City of Chenoa City Council met Nov. 22.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The Chenoa City Council met in regular session on November 22, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Wilder, Commissioners Buchanan, Price, Moreland, and City Clerk Rhoades were in attendance.
#5464 Commissioners Moreland and Buchanan moved and seconded the Motion that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 8, 2022 and the Minutes of the Executive Session of November 8,2022 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.
#5465 Commissioners Price and Moreland moved and seconded the Motion to Approve an Extension to the Intergovernmental Agreement for Chenoa Police Dept. and Township of Yates. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5466 Commissioners Moreland and Buchanan moved and seconded the Motion to Approve an Extension to the Intergovernmental Agreement for Chenoa Police Dept. and Township of Chenoa. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5467 Commissioners Price and Moreland moved and seconded the Motion to Approve an Extension to the Intergovernmental Agreement for Chenoa Police Dept. and Township of Gridley. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5468 Commissioners Moreland and Buchanan moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Adopt the McLean County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5469 Commissioners Buchanan and Price moved and seconded the Motion to Approve TIF Extension. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5470 Commissioners Price and Buchanan moved and seconded the Motion to Approve the 2023 City Council Meeting Schedule The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5471 Commissioners Price and Buchanan 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
None
Extension to the Intergovernmental Agreement for Chenoa Police Dept. and Township of Chenoa, Township of Gridley, and Township of Yates
Chief Cornwall said all of these are extensions of pre-existing contracts. The City has been with Yates Township since 2012, Chenoa Township since 1998, and Gridley Township since 2014. This allows the police to patrol outside of city limits of Chenoa and Gridley. This gives them legal jurisdiction without the requirement to patrol in the townships. This is not like the Gridley contract where they have to spend a certain amount of hours there. There is no cost to the City for this, but the fine money from any of the stops the City gets. Between Chenoa and Gridley there is seven miles of Township. Without the agreement they would have to pretend they don’t see what they see on the way to Gridley. These agreements come up every four years. There were no questions or concerns as Commissioner Moreland spoke with Chief Cornwall prior to get a better understanding of the agreements.
Adopt the McLean County Multi-Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan
Mayor Wilder said a little over a year ago the County reached out to all towns in the County to adopt a hazard plan that is county wide in case there are any hazards that come up. Reggie Allen, who is in charge of ESDA, filled out all of the questions and recommended the City do this. They asked how many gallons the water tower holds in case of a fire, if there is a police station, and other things the City has to offer for safety. So far all the other towns in the County have joined. Zack Lopeman asked what the agreement is. Mayor Wilder said it is similar to the agreement with IPWMAN. This would allow us to go to other communities to help and them to come help us. Zack also wanted to confirm that Reggie and Troy were involved in this. Mayor Wilder said Reggie was very involved in this and is the one that took point on this. There were no further questions or concerns.
TIF Extension
Mayor Wilder said Gwen explained at a prior meeting that the City could extend the TIF by 12 years. In order to do this all taxing bodies in the district have to approve the extension. If the council would like to move forward with this, Gwen will send out letters to all taxing bodies asking for their approval. The State government would have to approve a bill for the TIF extension once all taxing bodies agree. The TIF started in May of 2007 and is to end in 2030, payable in 2031. If the extension was to go through it would give a total of 35 years of TIF ending December of 2043. Mayor Wilder feels they should move forward and propose this. He said it will take about six months for this process. Commissioner Moreland asked what is the downfall to doing this. Mayor Wilder said he does not think there is any downfall to this. He feels the TIF is very beneficial. Mayor Wilder’s understanding is it can not be extended after again, but would be a question to confirm with Gwen. Dave Shane asked why they are doing this eight years before the end of it. Mayor Wilder said Gwen recommended getting the ball rolling on this. There were no further questions or concerns.
ACH Fees for Water Bills
Commissioner Morland said he himself would rather pay his bill online but his wife does not want to pay the service fee required with a card. He then learned there is an option to do ACH. The City is charged $20 each month regardless if there are 20 people or 100. There is a $3.00 fee for the residents who use ACH. He would like to waive the fee for the people who go to paperless billing. He said by going paperless there is savings over time. There was a one time $100 setup fee. We have been doing this for a year now and have 35 accounts signed up for ACH. Commissioner Moreland would like to post for the public more often to get to more people as an option for them. Mayor Wilder said the fee is in an ordinance so they will need to get with Attorney Mann to have something drafted up to waive the fee.
Clear Well
Commissioner Moreland said no matter how much he wants the glass lined tank it is out of the question at this point. The glass lined tank alone is $450,000. The concrete tank is $300,000 while the steel tank is $275,000. The 20-year maintenance cost on the concrete is much less as it is $2,500 while the steel is $80,000. They can put the bids out for both and decide what one they want to go with once the bids come in. He said these prices are just takes and it is estimated to be $75,000 to $100,000 more to do the work. Our current tank is 90,000 but only 75,000 usable and you are not able to pump it all up off the ground because the pipe does not go to the ground. It will be an above ground tank. If it is concrete it will be two 30,000 tanks with a divider in the middle. They can shut one down and still run the other side while they are cleaning it or doing maintenance to it. He does not understand why it can’t be done with the steel tank but was told they can not divide the steel tank. There were no further questions or concerns so Commissioner Moreland is going to put the steel and concrete tanks out for bid. Mayor Wilder recommends Commissioner Moreland request a 14 day review period once the bids come in before they make their decision.
2023 City Council Meeting Schedule
Mayor Wilder said we do not have a second meeting in December due to the holidays. He said the only thing is February 14 falls on a meeting night but they can decide to cancel that one later if they would like. The rest of the schedule looks good and there were no questions or concerts.
Attorney's Comments
None
Treasurer’s Comments
None
Commissioner’s Comments
Commissioner Moreland said there are two hydrants that didn't get done due to parts being months out. They have turned them off and covered them up. There will be about 8 to be replaced and rebuilt in the spring. There are some more new meters being replaced tomorrow. He would like to make Mason Street the big project for next year. They are not getting anywhere with the sewer plant. The new aerators are about $10,000. He asked if they could do something with the playground equipment at the sewer plant. He would like the sewer plant to look half way nice and would like to do something with it instead of letting it sit for 10 years. The original plan was to take it to the pond for a small playground. Mayor Wilder thinks it is still usable and would like to see it get out to the pond this spring.
Commissioner Price said the salt spreader in the back of the 1-ton is in the shop getting fixed. Hopefully they will get that back next week. They do have other vehicles to salt with if they need to salt. They have been busy picking up brush. They are prepared for the winter
Commissioner Buchanan said effective January 1, 2023 he will resign from his seat on the council. He said this is his decision and no one or anything has forced him to make this decision. This is what is best for his family. He plans to make it a smooth transition for the next council member that takes his place. He ran for council with plans to make this community better for his kids and he feels he has done that so far. He thanked the council and the community members for all they have done.
Mayor Wilder thanked Commissioner Buchanan for all he has done. He said it has been a pleasure working with him for 6 years and he will be missed. He thanked everyone for coming and wished them happy holidays.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
https://www.chenoail.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif6431/f/minutes/11_22_22.pdf
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