a per diem. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/Nelson to send to Council without recommendation. Alderman Nelson expressed concerns about the spending limits outlined in the policy. The language in the policy defines "emergency situations.' as the increased amount outlined in the policy. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE SPENDING AUTHORITY OF SECTIONS 1-5-19 AND 1-8-6 Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/Nelson to send to Council without recommendation. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. The legal and ordinance committee adjourned at 7:45pm Community & Industrial Development Alderman Jeremy Pasley, Chairman UPDATE FROM MARK ROTHERT SRPED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CANTON CROP SERVICE REQUEST TO PURCHASE LOTS 18 & 19 CANTON INDUSTRIAL PARK City Administrator Jim Snider explained that Keith Plavec met with Ken Barker to discuss the possibility of Canton Crop Service purchasing lots 18 & 19 at the Canton Industrial Park. The cost would be $5,000.00 per acre. A variance is being requested on the parking lot, which would need to be going before the zoning board of appeals. Ken Barker made a presentation on the business plans and asked questions on the lots and the TIF incentives and what sales tax is exempt in addition to building materials. City Administrator Jim Snider explained that the TIF incentives supersedes the Enterprise Zone so there wouldn't be any exemptions on sales tax. Assistance could be provided through the TIF statutes. Attorney Peterson explained that if in a TIF you can use the sales tax exemption on building material for anything that will be permanently incorporated into the structure. Moveable office equipment would not count, but actual building material would count. The city would prepare the exemption certificates for the contractor. This exemption would be for the state sales tax. Ken Barker asked what assistance there would be for the infrastructure and site preparation costs. Ken Barker explained that the location would serve their purpose very well. Most of the truck traffic with his business would come in from Route 9. Questions with parking would need to be determined. City Administrator Jim Snider explained that he would be eligible for reimbursement, but the amount of reimbursement would need to be defined and submitted to the TIF consultant for review and then be able to explain the amount of the reimbursement. Further discussion took place regarding extending the existing roadway. A new building would be constructed with 4-6 full time employees with additional seasonal help. A drawing was submitted and is on file in the clerk's office for review. Ken explained that he would like to have the areas that would need to be paved compared with using gravel would need to be determined. Keith Plavec explained that lots 6 and 7 required paving. 5-6 years ago the city ordinance states that any commercial property needs to be paved. A lot of properties does not comply. Variances are being requested and the ZBA has not granted any of the requested variances. Keith suggested at a minimum he would like to see the parking and the scale area along with the sidewalk area being paved. An apron would be put along the sides of the building. If customers are using the area the ADA requirements must be met. Another option with a path coming into the area would be paved. A compromise could take place since other businesses exist without the paving requirements set forth. Ken Barker explained that if a compromise would be allowed he would be willing to work with the City. The length of the driveway would be based upon what would be the most efficient. The staff will bring back an agreement for further review. A TIF application will be submitted to Ken Barker. Ultimately the ZBA will need to issue the variance. Ken Barker explained that extending the road would be a source of negotiation in the purchase price of the lots. Additional information will be brought back to council for further discussion. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR POSITION Mayor Meade explained that with the recent letter of resignation from Mark Rothert a search for a new economic development director will take place. Missy Towery will be serving as acting director of economic development. The Community & Industrial Development Committee adjourned at 7:04 p.m. Negotiations, Grievance & Personnel Alderman Dave Pickel, Chairman VIDEO TAPE QUOTE Mayor Meade explained that a quote from Mark Bixlor will be brought forward for more information about the conversion of the meeting tapes from DVD to CD. GABBY DAYS Gabby days is recommended to be held lune 2 and 3, 2012. More information will be brought back to council for consideration. ADJOURNMENT Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pasley to adjourn into executive session for the purpose of p rsonnel and pending litigation. Dian av Ci CI rk