Chambana Sun

City of Paxton Council met March 13.

Here is the minutes provided by the Council:

Mayor Ingold called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m.

Roll call showed the following aldermen in attendance: Evans, Flesner, Glad, Pacey, Satterlee, Steiger, Wilson, and Wylie. Also, in attendance were: Mayor Ingold, Treasurer/Comptroller Tammy Jensen, Public Works Director Mark LeClair, EMA Director Ed Hanson, Chief of Police Coy Cornett, and members of the audience and press.

Mayor Ingold led everyone in saying the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

Minutes:

Mayor Ingold asked if there were any changes, corrections or additions that needed made to the minutes from the February Council meeting. Alderman Steiger made a motion to approve the minutes of the February Council meeting. Aldermen Wilson seconded the motion. All ayes, motion carried on a voice vote.

List Of Claims:

Alderman Wylie made a motion to approve the lists of claims, except for the Eastern Illini Electric Co-Op bill. Alderman Steiger seconded the motion. Roll Call: ayes – Aldermen Evans, Flesner, Glad, Pacey, Satterlee, Steiger, Wilson, and Wylie. All ayes, motion carried.

Alderman Wylie made a motion to approve the Eastern Illini Electric Co-Op bill. Alderman Steiger seconded the motion. Roll Call: ayes – Aldermen Evans, Flesner, Glad, Pacey, Satterlee, Steiger, and Wylie. Alderman Wilson abstained. Seven ayes, one abstain, motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report And Investment Register:

The reports had been emailed to all Aldermen. Alderman Wylie made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report and Investment Register. Alderman Evans seconded the motion. All ayes - motion carried on a voice vote.

Krisha Shoemaker was in attendance to speak to the Council regarding her bid for Ford County Treasurer. She left a resume for the Council to review. Mayor Ingold also asked the other running mate, Kasi Schwarz to attend. Ms. Schwarz was unable to attend, but left info for the Council.

Finance/Budget:

There were no committee meetings.

Alderman Wylie is confident that the City will finish the fiscal year within the budget, barring any unseen expenses. Alderman Wylie also recommended reading the Illinois Municipal League magazine, as there were three issues that pertain to our city.

Alderman Steiger asked about incoming MFT money. Treasurer/Comptroller Tammy Jensen said it’s around $8,700 a month.

Public Works:

There was a committee meeting.

Alderman Steiger updated the Council on the committee meeting. Roads were a main focus. Public Works Director LeClair sent out information on a paving proposal for Spring St. and Holmes St., from United Paving. A long-term project would be Spruce Street. Curbs need to be done there first.

There was discussion on moving funds to work on street projects. If the only project completed is the 400 block of West Holmes, Public Works Director LeClair can stay within his budget for the year. There was discussion on the streets around Clara Peterson and the additional traffic that will happen over the next few years.

Alderman Steiger made a motion approve United Paving’s work on the 400 block of West Holmes for $36,753. Alderman Wylie seconded the motion. Roll Call: ayes – Aldermen Evans, Glad, Pacey, Satterlee, Steiger, Wilson, and Wylie. Nays – Alderman Flessner. Seven ayes, one nay, motion carried.

Alderman Steiger asked if there would be final numbers on the list of street repairs. Public Works Director LeClair will have that for next month.

The Illinois Public Works Mutual Aid Network provides help from other communities if our resources are being utilized for emergency situations. This is state-wide, not national. This does not obligate the City to help if they can’t. The cost is $100 annually.

Alderman Steiger made a motion to approve payment of $100 and participation in the Illinois Public Works Mutual Aid Network. Alderman Pacey seconded the motion. Roll Call: ayes – Aldermen Evans, Flesner, Glad, Pacey, Satterlee, Steiger, Wilson, and Wylie. All ayes, motion carried.

Mayor Ingold spoke about the City’s recent water issues and requests to pump water out of yards. This does not solve problems by removing water from one yard and putting it into another yard. Public Works Director LeClair would like some guidance from the Council on these types of requests. A question was raised from the audience if the City would put in relief pumps to keep sewage out of homes. This is a separate issue from the water, but Public Works Director LeClair thought that issue was fixed as he isn’t seeing many of these types of issues. The sewage issues are being looked into. The Council agrees that water will not be pumped out of yards in heavy rain situations.

Alderman Steiger briefly updated the Council on the northwest sewer project. It will likely be June or July before the water is down enough to get a camera system through.

Alderman Steiger asked Public Works Director LeClair about hooking a garage drain into a sanitary sewer. Residents should not have any drain lines that are not sanitary hooked into the sanitary sewer system. The City doesn’t have anything on file officially. City Attorney Miller will work on an ordinance for the next meeting.

Public Safety:

There were no committee meetings.

The American Legion Riders have requested to collect donations at the intersections of Patton and Market Streets and Pells and Market Streets on Saturday, April 28th from 8 a.m. to noon. Bill Goben spoke to the Council regarding this request. The American Legion Riders have donated $2900 so far this year and these funds raised will help them continue these donations.

Alderman Wilson made a motion to allow the American Legion Riders to collect donations at the intersections of Patton and Market Streets and Pells and Market Streets on Saturday, April 28th from 8 a.m. to noon. Alderman Evans seconded the motion. All ayes, motion carried on a voice vote.

National Incident Management System (NIMS) is part of the requirements for Paxton to be accredited as an emergency management agency. There are four online training classes that the Council needs to take. The classes are approximately three hours each. Alderman Wilson will work with EMA Director Hanson for a deadline, but they are thinking by the end of the summer. There was discussion on who exactly needs to take these classes. Alderman Wilson will work with EMA Director Hanson and verify who should take these classes.

City Property:

There were no committee meetings.

Alderman Evans updated the Council regarding the ordinance for Ameren. The Ameren contact person could not be in attendance at tonight’s meeting. Mayor Ingold had asked City Attorney Miller if this needed to go to the Zoning Board of Appeals. This was a concern for the Council. City Attorney Miller will investigate this item to check on this issue. There was further discussion. This item will be tabled until April.

There was discussion regarding the contract for the sale of the Paxton Municipal Airport. This is still in progress. Mayor Ingold received correspondence Jef LeRette terminating the airport lease agreement between the City of Paxton and Pair-O-Planes, LLC. The FBO will be vacated on or before June 10, 2018. This item was tabled to April.

Mayor Ingold gave the Council an update on potential projects for the Revolving Loan Fund (RLF). By the end of 2020, the RLF will be gone. The City can use these funds for two projects only. If the money is not used, it will be gone. Mayor Ingold worked with Farnsworth to get some pricing on potential road work downtown for curbs and sidewalks in conjunction with the StreetScape project. He’s working on finalizing numbers for this project to send to the RLF manager and potentially, a sewer project, to fully utilize these funds. RLF is now infrastructure based, and it no longer requires job creation.

License, Permit, Zoning & Insurance:

There were no committee meetings.

Alderman Evans spoke to the Council about the possibility of allowing UTVs on the roads, similar to golf carts. Chief Cornett is concerned because of the potential speed issues involved. The Council asked Chief Cornett to check in with Gibson City and see how this is going there.

Community:

There was a committee meeting to discuss possible website designs and online payment information. Online bill payment would be the first priority, with the updated website design being second. Alderman Steiger asked about not having a credit card terminal in the office.

Treasurer/Comptroller Jensen explained that there would be an online terminal that can be used for multiple city fees.

Alderman Pacey spoke about the CEO Program. This program is for high school students, and it creates entrepreneur opportunities. This starts in 2019. These students will be looking for local sponsorships from city governments and businesses. Alderman Pacey would like the Council to consider sponsorship for this program.

Economic Development:

There were no committee meetings and nothing on the agenda.

TIF Attorney Dan Schuering let the Council know that road work can use TIF money, if the road is in the TIF area. The TIF earned approximately $50,000 with no major projects this year.

TIF Attorney Schuering also mentioned that there are some changes going on over at the Ford County Courthouse with assessments. This should be helpful going forward.

There was discussion on potential changes to TIF rules.

Mayor Ingold and Alderman Satterlee met with Shari Lannon, with the USDA, regarding some possible grants.

The TIF Annual Report goes to the State Comptroller first. Then a meeting is scheduled with the review board.

Long Term Planning:

There were no committee meetings and nothing on the agenda.

Other:

WCIA notified Mayor Ingold that Paxton will be featured in the Our Town segment in July.

Jodi Barth, author of CSI Old School, could be having a book signing in Paxton. This book covers the I-57 shooting.

EMA Director Hanson let the Council know that the new siren isn’t up yet, due to the weather. This will hopefully be completed this week.

At 8:34 p.m. Alderman Wilson made a motion to adjourn tonight’s regular meeting of the Mayor and City Council. Alderman Wylie seconded the motion. All ayes, motion carried on a voice vote.

http://www.cityofpaxton.com/docs/minutes/3-13-18%20Council%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf