City of Chenoa City Council met May 23.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The Chenoa City Council met in regular session on May 23, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Shane, Commissioners Myers, Price, Moreland, Lopeman, Attorney Mann and City Clerk Rhoades were in attendance.
#5522 Commissioners Moreland and Price moved and seconded the Motion that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of May 9, 2023 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.
#5523 Mayor Shane and Commissioner Moreland moved and seconded the Motion to Approve MFT Funds for Fiscal Year 2023-2024. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5524 Commissioners Myers and Price moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Enter into a utility Easement Agreement between Campus Communications Group, Inc. and the City of Chenoa subject to addressing restoration in the event of cabinet restoration should such be removed from the easement area and subject to two additional locations for free gigabit including drop for security cameras at City Dump and City Parks. The roll call vote was affirmative by Commissioners Price and Myers and Mayor Shane with negative votes by Commissioners Lopeman and Moreland.
#5525 Mayor Shane and Commissioner Myers moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Appoint Dan Boin, Larry Leggett, Rick Caranza, Mike Chrisman, Bobbi Ludwig, Keenan Wilson, and John Krummick as Zoning Board Members, Dan Butler as the Zoning Officer, Ashley Butler, Sarah Michaels, Cristina Vercler, and Jeannine Sabanas as Economic Development Committee Members, and JD Skaggs, Marion Sheir, and Terry Harrison as Silliman Trust Advisory Members. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5526 Mayor Shane and Commissioner Price moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Appoint Greg Anderson as the ESDA Director. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5527 Mayor Shane and Commissioner Myers moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to use $13,000 of the Restricted Park Pavilion Cash to Pay for New Sidewalk at the City Park. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5528 Commissioners Lopeman and Moreland 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
Sally Decker said Jeannine Sabanas could not be here tonight and asked her to address her low water pressure for her. There is no one else with low pressure on that street. City Clerk Rhoades said she also has brown water and she has spoken with Josh Bell on the issue. Jeannine has been changing her water softener filter once a week.
Liz Easley said the Womens Club Beautification Committee requests brown mulch around the gazebo and the little park area next to the Finish Line as it has not been done in a few years. Commissioner Price and Lopeman said they would figure something out between the two of them as it has always been a battle of what department that falls in. Clayton Bracken said he would volunteer to could it if the City purchased the mulch.
MFT Funds for Fiscal Year 2023-2024
Commissioner Lopeman said this is a yearly thing to appropriate how they spend the MFT funds. Joe Russow, with Farnsworth Group, has worked with the City the last 4 years on this. He meets with the Street Commissioner to discuss the City’s wants and needs for material to maintain the streets, allies, and drainage. This year there is a larger project on the intersection of Lincoln and Second Avenue. This year they have come up with $130,000 that they would like to spend from MFT on. The council had no concerns before passing the resolution.
Utility Easement Agreement
Mark Sheldon with Pavlov CCG Fiber said they have almost installed all of the conduent. They will then pull through the fiber. The agreement they are asking for is to place a steel box cabinet that holds their electronics. They will bring electricity to the cabinet and they will have access to their back bone and be able to bring internet to customers. Residents would pay $70 for 1 GB internet and can sign up on their website. There is no installation cost to the residents. They would need to allow them to connect from the vault to the side of the house which would be about a foot below ground using a mini trencher. They do locate the service line to the house when a JULIE is called in. As long as the easement is given to them the City will receive free internet at City Hall, Water Plant, Maintenance Shed, and Pool which is stated in the agreement. Attorney Mann confirmed that there will be an account on their end for the City showing the free internet. He said they also offer phones. Commissioner Lopeman asked how much the phone equipment cost. Mark said residential is $25 a month, but does not have the cost on hand for the business side. Commissioner Lopeman had some concerns with the City having this agreement instead of allowing a community member like a business being able to make some profit from renting some of their property to them for this. The council agreed to sign the agreement.
PC Youth Football
Brad Rhoades with the PC Youth Football asked the council for some repairs that need done at the field. He said there is no hot water at the building which to them is a high priority because they can be fined by the health department for the concessions. The concession stand doors and window need to be painted and they will do the labor if the City buys the paint. The lights at the field do not work as most don't work at all and others face the wrong way. They need the lights as at the end of the season it starts to get dark while they are still playing. The bleachers are not in good shape and are starting to become unsafe. They will have a total of eight games from September to October there this year. Commissioner Price said he would work with him to get the things done.
Finish Line for Special Liquor License
Tonette said she is wanting to do a Parking Lot Party on June 17th to bring back the second street dance. She will have a snow fence around the area so people can only get in by the front door. She will have Breaking Storm playing 4:30 to 8:30. The council had no concerns and approved her for a Special Liquor License.
Appoint Zoning Board Members, Zoning Officer, Economic Development Committee Members, and Silliman Trust Advisory Members
The council had no questions or concerns with Mayor Shane requesting to appoint Dan Boin, Larry Leggett, Rick Caranza, Mike Chrisman, Bobbi Ludwig, Keenan Wilson, and John Krummick as Zoning Board Members, Dan Butler as the Zoning Officer, Ashley Butler, Sarah Michaels, Cristina Vercler, and Jeannine Sabanas as Economic Development Committee Members, and JD Skaggs, Marion Sheir, and Terry Harrison as Silliman Trust Advisory Members.
Appoint EDSA Director
The council had no questions or concerns with Mayor Shane requesting to appoint Greg Anderson as the ESDA Director.
TIF Agreement for Reliable Engineering
Mayor Shane said the EDC recommended $10,000 up front and 65% of new real estate tax back for life of current TIF. They believe it is in the best interest of the city and Reliable Engineering to re-apply for the TIF if the city’s TIF bill gets renewed. R.E. has discussed future possible expansions and may potentially have additional TIF Eligible expenses. As long as R.E. is in good standing, there should be no reason to renew or renegotiate their agreement at that point. They recommend that Reliable would must submit certified receipts for all eligible TIF expenses, submit an independent audit of their payroll yearly, retain eight new full-time employees to be certified yearly, complete their submitted project before collection of their rebated real estate taxes, submit paid receipts of their real estate taxes yearly before reimbursement, and continue to stay in
business to receipt real-estate rebate. The council had questions regarding how TIF worked before wanting to move forward. They all agreed this has gone on for a long period of time and needs to be wrapped up. They are going to get questions answered from Gwen Crawford before they decide how the agreement should be drawn up.
Restricted Park Pavilion Cash to Pay for New Sidewalk at the City Park
The council had no concerns or questions as this was discussed at a previous meeting.
City Code Title 1 Chapter 6 and Title 1 Chapter 9
Mayor Shane said they are not discussing individuals but how the communication should work between the council and employees. He said he feels they need to follow having a team lead or find a different way to do things. He feels it will not work with 5 different people having 5 different ways of doing things telling 4 employees what to do. Commissioner Price had concerns with a team lead being able to get daily tasks done with needing to be available for communication. Commissioner Lopeman had concerns with 4 commissioners and a mayor playing telephone down to one guy if they used a team lead. He agrees the council does not need to be involved in the day to day but does not feel a team lead is the answer. Commissioner Moreland feels if someone can say what the 4 full time and 3 part time employees are doing and the council prioritizing it would help things get done. Commissioner Lopeman said they have a team lead but have not been currently using it and the pool project got done great. Commissioner Moreland said this may work with this council but they need to look past this council and employees and look at the future. Mayor Shane said he is wanting to work on some kind of structure for now and the future. Attorney Mann said they may want to look at changing to another form of Government. The commission form of government by statute requires the different departments with supervisor authority. The council agreed to table this discussion and look into different forms of government and other options on the communication structure.
Employee Manual and Policies
Mayor Shane said they need to do a deep dive on this but feels they need to get the communication resolved before they get too involved with this.Commissioner Lopeman said he had several questions on the policies. Attorney Mann said he feels it might be best to sit one on one with him to go over everything.
Attorney's Comments
Attorney Mann said there is a solar panel project coming up from the zoning board. He will also look into weight restrictions on roads for the council.
Treasurer’s Comments
None
Commissioner’s Comments
Commissioner Moreland said they are still working on the water color issues but seems to be clearing up and getting better.
Commissioner Lopeman said they have found some beaver dams that have been holding up some of the drainage water. He plans to have those taken out tomorrow. He has been working with IDOT and Ameren to get the street lights up at Rt 66 and 24. The drainage at Silliman Pond is in the works and the drainage at the park should be getting done as soon as the parts get here.
Commissioner Price said the pool had a water main break which the city crew did an awesome job at getting that fixed. The pool is up and running and on track to open. He has a lot he plans to get a lot done in the parks soon.
Commissioner Myers said the grant writer is working on gathering things that the City might be interested in for the City to narrow down and let her know what to go after. He also asked about the sign that is not taken down yet on the alley on Kentucky and was told it is on the list.
Mayor Shane said for right now they will move the budget numbers over and then work one on one with each council member and Bryan. He would like everyone to understand how the budget works. During the water main work on Division a 20 inch tile was hit. The City pays for the material and the County does the work per the agreement. The drainage should be done by the end of the week.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
https://www.chenoail.org/node/586/minutes/2023
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