Chambana Sun

City of Danville Public Services Committee met Sept. 24.

Here is the minutes provided by the Committee:

#1 Call to Order

Chairman Foster called the Public Services Committee meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. at the Robert E. Jones Municipal Building, 17 W. Main St., Danville, Illinois.

Roll Call was answered by Chairman Steve Foster, Vice Chairman Sharon McMahon, Aldermen Brenda Brown, R.J. Davis, Dan Duncheon, Steve Nichols, and Tom Stone. A quorum was present.

Others Present were Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr., Aldermen Sherry Pickering, and Aaron Troglia, City Clerk Lisa Monson, City Comptroller Shelley Scott, City Engineer Sam Cole, Interim Fire Chief Don McMasters, Fire Lieutenant Chris McMahon, Human Relations Administrator Sandra Finch, Payroll and Personnel Manager Jamie White, Police Chief Chris Yates, Risk Manager Kathy Courson, 5 audience members and 3 news media were also present

#2 Approval of Minutes - None

#3 Approval of Agenda Chairman Foster presented the agenda and announced the removal of Items 15-A Resolution: Amending Bid #617 for 2019 Storm Drainage Improvements and 15-B Ordinance: Authorizing the Borrowing of Funds from the Water Pollution Control Loan Program. Vice Chairman McMahon moved for approval as amended, seconded by Alderman Duncheon. On the voice vote, all ayes, no nays; the motion so ordered.

#4 Audience Comments

Gordon Boehm of Danville voiced concern of illegal fireworks shot off on July 3rd in the Holiday Hills subdivision. He found a rocket casing on the roof of his home, which could have caused a fire.

#5 Chairman's Comments - None

#6 Approval of Payrolls

Chairman Foster presented Payrolls for September 20, 2019, of $69,902.00. Vice Chairman McMahon moved to dispense with the reading and asked for approval, seconded by Alderman Brown. There being no questions, the roll call vote being:

Ayes: Aldermen Nichols, Stone, McMahon, Brown, Davis, Duncheon, Foster

Nays: None

Motion carried 7 to 0.

#7 Approval of Vouchers Payable

Chairman Foster presented Schedule of Vouchers Payable for special run of September 19, 2019, of $250.00, and regular run, of September 24, 2019, of $229,758.25. Alderman Stone moved to dispense with the reading and asked for approval as presented, seconded by Alderman Brown. Alderman Duncheon questioned a payment to a band for Fall Festival. Comptroller Scott stated the bands are paid every year. Mayor Williams stated every year the Fall Festival takes in more than expended out. There being no further questions, the roll call vote being:

Ayes: Aldermen Stone, McMahon, Brown, Davis, Nichols, Foster

Nays: Alderman Duncheon

Motion carried 6 to 1.

#8 City Clerk’s Report - Lisa Monson, City Clerk

#8-A) Items of Information

• Clerk Monson reported staff is completing liquor license renewals.

• The IML Conference will be held Thursday, September 19, 2019 to Saturday, September 21, 2019. Clerk Monson stated she e-mailed a list of conference sessions to the Aldermen and to let her know if assistance is needed in registering for the conference.

#9 Finance, Shelley Scott, Comptroller

#9-A) Chairman Foster presented a resolution authorizing Write-Off of Delinquent Garbage, Sewer, and Public Safety Fee Accounts, totaling $27,806.56 due to bankruptcy, death or other circumstances that deem the accounts uncollectible. Vice Chairman McMahon moved to dispense with the reading and asked for approval, seconded by Alderman Brown. After all questions were addressed, the roll call vote being:

Ayes: Aldermen McMahon, Brown, Davis, Duncheon, Nichols, Stone, Foster

Nays: None

Motion carried 7 to 0.

#9-B) Items of Information

#9-B-1) Risk Manager Monthly Report - Kathy Courson, Risk Manager

Manager Courson presented the August 2019 Statistics stating Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois and Health Alliance Insurance Premiums for employees, firefighter duty disabilities and police duty disabilities, and incentives which totaled $314,332.10, for retirees $44,029.94, and for Library Employees $16,455.78; August Worker's Compensation totaled two, and there were three Liability claims submitted. The total cost of health premiums in August 2019 totaled $374,817.82 and the total cost of health premiums for August 2018 totaled $377,059.59.

#9-B-2) Personnel Monthly Report – Jamie White, Payroll and Personnel Manager

Manager White presented the Personnel Report as of September 24, 2019, stating 235 employees eligible for benefits and 29 part-time/seasonal/temporary/intern employees, with nine new hires, four transfers, and two separations. Applications are being accepted for Engineer I, Engineer II, Engineer III, Code Enforcement Inspector and Extra Board Bus Drivers, which are on-going.

#9-B-3) Additional Items of Information

• Comptroller Scott reported 2009 Bonds are eligible for refunds and there is potential savings of $80,000.00 to the City based on the last audit. Comptroller Scott has been talking to a representative from Robert W. Baird and Co. Inc. A preliminary review based on the City's last audit was done and they believe S&P would rate the City a bond rating of A-. She asked if it was the consensus of the Committee to take this directly to City Council and the Committee stated “yes”.

• Comptroller Scott also gave an update on the audit and stated the City is waiting on the Fire Actuarial Report.

#10 FIRE- Don McMasters, Interim Fire Chief

#10-A-1) Items of Information

Chief McMasters presented the Monthly Incident Report for August 1, 2019, through August 31, 2019, stating 277 total incidents were recorded and total estimated loss in fires was $168,885.00. There were 23 fire incidents, of those, ten were building fires, five were cooking fires, one was mobile property (vehicle) fire, two were trash or rubbish fire, contained, two were brush or brush-and-grass mixture fire, and four was outside rubbish, trash or waste fire. There were 175 rescue or EMS incidents, which accounted for 63 percent of the service. Breaking that down, 69 were EMS calls, six were motor vehicle accidents with injuries, four were motor vehicle accidents with no injuries, three medical assists lifting patients, and there were 92 medical assists. Chief McMasters also reported on the following items:

• New firefighter at Week 3 of Academy.

• Six personnel at Hazardous Materials Technician's class is part of probation and the cost is taken care of MABAS.

• Four personnel at Arson Conference.

• Three of the other Probationary Firefighters are currently one night a week at EMT class.

#11 Human Relations - Sandra Finch, Administrator

#11-A-1) Items of Information

Administrator Finch reported that for the period of August 20, 2019, through September 16, 2019, the office handled 27 complaints, which consisted of five police complaints, one complaint against other city employees, 11 employment complaints, and ten housing complaints.

#12 Information Technology - Agnel DSilva, Administrator

#12-A) Items of Information In Administrator DSilva's absence, Mayor Williams reported Adam and Agnel are working hard on trying to get the internal online reporting system complete. They are working on internal testing next month with hopes to go public by the end of the year. A walk-thru and training will be completed for staff, Aldermen, and the public.

#13 Legal – Rickey Williams, Jr., Mayor

#13-A) Chairman Foster presented a resolution Approving Sublease Agreement with Public Building Commission Concerning Public Safety Building, for a three-year period from November 1, 2019 to October 31, 2022. Alderman Duncheon moved to dispense with the reading and asked for approval, seconded by Alderman Brown. Comptroller Scott explained the resolution is just the sublease portion as we have a lease with the PSB that expires in 2038, but every three years we renegotiate the sublease. After all questions were addressed, the roll call vote being:

Ayes: Aldermen Brown, Davis, Duncheon, Nichols, Stone, McMahon, Foster

Nays: None

Motion carried 7 to 0.

#13-B) Chairman Foster presented an ordinance Amending Chapter 92 of the City Code Pertaining to Fire Prevention - Fees, to add language to Section 92.04 (B) Inspections and charge a fee for the inspections conducted by the Fire Department as follows: The Fire Department shall conduct annual inspections of businesses within the corporate limits of the City. The Fire Department shall utilize the IFC and NFPA as guidelines for conducting such inspections. The fee to be charged for the annual inspections shall be as follows: a business whose square footage is 0-10,000 sq. ft. - $35.00, a business whose square footage is 10,001-100,000 sq. ft. - $50.00, a business whose square footage is 100,001-250,000 sq. ft. - $75.00, and a business whose square footage is greater than 250,000 sq. ft. - $100.00. Upon completion of an inspection, the Fire Department shall notify the owner of the business of any violations of the codes enforced by the Fire Department. Any violations shall be corrected within 30 days. If a violation is not corrected, the owner of the business shall be subject to the penalties set forth in Section 92.99. Vice Chairman McMahon moved to dispense with the reading and asked for approval, seconded by Alderman Brown. Mayor Williams stated we have asked the Fire Division to find revenue to help offset their services, unfortunately this has been neglected for a while and are behind on the inspections. The fee would provide the City some funding to be able to get back on track with those inspections. Chief McMasters explained his inspections person has researched comparables of cities with equal size and went with the low end of the spectrum as far as fees the City would charge. There is a lot of time involved with the inspections especially if we find issues that need to be addressed to work with the business to get them back into compliance. For example, some of the Days Inn windows were screwed shut and there was a hotel fire that was able to be in check due to an occupant next to a room where the fire started as the alarm was not working. Chief McMasters shows a little over 1,500 occupancies in the City and if schools and buildings on the VA property are exempt from the fee, the approximate annual income from the inspection fee would be $48,000.00, but realistically it will take every two years to get through each structure. Vice Chairman McMahon stated she owns a business and does not mind paying the fee as the first thing insurance asks if there is a fire is when was the last time there was an inspection. She added a lot of businesses are not checking their emergency lights, alarms, etc. Mayor Williams thanked Lieutenant McMahon for all of the work he has done to make sure we are getting businesses back on track. Alderman Nichols asked if a person is going to be added and Mayor Williams responded "no". Chief McMasters stated we are currently under an agreement and using a person on duty and that agreement is coming to an end at the end of October and he works on duty on shift with a regular shift and crew underneath of him and his is doing a big portion of this on his free time. Mayor Williams stated he does not like the idea of additional fees either, but the Council has asked the Fire Division to figure out a way to pay for itself and offset the costs of doing it as it is a fee for service. Aldermen Nichols, Duncheon, and Troglia do not support the fees. After all questions were addressed, the roll call vote being:

Ayes: Aldermen Davis, Stone, McMahon,

Nays: Aldermen Duncheon, Nichols, Foster

Motion carried 4 to 3.

#13-C) Chairman Foster presented an ordinance Amending Chapter 92 Pertaining to Fire Prevention - Fireworks as follows: 92.07 B. Fireworks 1. Any person, firm, corporation, or other entity desiring to have a fireworks display shall submit an application for a permit to the Fire Chief at least fifteen (15) days in advance of the proposed date for the fireworks display, along with the appropriate fee. 2. The application shall state the date or dates of the fireworks display, the location of the fireworks display and provide information about the number, type and size of the fireworks to be used in the display as well as any additional information requested by the Fire Chief. The application shall also state the name of the fireworks display operator. 3. Upon review of the application and its information, the Fire Chief shall determine the fire safety precautions minimally necessary to protect the public and the safety measures to be used to protect the public and shall inform the applicant of such precautions and safety measures. 4. The fee for a fireworks display permit shall be as follows: (a) $100 for a site inspection for the first firework display at such location; (b) $25 for a second and subsequent firework display at the same location. Vice Chairman McMahon moved to dispense with the reading and asked for approval, seconded by Alderman Brown. Chief McMasters stated currently there is no reference to fireworks in the City code so there needs to be information pertaining to the procedure added to the Code. Also, fireworks have taken place in the past and the Fire Division was not aware who was having the display nor knew of the fireworks display ahead of time so a truck could not be on stand-by. Chairman Foster asked if Fire can issue tickets for illegal fireworks. Chief Yates clarified the ordinance being discussed this evening is for fireworks shows and displays. He will look into what happened at Mr. Boehm's residence on July 4th. Alderman Stone feels the ordinance is needs to be more specific and is confusing to read. Alderman Stone moved to postpone the ordinance to the Public Services Committee on October 22, seconded by Alderman Brown. There being no questions on the motion to postpone, the roll call vote being:

Ayes: Aldermen Duncheon, Nichols, Stone, Brown, Davis, Foster

Nays: Alderman McMahon

Motion carried 6 to 1.

#13-D) Items of Information

Mayor Williams announced he will be asking for concurrence of Ward 1 Alderman and Corporation Counsel at the October 1, 2019 City Council meeting.

#14 Police - Chris Yates, Police Chief

#14-A) Chairman Foster presented a resolution approving Memorandum of Understanding between the Housing Authority of the City of Danville (HACD) and the Danville Police Department to invoice at a straight time rate of $42.00 per hour for the patrol hours on HACD properties above and beyond normal baseline services. Alderman Duncheon moved to dispense with the reading and asked for approval, seconded by Vice Chairman McMahon. After all questions were addressed, the roll call vote being: Ayes: Aldermen Nichols, Stone, McMahon, Brown, Davis, Duncheon, Foster Nays: None Motion carried 7 to 0.

#14-B) Items of Information

#14-B-1) Chief Yates reported on the following:

• Six probationary officers were sworn-in on September 11th and checked into the Academy on

September 15th

• Started updating and revising the policy manual not only with language, but to streamline and update items. He is close to being done to send the manual to legal counsel for review through our risk management, hopefully by January 1, 2020.

• Chief Yates plans to present Mayor Williams with their five-year plan tomorrow and he is hoping he can share some other exciting things they are doing at the next meeting.

• “Coffee with a Cop”, an officer program for on and off duty officers to meet with the public for discussion will be held Wednesday, October 2nd at the north McDonalds from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.

• Chief Yates did not have a regular monthly report this month, but can send 9-1-1 calls via e-mail to the Committee. He is still concerned of the accuracy of the numbers on the reports as they are not consistent. He reported Police will have a new system called LERMS (Law Enforcement Record Management System) that he is hoping he can retrieve reports from by the end of October.

• Chief Yates reported new Staff has filled every JAG Grant position, which is very promising. Police will be starting their IDOT year-long program (October 1st thru September 30) once the award letter is received with the grant of $23,000 directed completely at driving.

• Staff is working on Illinois Criminal Justice Grant with more information coming at a later time.

• Chief Yates stated staff has been working on another Memorandum of Understanding between the City and Green Meadows to invoice at a straight time of $55.00 per hour for the patrol hours on Green Meadows properties above and beyond normal baseline services. It was the consensus of the Committee to take the resolution directly to Council.

#15 Public Works - Carl Carpenter, Director

#15-A) [previously removed.]

#15-B) [previously removed.]

#15-C) Items of Information - None

#16 Closed Session was not needed.

#17 Items of Information - None

#18 Committee Member’s Comments

Mayor Williams thanked the Vermilion Heritage Foundation, the volunteers, the contractor, and everyone else for the opening of the Fischer Theatre on September 21st. Vice Mayor Nichols stated it was a community effort. Alderman Pickering announced an event that will be held at Second Church of Christ on Thursday, October 3rd at 6:00 p.m. called “Hope Heals with Kevin Hines" Kevin attempted to take his life by jumping off of the Golden Gate Bridge and now travels the world sharing his story of hope, healing, and recovery.

#19 Adjournment

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned by Chairman Foster at 7:34 p.m. following a motion by Alderman Duncheon and a second by Alderman Stone.

http://www.cityofdanville.org/uploads/6/7/5/0/6750232/public_services_committee_minutes_09_24_19.pdf