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CITY COUNCIL MINUTES |
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OFFICIAL MINUTES OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST PEORIA, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2009 7:00 P.M. WEST PEORIA CITY HALL 2506 WEST ROHMANN AVENUE, WEST PEORIA ILLINOIS
A Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of West Peoria, Illinois was held at West Peoria City Hall on October 27, 2009.
1. CALL TO ORDER Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Dillon.
3. ROLL CALL The following members were present: Alderman Dohm, Alderman Dwyer, Alderman Ganson, Alderman Mathewson, Alderman Meismer, Alderman O’Neill, Alderwoman Thomas, Alderman Venzon and Mayor Dillon. Also present were City Administrator Carlson, City Attorney Connor, Economic Development Coordinator Pratt and City Clerk Stephens, Rolland Reinhart, Peoria Journal Star Reporter Scott Hilyard and Township Supervisor DeSutter. City Treasurer Jennifer Main was absent.
4. ADDITIONS TO OR DELETIONS FROM AGENDA None
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion to approve the minutes from the October 13, 2009 City Council Meeting was made by Alderwoman Thomas and seconded by Alderman O’Neill ROLL CALL VOTE – Ayes 8 Thomas, O’Neill, Dohm, Dwyer, Ganson, Mathewson, Meismer, Venzon Nays -0 Absent – 0 Motion Carried
6. COMMUNITY POLICE REPORT Mayor Dillon introduced the new Community Police Officer, James Middlemas, to the City Council, the West Peoria Staff and the residents present at the meeting. Mayor Dillon explained that Officer Chris Watkins accepted other duties with Peoria County. Officer James Middlemas said that he is familiar with West Peoria having worked this area on third shift and that he is looking forward for the opportunity to work 2nd shift in West Peoria starting October 28, 2009. He also stated that he is one of the Officers on the Bike Patrol for West Peoria and the Bike Patrol’s last night will be October 31, 2009. Mayor Dillon thanked Officer Middlemas and welcomed him to West Peoria.
7. MAYOR’S REPORT Mayor Dillon reported that he and Alderman Mathewson attended the Heart of Illinois Mayor's Association Meeting October 21st in Washington. He said that when they arrived at the establishment where the meeting was being held, a former West Peoria resident stopped them and told them she grew up in West Peoria and that she still comes to West Peoria and complimented on the section she grew up in has never changed. It is great to get this type of compliment.
8. TREASURER’S REPORT City Treasurer Jennifer Main was absent. City Administrator distributed the Treasurer’s report. The motion to receive and file the August 2009 Treasurer’s Report was made by Alderman Mathewson and seconded by Alderman Dwyer. ROLL CALL VOTE – Ayes – 8 Mathewson, Dwyer, Dohm, Ganson, Meismer, O’Neill, Thomas, Venzon. Nays – 0 Absent – 0 Motion passed
9. PUBLIC COMMENT Township Supervisor DeSutter stated the Boy Scouts will be selling Christmas wreaths starting November 2, 2009 through November 18, 2009. Call Bob DeSutter at West Peoria Township or West Peoria City Hall and leave a message
10. OTHER BUSINESS – DISCUSSION REPORTS
1) PAWS CONTRACT Alderman Dwyer told the Council members the PAWS contract is on the cutting board with the City of Peoria Budget negotiations and if PAWS has their budget cut we will lose the position and our contract will not be renewed. This could be a potential cost increase for the City of West Peoria or we may need to get someone on the City Staff trained. City Administrator Carlson said he read this in the paper and stated this has not been acted upon. It is a possibility. He told the City Council he called Lauren Malmberg – Director of the Animal Shelter and asked if they were planning on going to the County? Lauren Malmberg said this is a possibility and that it is literally still up in the air. City Administrator Carlson asked Lauren for some specifics if this would happen. If we lose the contract would they still accept the animals if someone would bring them to the pound and if they have someone to provide the training? Lauren stated absolutely. City Administrator Carlson told the City Council this is a hurry up and wait situation and he wanted them to be aware of this situation and he would keep them updated. City Administrator Carlson suggested to Alderman Dwyer that he or one of his committee members call a Peoria City Council member on this subject. There is always a good reception when someone within the City calls the City of Peoria. Alderman Mathewson asked what is the renewal date for the contract and will the City of Peoria honor the contract to the end of renewal time? City Administrator Carlson said that the contract is renewed in April, but it was his understanding it could be earlier, possibly December 31, 2009. He stated he cannot say that factually, but it is the end of their budget. A new budget will be in place January 1, 2010. Mayor Dillon asked Public Safety to keep the council informed.
2) CALLENDER AND WAVERLY Alderman Dwyer said that this was discussed at the Public Safety Meeting with Fire Chief Stecher and Jim Stecher voicing their concern about a four way stop sign at this intersection. At this meeting we also discussed a No Parking Sign on the north side of Waverly and also discussed an email I received on after work traffic going south on Callender and the difficultly judging the traffic on Waverly. This is an ongoing problem with the intersection of Callender and Waverly. The position of the Fire Department is they would not like to have a four way stop sign at this intersection. Their concern is this north-south traffic with volunteers going to the fire station on a call being impeded by a stop traffic sign at that intersection. Alderman Dwyer said we need to find out the extent of this problem and find out how many people are concerned about this intersection and look at the issue from all angles.
3) ZONING REQUEST Economic Development Coordinator Pratt told the City Council this request is from Randy Massey to rezone his property on Callender Avenue, which is adjacent to the property next to the Tartan Inn, for more parking. This may help to alleviate the issue at Callender and Waverly Avenues. This is an empty lot next to the Tartan Inn that Mr. Massey would use for more parking for the Tartan Inn. He will gravel the lot and eventually pave it. Because of the set back requirement for businesses around residential property he could only go within twenty feet of the property line which would limit the additional parking it could achieve. If the house going east on Callender would be zoned commercial he could take the gravel up to the edge of the property. Mayor Dillon said that Mr. Massey owns that piece of property and has been talking about doing this and I suggested he talk with Dan Sullivan the Code Enforcement Officer. Mayor Dillon stated that this would help reduce the amount of cars parked on the corners of Waverly and Callender. Randy Massey has made an official request for rezoning. Alderman Mathewson asked if this would give Mr. Massey a chance to expand his business to the house. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt said the house would be commercial and he could have the opportunity to do something commercial. Alderman Mathewson said his concern is Mr. Massey may want to put in a beer garden. Mayor Dillon said that if Mr. Massey wants to do a beer garden it would have to be rezoned, a beer garden has to be so many feet from a residential property and this does not qualify. Alderman Dohm asked because this is residential would we rather go with Special Use to restrict it? Once we change the zoning and he sells the property it has been zoned commercial and once the property is commercial it stays commercial. Attorney Connor stated we can certainly do that. He said that he will check to see if there is a category in an R-1 that is in our Special Use. If not we can make one. Alderman Dohm said that if the piece of property he wants to pave is a C-1, we would just have to restrict the uses by being an R-l. Attorney Connor said the way to do this is to have it fit into a Special Use under a List of R-1 and if it doesn’t fit in that we can add to the list. The other option is to give them a variance and let them take the screening buffer down to nothing. That will work. Alderman Dohm said this would require one ZBA Meeting for variance. Basically a privacy fence and we would be finished. We would recommend a variance to Mr. Massey. He just wants parking to the property line. The City has precedence of privacy fences along the C-1. This has been done before. Attorney Connor said that this has been done along a road. Alderman Dohm said that one was done behind D&J Pool. Attorney Conner: We made a record at the hearing that is under common ownership with the commercial property that is doing the screening. Alderman Dohm: This is the easiest way for the City of West Peoria to go and still control R-1. Mayor Dillon: Mr. Massey owns the Owl’s Nest and the Tartan Inn property and wants to create parking for both businesses.
4) GREENWAY PROJECT City Administrator Carlson said after the dedication of the Welcome Wall on October 13, 2009 we had a representative from the Greenway Project stop in at City Hall and would like to have one or two residents from West Peoria to sit on their board. City Administrator Carlson said he spoke to one person who may be interested and if you know of anyone who is interested, please let me know. He told the council he emailed the Greenway Project and asked them how often they meet and about the commitment and they were pleased and truly happy to hear West Peoria may have one person on their board. This is another example of inter-city cooperation between the City of West Peoria and the City of Peoria. Mayor Dillon commented since we have become a City and the City of Peoria has seen what we accomplished at the corner of Western Avenue and Main Street with the Welcome Wall, there have been a lot of positive things that have happened because of the Welcome Wall. City Administrator Carlson said this is unusual to have so many items for discussion only on the agenda. There is a lot going on in the City and thought this would facilitate communication as much as possible. We are not trying to take away anything from the Committees. There is just a lot going on. Alderman Mathewson commented this was a good idea.
11. COMMITTEE REPORTS
A. FINANCE COMMITTEE Chair Mathewson: The Finance Committee has not met since the last City Council Meeting. Our next meeting will November 3rd, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall
B. LAND USE COMMITTEE Chair Dohm: The Land Use Committee met on October 21st. 2009. We discussed our zoning problems and went over the parking issues that Public Safety has been dealing with. We discussed the possibilities of garbage pick up being moved to the tax roll and talked about Mr. Babu’s property and about the future zoning issues; easements and contiguous touching someday. We also discussed the time frame and time schedule of the Church. Hopefully the grants will be arriving soon. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt was happy to hear the low number that applied for the grants. He thinks this is a better chance for the City in getting a portion of the dollars. Our next meeting will be November 18th, 2009 at 6:30 at City Hall. Mayor Dillon commented the City got a letter from our State Representative Jehan Gordon supporting our grant request.
C. PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE Chair Dwyer: The Public Safety Committee met on October 21, 2009. The committee had a discussion with Mr. Dave Schaab of Waste Management for an update on our contract with Waste Management. The City has a one year contract left. Waste Management would like to extend the contract and is proposing an extension with some add ons. The City is facing a big issue trying to get the garbage into a single payer format to help eliminate the Code Enforcement Office efforts in chasing down bills that are delinquent. Getting garbage pickup on the tax roll with our real estate taxes, our levy does not allow the room to cover this. Attorney Connor said the equalized assessed valuations – when you apply that to the tax rate – which is separate from our normal levy rate, this kind of a garbage tax is not going to generate enough revenue to cover the whole cost of garbage services. The statute does allow a referendum, but even that is only double the rate and will still be short. We will have to figure out how to tweak this a little. The City will look at a referendum to approve a higher garbage rate in order to make this fly. Alderman Dwyer made the comment we do not have anything actionable now, but we do want to move on this quickly and try to get this on the April ballot. This will insure that every parcel has Waste Management service all year. Some of the difficulty we face will be a three hundred percent increase over what their City taxes are now. However, this would be a zero sum, because the residents are paying this on a quarterly basis to Waste Management. Waste Management will save money on postage and administration cost. The City of West Peoria will save money on man hours. Recycling will be an add on. Waste Management will provide a recycle kit and provide a disposable bag for surgical needles and one for disposable batteries. The real savings will be in staff time. It will be $150 per household times 1,700 equals $260,000 annual cost for the whole City. This is a three hundred percent increase. Payments will be only two times a year on real estate taxes instead of four times a year to Waste Management. Mayor Dillon: When this goes into effect every household will have garbage pick up. This is a good way to incorporate recycling into the program. Mayor Dillon said that a number of years ago the City added landscape pick up. The cost was out of sight. Only a few hundred residents used it – the City included it into the garbage collection and brought the price down so it is more affordable. He then suggested to Alderman Dwyer to get with Alderman Mathewson and the Finance Committee. Also, we need to get as much information as we can to promote this to the residents. The residents think this will make their neighborhood cleaner and is tax deductible if you put this on the real estate tax. If this would cost the City money up front, that would be the City’s commitment to the residents. Alderman Venzon asked if this would be a separate item on the tax bill. Alderman Dwyer: Yes Alderman Dohm: You are using 1,700 households. The City of West Peoria has 2,200 pieces of property. Taxes on vacant lots vary from thirty to two hundred dollars. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt explained this is a proportion scale. There will be some taxes collected that don’t have a need for garbage pick up. It is the same principle as every property gets taxed on District 150 Schools and Illinois Central College. You pay even though you don’t have children taking advantage of the school system. Alderman Dohm: My street has five houses and three vacant lots. The average tax on the vacant lots is thirty dollars. Now it will be one hundred and fifty dollars plus the thirty dollars. Attorney Connor: This is not a per house tax it is based on equalized assessed valuation. Alderman Dohm: This will not be a flat parcel so the larger house will be assessed higher than a smaller dwelling on a smaller lot? Mayor Dillon: They have talked about assessing every piece of parcel. The County has some type of coding system. This can be coded. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt: Some issues will have to be worked out. We can get the answers. It is crucial to get this on the April ballot. We have to decide we are going to do this. Alderman Meismer: We will probably re-up our option year. Normally we could have re-done it this year, but this will not be possible in light of referendum. We will have to re-up our rates for another year. Alderman Dwyer: We will not have the option after next year. Alderman Meismer: Keep in mind if this does not pass in referendum you are talking all new negotiations with Waste Management and they can raise thirty percent like they did in Peoria. The residents need to know there will be a price over what we negotiate for single payer usage. Mayor Dillon: This may be true or not true, in smaller municipalities. The figures are different for whatever reason. We do not want to put the scare factor in the residents. We cannot wait until April We need answers by January 2010. The sooner we have answers it will save it from turning negative from something good. Alderman Dohm: This is a non-presidential year, that means only ten to twelve percent will vote, that means only ten to twelve percent will make this decision. Alderman Venzon: Waste Management will have the answers. Alderman Dwyer: Public Safety Committee needs to go the Waste Management and ask the same questions we have asked before. Mayor Dillon: We need to go to the County as I have suggested finding out their code. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt: I have a list from the County on what lots have houses and what lots are vacant. There are 1,700 subscription houses in West Peoria and 2,250 identified properties. The difference is businesses and vacant lots. This is how we have to do the calculations. The County can code their taxes for property that doesn’t have houses and don’t require garbage pick up. We can ask for exemptions for commercial property. Alderman Dohm: Would it be possible to ask the County for code on multi-family complexes. Economic Development Coordinator Pratt: They know rental property, but I don’t know if the know how many rental units on the property. Their list shows that the property is owner occupied or rental property. Our list is more accurate then the County’s. Our records correspond with the County’s in terms of vacant lots and structures. That issued can be resolved. Alderman Thomas: When will we make the decision? Alderman Dohm: This will have to be an agenda item. Alderman Mathewson: You want this on a referendum in April? If this passes will it be on taxes in 2011? Mayor Dillon: Yes Alderman Mathewson: We will get the money in July and September 2011. Alderman Dwyer: Waste Management has offered to carry the burden for six months at one percent. Alderman Dohm: Asked Attorney Conner about the hearing. What time frame are we looking at to get a referendum hearing passed? Is there a twenty day cooling off period? Attorney Connor: Economic Development Coordinator is going to check with the County Clerk to see how many days in advance before the April election we have to get it to them. Alderman Dohm: Is it twenty-one days after the Public Hearing before we can take an action out. Does anyone know what our window is? Attorney Connor: This is not a backdoor referendum where petitions are required. We can seek as a City to put this one ourselves. A lot of statutes have a time limit on how far in advance you have to get them on the ballot. I don’t see one here. It may be a physical issue with the County Clerk on how far in advance they need to know to be able to get the ballot items programmed in and printed off. Alderman Dwyer: Put on the agenda for our next meeting and have all the answers by December so we can start educating our residents. Mayor Dillon: Gene, can you get some information from the County for the next Finance Committee Meeting? We can start on that level. Our next meeting will be November 18, 2009 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
D. TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE Chair Venzon: We have not met since the last City Council Meeting. Our next meeting will be November 12th, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall.
12. PUBLIC COMMENT None.
13. ADJOURNMENT Motion was made by Alderman O’Neill seconded by Alderman Ganson to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote. Meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
_____________________________ Carole Stephens, City Clerk
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