Peoria Standard

Village of Swansea Board of Trustees met July 1.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Attendees: Board President Leopold, Trustees McGuire, McDonald, Neumeyer& Wells, Treasurer John Walter, Police Department (PD) Deputy Chief Craig Coughlin, Fire Department (FD) Chief Chris Tell, Building and Zoning (B&Z) Director Dallas Alley, Street Department Acting Superintendent / Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) Superintendent Rick Tucker, Administrator Benjamin Schloesser, Clerk Lauren O'Neill, other community members. Absent: Trustees Lanter & Parker PD Chief Steven Johnson

Motions: Trustees are presented with the individual that made the motion, followed by the person seconding the motion. Votes: Aye and voice votes unless otherwise noted (roll call (with each member stating their name and vote)). Meeting content is presented within the marks “***”.

I) CALL TO ORDER

II) PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG

III) ROLL CALL

IV) APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Motion to accept: Wellls, McDonald with the correction incorporated in the Committee Minutes (Swansea Report), noting that the motion was made by Parker, and not by Pulley.

1) Personnel Executive Session Minutes - June 17, 2019

2) Board Minutes June 17, 2019

3) Committee Minutes June 17, 2019

4) Special Meeting Minutes Committee June 24, 2019

5) Special Meeting Minutes Board June 24, 2019

V) ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES OF ADVISORY BOARDS/PLACE ON FILE Motion to accept: Wells, McDonald

1) Park Board Minutes – May 11, 2019

VI) MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS/CORRESPONDENCE – A meeting was held with the Township at the Village Attorney’s office, but the meeting resulted in no further outcomes. The Village will proceed to enforce the agreement terms previously agreed to and take care not to denigrate the Village’s position.

VII) VILLAGE ATTORNEY COMMENTS - None /VILLAGE ADMINISTRATOR COMMENTS – The Administrator was bringing the Board’s attention that emergency costs were incurred for the FD pumper of about $6,500, which exceeds the limit of 5K that the Administrator can pursue for resolution of an emergency issue. It was noted also that some notifications and approvals are required. In the future, the Administrator noted that he would take care to receive both written approval from the Mayor (received on the recent issue) and the Finance Chairperson. After the fact, notice and approvals were obtained from the Finance Chair (not present this evening).

VIII) PUBLIC COMMENT – Public comments were noted: (A) There was an objection heard from a business owner – The objection related to having received after the fact feedback and instructions to “have (monetary) skin in the game” for a planned TIF reimbursement project. The business owner noted that he should have been provided with such instructions in advance of moving forward with the application process, and that had he known that he would receive this type of feedback, he might not have committed the time and other outlays to the request or the proposed project. The mayor noted that participating in the cost by the business owner is important to the Village, but that the particular request for an exception would be reviewed. (B) Another objection was heard to the comments made at the meeting regarding potential reasons why the attorney’s representing the plaintiffs in the Sewer Lawsuit agreed to represent the parties. The comment was noted as hearsay. It was added that the Village did not feel responsible for paying for representation that was not an obligation of the Village and that did not benefit the Village or the taxpayers.

IX) REPORT OF COMMITTEES

A) Personnel Committee – Comments

1) Request To Hire Full Time Code Inspector – The position would be offered and be contingent on the full background check.

2) Request To Hire Paid On Call Fire Fighter Daniel Hussey – An update will be provided at the next meeting or another future meeting.

3) Request To Hire Civilian Police Aide to fill a Vacancy by Tracey Mahoney - Motion to approve the offier with $14.99 per hour and no benefits for the part time position: Neumeyer, McGuire (roll call).

4) Memo Conference for Administrator Schloesser – Motion to approve conference reimbursement with the upper ceiling for the total reimbursement (conference fees, travel, lodging, etc.) being $2,000.: Neumeyer, McDonald (roll call).

5) Discussion Item Firefighter Job Description - Motion to accept the draft with the changes agreed to being incorporated: Neumeyer, McDonald.

B) Judiciary Committee – Comments

1) Ord Draft - An Ordinance Amending Chapter 32 Of The Swansea Municipal Code Regarding The Officials And Organizations Deputy Clerk(s) – This item will be on the next Board agenda.

2) Discuss Park Regulations – The regulations will involve items related to barbeque grills, boats on the lake, and other items still under discussion.

C) Finance Committee Report – Comments

1) Approval Of Bills - Motion to pay the bills in the total amount of $210,131.66: Wells, McGuire (roll call)

D) Community & Economic Development – Comments

1) Discuss Front Parcels At Swansea Clinton Hills Park

E) Public Safety Committee – Comments

1) Res No. 1-2292. A Resolution Approving An Intergovernmental Agreement Between The Village Of Swansea And High Mount District No. 116 Regarding A School Resource Officer Program –- Motion to read: Wells, Neumeyer. Motion to accept: Wells, McGuire (roll call).

F) Public Works Committee – Comments

1) Discuss Swansea Clinton Hills Paving – More updates are needed with a resolution prepared, before the Board will vote and actions obligating the Village will be taken.

G) Cultural Committee – Comments

H) Swansea Report Committee – Comments

1) Swansea Report August Articles - No Comments

X) OLD BUSINESS – Comments heard include the following: (A) Potentially a draft ordinance related to the TIF Extension may be presented at the next meeting. (B) Review of costs related to the Park need to continue to be obtained, which may or may not support additional park taxes being implemented on community members. (C) Costs attributed to the various departments should be carefully assigned to the applicable cost category or requirement. For example, if Parks/Street Department is spending time to maintain FD, Code Enforcement, or other vehicles care must be taken to assign the cost to the applicable department. (D) Potentially it may be introduced in the future to break-off the Parks Department from the Streets Departments so there is a clearer understanding of costs. It was noted that costs can be assigned without creating a new department.

XI) NEW BUSINESS - Comments heard related to investigating whether a Special Business District or similar program might be created to stimulate activities and improvements in areas of Swansea such as in the office and other business areas that are located in Swansea behind the Outback Restaurant.

XII) ANNOUNCEMENTS – No Comments.

XIII) ADJOURNMENT - Motion to Adjourn – Wells, McGuire

http://www.swanseail.org/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/1141