City of Chenoa City Council met Nov. 9.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The Chenoa City Council met in regular session at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Wilder, Commissioners Buchanan, Bell, Reinhart, Daiker, and City Clerk Rhoades were in attendance.
#5328 Commissioners Daiker and Reinhart moved and seconded the Motion that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 12, 2021 be approved. That the bills and payrolls be allowed, and orders on the Treasurer be drawn in payment of same. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5329 Commissioners Buchanan and Bell moved and seconded the Motion that the council do now adjourn. The roll call vote was affirmative.
IN OTHER BUSINESS BEFORE THE COUNCIL:
Comments from the Floor
Dwayne Price was here for the VFW to ask the council for permission to have the Poppy Drive. They will be at the intersection of Route 66 and Route 24 on November 13 and 14 from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm. The council all agreed to allow this without further questions.
Zack Lopeman asked about the hole with barricades on Second and Commercial. Commissioner Reinhart said they are working this week on the last couple tie-ins for the water main on Commercial Street. He also said the tile under the house on Crittenden was lined up back in April to be sealed. It was then handed over to Commissioner Bell when he took office. It has since been plugged off on both ends and the crawl space has been dry since that was done. He is curious as to what the next steps are as he would like to get this wrapped up before the winter. He claims Commissioner Bell says there is not enough money in the budget to do anything with it at this time. Commissioner Bell and Mayor Wilder agree that they do not see any reason to put more money into this if the crawl space has been dry all summer especially with all the rain lately. Zack would like the tile to be taken out as he does not want a void under his foundation that could collapse which could crack his foundation. Commissioner Buchanan asked if this is on City property or not. Zack said it is not but it is the City’s tile that is under his house. Commissioner Bell, Commissioner Buchanan, and Mayor Wilder all agreed to allow Zack to take out the tile as it has been abandoned at his own expense due to the fact it is on his property.
Rachel Kridner has spent the last two years doing research with her friends, Kaleigh Buchanan, Emily Bell, and Brittany Watson, on different parks in the area. They had found one they really liked. Rachel met with Commissioner Daiker back in February to go over her ideas and told him she would get back to him once she had a solid plan. She said she had a donor come to her and say they would pay for the equipment to go in the City Park by the water tower. The donor is willing to pay $69,135.47 in full. She has a grant to get $42,000.00 off the playground but has to have the check to the company by November 2, 2021. The next opportunity for the grant is in two years. If the council says yes to move forward with this the material will be paid in full. They will have to take down the existing equipment themselves and put together the new equipment. She is hoping to get a group of volunteers for that but can not promise. They could pay around $35,000.00 for the installation. Commissioner Reinhart asked her who would actually be the one to do this. She said it is the 4-H that is getting the grant and making the purchase happen. The council all agreed to have Rachel move forward with this.
Dave Shane said Commissioner Reinhart made a comment at the last meeting he was at that the residents don’t know what the City’s priorities are. Dave asked why the residents would know that and what the priorities are. Commissioner Reinhart said the priorities in the water department are getting Commercial Street done, maintaining the water and sewer plant on a daily basis, finding the water leaks, and fixing things as they arise. He said his comment was about this new committee that is wanting to do things with the park as he has some concerns about it. At the last meeting that committee went on and on about how they feel things are not getting done in the City and he took offense to that. He was stating that the City does a lot that the people don’t see and their priorities are on other things. Dave asked what they have done about what he thinks is a priority. Commissioner Reinhart said he has put water meters in buildings that did not have meters before to account for that water. He also has brought in leak detection companies to find the leaks which have yet to be found. He said he would love to do more but is short on manpower. Dave said he thinks the City losing millions of gallons of water a year would be the priority. Commissioner Reinhart said the water loss they have found was found by mistake when they did the hydrant downtown. He asked how much money should they spend to find the leaks that the companies that have been here could not find. Dave feels they should spend the money to find even part of the leaks. Dave thinks the guy hired for the water should be the one to do all the work and it should not be the Commissioner making the phone calls and paperwork. He said that is what they are hired for and they are the ones out there and know what they are doing.
Andy Jolly said he feels the council should have an increase in pay. He feels they do alot and it would be more of an incentive to do even more for the City. Mayor Wilder said he appreciates that but from his understanding 180 days prior to an election the City Council can pass a resolution to give new, in coming councilmen that pay raise. Anyone still sitting on the council does not get it. He said the council does not do it for the money.
Discuss Use of City Property and Equipment
Commissioner Bell said he feels the City needs to get rid of the bounce house mainly for liability reasons. Commissioner Daiker said the Red Carpet Corridor is the one who bought and donated the bounce house. He thinks the City could just donate it back to them. He also would like to donate the tent to the 4th of July Committee as they are the only ones that use it. He said moving the picnic tables does become very time consuming to move them throughout town. He would like about six tables at each pavilion. If someone needs more tables for a party they are having then the City charges them a fee per table to cover the cost of labor when the employees could be getting other things done. He feels moving tables for events like the 4th of July and Shop-N-Go is fine. The problem is every other week for personal parties. Commissioner Daiker said they would need to do it for all if they do it for one. He thinks they should set it up that the City can waive the fee for nonprofit organizations. Mayor Wilder said this is something that should be looked into and asked Commissioners Bell and Daiker to work with Attorney Mann to draw something up.
Discuss and take action on an Ordinance Authorizing the execution of a TIF Redevelopment Agreement by and between the City of Chenoa and Andrew Jolly
Commissioner Buchanan said they will not be making any decisions as the agreements did not get done by the 48 hour deadline. Andy will present and the council will be able to ask him any questions before it is on the agenda to vote on at the next meeting. Andy Jolly said he just recently purchased the old firehouse downtown. He plans on using TIF funds, if given, to paint the building while keeping the old firehouse character. There will also be tuck pointing and brickwork that will need done. He plans to stay as local as he can with all the contractors he will need. He plans to focus on the residential space in the building as four apartments. There is one current renter. Chuck’s business will stay where it is in the building. The commercial space down stairs will be used for storage at this time but will turn into space that businesses can grow into. It will not be his personal business space but it will be available for any business that wants to come to town. Commissioner Buchanan said the agreement is laid for an up front amount and then a reimbursement amount based on receipts. It is spread out between the rest of this fiscal year and next fiscal year.
Discuss and take action on an Ordinance Authorizing the execution of a TIF Redevelopment Agreement by and between the City of Chenoa and WMC Property Management LLC
Scratched until next meeting
Attorney's Comments
None
Treasurer Comments
None
Commissioner’s Comments
Commissioner Daiker said they are working on getting everything winterized in the parks and pool. He is hoping the guys can fix one of hte BBQ grills that fell apart at the pond during the winter months.
Commissioner Reinhart said the fall hydrant flushing is complete. The two guys have finished their water class so will be scheduling a time to take the test in January. The first time in two and a half years the water shut offs was down to four people.
Commissioner Bell said they are still working on some drainage issues. The tile at Owsley and Gerrard that goes under the tracks is going to have to be pulled out and redone. They are going to have to look at making the detention basin deeper as the water comes up even with the drain and then has nowhere to go. There is a sinkhole on Lincoln and Seventh. The clay tile needs to be replaced and he would like to just go ahead and take it out of town while they are doing it.
Commissioner Buchanan said he has been going over the insurance policy thoroughly the last two weeks. He has paid some updates to the current policy. Once the council makes their decision at the next meeting on what company they want to use for the insurance the City will go through the policy. He plans to have someone go with the reps to each of the buildings to be sure they are fully covered for what they have. He met with Adam Dontz, who is part of the Greater Livingston County Economic Development Committee, last week to go over ideas to get something going by Route 66 and Interstate 55. He got him in contact with Chenoa’s Economic Development Committee to give them some guidance.
Mayor Wilder
None
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
https://www.chenoail.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif6431/f/minutes/10_26_21.pdf
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