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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-12-2013 Clerical Committee Minutes CITY OF CANTON CLERICAL COMMITTEE Tuesday February 12, 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 Treasurer Nicole Marter, Mayor Kevin Meade, Comptroller Caty Campbell, Fire Chief Keith Frank, Police Chief Dan Taylor, Executive Director Spoon River Partnership Missy Towery Joe Ginger Video Services. In the audience: Firefighter Jay Smith, Blake Flickinger News Media- Daily Ledger Finance Alderman Craig West, Chairman BILLS Alderman Fritz asked for an explanation on three of the bills listed on this month's bill list. Listed below are the items questioned along with the explanation. 1. ICMA Contribution for Jim Snider: The City of Canton pays into both IMRF and ICMA retirement contributions based upon the employment contract for Jim Snider. The City pays 2.0% into the ICMA retirement fund monthly. 2. Why is this not reflected in the budget? Comptroller Caty Campbell will do some research and report back. 3. What are the legal services to Claudon, Kost, Beal and Waters? The expense was for post arbitration briefs for the police union negotiations. 4. What is the misc. expense to the Canton Chamber of Commerce? The City paid for attendance at the annual dinner for the Mayor, City Clerk, City Treasurer, Comptroller, City Administrator and City Attorney. 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 statement of cash flow at the end of January was three million dollars. The investments were at 4.4 million dollars. The budget comparison report reflects $110,093.00 month to date gain with a$25,644.00 year to date gain. The water/sewer fund reflects a$144,050.00 month to date gain with a$1,083,106.00 year to date gain. Other items to note: Track Equipment has paid their revolving loan in full. As of January 31, 2013 Fuller's Jewelry was four months delinquent on their loan. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Fritz to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. FULLER JEWELRY REVOLVING LOAN DELINQUENCY At the end of January Fuller Jewelry was four months behind on their loan. Over one year ago the City Treasurer began sending monthly notices to everyone with a revolving loan. Fuller Jewelry has been notified monthly of their loan balance and past due amount. On January 23, 2013 attorney Peterson sent a letter to Fuller Jewelry notifying them of their delinquency. City Treasurer Nicole Marter called Fuller Jewelry on February 7, 2013 to notify them that they were being put on the agenda for discussion at tonight's meeting. A payment was received on Friday for $700.00, however due to the delinquency most of this payment went toward interest. Fuller Jewelry is still delinquent for December, lanuary and February 2013. Nicole asked for Council recommendation on how to proceed with the delinquency. Discussion: Nicole further explained that the monthly payment is $283.07. City Treasurer Nicole Marter tried to call Fuller Jewelry but was unable to contact him and to date he has not returned her phone call. Nicole stated that she asked to talk to accounts payable. Nicole was told by accounts payable that "it will be tricky to make the payment:' The original loan amount was $15,000.00 with a remaining balance of $9,016.50. Attorney Peterson explained that the city could "call the note". The City would take them to small claims court based upon the have left. The City could also ask Mr. Fuller discuss a better payment schedule that works for his business. Mayor Meade explained that previously Mr. Fuller was paying more than his required monthly payment and even paid down the principal amount ahead of schedule. The delinquency has occurred over the last three months. Attorney Peterson said that the last time the City had a delinquency in a loan; the City drafted the appropriate lawsuit. When the notice was filed, the business asked for an amendment in their payment terms. The Council at that time agreed to the amendment. Recommendation: Aldermen West made the recommendation to contact Mr. Fuller and see if an agreement could be made to work out the delinquency. Attorney Peterson stated that before the next Council meeting she will reach out to Mr. Fuller, however if she is unable to reach him the City will need to notify him of the only other alternative. Attorney Peterson will see if any collateral exists on the loan and report back. CALL ONE CONTRACT RENEWAL The City's contract with Call One, our local and long distance carrier is due to expire. We have been working with our contact on negotiating rate decreases. Call One has offered rate decreases in many of our monthly service charges as well as the interstate and intralata long distance rates. We have also had a rate increase with Powernet Global, which is also a long distance carrier. The current rates with Powernet Global are $0.039 more for intrastate and $0.054 more for interstate than Call One's current and proposed rates. Powernet Global also increased the monthly service fees as of January 1, 2013, thereby doubling the monthly payments. After negotiating prices with Call One, who also works with C.U.S.D #66 and the Canton Park District we have a proposal for a 3-year contract that will bring an estimated savings of $13,891.71 over the term of the contract. It is the recommendation of the City Treasurer to cancel our services with Powernet Global and to sign on to the 3 year contract with Call One. Motion and second were made by Aldermen West/Pickel to send to Council for consideration. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. FINANCE DEPARTMENT WEBPAGE Nicole Marter explained that she has worked with Dana Smith at the Chamber of Commerce to create a webpage for the finance department for The City of Canton. (www.cantonillinois.or~j The front page of the website gives the basic information regarding the duties performed by the Treasurer and the Comptroller and the hours of operation. The accounting subpage gives information regarding taxes collected, certified payroll forms and links to the Illinois department of labor. A direct link to the hotel/motel tax ordinances is located on this webpage. The annual audit, tax levy, annual treasurer's report, and bills paid are all found under the financial section of the webpage. Mayor Meade stated that this was an excellent step forward in the goal to create transparency in the city. SPRINGBROOK UPDATE The new software (Springbrook) conversion has begun and the templates have been submitted for phase 1. Phase one will be going live in approximately 5 weeks. The conversion templates will begin in the month of March. The City will be using Springbrook for the general ledger; accounts payable and accounts receivable module as part of phase one by the end of March. Alderman Pasley asked if the workload is being balanced between the conversion and day to day duties. Nicole further explained that she has reached out to the City of Galesburg (who uses the software) for recommendations that will help make the conversation easier. LOCAL DEBT RECOVERY UPDATE Nicole Marter stated that $11,900.58 was collected from the local debt recovery since the initial letters were sent out for past due water bills. Legal & Ordinance Alderman Jeff Fritz, Chairman AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 10 (WATER AND SEWER SYSTEM RATES) OF TITLE 8 (PUBLIC WAYS AND PROPERTY) Alderman Fritz explained that he has received some phone calls from people in the community regarding the proposed ordinance. The concern is between billing the landlords or the tenants and some of the language in the proposed ordinance. Discussion: Further discussion took place regarding the best way to utilize the new software and help with the past problem the city has experienced between water billing between the landlord, tenants and the City. Recommendation: Mayor Meade suggested holding a meeting with the landlords to gain further feedback on suggestions that would best meet the needs of the landlords and tenants. Comments: Chris Harmon was in the audience and explained that the tenants should be held responsible for the water usage and amount due. When tenants are not held responsible, they don't care so they just leave large water bills up to the property owners. Motion and second were made by Aldermen Fritz/Pasley to table the discussion until the next legal and ordinance committee meeting.. The motion carried by voice vote and was unanimous. CITY ORDINANCE VIOLATIONS Alderman Fritz asked if there was an update on the city ordinance violations. Chief Taylor explained that he did not have an update at this time. Further information will be brought for future discussion. Community & Industrial Development Alderman Jeremy Pasley, Chairman UPDATE FROM MISSY TOWERY SRPED EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR GENERAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT POINTS RETAIL/COMMERCIAL/INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT • Work with Havana realtor whose client wants to come to Canton to open retail shop • Theater Project Work • Conversation with person interested in lots at Industrial Park BUSINESS DEVEOPMENT, ATTRACTION AND SUPPORT ~ Met with local business regarding their concerns at tndustrial Park • Business retention visits • Scheduled trip to Bloomington, IN to meet with Bio-Medical Company Bioconvergence to discuss their suggestions for attraction • Meeting with Mayor Meade, Jim Snider, Chrissie Peterson and developer Evan Oliff. TOURISM REPORT • Please see the reverse for a report from Dana Smith. CANTON MAIN STREET • Worked on and attended the Glacial Golf fundraiser • Work on the Downtown Signage Committee • Board prep and attendance OTHER ~ Worked on information for the City's Strategic Planning Committee Goals 336 Information Theater Presentation • Sent updated information for USDA grant to keep us eligible for funding Wireless Internet Missy explained that she has been working with Ben Martin who is a Canton High School senior working on the downtown Wi-Fi project. Missy would like to give an update on this project and ask for input. Ben Martin started the project by reaching out to other communities that had Wi-Fi in their downtown. During the research Ben made a contact-Travis Brown- The director of historic Quincy downtown. Travis explained that when they first started their project he got involved during the middle. One of the things that he learned while working on this project was to be careful with the company you select to work with. Missy explained that the company that Quincy is working with is not an internet provider but a cloud based management system. They would provide network access points. The City would start with one access point at a cost of $200.00. This access point goes out approximately 500 feet. A large portion of the downtown could have the Wi-Fi with four to five access points. One of the road blocks might be where the cables would be located. It would need to be determined if the cables would be placed underground and where the starting point would be. The other concern would be the security of the network. One business owner explained that they have Wi-Fi but they do not open it up to the public because they are worried about the security. Ben will be looking into how other communities have laid their cables and what works out the best. Missy said she wanted some feedback and take back any questions to Ben to continue with the research. Alderman Schenck further discussed the relationship between the partnership and the City of Canton. It would be a good idea to have a great sense of needs, goals and accomplishments. Tourism should be focused on at a higher level-and have some goals set directly to tourism. Alderman Pasley suggested submitted some actions items to Missy to have met by the end of the year. The Partnership would then submit a report back to the Council on the accomplishments and goals. Alderman Schenck further expressed great concerns for finding a business to put 61 East Side Square to use. General Marketing & Tourism • Researched Our Town grant from the National Endowments for the Arts to explore the idea of funding murals in the downtown during the Art on Main Fine Arts Festival on lune 1-2. This included contacting Pontiac Proud, Pontiac's equivalent of Main Street, and phone and email contact with Bill Diaz, a Wall Dogs muralist. Met with Mayor Meade and reported that because of deadline constraints with the grant, the application will be submitted for the next grant cycle (2015). • Met with Jean Stone on January 10 at Canton Harvester Inn and developed a"wish list" of items she would like to have for guests at the hotel, including a map of the downtown identifying the locations of shops and restaurants within walking distance, a self-guided historic walking tour of the downtown area, a weekend shopping "pass" for guests to use at downtown businesses, creating a database of local anglers and hunters who would be willing to take guests fishing and hunting during their stay, and a historic West End walking tour brochure. • Designed and developed a 16-page marketing brochure for the Spoon River Partnership for Economic Development designed to be used by Missy Towery, as Executive Director, to encourage businesses to build or expand their businesses to the Canton area. Missy Towery, Tommy Bohler, Susan Miller, Maurer-Stutz, and the City all collaborated to update and/or research pertinent information that was used for the content of the piece. The brochure can be printed in hard-copy and mailed to interested parties, and a downloadable.pdf format will also be available on the Partnership's side of www.cantonillinois.or~. • Reviewed a web design used by the City of Peru, Illinois, for economic development, and have begun preliminary research on how to reorganize the Partnership's portion of the website to have similar a structure and content categories. Will work with GovOffice.com to explore redesign possibilities. • Accompanied Missy Towery to the Visitor's Center in Lewistown to meet with Lewistown Mayor John King, Alicia Campbell, Kelvin Sampson, Steve Adams and Amanda Woodruff to tour the facility, review the size and style of Canton's display and see a demonstration of a proposed interactive kiosk/table that will allow visitors to access links to the communities featured in the Center. Canton Main Street. • Attended a planning meeting for Glacial Golf with Missy Towery, Susan Miller and participating bar owners at Crawford's Home Furnishings on January 3. • Attended a planning meeting for Fulton County's Got Talent on Friday, January 4. • Attended Canton Main Street Coffee at Crawford's on Tuesday, January 8. • Organized and oversaw Canton Main Street volunteers to take down Christmas decorations and lights in lones Park on January 8. • Attended and Art on Main planning meeting on January 8. • Assisted with organizing and bundling Glacial Golf t-shirts on January 16. • Served as a"hole-watcher" for the Glacial Golf fundraiser from 10:00 a.m.-6:30 p.m. on Saturday, January 19. • Met with Dennis Crawford and Jean Stone from Canton Harvester Inn to discuss her participation in Canton Main Street. • Attended the Canton Main Street Board meeting on Tuesday, January 29, at the First Christian Church from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Website • In January, www.cantonillinois.or~ had 34,731 pages views, with 13, 415 unique IP addresses. • In January, the www.visitcantonil.or~ had 2,032 page views, with 999 unique IP addresses. • Met with Caty Campbell, City Comptroller, and Nicole Marter, City Treasurer, to create a new home page for the City's financial department, including two new subsections and creating 18 links to finance-related documents. The pages are now live on the site. • Contacted City Clerk Diana Pavley, and set a meeting for February 6 to create a Human Resources subsection for the City Clerk page on the website. Negotiations, Grievance & Personnel Alderman Dave Pickel, Chairman ADJOURNMENT Motion and second were made by Aldermen Pickel/Hartford to adjourn into executive session for the pur s of personnel, negotiations and potential land acquisitions. Dian avley City Clerk