City of Chenoa City Council met Aug. 8.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The Chenoa City Council met in regular session on August 8, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Shane, Commissioners Myers, Price, Moreland, Lopeman, Treasurer Rowold, and City Clerk Rhoades were in attendance.
#5564 Commissioners Price and Moreland moved and seconded the Motion that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of July 25, 2023, the Minutes of the Executive Session of July 25, 2023, the Minutes of the Special Session of July 16, 2023, the Minutes of the Executive Session of July 16, 2023, and the the Minutes of the Special Session of May 31, 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.
#5565 Commissioner Myers and Mayor Shane moved and seconded the Motion that the City of Chenoa agree to split the grant writer bill of up to $4,000 for pickleball court and basketball court OSDIA Grant through DNR. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5566 Commissioner Moreland and Price moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Enter into Executive Session to Discuss the Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Discipline, Performance or Dismissal of Specific Employees of the City of Chenoa - Section 2(c)(1) and Executive Session to Discuss Litigation – Section 2(c)(11) – Pending Probable or Imminent Litigation. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5567 Commissioners Price and Moreland moved and seconded the Motion that to Approve to Return to Open Session. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5568 Commissioners Price and Moreland moved and seconded the Motion that the City will pay Aaron Rhoades back pay for CDL license with turn in receipt and $0.50 for spray license starting the day he got spray license. The roll call vote was affirmative.
#5569 Mayor Shane and Commissioner Lopeman moved and seconded the Motion that the council do now adjourn. The roll call vote was affirmative.
IN OTHER BUSINESS BEFORE THE COUNCIL:
Chapter 3 of the City Employee Manual
Commissioner Moreland said he would like to change the sick time from 1 hour increments to half hour. He does not want to change sick to personal so it does not mess up the employees retirement if they want to use it for that. He would like to word it so they can use sick time for mental health days. He would like to remove where it says 3 days of family sick in a month, but still need a doctors note. Section 7 he would like to change to City Clerk instead of commissioner. Section 7 is a program for employees that have used all of their time for good reason they can use time from the bank of employees that have donated to it. Commissioner Lopeman how it works with the time left at the end each year. It was confirmed that the time for sick rolls over to the next year up to 240 days of sick time. The council agreed to have Attorney Mann draw this up for the next meeting.
Procedure for Water Suspension
Commissioner Moreland said this would be a procedural change not an ordinance change. The first Tuesday of each month we will send out everyone's late notice. The second Thursday of each month someone from City Hall will call the person on the late list to let them know they will be shut off the next Tuesday. The third Tuesday of the month we will shut the resident water off. The third Thursday of each month we will call the residents and inform them we will be picking up garbage totes on the following Monday if they have not paid their balance and have been turned back on. On the fourth Monday we will be picking up the totes from the curb before the end of business day. The City still gets charged if the totes are not picked up. Once the totes are picked up City Hall will notify Republic so we are ot charged. If the totes are not picked up everything stays the same and the account is not suspended. Once all this has been done the City will put the account on a suspension up to 6 months. If nothing has been done to the account for 6 months the city will close the account and return any deposit according to the ordinance that resident is on. If the resident comes in after the account has been suspended and it has been less than 6 months the totes will be returned and the account will be activated, as long as the account has been made current. The council agreed to this procedure change.
Splitting Grant Writer Bill with Chenoa Revitalization Committee for Pickleball Court Teri Mason and Marylin Whitmar presented on behalf of the Chenoa Revitalization Committee. They have found a grant and have been working with a grant writer for a pickleball court at the park. The grant is due August 31. This grant would cover 100% of the cost. This would be located next to the batting cages that JC Spence is doing for his Eagle Scout Project. The cost of the preparation is $3,500. They are asking the City to help with half of the cost. The grant will be made payable to the City of Chenoa. Part of the grant is to have a petition signed to show the community's interest. The council agreed to pay half of the preparation cost.
Comments from the Floor
None
Attorney's Comments
None
Treasurer’s Comments
Treasurer Rowold went over the summary of profit and loss of each fund. General Fund surplus of $21,000, Motor Fuel Tax surplus of $15,000, Swimming Pool deficit $2,000 with getting $30,000 from the General Fund, TIF surplus $83,000, Water & Sewer deficit $298,000 but does included the Division Street project, Debt Service surplus of $1,600, Business District Fund surplus $9,000 The City has spent about $414,000 more so far in this year compared to the same timeframe last year.
Commissioner’s Comments
Commissioner Moreland said the clear tank walls are poured and moving in the right direction. Mason Street needs to be a topic to discuss soon as there are problems there.
Commissioner Lopeman questioned if the City pays real estate taxes as he thought they did not. Treasurer Rowold said yes the City does. There were two split trees that were taken down and some more on the list. The drainage did well with how much rain we got in a short period of time.
Commissioner Price said the pool is doing well. The west pavilion at the park needs some electric work done from accidentally clipping a wire while digging. He said garbage has been a problem for a long time. The council agreed to come up with a way to notify residents that garbage needs to be picked up before Republic or the City picks it up and charges them.
Commissioner Myers said he has set a goal for August 15 to have a way to determine what is an actual ordinance violation. He would like to find a way to help the ones that need it without making people angry.
Mayor Shane said he spoke with the lady working on the bond. They are going to wait a little bit to see if the numbers get better.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.
https://www.chenoail.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif6431/f/minutes/8_8_23.pdf
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