The Carmi City Council met Monday, July 7, 2014 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Room of the Municipal Building, 225 East Main Street, Carmi, Illinois.
Prior to opening the Council meeting, Mayor Pollard asked Alderman Steve Winkleman to give the invocation. The prayer was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Pollard presided with the following Aldermen present: Steve Winkleman, Mark W. Blake, Keith Davis, Kenny Carter, Sheila Jo Headlee, Doug Hays, Jack Lamont and Mike Knight.
Minutes for the June 16, 2014 Council Meeting were presented. Motion made by Alderman Hays and seconded by Alderman Carter to approve the minutes as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor pollard introduced Robert “Bud” Bates and Ed Bates with AquaLine Protection to address council on providing their insurance services to the City of Carmi water customers. Ed and “Bud” Bates gave a video presentation to the council about what their company offers to the city’s water customers. The video explained that most water lines have been in the ground for forty (40) or even sixty (60) years and that as they begin to age, the potential of a break increases. The video went on to say that when water line breaks occur, customers find that the water line isn’t owned by the city and in fact, the customer owns it. This means that none of the costs of repairs or the losses is covered by the city and the burden falls on the water customer. These fixes can cost up to hundreds and even thousands of dollars and can cause the customer to experience unexpected costs. AquaLine Protection can prevent this whole scenario, for a small monthly fee, they will repair the customers damaged water line in a timely and professional manner, and also reimburse the customer for the excess water loss. AquaLine seeks out local plumbers and contractors to act as their local connection, which keeps the money in the communities. The video then explained that customers have an opportunity to opt out of the services if they wish to, but they can still enroll in the program after the initial enrollment period. AquaLine Protection reduces the hassle of complicated customer negations, reduces water losses, reduces write offs in the budget, provides a real chance to help customers, and protects the customers. The video also explained that the average payment per month is four (4) dollars. This is the amount as long as there is no tampering of water lines being detected. Alderman Headlee inquired what the cost would be if the city didn’t reach the eighty (80) percent mark required. Mr. “Bud” Bates answered that it would vary depending but the company has found that the eighty (80) percent is almost always reached if not gone over. Alderman Davis questioned what they would do if all the local plumbers were busy. They answered that they usually call more than one plumber for that purpose. Alderman Lamont asked if this service included in the house leaks in which Mr. “Bud” Bates answered that this program is only for underground services from the water meter to the home. Mayor Pollard commented that this program is nice because most people don’t understand that some water lines belong to them or they don’t realize where their water meter is located at. The AquaLine contract simply states that the city will take care of the billing. The contract also states that the city isn’t out any funds because AquaLine takes care of it all. Mr. “Bud” Bates added that he would take care of putting some information into the paper and also on the radio before they send out the enrollment cards in the mail in order to inform the public what AquaLine is and what they do. Motion made by Alderman Hays and seconded by Alderman Headlee to accept the AquaLine contract as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard asked the council to consider the appointment of Kent “Pete” Fulkerson to the Library Board for a three (3) year term effective July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2017. Motion was made by Alderman Knight and seconded by Alderman Winkleman to approve appointment of Mr. Fulkerson to the Library Board for a term of three (3) year term as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard then asked the council to consider Resolution Number 07-07-14, a resolution authorizing the appointment of a representative to the board of directors of the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency. Mayor Pollard explained the new representative for the City of Carmi would be David Coston of United Energy, Inc. who would be replacing Bob Rothermill. Motion was made by Alderman Davis and seconded by Alderman Carter to approve Resolution Number 07-07-14 as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard then asked the council to consider Resolution DOC-3, a resolution of authorization for a Department of Natural Resources outdoor recreation grant for Bradshaw Park tennis courts. Alderman Headlee asked how much the project would cost. WEDG director Sandra Irvine stated that the Department of Natural Resources only pays for fifty (50) percent of the project and that she has a couple of estimates which are around seventy thousand (70,000) dollars. She then added that this amount was the total cost for resurfacing just one set of the tennis courts. Several Aldermen commented on the bad condition of the tennis courts. Alderman Headlee then questioned if they get the grant money, were there any local contractors that resurface tennis courts. Director Irvine replied that she has done some research on this and found a company called All Weather Courts and also US Tennis Court Company. Motion was made by Alderman Knight and seconded by Alderman Carter to approve Resolution DOC-3 grant for Bradshaw Park’s tennis courts as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard asked WEDG director Sandra Irvine to present to the council to consider a TIF redevelopment agreement with O’Reilly Auto Parts. This agreement states that the city will get fifty (50) percent of their TIF revenues for a period of five (5) years not to exceed sixty thousand (60,000) dollars. Motion was made by Alderman Headlee and seconded by Alderman Winkleman to approve the TIF redevelopment agreement with O’Reilly Auto Parts as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard asked the council to consider establishing a Capitalization Purchases and Capitalization Threshold Policy in the amount of fifteen thousand (15,000) dollars. Motion was made by Alderman Headlee and seconded by Alderman Hays to approve the Capital Purchase and Capitalization Purchases and Capitalization Threshold Policy in the amount of fifteen thousand (15,000) dollars as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Reports and/or updates from Mayor Pollard
Mayor Pollard commented that the final documents with the railroad have been received and that the city has paid for the easement. This means that the Industrial Park project should be back on track now and the city is about ready to start accepting bids on the project.
Mayor Pollard stated that WEDG director Sandra Irvine has finalized the paper work today (7-7-14) with Bill Lee who purchased the strip mall building in front of Wal-Mart. Mr. Lee has all of the space leased with the tenants being Midway BBQ Shack, AT&T, State Finance, State Farm, and the Factory Connection.
Mayor Pollard gave explanation about the trees in front of the High School. They have been removed for a number of reasons with the first being a lighting issue at night in front of the school while different events going on. The second being the gum balls on the sidewalks which make it very dangerous and hard to walk on. Alderman Winkleman commented that other communities start orchards of ornamental trees to replace trees when they are cut down. Mayor Pollard said that after the city gets the flood plain project in east side of town taken care of that he really wants to consider doing something like this for the community.
Mayor Pollard commented that he was also very pleased with the crowd who attended the first Burrell Woods Boogie. He has had a lot of positive feedback from the public. Everyone seemed to have a good time and he is looking forward to many more concerts.
Mayor Pollard then addressed a Facebook post that had been circulating. Mr. Darrel Marshall, Mr. Greg McVey, and Mr. Jade McAllister came into his office requesting to speak to him for a few minutes. The conversation was that they are all really excited about the concerts at Burrell Woods so Mr. McAllister is going to donate two (2) acres of ground to the city, located on the south side of the main road coming into the park by the volleyball courts, for an amphitheater to be built. Mr. Marshall and Mr. McVey are going to be in charge of holding fund raisers for the project. The three are hoping to break ground in the spring of 2015.
Mayor Pollard then discussed upcoming meetings where the Council will need to vote on accepting ground from Jade McAllister, voting on accepting ground from Aaron O’Daniel. He said that Dave Albin will be at the next meeting to talk about hand held computers for meter
Reports from Standing Committees
Alderman Lamont commented that the nuisance ordnance needs to be revamped. Mayor Pollard said that the council needs to discuss the changes needed and get with City Attorney Greg Stewart. Alderman Lamont then commented that the city needs to have ordinance for modular homes just like the ones for mobile homes because they are transported into the city the same way.
Alderman Headlee said that she got the tax rate computation from the county and that they city collected three hundred sixty one thousand three hundred and seventy two (361,372) dollars.
Alderman Winkleman talked about the progress on the Burrell Woods pond project and when it would be completed. Mayor Pollard said that he was going to check into it and that it would hopefully be completed soon. Alderman Davis then stated that he talked to the Dillman family about putting a sign up on to notify the public of what projects were to be completed.
Alderman Blake stated that the 4th of July went well and was really nice this year. He added that the Police Chief Jason Carter and his officers did a good job with traffic control after the show.
City Supervisor Mike Buckman commented that the city is having a lot of illegal reconnections of water and electric utility’s. He then stated that the city has an ordinance that can charge two hundred and fifty (250) dollars to three hundred (300) dollars to their bill for reconnecting water or electric on their own for the first offense and a second offense can be up four (400) dollars.
Business or Comments from Visitors
None.
Motion made by Alderman Winkleman and seconded by Alderman Hays to go into closed session for the purpose of discussing personnel and property issues with no action to follow. The motion carried on roll call by each alderman answering “yes.”
At 6: 34 p.m. council went into closed session.
Motion made by Alderman Winkleman and seconded by Alderman Headlee to return to open session and adjourn. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman Answering “yes.”
At 7:18 p.m. council adjourned.
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Brian K. Allen, City Clerk
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Jeff Pollard, Mayor
