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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-24-06 Mechanical Comm. Meeting Minutes MECHANICAL COMMITTEE TH 50 NORTH 4 AVENUE, CITY OF CANTON Tuesday, January 24, 2006 – 6:30 p.m. PUBLIC SAFETY & TRAFFIC Alderman Eric Schenck, Chairman Aldermen of Committee in attendance: Joe Berardi, Jim Hartford, Rick Reed, and Eric Schenck. Other Aldermen in attendance: Craig West, Les Carl, & Kevin Meade. Others in attendance: Mayor Rodney W. Heinze, City Clerk Nancy Whites, City Treasurer Kathy Luker, City Attorney Jim Elson, Economic Development Director Mark Rothert, Police Chief Donald Edwards, Fire Chief John Stanko, Public Works Director Clif O’Brien, Wastewater Treatment Plant Supt. Joe Carruthers, Water Treatment Plant Supt. Greg Pollitt, System Maintenance Supt. Bill Terry, Maurer Stutz Inc. Keith Plavec, Zoning Officer Clark Wilson, Video Services of Joe Ginger. In the audience was Fulton County Engineer Bill Kuhn, Daily Ledger representative John Froehling, WBYS representative Mark Bixler, Journal Star representative Brenda Bowen, Thomas Kampling, Troy Pudik attorney for Wal-Mart and another gentleman with him. Police Report. Police Chief Donald Edwards mentioned that under the year to date column for 2005 for police assistance is listed as 12,380. Don is working on putting together the offenses of those requests. Don said he had received a letter from Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board. Public Act 94-354 if Annual Training Requirement for Police Chiefs State Mandated Training – 20 hours annually. Don said he goes to quite a few training sessions, so he is in compliance. Don talked about impounding vehicles for citation offense. We have to consider several issues. First issue is an ordinance and second issue is procedural. We don’t have a city impound lot. The next process is law, there should be a hearing of some way the person can grieve the lost of the vehicle. He will do research and wants to come back to the committee with information of either it will work or won’t work. City Attorney Jim Elson remarked that the City would have to follow the State Statute. He also felt this would be a very affective tool. Alderman Berardi ask where the vehicles are stored now? Police Chief Donald Edwards answered, the shed behind the fire station and the tow truck operators find a place for us. Fire Report. Fire Chief John Stanko highlighted his report with the following. They set a record for the highest number of responses. They had a total of 162 responses in December, which surpasses our record of 157 set in October of 2003. th On December 7 received the first of two technical rescue trailers. This particular trailer will be located in Canton while the next trailer will be located in Monmouth. A tentative 1 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 division of the equipment has been completed and is currently being considered by the fire chiefs of all involved departments. We hope the equipment division will be finalized st on January 31. Engine #1, the rescue engine, is scheduled to be repaired, and will be taking the engine to the Pierce repair facility in Wisconsin tomorrow. During the time the rescue engine is out of service for repairs, we have arranged to borrow a reserve engine from the City of Pekin Fire Department. They are graciously loaning us the engine at no cost. We certainly appreciate the generosity of the Pekin Fire Department and Chief Chuck Lauss for allowing us to use this piece of apparatus. th February 4 & 5 at 1:00 p.m. will be the Open House celebrating our 100 years. Public Works, Water & Sewer Committee adjourned at 6:47 p.m. STREETS & GARBAGE Alderman Jim Hartford, Chairman City Beautification Fund. Alderman Jim Hartford had received notification from the public about the City of Canton not participating into the fund. He would like to suggest from the City $1,500. Alderman Berardi asked what committee is this? Jim said that donations have been received for this City Beautification Fund in the amount of $2,200. Alderman Reed wanted to know if the beautification is planned just for Jones Park? Alderman Hartford mentioned not necessarily. Mayor Heinze mentioned that of the Canton Pride Committee all members have quite except for one member. Mayor Heinze said he sent out request from the Aldermen as to names for members. Received only 2 recommendations. This would be better to run through the Canton Pride Committee. th Stop Sign 14 & Locust. Alderman Jim Hartford said the neighbors have complained th about vehicles not slowing down when going west on Locust Street and coming up to 14 Avenue. Alderman Hartford said the Police Chief Donald Edwards found no problem Motion with placing a stop sign on that corner. and second by Aldermen Hartford/Berardi, to have the city attorney to draft an ordinance for allowing the stop sign at the intersection of North Fourteenth Avenue, and East Locust Street. Streets & Garbage Committee adjourned at 6:55 p.m. LAKE, BUILDINGS & GROUNDS Alderman Rick Reed, Chairman Lot Leases. Alderman Reed ask for the city attorney Jim Elson to give information on this issue. Jim Elson stated that the only time we can change a lease is when it turns over. Jim said he has done some research of 8 communities as to how they handle leases 2 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 on their lake frontage. Found from Springfield Illinois the better solution. The leases are based up on the accessed valuation of the lakeshore lease, and they utilize a percentage of that. Working with the Canton Water Department I want to acknowledge the acceptable assistance. Worked on getting the accessed valuation on all the lake lots at lake Canton. The system he recommended is to switch over the system we now have. Jim said he added up all the accessed valuations on the basis of percentage. At the present time under the current system we are receiving receipts in the amount of $11,180.00. Under Jim’s proposal this would increase ultimately but not right away to $15,000 per year. Would be an increase of 40%. On this basis of 10% of the equalized accessed valuation. rd The accessed valuation is 1/3 of market value. The equalization factor comes from the Department of Revenue in Springfield. We have equalized accessed valuation on all of these lots. Two leases are pending right now and have been for sometime. Alderman Meade ask when the lot leases turn over? Jim said around 20 years. Alderman Berardi stated should we be putting in a factor to keep this going? Jim Elson said this would be set up to use the current valuation at that time. Alderman Carl ask if the lot leases could be like our taxes? Jim said yes, they would be. Motion and second by Aldermen Reed/Berardi, to adopt the plan as outlined by City Attorney Jim Elson for the lot leases. Discussion. Alderman Berardi ask Alderman Carl for his input. Alderman Carl said the present lease amount is unfair and outdated. Motion carried by voice vote, and was unanimous. Alderman Reed brought up about the ‘Big Toot’ fund. They have received about ½ of the funding. They need to receive $10,000.00. Lake, Buildings & Grounds Committee adjourned at 7:06 p.m. PUBLIC WORKS, WATER & SEWER Alderman Joe Berardi, Chairman Wal-Mart Re-zoning. Bill Kuhn, Fulton County Engineer was asked to speak at the meeting by Alderman Berardi. Bill began by saying he has three years of being a Registered Professional Engineer in Nevada and Illinois. He said he came here to give the committee the tools where you can make policy and to decide where you want Canton to go. He said he really wants to emphasis we have to develop a competitive advantage of Fulton County if we’re going to keep up with all the changes in the world. And, we do have competitive advantages here. We need to develop a Master Transportation Plan which reaches outside the City of Canton into the townships and county, so that we can preserve the arterials that we will likely need as growth occurs. When it comes to being attractive to private investment. I hopefully can help you become consistent, predictable and fair. So that everybody comes before you for zoning actions can anticipate and know they’ll be treated fairly. But at the same time you have policy in place that makes it straight forward so that minimizes the risk when they come to you, and when they invest 3 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 excess millions of dollars in your community. Having the availability to take advantage of those public opportunity’s, the zoning action and the vision of land. All these things are opportunity for you to act in a way that fits in with the regional vision and it maintains your attractiveness to private investments. An area we need to do more in is inter governmental cooperation where we work together with various levels of government to preserve opportunity and to minimize the future cost of the infrastructure that will be required. When it comes to zoning, make it as easy on developers as possible to get through the process. The other communities prepare their recommendations either for or against that zoning action and put conditions of approval on that zoning action. When the developer comes in he is going to impact your area. If you approve his zoning with conditions, he contains control of his project. Wal-Mart is using Crawford, Murphy & Tilly as their engineers. They are an outstanding engineering firm particularly good in infrastructure and traffic. Your city engineer of Maurer Stutz Inc also is a very good firm. So the professionals you have and the developer have to make sure these kind of studies are done appropriately. You could end up with a quantified impact that a development will have on your city and you can require them to mediate those impacts as a condition of your approval. Especially on thinks like zone changes, and divisions of land. This is how I would suggest you approach this. We could have a seminar to go through staff on policy and zoning policies you might find helpful. Alderman Beardi said that’s more of the way he would like to see the City go and work, then go with staff of Public Works. And then would like to see this come back to his committee. Alderman Berardi ask for Bill Kuhn to talk on the impact of the streets. Bill Kuhn said he believed that the market will drive growth of the city more towards the north then the south, and more to the east then the west. Suggest to you, Wal-Mart is going to the north which kind of reinforces that idea, and the rail road is an issue that parallel route 78, an is an important policy decision to make in the sense the rail road supports more industrial type of infrastructure and so as part of your regional vision, you need to decide, is that in your future, or is more a bedroom community concept in your future? Where is the idea and our proposal to maybe look at that as a rails & trails opportunity. We need to identify the regional arterials that we anticipate is needed if Canton becomes a 30,000 population community to Cypress Street which goes out to County Highway 7, then to Stone School Road up to route 16. If 336 comes through that is another barrier for development. That will shape the future of your community. If you don’t have these arterials identified then zoning will occur with set backs associated with the current right of way widths. If you designate them as arterials and we can set future right-of-way standards, then the set backs are such, when the arterials need to be built you’re just building a road, you are not buying houses. This totaling changes the feasibility and the cost of those kinds of facilities. And with the Master Plan then the 4 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 developers or others who want to bring private investments to your community know where you are going and what your plan is. Alderman Berardi ask Bill to talk about how to support infrastructure. Bill Kuhn responded, how do we go about making this area attractive to the middle class? We have to become attractive to the middle class, and you’re doing some good stuff. Your downtown is very attractive. The county is looking at county highway 6, which goes from Bradley Corners, by the Ameren CIPS building then to the proposed Ethanol Plant, back to route 78 & 100 which is sky rocket junction. Were looking at making a 80,000 pound road to make that area attractive to the kind of private investment of industrial. Alderman Berardi mentioned that the Clerical Committee referred Wal-Mart to the Public Works, Water & Sewer Committee to go ahead and meet with Wal-Mart to see what transpired there. Joe said he set up a meeting with Wal-Mart representatives and ask Alderman Carl to go with him to Peoria. We sat down and disgust some things we felt would be beneficial to Canton and opportunity to work with Wal-Mart. There has been a lot of press and a lot of talk about, “I don’t want Wal-Mart here.” That was the opportunity for Wal-Mart to sit down and disgust some options. You can’t negotiate if you don’t have anything to negotiate with. I believe that some of the scope of the project on 11th Avenue and other things from them is to be a good neighbor with us. The question came up we wanted to address some issues and they were not unreasonable. So what happens was Wal-Mart did not know what the protocol was and who could actually negotiate for the city. Alderman Carl and I agreed and mentioned to Alderman Schenck we would be negotiating some of these items. We would then bring back to the council, and to the mayor and see if everybody is on board, and then proceed from there. Then I got word Wal-Mart representatives was not comfortable with the protocol and they wanted the mayor to okay this. So when I went to the mayor he said, “absolutely not!” The Public Works, Water & Sewer committee is not negotiating anything for the city. I believe it’s absolutely ridiculous that we were put in this position. Alderman Berardi ask Alderman Carl what is your feeling about this? Alderman Carl said he thinks Bill Kuhn pretty well outlined the procedure he would recommend, and that is going through one committee and recommending to council the approval of what was negotiated through the committee. And I think that is the proper way to go. Alderman Berardi ask Alderman Carl, how do we get over the hump when the mayor does not want us negotiating for the city? Mayor Heinze raised his hand to have permission to speak and Alderman Berardi said this was Alderman Carl and himself talking now and he will have to wait his turn. Alderman Carl answer, the mayor is going to have to be a part of what is taking place through committee or whatever procedure ultimately is decided on. The committee should be the driving force. Alderman Berardi said he believed we should have a motion of what Mr. Kuhn is recommending. 5 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 Alderman Carl said he thought that was the action we took at the last council meeting. Alderman Berardi said he was assuming that, but how do we get over the hump here? Alderman Schenck said he was not sure where we are! These are fundamental building blocks for our community. The key issue now is are we ready for a super Wal-Mart to go into this particular site? Is the area ready for the economic growth? Alderman Schenck ask the question, since discussion of improvements for Buckeye Street, do we have in writing, or specifications of any kind of improvements? Alderman Berardi answered, no! Alderman Meade reported he did believe it is in writing yet, as the issue is really in front of us and that is zoning. Their next step is a site plan, which gets into where the building will be. Also the next step is the subdivision plan. Alderman Berardi said he will not give that away as this is a negotiating tool. Alderman Schenck said there was some kind of discussion on a traffic study. Once we th rezone the property, has there been adequate study analysis of Cypress and 4 Avenue to accommodate this rezoning and this development being proposed here? Do we have an answer to that? Alderman Berardi, no! Because we have not done any study on the regional area. Alderman Berardi ask Bill Kuhn to comment. Bill Kuhn said he believes the committee that hears your zoning action, and all the other committees can make the recommendation to that committee and those recommendations can then be attached to the zoning approval. Bill said he was uncomfortable with the term negotiate. He likes to use meditate, as this is the more important word to use. To keep your community more attractive to private investments, keep the quantification of the mediations required in the hands of the developer professional, and your professional city engineer to work out all those details. And then if either party feels they are not being fairly treated then they have the opportunity to come back before you to clarify the policy you want to have in place. Alderman Berardi said he did not agree entirely with Bill. Alderman Berardi feels the negotiations involved leads up to that zoning. The city should not waiver from that directive. Alderman Meade ask Bill Kuhn, if that role generally is from the Planning & Zoning Commission? Bill said yes, it’s however you structure your committee. The committee that receives the application is the body entrusted by the elector to decide whether that is appropriate zoning and whether that does achieve the highest and best use. And is another standard that is associated in zoning action. Alderman Schenck mentioned this is somewhat a unique situation. This will be the largest building and business in Canton. Are we ready with roads, streets, and water, so we can move forth on zoning? Alderman Berardi thanked Bill Kuhn and suggested taking no action. Recommend to get with Public Works Director Clif O’Brien, Maurer Stutz Inc. Keith Plavec and formulate action that is compatible with what Bill Kuhn has suggested. Suggested meeting one th hour before the February 7 council meeting. 6 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 Alderman Hartford mentioned we have seen a site plan, they are going to improve a city street that belongs to us, and they are barring the cost. The water problems have been discussed and resolved. I don’t see a problem with Wal-Mart. We are making it so difficult for them that any other business wanting to come into Canton will think twice. Alderman Schenck said to Alderman Hartford, we have not slowed down this process at all. I want to be sure that all my questions are answered. Alderman Reed stated we need to be fair of what we do. He said he thinks we are sending a bad example, as Wal-Mart wants to be a good neighbor. Motion and second by Aldermen Berardi/Schenck, to take no action tonight until we find out if we can sit down with Wal-Mart and negotiate. Discussion. Public Works Director Clif O’Brien was given time to speak. Cliff said we did not negotiate with Wal-Mart when Maurer Stutz Inc. Keith Plavec, Zoning Officer Clark Wilson and myself met with them. It was on zoning issues. They have done a traffic study that was done on FAU th Street, which is 4 Avenue. In 2000 we put and inch & ½ overlay on the street to make it a class 3 road. Crawford, Murphy & Tilly told us it would probably increase traffic by 50 to 60 cars. Clif O’Brien said he agreed with Bill Kuhn you need to look at your traffic studies and you need to do a study. You need to make sure what your street is. You need to get with Maurer Stutz Inc. Keith Plavec and Crawford, Murphy & Tilly. Is the water and sewer correct? Yes, they are on that side. Alderman Schenck wanted to know what is the process that needs to be in place? Alderman Berardi said we were doing that but we had to stop because of protocol. We would be a long way down the road by now. Alderman Berardi said he did not want to hold this zoning up. Alderman Carl mentioned that the city attorney Jim Elson and Mayor Heinze want to address the issue. City Attorney Jim Elson said what’s involved here our process is not like where Bill Kuhn worked in Las Vegas. Alderman Meade is correct in you have a re-zoning request, a site plan approval to come, and building permits. The difference here is the things in the past have been carried out by administratively and not by legislative action of the council. The site plan will not come before council the way its set up at the present time. Alderman Carl said he needs clarification of the motion, is the motion to table action on the re-zoning. City Attorney Jim Elson said procedurally you don’t want to make a motion to table because it is so difficult to take something off the table from a parliamentary stand point. If you decide to define something, the action would be to postpone, or to set a definite time. Alderman Reed said he would like to have a committee meeting before the next council meeting to discuss Wal-Mart. And he does not want to hold up the reading of the ordinance for re-zoning. Alderman Berardi said the ordinance would not be held up for presentation at the next council meeting. 7 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 Alderman Meade said procedural the ordinance will be on the agenda for the council th meeting of February 7 and voted on. The Public Works, Water & Sewer Committee will meet one (1) hour before the th February 7 Council meeting. The motion carried by voice vote, and was unanimous. Alderman Meade ask Alderman Berardi if the mayor could have the opportunity to speak? Alderman Berardi answered, yes! Mayor Heinze stated, Alderman Berardi said the council approved his committee of Public Works, Water & Sewer to do the negotiating with Wal-Mart. This was referred by the Clerical Committee to the Public Works, Water & Sewer Committee. I believe presuming to be a little information on the subject. The committee members were not involved at all. And if the committee met it was an illegal meeting because it was not posted anywhere. Alderman Berardi went over to Peoria with Alderman Carl to see Wal- Mart officials. Not to be negotiated for the citizens of Canton. It has been said I have been negotiating with Wal-Mart. Actually the negotiations started before he was mayor. In April of 2005 I was elected mayor in this town. When Wal-Mart called and ask me questions I gave the best answers I could. They were asking kind of procedural questions. They have been in contact with the city’s engineering firm and Public Works Director Cliff O’Brien long before I got here. I have talked with Bill Kuhn today and with Keith Plavec. Keith says he knows a lot about those kind of things. However, in this entire process the city engineer Keith Plavec, that we have hired were not ask one question of what was going on! And Clif O’Brien almost had to interrupt to interject information tonight. We are treating the staff like they don’t know anything that is going on, but we have to micromanage every single thing they have to do. They will answer any question we have. This is almost the “tail wagging the dog” here. Alderman Berardi wants to do the negotiating for this on behalf of the City of Canton. The citizens of this city have the confidence in me to carry on some trading of information. Alderman Berardi said he is the chairman of Public Works, Water & Sewer and this involves Public Works, and was elected as an alderman not as someone to raise there hand and say yes. If you look at the structure of the ordinance for Public Works we do have that right to know what is going on. And the “I” is the committee I’m talking about. Our committee was never involved from day one. The Public Works, & Sewer Committee convened for a 5 minute recess at 8:20 p.m. The Public Works, Water & Sewer Committee reconvened at 8:26 p.m. Leaving the meeting during the recess was Police Chief Donald Edwards, Fire Chief John Stanko, Water Treatment Supt. Greg Pollitt, System Maintenance Supt. Bill Terry, Journal Star representative Brenda Bowen, Wal-Mart representatives, Bill Kuhn Fulton County Engineer. 8 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 City Attorney Jim Elson recommended for his authorization to send initial letters saying, th “please repair in certain period of time” to the owners of two homes one on 11 Avenue and the other on Avenue D. Jim stated the Illinois State Statute says you have to give a Motion 15-day notice. Jim recommended a 21-day notice. and second by Aldermen Reed/Hartford, to allow the letters be sent to the two homeowners allowing a 21-day notice of repair. The motion carried by voice vote, and was unanimous. Dan Silverthorn & Steve Evans. Steve Evans spoke and said he is the President of Labor Local 231. Steve mentioned this is in relationship to the Responsible Bidder Ordinance, which is a taxpayer issue. This is an ordinance that sets minimal requirements for all contractors and subcontractors bidding on publicly funded projects in the political jurisdiction covered by the ordinance. The requirements are then incorporated into all bid documents (similar to other state and local regulations) so that all potential bidders will know what is expected of them. What are the specific requirements? All bidders must: a)Comply will all laws pre-requisite to doing business in Illinois b)Produce evidence of a federal employer tax number or social security number c)Provide evidence of compliance with EOE requirements d)Provide evidence of all specified insurance coverages e)Comply with all provisions of the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act f)Must be participating in a USDOL approved & registered apprenticeship program g)Comply with any other additional requirements a community may find beneficial The word “union” does not appear in any Responsible Bidder Ordinance. The Ordinance simply attempts to create a level playing field for all contractors, union and non-union alike, so that the lowest bids reflect managerial expertise rather that the willingness to subvert the laws of the State. It simply defines the phrase “responsible bidder” as it relates to the term “lowest responsible bidder” that is referenced in the Illinois Municipal Code and been incorporated into the majority of procurement regulations around the state. It does not give an advantage to union contractors; it gives an advantage to responsible contractors. The Ordinance simply asks that contractors who wish to benefit from public dollars play by the rules of fair and honest contracting. Alderman Berardi stated we need to see Prevailing Wage for the Wal-Mart construction. Mayor Heinze said he sent a letter to Wal-Mart asking them to pay labor wages. Public Works, Water & Sewer Committee adjourned at 8:54 p.m. 9 Mechanical Committee meeting 1-24-06 Recording Secretary, Nancy Whites, City Clerk 10