McLean County Times

City of Chenoa City Council met April 23.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The Chenoa City Council met in regular session on April 23, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. at City Hall. Mayor Shane, Commissioners Pickett, Myers, Lopeman, Hernandez, Attorney Mann, Treasurer Rowold and City Clerk Rhoades were in attendance.

#5665 Commissioners Lopeman and Hernandez moved and seconded the Motion that the Minutes of the Regular Meeting April 9, 2024, the Executive Session of April 9, 2024 and the Special Meeting of April 17, 2024 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.

#5666 Commissioners Picket and Hernandez moved and seconded the Motion to Approve an Ordinance Approving a Business District Redevelopment Agreement with TNT Cycles & Repair and Tanner Bagley Ordinance #869. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5667 Commissioners Hernandez and Pickett moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Appoint Don Schulthies to the Zoning BoardThe roll call vote was affirmative.

#5668 Commissioners Hernandez and Pickett 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.

#5669 Commissioners Picket and Hernandez moved and seconded the Motion to Approve to Return to open Session. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5670 Commissioners Lopeman and Hernandez moved and seconded the Motion to Approve Raises Discussed in Closed Session for all Full-time and Part-time, non bargaining unit represented employees excluding pool employees with Jerold Meier $0.50 effective immediately, all other raises effective May 1, 2024 with exception of Josh Bell, dependant on gaining water license. The roll call vote was affirmative.

#5671 Commissioners Pickett and Lopeman moved and seconded the Motion that the council do now adjourn. The roll call vote was affirmative.

IN OTHER BUSINESS BEFORE THE COUNCIL:

St.Jude Run Team

Micheal Cox and his wife were representing a St. Jude Run team from Bloomington-Normal. They asked permission to collect donations at the intersection of Route 24 and 66 on Friday June 21 from 4pm until 7pm and on Saturday June 22. They will be wearing reflective safety vests and can get the City a copy of their insurance for those days. The council had no concerns and granted them permission.

Presentation by EDC Regarding SOP Paper for TIF/BDD Application Funding Sarah Micheals presented the council the EDC has worked on for over two months and drafted for the council. She said this is not coming to the council for a final vote but instead for additional feedback. This would be standard operating procedures for TIF and BDD applications. They hope to streamline and make it easier for the applicants, EDC and City Council. This will also help with checks and balances along the way after the agreement is approved giving them a way to be sure the terms of the agreements are being kept. Attorney Mann requested that his office be involved with this process. That would help them be updated along the way instead of only when the ordinance is being presented. Commissioner Lopeman confirmed the steps would be to turn the applications into City passed along to the EDC but was unsure if what was reviewed by them first or presented to them. After some discussion, it was decided that the application would be turned into City Hall where the staff member would email the application to all EDC members, Attorney Mann’s office, Gwen Crawford and the City Council. The EDC would then assign a member from the committee to be a mentor for that application. They would work with Gwen to determine what can and can not be done then presented to the EDC. The EDC would then make a recommendation to the council who would review and work with Gwen if necessary on final agreement to be voted on. She asked the council to submit any changes they may want to her for her to review with the EDC before presenting a final draft to the council for approval.

Sarah also updated the council on the blue signs along the interstate. She said John Cerda did some good back going and information and contacted the Illinois Department of Transportation. There now are forms at City Hall for anyone that would like to put their business on the blue signs on the interstate.

Sarah also updated the council on the fence at the intersection of Route 66 and 24. She said the artwork has been taken down. She is working with Aftershock to create a Business Directory to go on there. She asked the council for approval to allow her to have Aftershock do this and be paid with the Hotel Occupancy Tax money. The council had granted her permission to move forward with it.

IEPA Funding Nomination Form for Public Water Supply Loan Program Mayor Shane said this is what Kevin Hannel will submit for us to get in line to get us money. This just shows the EPA that we are working on a project. The council had no concerns and agreement to allow Kevin Hannel to submit the necessary forms.

Ordinance Approving a Business District Redevelopment Agreement with TNT Cycles & Repair and Tanner Bagley

Mayor Shane apologized for how long it took. He said Gwen had some questions but he is not concerned with any of it and thinks they should move forward with the agreement as it is currently written. Tanner said the $750 a month rent is well below the average in the area of the same size buildings. His lease is year to year. He said he has a full time job during the day and he is there as much as he can. He is working toward being open more. The council had no questions or concerns.

Fill Vacancy on the Zoning Board

Mayor Shane said Rick Carranza has resigned to move out of town leaving a vacancy. Don Schulthies has offered to fill the vacancy along with becoming the Zoning Officer. The council had no questions or concerns.

Comments from the Floor

Chris Green with Tri Global Energy presented a proposed Wind Energy Project. They started the first phase in Woodford County this year. The second phase is proposed for North West of Chenoa in Livingston County in the townships of Nebraska, Waldo, Rooks Creek and Pike. That phase is projected to begin September 2025 and estimated for operation December 2026. The last step they have is to get the permitting done to get the project operational. He said they are presenting to the Council as it would help if they had a little bit of space from Chenoa. The State law states that they can not locate any closer than a 1.5 mile from the town limit. They will not cross Interstate 55 with this project. They are asking the City to allow them to locate turbines 1 mile and one turbine half a mile from town limits. They are looking to place 3 to 6 turbines in the space in Livingston County along the West side of Interstate 55.They presented the council with a proposed agreement that they used a public records copy of an agreement Chenoa had done in the past with another company. This would pay Chenoa $3,750 a turbine every year and increase with inflation every year. They are unsure of the roads that will be used for the project until they know the locations of each turbine. Once they determine the locations they will get the proper permits for road usage from the correct entities. Attorney Mann had some questions regarding the agreement and agreed to work with them to draft a amended agreement for the council to propose.

Sarah Micheals said she was at the Quincy council meeting and they have a timer for 3 minutes for their comments and give a 30 second warning and she thinks that is something the council should consider. She said she had some cheat sheets on the Robert Rules of Orders that she had shared with the council.

Attorney's Comments

None

Treasurer’s Comments

Treasurer Rowold said he thinks they can wrap up the budget tonight. He went over the deficit and surplus of all the accounts as of March for the fiscal year.

Commissioner’s Comments

Commissioner Myers spoke with the grants person in Washington DC the other day. He asked him where they are at and Commissioner Myerys let him know we were on hold. He let CommissionerMyers know that the election results in November could wipe out the organization that the City is applying to. He said he met with Rachel on insurance and he learned a lot that will be helpful later when they discuss the budget.

Commissioner Pickett

None

Commissioner Hernandez said they have started getting the pool ready and some necessary repairs. Aaron also helped with a hydrant.

Commissioner Lopeman said he has been working on wrapping up this year's budget and looking at projects for next year's budget. They are prepping for some major alley work. The house has been put on the back burner while handling everything else but is on the list to come down this year. He gave an update that the sign behind the Library is their sign therefore they would be the ones to handle it. He said the little turn around down by the locker is not a street and he does not know how they could put one there. Chief Cornwall said he looked at it and doesn't feel it is a traffic issue but if one was there the back end of a larger vehicle would then be blocking Division St. Commissioner Lopeman asked who concrete over the culvert down there. It was said that Union Roofing did it. He said he will look into it more.

Mayor Shane

None

Budget Workshop

The council went over each line of the remaining funds as they completed the General Fund at the last budget meeting. They did not complete the Debt Service Fund as Treasurer Rowold is waiting on the new payment schedule since they have refinanced the bond.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned.

https://www.chenoail.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif6431/f/minutes/4_23_24.pdf