Village of Hudson Board Trustees met Sept. 7.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Dave Brutlag called the regular meeting of the Hudson Village Board to order at 7:00 P.M., at the Hudson Police Department, 107 Front St., Hudson, IL.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Dave Brutlag led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.
ROLL CALL
| Present (in person)
Mayor Dave Brutlag Trustee Joe Boyd Trustee Kathy Brooks Trustee Steve King Trustee Phil Morris Village Clerk Allison Brutlag | Present (via Zoom)
Trustee Lynne Norris | Absent
Trustee Aaron Kinder |
“All matters listed under CONSENT AGENDA are considered to be routine and non-controversial by the Village Board and will be enacted by one motion and one roll call vote. There will be no separate discussion on these items. If discussion is desired by a Citizen or Trustee, the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and discussed immediately after approval of the Consent Agenda.”
Items for the consent agenda are:
a. Approval of open minutes and closed minutes (if needed) from the August 3, 2021 board meeting
b. Financial statement and payment of bills for August
Dave asked if there were any questions on the minutes or treasurer’s report; there were none.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY PHIL MORRIS TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA FOR AUGUST. SECONDED BY KATHY BROOKS. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
Police Chief Mark Kotte introduced the new full time police officer, Chris Lane. Allison swore Chris in and he will begin September 28th.
VILLAGE PRESIDENT: Dave Brutlag
5 Year Plan status
Dave said that Denny will cover this. There has been progress made on drainage and on the sidewalks.
ARP money
We will be notified soon when the money will be in our account. IML redefined what the eligible uses are for the ARP money. We have a question in to the company about what we can count as revenue loss. We were losing tax revenue but then had a couple of new businesses open. Dave said he isn’t sure if we can make allowances for the new businesses opening. We will also ask if expenses for updating buildings would be eligible for ARP money. We haven’t received money for the building updates from the CARES money.
Employee Whistleblower Reporting- Lynne will coordinate
Dave asked Lynne if she would research and coordinate whatever we need to do for the reporting for the employee whistleblower. Lynne hasn’t looked into it yet but hopefully by next meeting there will be information.
Passes from McLean County History Museum
The McLean County History Museum sent some free passes to the village. Each pass gets up to 8 people in. Anyone in Hudson who is interested in going, can stop by the water house to pick up a pass.
Discuss and vote on a donation for Lights in the Park
At last month’s meeting, we had a discussion on the Christmas light display in the park. Dave said we haven’t had a request for funds but he wants to know if the board wants to make a donation. After some discussion, the board decided to donate $500. Phil said we can give more later if we can. This will get them started and maybe more people can donate as they see what’s going on.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY PHIL MORRIS TO DONATE $500 FOR THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS DISPLAY IN THE PARK. SECONDED BY JOE BOYD. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED
Storm Siren Backup Generator
Dave shared he had a recent meeting with the ESDA director. The storm siren takes 220 power and the backup generator for the water department doesn’t have 220 power. This is a critical tower for the town. We need to get pricing on how much a generator would cost to install a 220 generator for backup power. Mark said the key is to have a generator that will run a 3 phase, 220 power. Greg Gustafson, with Berns Clancy, stated we would need a device to take a single phase power and convert it into a 3 phase power.
Social Media Policy status
Dave said we need a policy with how we use social media. It needs to address how we communicate to people and how/when to respond.
The census results are back. In 2010, Hudson was around 1800. In 2020, the results said 1753, which doesn’t sound right. There were 19 houses built within those 10 years. Our estimated population is over 2100. Kathy will do some follow up on the census. The appeal process is frozen right now.
Dave reported he, Marc, Dale, Steve and Mike O’Grady attended a county transportation committee meeting. They asked them to consider changing the county ordinance for allowing golf carts on county roads. Golf carts can cross the county roads but aren’t allowed to drive them. The county asked for more specific information on what we want in the ordinance. Dave said after we work with Pat and Mark on an ordinance, we will get the information to the county board before their next meeting. The county is looking for something they can apply county wide.
WATER, PUBLIC PROPERTY, STREET AND ZONING: Denny Engel
Denny Engel reported that the September water billing is the first true read since everything has been fixed. The report showed we only had a 3% water loss. We are around 95,000 gallons a day. Denny thanked Marc Meyer for his help on doing a lot of the water admin things. There was a problem with a tree in a right away. Denny thanked Tyler and Marc for helping to get that down and the problem is now resolved. He also appreciates all of Phil’s work for getting pricing for different equipment. Denny stated about 75% of the MFT sidewalk is completed. The Dollar General sidewalk is all approved by the county. The sidewalk should be started by the beginning of next week. Tyler, Logan and Denny exercised the gate valves in Prairieview and fixed a few problems. Next Wednesday, Denny, Marc and possibly Tom, will be going to the annual water conference. Denny thanked Dale for all of his help throughout the years. The cross connection survey is still trickling in. Denny asked if maybe we could put out another social media push to get more returned.
VILLAGE MARSHALL: Police Chief Mark Kotte
Dave thanked our police department for their work with county and state officials for apprehending a suspect. Police Chief Mark Kotte thanked all the law enforcement agencies for apprehending the suspect, Bryan Morgan. He had been hiding in a cornfield for several days. Mark reported there has been some vehicle burglaries earlier last month. All the vehicles were unlocked. Mark reminded everyone to lock the doors on their cars and remove valuables from their cars. He thanked citizens who responded to the information that was shared on Facebook. Instead of putting a new pole in at the park to help with lighting, Ameren suggested we just upgrade the light that is already there. Steve will discuss the roof replacement at the police station during his report.
CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTOR: Fire Chief Jeff Thomas
The civil defense director was absent. Some of the sirens went off today but we aren’t sure if they all did.
CITIZENS HEARING
Richard Bland asked what the ETA is for the Dollar General sidewalk. Denny hopes it is done by Halloween. He also stated that he has looked on the Hudson web page and the most recent version of the Hudson 5 Year plan hasn’t been uploaded. There haven’t been timely updates from Scott. Dave said he will be setting up a meeting with Scott. Scott has been providing service to the village for a lot of years. Another question Mr. Bland had was about a lighting deal with Ameren to replace street lights with highly efficient lights. Dave spoke with them and we have been on a list but we haven’t heard anything from them. Dave thanked the planning commission for their work.
REPORTS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEES
Finance, Budget, Contracts and Employees Department: Trustee Lynne Norris
Discuss and vote on the McLean County Animal Shelter contract and discuss and vote on the removal contract
Trustee Lynne Norris stated we have two new contracts to review and vote on. Everyone has copies and Mark has looked it over as well. Lynne asked if there were any questions. Kathy said the way she read it was that the village will be charged a certain fee on each contract and if an individual picks up animals, the village would also have a fee. Lynne will get clarification on that before we vote on the contracts.
Lynne said #7 is for the fee for after hours and #11 is if we have requested them to hold the animal longer than the 7 days. After the 7 days, we have to agree to pay the extra fees. Dave asked Pat to review the ordinance to update the cost of pickup. Lynne will send a copy of both contracts to Pat.
Mark said the removal contract is pretty straight forward but it’s the policies and procedures on who is authorized to call animal control to remove an animal. If we don’t control who’s authorized to call animal control, citizens could call and then the village would get billed. Both contracts will be tabled for this meeting and Lynne will work with Pat to get the contracts ready for the next meeting.
Street Department: Trustee Phil Morris
Discuss and vote on purchasing a CUESMP+ inspection system auto upright camera with Sonde, 200’ of push cable DVR recording device for a price of $13,089.00 and a Prototek Linefinder2200 receiver for $1625.00
Trustee Phil Morris stated we have talked about this the last couple of meetings. This money would come from the ARP funds we have received. He has talked to a couple of contractors for purchasing the equipment for the camera and locator. Phil said he doesn’t have final numbers for the vac truck.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY PHIL MORRIS TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF A CUESMP+ INSPECTION SYSTEM AUTO UPRIGHT CAMERA WITH SONDE, 200’ OF PUSH CABLE DVR RECORDING DEVICE FOR A PRICE OF $13,089.00. SECONDED BY JOE BOYD. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY PHIL MORRIS TO APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF A PROTOTEK LINEFINDER2200 RECEIVER FOR $1625.00. SECONDED BY JOE BOYD. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
Dave wanted to qualify that this purchase can wait until the ARP money has come in. Phil has talked to Sara and there is money we can use to hold the camera and then when the ARP money comes in, we can reimburse the fund.
Phil thanked Denny for staying in contact with him while he was away. Denny’s made great progress on projects. Dave said he’s heard from a lot of people in town complimenting the amount of progress that has been made on projects by Denny, Tyler and Logan.
Ordinance and Zoning Department: Trustee Kathy Brooks
A MOTION WAS MADE BY KATHY BROOKS TO AWARD THE PRELIMINARY CONTRACT FOR THE RFQ TO BERNS CLANCY. SECONDED BY PHIL MORRIS. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
Pat said we should have a professional services agreement written up. Berns Clancy probably has a standard agreement. Greg Gustafson, from Berns Clancy, is in attendance and stated he has copies of the agreement to leave with the village tonight. We will get it scanned in and sent to Pat for review.
Discuss and vote on an ordinance declaring surplus and authorizing the sale of personal property
A MOTION WAS MADE BY KATHY BROOKS TO APPROVE AN ORDINANCE DECLARING SURPLUS AND AUTHORIZING THE SALE OF PERSONAL PROPERTY (2015 CHEVROLET CAPRICE, VIN #6G3NS5U25FL119830, MILEAGE 47,887). SECONDED BY PHIL MORRIS. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
4.2.3: Collection Procedures: add Trash time 24 hours either direction of pickup schedule Joe asked why we need this ordinance. Kathy said there is apparently a problem with people putting out their garbage cans 4-5 days early and then leaving them out 2-3 days after pickup. This is a draw for animals and it is unsightly. The ordinance lists for just the cans but in some situations there is bulk that sits out longer. Denny also gave the example of people that put branches out the day after limb pick up. Phil asked if this change includes brush as well, but it just says garbage containers. He said brush may have to be a different policy or ordinance. Dave said we need to act on this particular ordinance on garbage cans and then do something different for limb pickup. Kathy said those are all valid comments and this item will be tabled while she relooks at it.
9-4-9: Home Occupations: add off street parking requirement
If a resident has a home occupation business, they would have to provide off street parking. Dale stated there is a business in town with a lot of trucks and trailers parked along a narrow road. Intersections are often blocked within a residential area. Joe asked what businesses we are talking about. If the location is a business, isn’t it supposed to be registered. Denny said if you have 4 trucks and trailers all parked in front of your house and your neighbor’s lots, no one can ever park there because the employee’s cars are there. That’s the situation we have. Phil said the business we are talking about is more of a commercial business operating in a residential area. They can operate in a residential area as long as they don’t have more than one employee outside the family working in the business. Dave said it is a family business but we don’t know how many employees they have. Dave doesn’t know if passing the ordinance will change any other home businesses in Hudson. Phil thinks it needs to be researched further. This will impact the very small businesses. Pat stated he will check to see how many home occupations we have but he imagines there are less than 10 home occupations in town. Dave asked if we can get a list of home occupancy businesses. Most communities have to register home occupancies but we don’t require this. We could look through the sales tax and find a list of home businesses.
6-4-6: I-8 and J-8, Operations Requirement: Seat belts must be worn by all occupants, J add word “equipment”
We require all golf carts and ATV’s to have seat belts. This ordinance change would add that all drivers and passengers have to wear seat belts.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY KATHY BROOKS TO APPROVE THE OPERATIONS REQUIREMENT: SEAT BELTS MUST BE WORN BY ALL OCCUPANTS, J- ADD WORD “EQUIPMENT” (ORDINANCE #1353). THE MOTION WAS NOT SECONDED.
Further discussion was held regarding seat belts. Can we do seat belts for those occupants less than 16? Mark said we can craft it anyway we want. The thought process by requiring everyone to wear a seat belt was when we go to the county, we want to make sure all the safety procedures are included.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY STEVE KING TO APPROVE THE OPERATIONS REQUIREMENT: SEAT BELTS MUST BE WORN BY ALL OCCUPANTS, J-ADD WORD “EQUIPMENT” (ORDINANCE #1353). SECONDED BY KATHY BROOKS. JOE BOYD- NO, KATHY BROOKS- YEA, STEVE KING- YEA, PHIL MORRIS- YEA, LYNNE NORRIS- YEA. WITH 4 YEAS, THE MOTION PASSED.
Phil asked if there will be any leeway when enforced. He said rules of the ordinance haven’t gotten out to people and not everyone is aware of the current guidelines. Dale and Mark will look into it.
Police Department: Trustee Steve King
Discuss and vote on a contractor to fix the roof at the police station
Trustee Steve King reported we received 4 bids for roof repair at the police station. All 4 bids have different approaches and all the warranties are different. One bid was for a wash and spray coat. The second one was to add plywood and then add a coating on top of that. The third bid was for a coat spray system. The last bid was for a complete metal replacement. It has a 40 year material, warranty and a 10 year labor warranty. This company requires a 50% down payment and then would start the project 2-3 weeks after receiving the down payment. This is the only bid for a complete tear off and putting down new metal. Steve thinks this last bid is a good idea. Pat said it is atypical for a company to ask for 50% down on a municipal project. Lynne would like more information on the business. It is family owned and operated for 25 years. Pat said the board has to decide what route we want to go. The board could vote on it tonight or go through a bidding process for the exact same scope of work. Lynne said if the company is asking for money down, she would like to see referrals as well. By next month, we will get at least 3 bids for tearing out the old roof and putting on a new metal roof.
Discuss use of Facebook
Steve has received questions as to why the village didn’t put out a text in regards to the incident that happened last week. He said the texts have a limit of 480 characters so rather than putting out a half statement, they chose to share it on Facebook. However, we can’t respond on Facebook due to the policy. Mark said there were good questions posted on Facebook but we just can’t respond back. The response people get back says they should call the PD directly. Kathy asked about people who don’t use Facebook. Mark said some people have Facebook and some don’t, just like some signed up for the text alerts and some don’t. Facebook is the only tool we have to get information out outside of a news outlet. In this particular situation, it wasn’t even our case. Kathy and Joe suggested we could send a text alert that says to check Facebook. Dave stated we will never reach all the residents of Hudson at once but he wants to get out information to as many as possible. Steve and Mark will sit down together to discuss the best way to notify people.
The F150 has been purchased. Steve asked if there was an update on the siding and roof on the Unit 5 garage. We are waiting on the supplier with the siding. The siding will be put on by the maintenance crew from Unit 5. For the roof, it will be a full replacement because of hail damage. The insurance has approved it. Dale got the bid from a contractor. We can go ahead and move forward with the roof replacement.
Water Department: Trustee Joe Boyd
Trustee Joe Boyd had no report. He thanked Denny for saving the village money.
Public Property: Trustee Aaron Kinder
Trustee Aaron Kinder was absent.
Liquor Commissioner: Mayor Dave Brutlag
There was no report.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY PHIL MORRIS TO MOVE INTO CLOSED SESSION TO COMPLETE THE 6 MONTH REVIEW OF CLOSED SESSION MINUTES. SECONDED BY STEVE KING. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
Once back in open session, there is one agenda item.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY JOE BOYD TO APPROVE RESOLUTION NO. 20-05, A RESOLUTION REGARDING THE RELEASE OF CLOSED SESSION MINUTES. SECONDED BY STEVE KING. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
THERE BEING NO FURTHER BUSINESS, A MOTION WAS MADE AT 9:36 P.M. BY PHIL MORRIS. SECONDED BY STEVE KING. ALL YEA- MOTION PASSED.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1QR_6hqNzFc7jVmApDLHgYvZHKQm1LGG0
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