McLean County Times

City of Chenoa City Council met Nov. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The Chenoa City Council met in regular session on November 14, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Shane, Commissioners Myers, Lopeman, Hernandez, Treasurer Rowold and City Clerk Rhoades were in attendance, with Commissioner Pickett once sworn in.

#5601 Commissioners Lopeman and Myers moved and seconded the Motion that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 24, 2023. That the bills and payrolls be allowed, and orders on the Treasurer be drawn in payment of same. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5602 Mayor Shane and Commissioner Myers moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Appoint Bev Pickett as the Water & Sewer Commissioner until the next election in 2025. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5603 Commissioners Lopeman and Hernandez moved and seconded the Motion that to Approve to Release the Full Amount of $155,122.04 of the Council Restricted 53-Acres Fund to Supplement the Cost of the Clear Well Project. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5604 Commissioners Lopeman and Hernandez moved and seconded the Motion that to Approve to Sign Agreement for Line of Credit with the State Bank of Graymont. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5605 Commissioners Myers and Lopeman moved and seconded the Motion that to Approve to Move money as needed from General Fund to Water & Sewer Fund up to $250,000 and only until the next regular council meeting on November 28, 2023. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5606 Commissioners Hernandez and Lopeman moved and seconded the Motion that 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.

#5607 Commissioners Myers and Lopeman moved and seconded the Motion that to Approve to Return to Open Session. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5608 Commissioners Lopeman and Hernandez moved and seconded the Motion that to Approve to give Full-Time Employees a $300 and Part-Time Employees a $150.00 Holiday Bonus. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5609 Commissioners Lopeman and Myers moved and seconded the Motion that the council do now adjourn. The roll call vote was affirmative.

IN OTHER BUSINESS BEFORE THE COUNCIL:

Mayoral Appointment to Fill Vacant Commissioner Seat

Mayor Shane said Bev Pickett has offered to step up to fill the seat. The council had no questions or concerns.

Discuss and Vote to Release Funds from Restricted 53 Acres Fund

Mayor Shane said this has been just sitting there for years that belongs to the Water and Sewer. Treasurer Rowold advises they release the full amount to help pay for the clear well expenses. Mayor Shane said when Phil Harland was Treasurer he said this was for a rainy day. Commissioner Lopeman said having to take on Division Street is a rainy day. The council agreed they needed the funds and to release the funds.

Discuss Farnsworth Water Distribution System Improvements Project Plan Mayor Shane said this is for around 8800 feet of water main for 1.87 million dollars. $400,000 of that is for doing the roads. This is a draft and general idea of what they need to start on. Changes will be made but he would like the council to review this. He has a meeting with the engineer, Kevin Hannel, next Tuesday with Jay Bell and Josh Bell. There is a grant to help pay for the lead lines that need to be found and replaced. The council had no questions at this time.

Discuss and Vote to Sign Required Documents for Line of Credit with State Bank of Graymont Mayor Shane said the agreement has been updated to require 3 to agree to draw from this and 4 to sign. All the changes they agreed to at the last meeting were made. Commissioner Lopeman said there is no cap rate or floor rate for the interest rate. The council had no further questions or concerns.

Discuss and Vote to Pull from Line of Credit with State Bank of Graymont Treasurer Rowold said the water and sewer does not have money in it. There are a couple of options they can do. They can pull from the line or pull from the General Fund. He said if they pull from the General Fund they would not have to pay interest. They can later decide to pull from the line of credit and pay General Fund back. They can even pull from the General Fund and not pay it back. He said there are options that are up to the council on what they want to do. Commissioner Lopeman asked if they are still out of money with releasing the 53 Acres Fund. Treasurer Rowold said yes, they are already out of money with that released after these bills are paid. Mayor Shane would like to pull from the General Fund until the next meeting to give them time to look into all the options. The council agreed to pull from the General Fund for now.

Discuss and Vote on Agreement for Annexation for the Sewer Plant and Relate Farmland to the City of Chenoa

They council agreed to table this until the next meeting when the Attorney will be there.

Discuss and Vote on Adding Street Lights at Intersection of Routes 24 and 66 Commissioner Lopeman said the image the council had showed red dots as current light poles and the green dots show the proposed new light poles. It would cost $7,612.50 for 11 new light poles which roughly goes out to the stop ahead signs. Ameren would come do the work and the City would pay the cost along with the monthly light bill like the rest of the street lights in town. Some of the poles would have two lights on them. He said IDOT has to approve the permits for these. He will reach out to Gwen to find out if the Business District could help pay for some of this. There is not enough money in the Street budget this year. He is asking the council their options to move forward and look into options on how to pay for it. The council agreed to move forward with doing this.

Discuss and Vote on Contract with Blue Force as a Grant Writer

Commissioner Myers said we can make payments as we need with a 30 day due date from invoice date. Mayor Shane said they do not have an updated contract with him and feels they need to table until they receive that. The council agreed to table this until the next meeting.

Presentation and Discussion on Chenoa on the Move, City of Chenoa and Chenoa Dog Park Surveys

Commissioner Lopeman read through the results as they were shown on the screen in the council room. He said if you would like a copy of the surveys to give your email to City Hall and they can email it to you as he confirmed with Attorney Mann you do not need to fill out a FOIA request for it. He said it was brought up about having the meetings live online for residents which he brought up when he ran for office. He asked what they needed to do for that. Mayor Shane said City Clerk Rhoades is working on that. Mayor Shane would like to record them and put them online afterwards so it does not discourage people from showing up at the meetings. Commissioner Lopeman said the majority said it does not matter opening time of City Hall and 5:00 pm for the close time. Mayor Shane said looking at other communities we are the only one that is open 8 hours. Most communities are closed over noon and are closed around 4:00. He would like to see the City Hall hours go back to closing at 4:00 as they average 1 to 2 people a week that come in after 4:00. It was said most of the things people need to do they can access online. If there is something that needs done and the hours do not work they can schedule a time to meet with someone at a reasonable time that will work for them and a staff member. Commissioner Lopeman would like to look at options to make this work. Commissioner Myers said the surveys said most of the people come to City Hall to pay their water bill which can be done online or in the 2 drop boxes. Mayor Shane said he would like to go back to 4:00 at some point and work with people if necessary. It was said that other communities do not have as many hours open as us and when they close they close and do not make accommodations for people. The dog park is in the works with trying to get a grant.

Comments from the Floor

Jacqline Moore said the last time she was here she brought up the water deposits. She said Ameren and Nicor refunds their money back based on their payment record. She said here people pay different amounts and people that have lived here 12 years have not received their deposit back. Mayor Shane said if they lived here 12 years they did not pay a deposit as it started in 2018. She said she is working with people to get their money back. She does not agree with the City keeping the deposit until the account is closed by the current code. She feels the $75 permit fee should be refunded as no one does that and not everyone paid a permit fee. She requested that they look at redoing the deposits at the next meeting for $100 with holding for a year and not have the $75 fee.

Fiona Martinez did a presentation on why roosters should be allowed in town. Her main point is they protect the hens from foxes and other dangers. She has a petition to pass around to try to get the council to change the code to allow roosters in town.

Sally Decker asked if they can work on trapping the foxes and getting them out of town. It was said residents can reach out to DNR and get the permits to trap themselves.

Dalton Campbell asked about allowing burning everyday of the week as people do not want to pay for the bags. This would help the smoke from being so heavy the the burn days as the burning would be able to be spread out. Mayor Shane said him and Commissioner Lopeman have talked about the topic but have not pursued anything yet.

Attorney's Comments

Absent

Treasurer’s Comments

None

Commissioner’s Comments

Commissioner Lopeman said the guys have been picking up brush, fixed a sink hole on Pickett and Boles, helped with dumpsters, cleaned up in the shop, and did snow plow prep on the trucks.

Commissioner Myers said he is on hold with waiting to know how to move forward with the grants.

Commissioner Hernandez said fish have been added to the lake. They will be working on the dock at the lake. They will be cutting down some trees and branches at Kelleher Park.

Commissioner Pickett

None

Mayor Shane said they are working on the water mains on Mason Street. He will be attending the Main Street Conference tomorrow to focus on the downtown. He talked with Dalena regarding the bond interest rate which has gone down and they could refinance in the future to save money.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

https://www.chenoail.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif6431/f/minutes/11_14_23.pdf