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CITY COUNCIL MINUTES |
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OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE WEST PEORIA CITY COUNCIL October 13, 2009 AT 7:00 P.M. WEST PEORIA CITY HALL 2506 W. ROHMANN AVENUE WEST PEORIA IL
A regular meeting of the City Council of West Peoria, Illinois was held at the West Peoria City Hall on October 13, 2009.
1. CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Dillon.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Dillon.
3. ROLL CALL The following members were present: Mayor Dillon, Alderman Dohm, Alderman Dwyer, Alderman Ganson, Alderman Mathewson, Alderman Meismer, Alderman O’Neill, Alderman Venzon, City Administrator Carlson, City Attorney Connor, Economic Development Coordinator Pratt, Street Department Manager Strube, City Clerk Stephens. Also, attending Rolland Reinhart, Township Supervisor DeSutter and Barb Kerns from the Bailey Group. Alderwoman Thomas was absent.
4. ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM AGENDA Deleted Item 12 and Item 13.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes from the September 22, 2009 City Council Meeting was made by Alderman Dohm and seconded by Alderman Ganson. No corrections: ROLL CALL VOTE Ayes – 7 Dohm, Ganson, Dwyer, Mathewson, Meismer, O’Neill, Venzon Nays – 0 Absent – 1 Alderwoman Thomas Motion Carried
6. COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT Officer Chris Watkins was absent. No Report. Mayor said Officer Watkins called him and told him he is leaving the Community Policing part of the County Sheriff’s Department and taking on another assignment with the County and if possible Officer Watkins will bring his replacement to the meeting tonight and introduce him to the City Council and Staff at City Hall. Mayor Dillon congratulated Officer Chris Watkins behalf of the City of West Peoria and thanked him for his dedication and great job.
7. MAYOR’S REPORT Mayor Dillon started the Mayor’s Report thanking everyone for attending the dedication of the Welcome Wall located at the corner of Heading and Western Avenues. The Welcome Wall was made possible by the generosity of Mr. Gerard Fahnestock. Mr. Fahnestock left a portion of his estate to the City of West Peoria to benefit the City. Senator Koehler and State Representative Jehan Gordon were in attendance along with Jack Kaufmann and Josh Fahnestock, nephews of Mr. Fahnestock. The dedication was well attended by members of the City Council, the staff from West Peoria City Hall and many of the residents. Immediately after the dedication, cookies and punch were served. The City Council meeting started soon after. Mayor Dillon thanked everyone involved in this project. It is beautiful. Mayor Dillon said that Heading Avenue is complete all except the striping
8. PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Dillon reminded everyone about the West Peoria Fire Department’s Annual Hog Roast Sunday October 18th, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. at Crusen’s on Farmington Road. This is their main fund raiser and is a good way to support the Fire Department and the good they do for our community.
9. MOTION TO APPROVE PAYMENT TO THOMAS N. JACOBS & ASSOCIATES LTD. FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2009 LEGAL FEES IN THE AMOUNT OF $1,497.50 (Line Item 01-11-533) was made by Alderman Mathewson and seconded by Alderman Meismer. No discussion. ROLL CALL VOTE – Ayes 7 – Mathewson, Meismer, Dohm, Dwyer, Ganson, O’Neill, Venzon Nays – 0 Absent – 1 Alderwoman Thomas Motion Carried
10. MOTION TO APPROVE PAYMENT TO THOMAS N. JACOBS & ASSOCIATES LTD. FOR THE FIRST HALF OF 2009 ADMINISTRATION EDG FEES IN THE AMOUNT OF $5,990.00 (Line Item 01-00-500) was made by Alderman Mathewson and seconded by Alderman Meismer. No discussion. ROLL CALL VOTE – Ayes 7 – Mathewson, Meismer, Dohm, Dwyer, Ganson, O’Neill, Venzon Nays – 0 Absent – 1 Alderwoman Thomas Motion Carried
11. MOTION TO APPROVE CITY OF WEST PEORIA TIF DISTRICT FOR PAYMENT 2008 PAYABLE IN 2009 DEVELOPER REIMBURSEMENT TO THE BAILEY GROUP, INC. IN THE AMOUNT OF $4,774.98 (Line Item 15-00-503) was made by Alderman Mathewson and seconded by Alderman Meismer. No discussion. ROLL CALL VOTE - Ayes 7 Mathewson, Meismer, Dohm, Dwyer, Ganson, O’Neill, Venzon Nays – 0 Absent – 1 Alderwoman Thomas Motion Carried
12. DELETED
13. DELETED
14. DISCUSSION ONLY – UNITED DISCIPLES CHRISTIAN CHURCH City Administrator John Carlson asked to have this put on the agenda to bring everyone up to date on some of the activities that are happening with the Church. John asked Economic Developer Gene Pratt to give an insight about the grant that was submitted for geothermal. John said that Gene did most of the work to submit this grant with some assistance. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt stated that in the State of Illinois agency DCEO is providing grant funds for municipalities that are planning to remodel their city halls. The grant funds are part of the Federal Stimulus program. Gene told the Council that there are four grants; two of which we applied for. The first grant is for a geothermal system and the second grant is for lighting. Included in the geothermal system was an opportunity to apply for replacement windows and insulation. When installing the geothermal system they encourage the entities to apply for new windows, which we did. The total package is in the neighborhood of $560,000, we asked the State for seventy-five percent, which is the maximum. Economic Development Coordinator Gene Pratt told the City Council that he and City Administrator Carlson attended a Work Force Development Network Meeting and learned that there were only two hundred entities applying for the four grants that were available. This is for the whole State of Illinois, which is good news for West Peoria. There is a considerable amount of money available, which may be a good indication that we are in a good position to receive money for our proposed geothermal system. Gene told the Council that he has talked with the director of the program. The grant was clarified and in order and stated West Peoria is in good shape. He stated that he does not know when the City will know. They should know within weeks. Alderman Dohm asked if we receive half of what the City asked for, do we have to complete the system to receive the payment? Economic Development Coordinator Pratt answered it was his understanding that once the grant was awarded we would have the opportunity to negotiate with DCEO on the specific terms of the grant. The key is to get the grant in on time. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt told the City Council the City had a mechanical engineer working with West Peoria, part of the grant was a comparison of the existing system to the new proposed system in the terms of energy savings, BTUs, therms and CO2 savings and we also had to include a copy of the software program that the calculations were made from to show the savings. This is a very sophisticated part of the project. In addition, we asked the mechanical engineer to assist with the lighting grant. We had to compare the existing lighting with the ones we are proposing to put in and indicate what the CO2 emission reduction would be. We also had help from Adam Lontai, our architect. City Administrator Carlson told the City Council that another thing to remember is that we agreed when Eric Jones did the audit a question we may have, after he had a handle on the money, is how we might fund it. He then asked Alderman Meismer if he would like to speak on this. Alderman Meismer stated that there are several options we may have, but are not bound by anything. The main thing to keep in mind is as a Council we need to look at the advantages and disadvantages of the different versions and what are we able to afford when it comes down to financing. We have never discussed the financing. Alderman Meismer proceeded to say that the Auditor Eric Jones seemed optimistic that money is available to the City and the City would be able to handle it. The City has options and possibly we are on the right track. As things develop and the money from the grant we are hoping to get will play a big part in how much the City will have to borrow and at the same time keep our financial status as good as it is now knowing that our reserves are safe and knowing that we have some major problems in the Road Department. Everyone is aware of Sterling Hill and the money it will require. It is and has been from the start of the City to stay in the black and that is certainly as a member of the Finance Committee and the City Council to stay that way. As a Council we have talked about our revenues not being as full as they have been, the budget that has been worked out is going to work out and the City will not be over spending. City Administrator Carlson said that the City is continuing to work with the Township on their determination on how much they can help. He then asked if there were any other issues on anything anyone wants to know. Alderman Dohm stated we need to determine where we are going to start. Will we create our financing? Or create our wish list first? The City sort of has the cost to renovate the building. Alderman Dohm said he thought this could be done in stages instead of all up front. He stated now we need to move forward, we have the possession of the building. Do we have a dollar amount we can work into? Mayor Dillon said the Building Committee decided to wait until we met with Eric Jones at budget time and then move forward. Eric did not feel like we would have to go into one of our reserves for the project. We asked City Administrator Carlson to talk with our investor through South Side Bank. Mayor Dillon said that Eric Jones felt this is the prime time for some low interest loans and basically this is what we are doing at this time. Hopefully we will hear before the end of this year on the grants. The original dollar amount we were told to renovate the building was not factual for what we want to do. When we put together the geothermal, lighting, electrical and windows the cost was almost $600,000. Mayor Dillon stated the only way we could afford the utilities bills for a building of that size is if we get the grant for geothermal, insulation and put in the new windows. The Mayor commented that he has heard good things about the grant on the geothermal. Alderman Dohm commented that the grant has a deadline. Mayor Dillon answered Alderman Dohm stating the grant has to be started by February 2010 and completed by February 2011. Alderman Dohm said that this isn’t a very big window to get $250,000 which is only half. Mayor Dillon said that we were going for seventy-five percent and there are two grants. The Finance Committee suggested the City take a slow approach by not letting anyone use the building. We are going to move forward and start the asbestos abatement with money in reserve, turn down the heat next to nothing and get going on the project. The City will have to decide if the plans that were drawn are what they really want. We will have to look at this as we progress. The Building Committee and Finance Committee agreed that we would wait until we get the word from Eric Jones. City Administration Carlson told the City Council he has talked with the bank. Mayor Dillon said the Building Committee will meet and go over everything and the Township has been working with their insurance to try to secure the money they haven’t been able to get. If the Township receives their money, the Township could install a full size elevator in the building. We are waiting on this and we are at the mercy of the State for the grants. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt told the Council that J.U.L.I.E. has been called in and has marked off all the utilities. Mayor Dillon said that hopefully we will have information for a Building Committee meeting and discuss this with the Finance Committee. This has taken quite a bit of time. We have been lucky about these grants and then everyone could get everything done on time. The YMCA has donated tables and chairs for the building, they are being stored at the City garage.
15. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. FINANCE COMMITTEE Alderman Meismer chaired the last Finance Meeting on October 5th, 2009. The Committee met with Eric Jones and discussed the audit and the required letters that go with the audit. We approved payment to Thomas N. Jacobs for the first half of 2009 legal fees. We approved payment to Thomas N. Jacobs for first half of 2009 Administration EDG Fees and approved the TIF payment for the Bailey Group. The committee paid bills and the next meeting will be November 2, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. Discussion: Mayor Dillon said that Eric Jones complimented John, Diana and the City Staff for doing a great job on the budget.
B. LAND USE COMMITTEE The Land Use Committee has not met since the last City Council Meeting. Our next meeting is October 21, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
C. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE The Public Safety Committee has not met since the last City Council Meeting. Our next meeting is October 21, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
D. TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE The Transportation Committee met on October 8, 2009. The committee reviewed the sidewalk petitions, concentrating on Ashland Avenue, trying to get the residents signed up for sidewalks. As we do this project we are still working with them in that regard. The Kenwood and Swords project is completed. Heading Avenue is completed except for the striping. The Sterling Avenue project, according to our City Engineer the tentative date for the application needs to be submitted February 1st , 2010, with selections in a month or two after that. Hopefully in a few months we will be able to see where we are at in the second round of funding. Henry finished the work on Richmond Avenue. The committee reviewed our goals. The next meeting will be on November 12, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Discussion: Mayor Dillon commented that unfortunately we will have our work cut out with trying to accrue more money because most of the municipalities surrounding us, their budget restraints are cutting back on the everyday street maintenance and even snowplowing. Their streets will start deteriorating like Sterling Hill. I am sure that Alicia will be on her toes, but we will also be on our toes fighting for the second phase of Sterling Avenue. Alderman Venzon said she will. She got us money for the first phase.
16. PUBLIC COMMENT None.
17. ADJOURNMENT Motion to adjourn was made by Alderman O’Neill and seconded by Alderman Ganson. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Meeting adjourned at 7:35 p.m.
___________________________ Carole Stephens City Clerk
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