Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-28-1990 Mechanical Mechanical Committee City Council Chambers § Att~as# 28, 1990 ~~ 6:30 p.m. _ ;1 t--- Members Present: Harry Steck, Chuck Chapman, Butch Fuller, Jim Nlay Others Present: Don Edwards, Chris Spears, Cliff O'Brien, Gary Orwig, Bob DeRenzy, Randy Zimmerman, Howard ~Vi I 1 lams, Ray Iti9cKinney, tNi I I Taggart, Don Hopper, Gladys Young, Ross Gardiner Public Safety & Traffic Committee Butch Fuller, Chairman The first item on the agenda was the fire report. Bob DeRenzy stated that the report was self explanatory. No action was necessary by the Committee at this time. Bob DeRenzy stated that the fire department is in the process of flushing hydrants. He stated that if any of the aldermen received complaints about rust in the lines, call the department and they will go back out and flush the lines again. He stated that he had received one complaint of clothes being stained by the rusty water. Ray McKinney stated that those types of complaints could be directed to him at the water plant and he would give them possible solutions to that problem. Several hydrants were discussed that need to be repaired. Cliff O'Brien stated that he would look at these hydrants this week. Bob DeRenzy stated that he had had three phones repaired at the Fire Department. He received a bill in the amount of $286.50. He stated that he thought the bill was high. He informed the Committee that he may check with a local business on the repair of phones in the future. The police report was next. Randy Zimmerman, representing Sob fvlolleck, stated the report was self explanatory. No action was necessary by the Committee. The ESDA report was next. Howard ti~Villiams presented his report. He informed the Committee that ESDA has two vehicles that are jointly owned by the City and the State of Illinois. He stated that he has sent in the necessary paperwork to get a release from the State of Illinois. He suggested that the vehicles be put out for bid with a minimum of $600. He requested that the funds received from the sale be placed in the ESDA account for equipment purchases. Mayor Edwards stated that the two options for the city to dispose of equipment is to either accept sealed bids or to have an auction. He suggested that the vehicles be held until the auction. He stated it was originally scheduled for October but could possibly be scheduled for November. Mayor Edwards stated that with the recent prediction of an earthquake later in the year, the aldermen should be aware that there is an earthquake plan. Howard stated that this plan is updated every two years and is presently being reviewed. The next item was the sign violation ordinance review. t~llayor Edwards stated that no new information was available at this time. The item was tabled to the next meeting. Randy Zimmerman addressed the next item concerning sending Dean Putman to a homicide investigation course. He stated that Bob Molleck is requesting permission to send Dean Putman to the course to be held October 8-12, 1990. The estimated cost is $386.50 for tuition, lodging and food. Randy stated that with the 50'','0 reimbursement from the State, the city would receive approximately $449.57 due to reimbursement of mileage and wages. A motion was made by Chuck Chapman and seconded by Jim PJ1ay recommending to the City Council the approval of sending Dean Putrnan to the Major Case Homicide Investigation Course October 8-12, 1990. Voice vote. (Motion carried. Mayor Edwards addressed the matter of the city owned underground storage tanks. He stated that the city has several tanks that need to be reviewed. Bob DeRenzy stated that he has the information on the age and locations of the tanks and the steps which need to be taken to assure compliance with the regulations. Discussion followed. A motion was made by Harry Steck and seconded by Jim t~1ay recommending to the City Council that Bob DeRenzy and Cliff O'Brien work together to bring the tanks up to date and if necessary, remove any tanks. Discussion. Voice vote. Motion carried. Along those lines, Will Taggart informed the Committee that the generator in the basement of city hall has a gas tank on it. It is presently sitting inside the building. He suggested either running a line to a tank outside the building or possibly converting the generator to natural gas. Discussion. The Committee instructed`~Vill to investigate and bring back cost estimates to the Committee for consideration. No further action was taken by the Committee and the Public Safety and Traffic Committee was adjourned. 2 `'~Md Streets and Garbage Committee Harry Steck, Chairman The first item on the agenda was a request from Cliff O'Brien to replace a packer cylinder on the garbage truck. He stated that the cost is approximately $1250. The tank will be purchased from Elgin. A motion was made by Harry Steck and seconded by Butch Fuller recorrmending acceptance of the $1250 expenditure for the packer cylinder for the garbage truck. Voice vote. Motion carried. The next item was a request from Cliff O'Brien to have the rear end in the 1975 IH tandem replaced. He stated that the estimated cost from \'~Iheeler's is no more than $2200 to replace the rear end. A motion was made by Harry Steck and seconded by Jim fvlay recommending approval of the expenditure. Voice vote. Motion carried. Cliff O'Brien informed the Committee that he will be putting together information on the street department vehicles and the amount of money spent on the repairs for the Committee's review. He stated that he will be addressing the possibility of a lease program at a later date. PJo further business was discussed and the Streets and Garbage Committee was adjourned. Lake, Buildings & Grounds Committee Chuck Chapman, Chairman The first item of discussed was addressed by Ray McKinney. He stated that leachate tests have been conducted at the beach area and have been forwarded to the county. He stated that Spoon River Electric will be moving the electric poles to the cove area after the campground closed. He stated that the building is almost completely demolished. Ray stated that he had talked to the contractor who constructed the siltation dams at the lake concerning the moving of the dirt at the beach. The estimate was $1850. Ray asked if the city wants to proceed in moving the dirt. Harry Steck suggested drawing up specifications and advertise for bids. Ray stated that the work would not be done until late October at the earliest. Ray stated that he could contact those persons who were contacted for the original work. Harry Steck suggested that local contractors also be contacted and bring back to the next Committee meeting. Committee agreed. Ray P~~1cKi nney stated that Youth Acres organization stated that they will be Acres and asked the Commi to pass on for discussion discussion. he will be attending a meeting of the on Wednesday, September 26, 1990. He talking about the well located on Youth ttee if there is anything they would like at the meeting. Nothing was offered for 3 'fir' The next item on the agenda was addressed by Will Taggart concerning the public safety building furnace. Will stated that there are three furnaces for the building and one was replaced while the other has had a retro-fit kit installed. This kit eliminates the series set up for keeping the furnaces operating. He requested permission to purchase and install the kit for a cost of $350.00. A motion was made by Jim Ivtay and seconded by Butch Fuller recommending approval of the expenditure. Voice vote. Motion carried. No further business was discussed and the Lake, Buildings and Grounds Committee was adjourned. Public Works - Water and Sewer Committee Jim May, Chairman The next item was the water deposit procedures. Louis Hagen addressed the Committee concerning the fact that the city has approximately $40,800 in water deposits that is earning interest but is not being returned to the depositors. He stated that he feels the interest earned should be given to the depositors; should be used to help pay delinquent bills; or the city should not require deposits. t~~layor Edwards stated that the state laws are different for cities in comparison to privately owned utility companies. He stated that if the city paid the interest to the individuals, federal forms would have to be filled out for income tax purposes. He suggested that the city could check with the local banks to see if they would be interested in keeping the books, paying the interest and distributing the interest. Harry Steck stated that he, personally, did not like the idea or deposits and has most of his rental properties in his name. The Committee discussed the number of absentee, out of state owners and the amount of delinquent bills for last year. Harry Steck stated that the amount of bills which were written off last year was $11,897 of which $9800 was for International Plastic Recycling Inc. He stated that the city wrote off $409.00 which consisted of bills generally under $15.00. Ray P~icKinney stated that if the bills are delinquent and a lien is filed on the property, the filing fee is $12.00 not to mention the preparation of the paperwork. This is why some bills are written off by the department. Committee discussed the matter further and determined that the Council had voted previously to leave the procedure as is. A motion was made by Jim Play and seconded by Butch Fuller to send the water deposit procedure back to the City Council for further discussion and consideration. Voice vote. Priotion carried. In a related matter, Illinois Department of Roudebush building. Mr name. A representative get the water account would be required. Mayor Edwards stated that the State of Child and Family Services is renting the Roudebush does not want the water in his of DCFS came in to the water department to switched and was informed a $100 deposit The representative informed the Water 4 Department that the State of Illinois did not pay deposits for utilities. Mayor Edwards asked what the feeling of the Committee was on this matter. Ray McKinney stated that he felt they should be treated as any other business and be charged the $100 deposit. Discussion. A motion was rnade by Chuck Chapman recommending to the City Council "no deposit, no water" for the State of Illinois agency. Seconded by Harry Steck. Voice vote. Motion carried. The next item on the agenda was a request from CIC for adjustment on the water bill. Ray fvlcKinney stated that this is on the same meter that the City Council had previously adjusted for the month of February. Ray stated that the low flow of the meter tested 2°% slow and the high flow side tested 13°,'o fast. Ray stated that the City Council had previously adjusted the high flow side of the bill by approximately $7100. CIC is no~v requesting adjustments for March and April on both bills. Discussion followed concerning the time frame in which the meter was tested and repaired. A motion was made by Jim ^~Aay and seconded by Butch Fuller recommending the CIC bill not be discounted. Voice vote. (1 nay) Prlot i on carried . Chris Spears addressed the next item on the agenda. F-le informed the Committee that an application had been submitted to the Illinois Rural Bond Bank for three projects: $1 million for the dredging of the lake; $240,000 for the digester repair; and, $50,000 for the mothballing of the east side wastewater treatment plant. He informed the Committee that $290,000 had been approved. He stated that the deadline for acceptance is September 30th, there is a $250.00 application fee, and asked the Committee's feeling on the matter. He stated that if the city would accept the funds, a special meeting would have to be held. Chris informed the Committee that Pat ~"fright would prefer to use the supplemental income tax funds for the digester repairs and the east side plant. He stated that if bonds are accepted, it would probably mean the rates would have to be increased. Mayor Edwards suggested that the Committee hold off till later this week and to let him, Chris, and Pat make a final determination on accepting the funds through the Illinois F2ural Bond Bank. Discussion. A motion eras made by Jim F•rlay and seconded by Chuck Chapman to let the three officials make the determination on acceptance of the funds. Voice vote. Iviotion carried. ~Aayor Edwards informed the Committee that he has received a letter of intent to retire from Cliff Sagaser effective f~~ay 1, 1991. He stated that this will provide the city time to review the department, consider restructuring and/or replacing the engineer. No action was necessary at this time by the Committee. Mayor Edwards stated that he has received a complaint concerning the road being slick where the sludge is being moved. Cliff O'Brien stated that they have been using the old sweeper to try to keep this area cleaned up but will run it more often if necessary. ~~1ayor Edwards asked why the sludge was being moved twice. Ray PllcKinney stated that the sludge is soupy when it come from the sludge pit. They are placing it on the hill to dry, at which time 5 the farmers will take for incorporation in their fields. The amount of rain received this year has keep the pits wet but they will be installing a pipe for surnp pump access as the pits are cleaned to assist in keeping the pits dryer. No action was necessary on this item. Bob DeRenzy stated that he felt the job done on the flag pole in Jones Park was very nice and was completed before the Friendship Festival Parade. Committee agreed and complimented b'Uill Taggart on the job. Jim i~tay asked if the curb on the west side of Spurgeons could be removed. He stated that he periodically runs over the curb. It was noted that the semis unload in the area and it was designed to keep the trucks out of the line of traffic. Several suggestions were discussed. Cliff O'Brien stated that he could have the curb painted yellow to forwarn drivers of its location. Committee agreed. Will Taggart stated that the Spoon River Weatherization has a 1984, 5000 watt generator for sale for X700.00. He asked if any of the departrnent heads were interested in the the generator. No interest was shown and no action was taken by the Committee. fJo further business was discussed and the Public t{'forks - \^Jater and Sewer Committee was adjourned. Kayma Duncan - Corrrnittee Secretary 6