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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-08-2013 Clerical Committee Minutes CITY OF CANTON CLERICAL COMMITTEE Tuesday January 8, 2013 6:30 p.m. Donald E. Edwards Way 50 North 4th Avenue Canton IL 61520 Aldermen in attendance: Dave Pickel, Justin Nelson, Jeff Fritz, Gerald Ellis, Craig West, Jeremy Pasley, Eric Schenck Aldermen absent: Staff in attendance: City Attorney Chrissie Peterson, City Administrator Jim Snider, City Treasurer Nicole Marter, Comptroller Caty Campbell, Fire Chief Keith Frank, Police Chief Dan Taylor, Public Works Director Bill Terry, City Engineer Keith Plavec, Executive Director Spoon River Partnership Missy Towery Joe Ginger Video Services. In the audience: News Media- John Froehling from Daily Ledger. Finance Alderman Craig West, Chairman BILLS Pa~e 12 reflects the annual payment for the 2005 alternate revenue bonds for the principal only payment in the amount of $1,310,000.00. Pa~e 5 reflects a payment for Reed's Auto Body resulting from two separate accidents. One of the police cars was damaged during a pursuit and the police car was hit. Reimbursement was received from the other driver's insurance company. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. TREASURER'S REPORT The total cash at the end of December was 2.4 million dollars. The total investments were 4.3 million dollars. The general fund was at a$48,463.00 MTD loss with a$97,978.00 YTD loss. The water sewer had a$185,372.00 MTD loss and a$939,085.00 YTD loss. The bond payment and TIF interest payment is reflected in the figures. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. PURCHASE OF BASSISTIC VESTS Chief Taylor distributed the following information: According to the National Institute for Justice, ballistic vests should be replaced every five (5) years. This year there are four (6) officers due for vest replacement. These vests are a budgeted item that will be covered partly under our bullet proof vest grant which is a reimbursement grant. (50% through the Department of Justice and 50% through Police Department line item 470). The request is to purchase six (6) Paca Blue Steel Level IIA vests from the Ray O'Herron Company. The Ray O'Herron Company has quoted a price of $725.00 per vest. The cost breakdown for the Paca Blue Steel Level IIA vests is as follows: Paca Blue Steel Level IIA vest - 6@$725.00 each $4350.00 Less Grant Funding ($2175.00) Total Cost to Department $2175.00 Chief Taylor respectfully requests authorization to purchase six (6) Paca Blue Steel Level IIA vests from the Ray 0'Herron Company 3549 N. Vermilion Danville, Illinois. The total cost to the Department is $2175.00. However, we need to pay the full amount ($4350.00) up front and then submit for reimbursement from the Department of Justice. FIRE CHIEF'S VEHICLES The current Fire Chief's vehicle has 117,000 miles along with body issues. A trade in value was received in the amount of $800.00. The week after the trade in value was received the City had to pay $851.00 on a repair. The local dealers were unable to produce a bid due to the low prices of the state bid. Chief Frank explained there is usually a three month lag from the time a new vehicle is ordered. The current Chief's vehicle would go to the waste water treatment plant to replace a 1999 Ford with 188,000 miles. Chief Frank would allow the waste water treatment plant to remove $15,000.00 from the capital budget to replace the old car. The total price of the car comes out to $28,997.88 including emergency lighting and signage. $20,000.00 of this amount comes from the sale of the fire engine. The comptroller helped identify the $8,997.88 to come up with a total purchase price of $28,997.88. Chief Frank is requesting approval for the purchase. Chief Frank explained that the old engine two was removed from the department on Saturday. The new engine two has been placed in service but is waiting for parts that were ordered in October. The doors were removed and taken to the body shop. The doors were left at the body shop for six weeks. The body shop informed the Chief that they could not get to the work on the doors. Engine two is in service and is functional as a pumper. The funding is in place for engine two. The trailer towing capacity on the expedition is around 9,000 Ibs which is more than the Chevrolet version. The vehicle must be able to go to emergency calls, towing trailers, transporting multiple employees to classes for training. Chief Frank said the current Chief's vehicle has worked out well, but it's time to be replaced. The local dealers could not compete with the state bids. The state bid is a good price for this type of vehicle. Some funding in the capital budget is available to go along with proceeds from the sale of a previous vehicle. This was not a budgeted item. Alderman Fritz suggested waiting until the City reviews the budgets. Chief Frank said the funds from the current capital budget along with the sale of the other vehicle would make this a better time to purchase the vehicle now instead of waiting for the budget next year. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. SPRINGBROOK SOFTWARE Jim Snider explained that the representative from Springbrook is at the meeting. The software company is currently at the City for the kickoff of the conversation of the software program. Legal & Ordinance Alderman Jeff Fritz, Chairman CITY ORDINANCE VIOLATIONS/VEHICLE IMPOUNDS At the December 11th City Council meeting there was discussion on how we handle city ordinance violations and the possibility of starting a vehicle impound program. City Attorney Peterson and I have been researching both of these issues for some time. It is the recommendation of City Attorney Peterson and I that it would be financially beneficial to the city to adopt some offenses from the criminal code into our city ordinances and to work towards handling all of our city ordinances in house. We both agree that this may best be accomplished once we get the new Springbrook software and can better track fine monies coming in. I did some research and following are the number of arrests we have made for the following offenses from December 2011 through December 2012: DUI = 46 Cannabis Under 2.5 grams = 48 Drug Paraphernalia = 98 Disorderly Conduct = 67 Trespass = 23 If you were to fine $2000 for DUI, $750 for Drug Paraphernalia, $500 for Cannabis Under 2.5 grams, and $100 for Disorderly Conduct and Trespass, monies generated would be $198,500 assuming everyone was found guilty and paid their fines. Also keep in mind that some communities do not process DUI's due to reporting issues to the state. If we were to eliminate the DUI's you could take away $92,000 which would still leave you $106,500. I should point out that adopting some of the criminal code into our ordinances and handling fines in house will create more work from city staff. Many cities hire outside legal help to handle their city ordinance violations. As you may recall, vehicle impoundment for non-home rule communities was signed into legislation January 1, 2012. There are several offenses that can be used for vehicle impoundment. The main offenses would be DUI, Suspended/Revoked Drivers, and No Valid Driver's License. Most cities in our area charge a$500 impound fee and if we were to do that the monies generated (Based on the previous year's arrest figures) would be $86,500. Again, this is assuming everyone got their vehicle out of impound as there will be a few that don't, there will also be a few where deals are worked out with people such as waiving their impound fee in lieu of doing something for the department such as giving information on crimes, buy drugs for us, etc.. It is very important to note that impounding vehicles should not be looked at as simply a way to generate revenue but rather as a deterrent to the bad guys and people who allow the use of their vehicles in the commission of the aforementioned crimes. As an example, the Galesburg Police Department has seen a drop in vehicle impoundments from 474 in 2007 to around 300 in 2011. This shows that the number of violators is decreasing in their city. I have sat down with the officer in charge of the Galesburg Police Department's vehicle impound program and would like to model what they are doing here in Canton. To do that here would require extra work on the part of one of our Detectives and one of our secretaries but it can be done immediately and without the new software system. We would have to get some notice forms printed and train our people. I am requesting permission to move forward with starting a vehicle impound program at the Canton Police Department. If it is the council's wish to move forward with this program I would estimate March 15t as a start-up date. We would also need to hire a local attorney to act as the Hearing Officer. Galesburg's Hearing Officer gets paid $60 per hearing and that money is paid out of the impound fees. It would also be my recommendation that a percentage of the monies generated be allocated to an equipment fund within the police department. City Attorney Peterson has drawn up a draft ordinance that we believe would fit our needs with a few small revisions. 2013 MEETING SCHEDULE The 2013 meeting schedule is posted reflecting changes in meeting dates to accommodate the 2013 holidays. Community & Industrial Development Alderman Jeremy Pasley, Chairman UPDATE FROM MISSY TOWERY SRPED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GENERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POINTS RETAIL/COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT • Planned for and facilitated a meeting for SRPED's Civic Champions, Community Partners and Development Associates and then followed up with attendees regarding proposed action items. • met with Jeff Bash of Spoon River College to discuss Local Foods Initiative • currently collaborating with local realtors to update available property inventory • Followed up with Developer Kert Huber for a Theater Update • Began research on fastest growing Bio-Medical facilities as potential complimentary business to COOK and Graham Health Systems BUSINESS DEVEOPMENT, ATTRACTION AND SUPPORT • Participated in conference call with developer interested in property on Chestnut • Continued work on economic development marketing piece • Submitted Request for Information to Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago for possible Revolving Loan Fund grant • Finished Condensed Development Guide TOURISM REPORT • Please see the reverse for a report from Dana Smith. CANTON MAIN STREET • Work on the Giacial Golf fundraiser OTHER ~ Attended Illinois Small Business Development Luncheon • Attended Spoon River College's Legislative Event General Marketing & Tourism • Received approval from Missy Towery to attend the Illinois Governor's Conference on Tourism in February, 2013. • Worked with Kelvin Sampson to determine the timeline for Canton's presence in the Lewistown Visitor's Center. Progress on the Center's final design and layout is still in progress. • Continued to develop 2013 marketing and tourism goals. • Met with Jean Stone, new General Manager at Canton Harvester Inn, on December 12, to discuss how the Partnership can help develop the hotel's presence for visitors to Canton. • Designed and obtained approval for an ad in a special "Experience Emiquon" special section in the Fulton Democrat. • Met with Missy Towery regarding marketing piece for economic development to possibly be developed in-house and produced on-demand. • Coordinated Old Fashioned Christmas Walk on Friday, December 7, from 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.. • Met with Mayor Kevin Meade about the potential to have a wall mural in progress during the Art on Main festival in June, 2013. • Contacted Pontiac and Jacksonville, Illinois, communities about mural production Canton Main Street. • Helped decorate Jones Park for the Old Fashioned Christmas Walk on Saturday, December 1. • Prepared news releases for Old Fashioned Christmas Walk and distributed to news media. • Coordinated parking space closures for Old Fashioned Christmas Walk with the City and Canton Police Department for carriage rides and the 40&8 trolley. • Assisted in the pick-up of raffle tickets for an Apple iPad from 46 businesses who volunteered to sell raffle tickets prior to the Old Fashioned Christmas Walk event. • Coordinated Old Fashioned Christmas Walk on Friday, December 7, from 5:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m.. • Met with Mayor Kevin Meade about the potential to have a wall mural in progress during the Art on Main festival in June, 2013. • Contacted Pontiac and Jacksonville, Illinois, communities about mural production during the Art on Main Festival in June, 2013. • Researched "Our Town" grant from the National Endowment for the Arts for the production of murals in the downtown area during the Art on Main Fine Arts Festival in June, 2013. • Attended Main Street Coffee at Crawford's on Tuesday, December 11, 2013. • Met with Missy Towery and Jeff Bash regarding the Main Street Farmer's Market and a possible food initiative in Canton. • Met with Carol Kohler to discuss her role as the new Promotions Chair. Website • In the past 30 days, the tourism website had 1,681 page views, with 752 unique IP addresses. • Began analysis of site statistics to determine what pages are visited most frequently on both websites, and how to leverage that information in attracting visitors. • Began work on designing financial pages for the City of Canton. • Began work on updating current City Clerk pages. Negotiations, Grievance & Personnel Alderman Dave Pickel, Chairman ADJOURNMENT Motion and seco were made by Aldermen Pickel/West to adjourn without the need of exe tive essi ~'~G`'~ i a avley City Clerk