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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-23-2010 Mechanical MinutesMECHANICAL COMMITTEE OF CANTON CITY COUNCIL Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010 Historic Depot 50 N. 4th Avenue Those in attendance: Aldermen Rick Reed, Eric Schenck, Craig West, Larry Sarff, Jorge Rivero, Gerald Ellis, Jim Hartford, Dave Pickel. Others in attendance: Mayor Kevin Meade, Deputy City Clerk Diana Tucker, City Treasurer Aaron Anderson, City Attorney Chrissie Peterson, City Administrator Jim Snider, Police Chief Dan Taylor, Fire Chief Bonnie Cremer, Public Works Director Clif O'Brien, WTP Super. Greg Pollitt, WWTP Super. Joe Carruthers, Keith Plavec, ESDA Director Phil Fleming, Joe Ginger Video Service. In the audience from the Daily Ledger John Froehling, and Fulton County Democrat Stacey Creasy, and Journal Star Kevin Sampier. Also in the audience: Rick Berry, Roman Salazar, Ron and Brenda Dilts, Pamela Ihnes. Mayor Meade called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Public Safety & Traffic Alderman Jim Hartford, Chairman Police Reqort Chiefs Comments: • 911 For Kids Program- Tele-communicators talking to kids at area schools about using 911, and their job as a dispatcher. Chief Taylor is proud of the job they are doing in the community with this program. • Canton High School Lockdown (Arrest made for Filing False Report) Fire Reqort During the month of February there were no reported structure or vehicle fires. Fire personnel responded to one dryer fire which caused an estimated $500.00 in damage, one cooking fire and a fire caused by plastic catching fire in the oven of a stove. Fire alarms remained the same while EMS alarms increased by 8.5% when compared to our responses in February 2009. The overall number of calls increased 6.6% when compared to last year. There were 10 simultaneous alarms during the month of February. An analysis of the NFPA 1710 Response Time Compliance Report shows that 114 (78.1%) of our alarms required compliance. As you recall, NFPA 1710 requires that we arrive at the scene of an emergency alarm within five (5) minutes of being dispatched 90% of the time. Of the 114 responses requiring compliance, we were in compliance on 86 or 75.4% the alarms. 32 (21.9%) of the alarms. did not require compliance. These are generally service calls or calls that are later determined compliance was not required. Such instances would be an EMS alarm that only required lifting assistance. The following is a summary report of the calls for the month. CHIEF'S NOTES: Work on the Fire Department fiscal year budget is in progress. There has been an evaluation of the departments needs to maintain equipment and services. Inspector Dan Neptun and I attended the February 9, 2010 Downtown Community Forum which was held at Crawford's Home Furnishing. Business people from the community voiced their opinions regarding setting priories for the downtown. The Forum recognized stricter code enforcement for the downtown as a high priority. The Office of the State Fire Marshal small equipment grant was submitted. The request was for $6660 for three sets of turn out gear. The grant deadline was February 20`". The computer at the day desk was run through an in-depth test and they could not find any hardware issues. It is believed this may be a mother board problem. The computer which contains the Firehouse software for submitting all the incident reports through the National Fire Incident Reporting system and the software for submitting medical reports to St. Francis was replaced because the cost of the mother board could not be justified. The 2009 annual report was presented to the mechanical committee on February 23rd along with the January monthly report. The Fire Inspector and I attended meetings February 17`" and 25`" about code enforcement issues and complaints by citizens regarding the conditions of property in the central business district. Lastly, I am in the process of paving the way to my upcoming retirement effective May 1, 2010. I have spoke to Mayor Kevin Meade and City Attorney Chrissie Peterson about details. One of my concerns is the SAFER grant has a clause in it about maintaining current staffing levels through the five year grant period. The Public Safety & Traffic Committee adjourned at 6:40 p.m. 2 Streets & Garbage Alderman Gerald Ellis filling in for Chairman Craig West OVERNIGHT PARKING Chrissie Peterson reported that the first reading of the overnight parking ordinance took place last week. The second reading will take place in two weeks at the Council meeting. MATT COULTER-PEORIA DISPOSAL CO Joe Roberts- marketing manager with Peoria Disposal Co addressed the committee in place of Matt Coulter. Peoria Disposal Company has been in business for over 80 years, and is currently ranked the 32°d largest garbage company in the United States. Peoria Disposal service created a proposal fora "Curbside Single Stream" recycling service for The City of Canton. Two separate recycling containers are currently being used. One container is a 95 gallon roll out cart, and the other container is a 65 gallon role out cart The 95 gallon roll out cart is a 1 time per month service at the cost of $4.33 per month/per home. The 65 gallon roll out cart is an every other week service at the cost of $5.27 per month/per home. Peoria currently uses a fully automated truck that has an arm attached to the truck. The arm is used to attach to the recycling bins and empty the contents into the garbage trucks. This reduces the physical demand on employees. Joe indicated that since they are not being utilized for the garbage pickup the rates for the recycling program are higher than a municipality that utilizes their services for garbage pickup. Alderman Eric Schenck asked if the rates are based on minimum number of households. Joe Roberts explained that the rates are based on every household. If every household does not utilize the service the city will still pay the rates based on every household. Peoria Disposal Company indicated that providing rates that would not be 100% participation could be prepared for the city, however the cost would be higher due to the fact that Peoria Disposal would have to travel to Canton for the services, and take the recycling material back to Mapleton. The material is loaded on a truck in Mapleton and transported to Chicago. The transportation is one of the reasons for the higher rates. Joe will prepare a subscription price based upon usage and bring back to Clif for review. Roman Salzar from Monmouth Illinois reported that he currently owns an excavation company. Roman stated that his price will be much lower than a major company. Roman stated that he would provide a weekly pickup service to the city. The pickup would be coordinated with the regular garbage pickup days. The cost will be $2.00 per household. If the city would prefer a subscription for actual households using the service, he could provide a quote for the city. Roman explained that each house participating would receive a 13 gallon container for recycling material. Roman would then store the material and broker the material to recycling companies. The subscription service could be contracted through the city or billed individually to the residents. The price will be higher if the entire community does not use the service. Currently Roman does not have any other communities using his service. Alderman Schenck asked what type of equipment is used for the service. Roman explained that he uses a pickup truck with a flat bed trailer. Clif O'Brien asked Roman to give him a proposal on the recycling program, a list of references and insurance information. NOISE ORDINANCE Chief Dan Taylor reported that the city currently has a noise ordinance for the city. Alderman Gerald Ellis said he received complaints about boom boxes and motorcycle mufflers. Chief Dan Taylor explained that the public needs to understand that anytime a resident is upset about noises they need to contact the police department. The police will typically give a warning for the first offense, and if they are called back a second time a citation will be issued. Chief Dan Taylor visited with the State's Attorney about motorcycle noises. The State's Attorney would not be interested in prosecuting against loud motorcycle noises. City Attorney Chrissie Peterson stated that if a muffler is on the vehicle they will not issue a ticket, however if there is not a muffler on the motorcycle, a ticket would be issued. Attorney Chrissie Peterson further explained that if any attempt was made to muffle the noise, it would probably fall under the exception. ALLEY REPAIRS Public Works Director Clif O'Brien reported that the alley repairs are currently 75% complete. The Streets & Garbage Committee adjourned at 6:55 p.m. Lake, Buildings & Grounds Alderman Rick Reed, Chairman CAMPGROUND __OPERATIONS AND FEES Alderman Rick Reed discussed the current rate structure for the campground fees and proposed reducing the non-resident rate. Reducing the non-resident rate could help bring some of the out of town campers back to our community. Alderman Rick Reed further explained that he does not feel enough improvements have taken place at the campground to justify a higher rate structure. Rick proposed a $2.00 across the board rate difference between local and non-local campers. Last year the campground lost a 43% in revenue due to rate increases at the campground. Alderman Reed explained that this year they will be looking at improving the electricity, leveling the camping sites and improvements to the shower facility. Alderman Reed proposed the following rates: Non resident's $10.00/night for tent camping without electricity $11.00/night for tent camping with electricity $12.OO.night for campers using electricity 4 Resident $8.00/night for tent camping without electricity $9.00/night for tent camping with electricity $10.00/night for campers using electricity Alderman Reed explained that campers would be willing to pay higher rates if improvements were made, however at this time the campground has not received any improvements to justify higher rates. Alderman Schenck explained that the non-resident rates are very comparable to state campgrounds and Fulton County campgrounds; however the state campgrounds are setup more for camping. Alderman Schenck further explained that he is concerned about providing rates so low that it creates low-income housing or a place for people to park their campers for the entire summer for a small amount of money. Alderman Reed stated that "we are stuck between a rock and a hard place". If we do not charge enough we can't upgrade the facilities. It makes it very obvious that loosing 45% of the revenue makes it difficult to do the much needed upgrades. Alderman Reed would not be opposed to an increase of $2, $4 and $6. This would bring the rates to $10.00, $13.00 and $16.00; however he would still like to see improvements before raising the rates. A tremendous amount of work needs to be done to bring it up to state facilities level. Alderman Ellis suggested considering anon-resident rate being 1.5 times higher than resident rates instead of double. Alderman Reed reported that the cost for leveling the lots and upgrading the electricity is currently budgeted; however they do not have any estimates for the actual cost. Mayor Meade said that we need to get estimates so we can move forward. Motion and second was made by Alderman Reed/Hartford to send to Council to ask for the rate increase he proposed at 1.5 times for non-residents and get some estimates for electrical upgrades and leveling. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. IDNR GRANT APPLICATION FOR SOUTH BOAT RAMP PROJECT Alderman Rick Reed looked at the boat access area development program that is available. The grant assistant applications are to be received between July ls` and September ls`. The grant awards would be announced next spring. This would be an excellent opportunity to receive some grant money to be able to rework the boat ramps. Alderman Eric Schneck reported that currently in the capital budget there is 150 million dollars to help municipalities with recreational development projects. Alderman Schenck indicated that this would be allocated at 50 million dollars per year over the next three years. ORDINANCE TO ALLOW PUBLIC ACCESS TO CITY PROPERTY AT CANTON LAKE FOR MUSHROOM PICKING Alderman Eric Schenck discussed the current ordinance relating to rules on recreational uses at the Canton Lake and surrounding property. Alderman Schenck stated that using some of the property at the Canton Lake for mushroom picking could be an asset for the community. Attorney Chrissie Peterson expressed concerns about identifying which property would be used for this purpose. Careful consideration would need to be taken when determining what areas would be opened to the public. The City currently has wastewater operations at the lake, and would not want the public allowed into these areas. WWTP Joe Carruthers expressed concerns with enforcing the areas at the lake. Alderman Schenck said he is trying to figure out why we can't open up some of the land to our citizens so they can have reasonable access to the lake for mushroom picking. Attorney Chrissie Peterson stated she feels opening the lake up to the citizens especially this late in the season being an extremely complicated process from both insurance and a legal stand point. Alderman Eric Schenck stated that his main concern is that the city does not want to change the way things have been done in the past, and this becomes very frustrating to him. Eric asked if the city currently has anything that indicates where people can have access or where they do not have access. This could be with maps, signs etc. Attorney Chrissie Peterson will review ordinances to see where public access could be allowed. Alderman Rick Reed stated that he contacted Joe Carruthers and Greg Pollitt to figure out where they could allow some public access, and put up some signs to indicate where there is public access. A plan needs to be started. Alderman Ellis stated that this year it would not be feasible to allow public access for this season; however it could be a process to begin for next year. Alderman Rick Reed reported that during the middle of April holding a Canton Lake Cleanup. The public will be invited to attend. The Lake, Buildings & Grounds Committee adjourned at 7:35 pm Public Works, Water & Sewer Alderman Gerald Ellis, Chairman REQUEST FROM RICHARD BERRY TO ERECT BILLBOARD AT COMMERCIAL OFFICE BUILDING AT 1055 WEST LOCUST (FORMER MID-CENTURY TELEPHONE OFFICE) City Engineer Keith Plavec stated that reason that this is being presented to the committee is because this type of sign it requires council approval. Rick Berry explained the location of the sign, and would like to ask permission to erect the billboard. The size of the sign is 10x20. Keith Plavec recommends allowing the sign being placed in the location, and have the proper permit issued. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Hartford to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. 6 APPLICATION FOR PAYMENT # 15 FOR THE PROPOSED RADIAL COLLECTOR WELL FROM REYNOLDS INC. FOR $116,458.62 City Engineer Keith Plavec reported the project being 85% complete. This will be paid from the Bond fund. Keith recommends that the committee approves the payment request. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Hartford to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. APPLICATION FOR PAYMENT # 6 FOR 61 EAST SIDE SQUARE FROM LEANDER CONSTRUCTION, INC. FOR $18.023.20 City Engineer Keith Plavec reported the project at 40% complete. A considerable amount of progress was made since this pay request was originally submitted. The roof should be completed tomorrow, and continues to make good progress. This payment request will be paid from the TIF fund. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Reed to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. CHANGE ORDER # 5 FOR 61 EAST SIDE SQUARE FROM LEANDER CONSTRUCTION INC. City Engineer Keith Plavec explained that this change order talks about what is being removed from the project. This project is being analyzed to consider how a buyer can make the building designed for their own purposes. The total deduct is $75,752.25 bringing the project to the current contract price of $572,700.27 which is approximately $100,000.00 cheaper than the original contract price. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/ Hartford to accept the change order for a decrease in the amount of $75,752.25 and send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. APPLICATION FOR PAYMENT # 2 FOR 3RD AVENUE EXTENSION MAIN WORK FROM LAVERDIERE CONSTRUCTION INC. City Engineer Keith Plavec reported that this is the 3`d Avenue project in the amount of $43,338.13. This project is at 74% complete. The funding for this project will be split between the USEDA and the city bonds. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Reed to send to Council for consideration of the payment to Laverdiere Construction in the amount of $43,338.13. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. APPLICATION FOR PAYMENT # 2 FOR 3RD AVENUE SANITARY SEWER WORK FROM LAVERDIERE CONSTRUCTION INC. City Engineer Keith Plavec reported that this pay application is in the amount of $51,243.00. This project will be 99.7% complete. This will be paid from the TIF fund. 7 Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Reed to send to Council for approval. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. APPLICATION FOR PAYMENT # 3 FOR LIME SLAKER & ACCELATOR REHAB FROM LEANDER CONSTRUCTION INC. FOR $98,240.99 City Engineer Keith Plavec reported this project at 27% complete. Good progress is being made. This will be paid from the bond fund. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Reed to accept approval of payment in the amount of $98,240.99 and send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. CHANGE ORDER FOR LIME SLAKER & ACCELATOR REHAB PROJECT FROM LEANDER CONSTRUCTION INC. City Engineer Keith Plavec explained that the city has two options. The first option cost would be $36,286.97 or $39,710.00. The section option would do everything. Keith recommends the section option to complete everything for only a difference of $3,423.03. This would be paid from the Bond fund. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Reed to accept the second option for $39,710.00 and send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. ASH STREET ENGINEERING AGREEMENT WITH MAURER-STUTZ INC. City Engineer Keith Plavec explained that this phase 15`"-20`" Avenue. From 16`" on will keep as rural section. Funds should be available from the state. A proposal will be submitted. The different parts--- you have the agreement between the engineer and the city, you then need to do a resolution and you have to request the funds. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Hartford to accept the engineering agreement and send to Council for approval. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. WTP SLUDGE BIDS Keith Plavec explained that three complete bids were received. The low bidder was Synagro. Our current contract with Merrell Brothers goes through this year. The contract year with Synagro will be for fiscal year 2011-2014. The annual savings is approximately $49,000.00. Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Reed to accept Synagro to take effect fiscal year 2011 and send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. CHANGE ORDER # 5 FOR PROPOSED RADIAL COLLECTOR WELL FROM REYNOLDS City Engineer Keith Plavec reported this change order is in the amount of $6,152.96. This will be paid out of the bond fund. 8 Motion and second was made by Alderman Ellis/Reed to accept the change order and send to Council for approval. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. BUDGET REVIEW City Administrator Jim Snider informed everyone that they received a copy of the 2008-2009 fiscal year audit. Included in the audit report is the management letter. Jim Hocker and John Frye will be at the April 6"' Council meeting to discuss the audit. The audit is also available on the web-site. City Administrator Jim Snider discussed the general fund budget. The proposed deficit is now at approximately $400,000.00. Jim Snider stated he could recommend an additional $53,000.00 in additional adjustments to the healthcare allocation. The Council by vote approved the sale of the property in the industrial park to Pro Image. This will result in about $55,000.00 to the general fund. Additional items were added to the expense side of the budget. The auditors recommended an updated actuarial study on the pension liabilities. This amount is approximately $3,500.00. The IEPA wants the city to begin paying them back on the funds for the Brownfield work. The IEPA is asking for $10,000.00. These figures will reduce the general fund deficit to $302,462.00. Jim Snider further stated that this budget does not reflect any salary increases. The fire department contract is in place and the 4 % increase is already in the budget. The public works and police department and non-union personnel are all subject to Council decision. The Governor is proposing that cities receive 30% less in income tax proceeds. It is not certain at this time if this will pass. If the general assembly does pass this cut it would be approximately $300,000.00 hit to this budget. Jim Snider expressed concerns about the budget, and stated that the city will need to be more conservative with expenses. The group healthcare renewal quote should arrive around the first of April. Jim was informed that the renewals are coming in between 9-50%. Jim Snider stated that we will have another look at the budget during mid-year. By mid-year we will have more information about the state, the economy, and the collective bargaining agreements. We will have a very challenging 2-3 years. Alderman Jim Hartford asked Phil Fleming-ESDA director to explain his proposal. Phil Fleming ESDA director explained that the revised ESDA budget for the 2010-2011 budget years is $29,589.00- a reduction of over 44% from the current 2009-2010 budget. Phil stated that he visited with Mayor Meade about Canton to continue to have its own ESDA coordinator, and that he wanted a sharing of resources rather than a complete takeover by one agency of the other. The proposal includes no capital items in the budget, meaning that the siren at W. Tamarack and Avenue A will not be replaced during the coming budget year. Also included in the proposal is how the city might share our resources, given the space we have. An office that is being used mainly for storage could be made available for the County to use. Included in the budget is a small amount of funds for an intern from Western Illinois University's Emergency Management Program. Alderman Jim Hartford stated he wants to see ESDA added back to the budget. Jim Hartford expressed concerns about replacing sirens, and for the safety of the city the siren needing repaired needs to be taken care of. 9 City Administrator Jim Snider stated that the original ESDA budget was $126,000.00 and was lowered to the County's proposed amount of $4,000.00. Alderman Sarff indicated that the proposed budget with ESDA could still be trimmed. Alderman Sarff said we need to look at having our ESDA go to the county. Alderman Sarff asked Jim Snider to come back with a list of capital items still in the budget and what the dollars are. Alderman Schenck said we are looking at a deficit budget and he can't justify expanding the ESDA program but instead trimming back and consider using the county for the ESDA program. Alderman Hartford said to eliminate our own ESDA is wrong. Alderman Reed agrees that we need to keep our ESDA in the city at the proposed budget, and not include the sirens at this time. Alderman Ellis and Alderman Rivero both agree on keeping ESDA in the city. Alderman Pickel would like to see Phil trim the proposed budget and bring back to the council for review, but also look more into consolidating with the County. Alderman Hartford asked Phil Fleming to bring back some new figures on the ESDA budget for review. Alderman Hartford stated that a lot of items were cut from the fire department, but he is not aware of what items were cut. He would like to have a list of the items cut for review. Alderman Schenck asked City Administrator Jim Snider to prepare a summary on detailed information on adjustments made to the budget. City Administrator reviewed the Water/Sewer budget. The Water/Sewer Revenue sheet was reviewed. The water and sewer sales are pretty much in line of what was budgeted last year. The sewer was reduced slightly. Reviewed on the page is the revenue that is on the water bill, and the proceeds to pay for the bonds. The depreciation funds- these are kept as the reserve funds. The bond proceed balance is the amount of money that is left in the savings account from the bonds that were sold to help pay for the capital improvements. The total fund balance is $15,480,937.00. City Administrator Jim Snider stated that the challenge for the city is that the waste cost and chemical cost increases each year. Our water and sewer rate structure does not have an inflation adjuster to it. Our rates are fine now, but looking into the future we will need to increase the rates. City Administrator Jim Snider reported that IMRF, SS, Med, Liability, Workers Comp funds began the fiscal year with a $353,000.00 deficit. The City has not kept up with the tax levy. If we do not levy enough money these particular funds run into a deficit. It will be important to look at the tax levy next year to raise the levy to help pay for the bills, otherwise it cuts into the reserves. Jim Snider mentioned that a budget must be passed by the end of April. City Administrator Jim Snider will have a budget ordinance at the next Council meeting. Public Works, Water and Sewer Committee adjourned at 9:15 pm 10 Executive Session To discuss Personnel, Police Negotiations and Pending Litigation The regular scheduled Mechanical Committee meeting reconvened into open session at 10:00 pm. Being no further business the Mechanical Committee meeting adjourned. Rec ding a retary, Dia Tuck _ _ Deputy City Clerk y 11