Peoria Standard

Washington City Council met March 19.

Here is the minutes provided by the Council:

Call to Order: Mayor Manier called the regular meeting of Monday, March 19, 2018 to order at 6:31 p.m. in the Library Meeting Room at Five Points Washington.

Roll Call: Present and answering roll call were Aldermen, Adams, Brownfield, Brucks, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, and Moss. Alderman Gee was absent.

Also present was City Administrator Jim Culotta, Controller Baxter, Public Works Director Ed Andrews, P & D Director Jon Oliphant, Police Chief Mike McCoy, Deputy Chief Jeff Stevens, City Treasurer Ellen Dingledine, City Clerk Pat Brown, and members of the press.

Pledge of Allegiance: All present stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Agenda Review: The Agenda was reviewed and stood as presented.

Approve Consent Agenda: Alderman Brucks moved and Alderman Moss seconded to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Items included on the Consent Agenda were minutes of the March 19, 2018 regular City Council meeting; bills & payroll; and insurance repairs for Downtown Square, retainage release. On roll call on the motion to approve the vote was:

Ayes: 7 Adams, Brownfield, Brucks, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, Moss

Nays: 0

Motion declared carried.

Audience Comments: None.

Standing Committees: Alderman Brucks, Finance & Personnel Committee Chairman reported one item for approval on the agenda (Ordinance B). Alderman Butler, Public Safety Committee Chairman reported nothing on the agenda. Alderman Brownfield, Public Works Committee Chairman reported two items for approval on the agenda (Ordinance E & Staff Reports A).

Mayor’s Comments: None.

Adopt resl, authrz collective bargaining agreement w/IL FOP, telecommunicators: City Administrator Culotta read a resolution, by title only and brief synopsis, ratifying and authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk to execute a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City of Washington, Illinois and the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, representing Full-Time Telecommunicators of the Washington Police Department. Adoption of this resolution would ratify and authorize the execution of a Collective Bargaining Agreement between the City of Washington, IL and IL Fraternal Order of Police Labor Council, representing full-time Telecommunicators of the Washington Police Department for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2017 and ending April 30, 2019. Alderman Dingledine moved and Alderman Cobb seconded to adopt the resolution as read. Alderman Dingledine asked why the term of the contract extends to 2019 with our dispatch center being eliminated as part of the 911 consolidation this year and Administrator Culotta shared that it was the preference of the telecommunicators and there is also a provision in the contract to expire with the decommissioning of our center. On roll call the vote was:

Ayes: 7 Adams, Brownfield, Brucks, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, Moss

Nays: 0

Motion declared carried.

Adopt resl, tentative annual budget FY 2018- 2019: City Administrator Culotta read a resolution, by title only and brief synopsis, regarding the City of Washington, Illinois Tentative Annual Budget for Fiscal Year 2018-2019. Adoption of this resolution sets a date for a Public Hearing on the City’s FY2018-19 Annual Budget for 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 9, 2018 and, furthermore, directs that the Tentative Annual Budget for FY18-19 be made available for public inspection in the Office of the City Clerk. Alderman Dingledine moved and Alderman Cobb seconded to adopt the resolution as read. On roll call the vote was:

Ayes: 7 Adams, Brownfield, Brucks, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, Moss

Nays: 0

Motion declared carried.

Adopt ord, amending Chapter 35, increase home rule sales tax.5%: City Administrator Culotta provided second reading of the following ordinance, by title and brief synopsis, an ordinance amending Chapter 35 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois, entitled “Taxation” to increase the Home Rule Municipal Retailers’ Occupation Tax and the Home Rule Service Occupation Tax by One-half of One Percent. Adoption of the ordinance would increase the home rule portion of sales tax from 1.25% to 1.75% of gross receipts from eligible sales and shall be used for infrastructure related expenses. Alderman Dingledine moved and Alderman Brownfield seconded to adopt the ordinance as read. On roll call the vote was:

Ayes: 7 Adams, Brownfield, Brucks, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, Moss

Nays: 0

Motion declared carried.

Adopt ord, authrz intergovernmental agreement, Tazewell County, building inspection & plan review services: City Administrator Culotta provided second reading of the following ordinance, by title and brief synopsis, an ordinance authorizing the Mayor and City Clerk of the City of Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois, to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Washington and County of Tazewell to provide Building Inspections and Reviews. Adoption of this ordinance would provide for an intergovernmental agreement with Tazewell County to provide for use of its building inspectors to satisfy the City’s needs for inspections and plan reviews.

Adopt ord, IGA Tazewell County Cont.): Alderman Butler moved and Alderman Cobb seconded to adopt the ordinance as read. On roll call the vote was:

Ayes: 7 Adams, Brownfield, Brucks, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, Moss

Nays: 0

Motion declared carried.

1st reading ords, amending Chapters 132 & 138 related to tobacco 21; amending Chapter 134 related to E-cigarettes; and amending code to add new solar energy code:

City Administrator Culotta provided first reading of the following ordinances, by title and brief synopsis: an ordinance amending Chapters 132 and 138 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois, respectively entitled “Offenses Against Persons” and “Drug Control”, to prohibit distribution of tobacco and smoking equipment to persons under 21. Adoption of this ordinance would prohibit sale or delivery of items used for smoking or electronic cigarette use to persons under age 21; an ordinance amending Chapter 134 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Washington, Tazewell County, Illinois, entitled “Smoke Free Washington”. Adoption of this ordinance would prohibit the use of electronic cigarettes in areas where smoking is prohibited by the Smoke Free Washington ordinance; and an ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances of the City of Washington, Illinois by adding a new Chapter entitled “Solar Energy Code”. Adoption of this ordinance would establish regulations pertaining to any solar energy developments in the City of Washington. These ordinances will be listed on the next meeting agenda for action.

Deputy Police Chief Stevens shared that the one vape shop (E-cigarettes) in Washington has been contacted to inform them of the proposed changes to the City’s ordinance. He indicated that the person running the shop does not want to take this away from persons between 18 and 21 because compared to tobacco use vaping is a better thing for people and directed him to an industry wide website for information. Mayor Manier shared that this contradicts what we have been hearing. Stevens shared that he did visit the website where indicators were that it was not sure what vaping will do in the long run adding that the largest study done was released in late January summarizing that it is not good to vape.

Authrz Construction Standards (residential streets) revision to add additional 0.5” of hot- mix asphalt (HMA):

Public Works Director Andrews requested Council authorization to revise the City’s current residential street Construction Standard to require an additional 0.5” of hot-mix asphalt (HMA) making the new depth requirement 3.5”. He shared that this will add up to nine years of life to the design period of the road while only adding approximately $1.10 per lineal foot to the initial cost. Alderman Brownfield moved and Alderman Dingledine seconded to authorize the revision as requested. Alderman Brucks asked for clarification on the additional 0.5” and the related costs. Andrews went over his cost analysis. On roll call the vote was:

Ayes: 7 Adams, Brownfield, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, Moss

Nays: 1 Brucks

Motion declared carried.

Budget Review: General Fund Summary

City Administrator Culotta provided the following: 1) proposed budget calls for a 6.4% decrease in General Fund spending; 2) personnel related expenditures have been reduced by 5.5% with 3% of that savings being directly attributed to joining the IPBC for health insurance; 3) a reduction of 4.05 FTEs from FY17-18 bringing us to an FTE of 65.00 in the proposed budget; 4) revenue assumptions include a 2% increase for Sales Tax; 5) the General Fund Reserve Fund balance is projected at $9.4M at FY17-18 end, a minimum standard balance of $2.2M and a remaining surplus balance of $7.2M is expected; 6) the General Fund Reserve Fund balance is projected at $8.26M at FY18-19 end, a minimum standard balance of $2.2M and a remaining surplus balance of $6.1M is expected; 7) proposed budget anticipates the use of $1.1M of General Fund Reserve Fund balance, which is 65.5% less than what was projected n FY17-18. Approximately 70% is earmarked for the possible realignment of Nofsinger Road with the balance going toward street capital projects and our local match of $750K is budgeted in the event the City receives IDOT EDP grant for the realignment of Nofsinger Road; 8) MFT funds will be used to seal coat the following streets: Beverly Manor, Hillcrest, and parts of Firethorn; 9) repaving is anticipated on the following streets: School St., N. Cummings Ln., Kern Rd., Ragan Ct., Freedom Pkwy., and Legion Rd.; 10) Engineering is budgeted in preparation for the reconstruction of N. Lawndale or another east side road in FY19-20; 11) expenses for the local match for recreation trails are shown in the Telecommunications Tax budget ($132,948 estimated for FY17-18) and ($169K budgeted for FY18-19); 12) advanced funding ($25K in FY17-18) and contractual payments for TC3 ($283,454 budgeted for FY18- 19) are shown in the Telecommunications Tax budget with an ending cash balance estimated in excess of $1.3M at FY18-19 end; 13) the exact date of the decommissioning of the City’s dispatch center is unknown so certain assumptions had to be made for budgeting purposes. Chief McCoy is anticipating decommissioning to be in August 2018. The proposed budget assumes the need for a new front desk service at the Police Station, and based on Chief McCoy’s recommendation the budget contains 3.5 full-time and 1.3 part-time employees for the year; 14) proposed budget includes a new annual dept service payment of $33K on the W223 property loan (as compared to $138,456 interest only payment); and 15) staff recommends a Special City Council meeting on Monday, March 26th to review the Motor Fuel Tax Fund, Motorized Equipment Replacement Fund, and to see the budget as a whole.

A brief discussion ensued on the Police Department staffing needs, unknown costs, and overall effect on the Department and residents once the dispatch center is decommissioned and moved to the consolidated center. Police Chief McCoy shared that proposed staffing needs are being budgeted at 16 hours per day from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. after the decommissioning in order to provide service to our residents. Alderman Brucks expressed his concern with staffing two shifts from the onset with so many unknowns and would rather see us starting with one day shift to assess the demand needs as it is always easier to add staff than take away. Chief McCoy indicated they are in the process of identifying additional duties that could be taken away from our Officers thus freeing them up to do more of their policing officer duties.

Budget Review: General Fund Summary, Cont.): A brief discussion ensued on the Capital Improvement Program Summary where Alderman Brucks shared his concern with the amount of expenses under consideration. Public Works Director went over the following projects and their expenses: 1) salt shed loadout paving is a support item which is just a rollover of money as it was an item from last year; 2) calcium chloride & brine tanks are something we have wanted to budget for to pretreat surfaces in our problem areas; 2) septic relocate is an item we need to address as our septic area is located in part of the parking lot area and this would be a placeholder to look at relocating to a more undisturbed area; 3) mass grading would be working on the terrain of the lot for future construction of a Public Works facility; and 4) Stratford Drive bridge was not downrated by its condition but by its 1960’s standard box design where it has since been load restricted by Springfield down to 15T and its replacement engineering and construction will allow us to get our 40T restriction back. Alderman Brucks commented that he does not see a direct benefit or immediate need on improvements at the Legion Road facility and our focus should be road work. Mayor Manier asked what has to be done to make it operational next year and Andrews shared that the truck outload paving needs to be done; calcium chloride can be pushed ahead; recommend moving ahead with septic relocation and could split $12.5K this FY and $12.5K next FY; and mass grading and seeding needs to move ahead and could split $25K this FY and $25K next FY. Alderman Brucks asked about the Legion Road parking lot paving and the Public Works facility construction at Legion and Andrews shared that the parking lot paving can be backed down to $10K this FY to address the one concrete area that is broken up and in bad shape and leave the outlaying years a little loose. He shared that the Jefferson Street Public Works facility is in the floodplain and nearing its end of life and we need to start looking at where we want to put our $. If the desire is to push construction out further it will be a necessity to address the condition of the Jefferson Street buildings. Alderman Cobb asked if the hot-mix asphalt paving covers all six streets and Andrews shared that it covers skip pave for a portion of N. Cummings Lane and Kern Road and a short section of Legion Road and full mill & overlay for Freedom Parkway, Ragan Court, and a portion of N. & S. School Street.

City Treasurer Dingledine noted that on the bulleted sheet where it says General Fund Reserve Balance it is everything together, not the reserve balance but the total fund balance.

Following further discussion on Police Department staffing needs once the dispatch center is decommissioned it was the general consensus to budget for staffing at 16-hours per day.

City Administrator Culotta asked if everyone was okay with holding a special meeting next Monday for budget review and everyone was asked to reach out to Administrator Culotta on their availability

Aldermen’s/Staff Comments: Police Chief McCoy provided a month end report noting the following: part I and II crimes up slightly due to vehicle burglaries (good news is the accident last night that occurred when a car was being chased by the East Peoria police was a car seen in our area and they were identified by us as the ones that were in our community burglarizing cars so we should see a curtail in our burglary numbers); traffic tickets down; warnings up; DUI’s down; property accidents down; personal injury accidents up; and self-initiated police activity was over 100 this month as compared to this time last month. He reminded everyone to lock your cars and close your garage doors, another public service notice was issued on this today.

Executive Session: At 7:44 p.m. Alderman Dingledine moved and Alderman Cobb seconded to move into

Executive Session for litigation, when an action against, affecting or on behalf of the particular public body has been filed and is pending or is probable or imminent and for the setting of a price for sale or lease of property owned by the public body per 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11) and (6) of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. On roll call the vote was:

Ayes: 7 Adams, Brownfield, Brucks, Butler, Cobb, Dingledine, Moss

Nays: 0

Motion declared carried.

Adjournment: At 8:11 p.m. Council reconvened in regular session and Alderman Brownfield moved and Alderman Adams seconded to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

http://www.ci.washington.il.us/egov/documents/1522874026_7348.pdf