City Council

Meeting date:

Monday, May 4, 2015

O’FALLON CITY COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING

May 4, 2015

The regular meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Gary Graham who led the Council in “The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.”

Phil Goodwin, City Clerk, swore in the following newly elected aldermen: Richie Meile, Robert Kueker, Kevin Hagarty, Matthew Smallheer, Michael Bennett, Ned Drolet, and David Cozad.

Philip Goodwin, City Clerk, called the roll: Gene McCoskey, excused; Richie Meile, present; Robert Kueker, present; Jerry Albrecht, present; Jerry Mouser, present; Kevin Hagarty, present; Matthew Smallheer, present; Herb Roach, present; Michael Bennett, present; Courtney Cardona, present; Ned Drolet, present; Ray Holden, present; David Cozad, present; Harlan Gerrish, present. A quorum was declared present.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Mayor Graham asked for approval of the minutes. Motion was made by J. Albrecht and seconded by K. Hagarty to approve the minutes of April 20, 2015. All ayes. Motion carried.

PUBLIC HEARING – Mayor Graham opened the Public Hearing at 7:04 p.m. for the Central City Redevelopment Project Area. He called three times for public input but no one came forward. He closed the hearing at 7:04 p.m. He then opened the Public Hearing for the Business District Plan for the proposed Route 50/Scott Troy Road Business District at 7:04 p.m. He called three times for public input but no one came forward. He closed the hearing at 7:05 p.m.

Mayor’s Report: Mayor Graham said he would like to present the life-saving award first, so the EMS crew could get back to work. He asked Chief Van Hook to come forward with the award winners. He presented the Lifesaving Award to Lindsey Pirtle who was the dispatcher that evening when the cardiac arrest call came in. He mentioned Officer Adam Taulbee as the first officer on the scene, who started CPR before the EMS crew arrived. Marcus McWhorter thanked all of the crew for saving his life.

Mayor Graham read a proclamation declaring May 18 – May 22nd as EMS Week. Kim Lamprecht invited everyone to come to the Open House on Thursday, May 21^st from 4 – 7:00 p.m. She mentioned the Arch Helicopter would land about 6:00 p.m.

Mayor Graham asked Suzy Douglas to come forward who was in attendance for The National Day of Prayer. He read a Proclamation declaring May 7^th as “A Day of Prayer”. Ms. Douglas invited everyone to come to City Hall between noon and 1:00 p.m. She said it is a good opportunity to come to a public place to pray.

Mayor Graham asked former alderwoman, Mary Schmitt to come forward. He read a Proclamation declaring May 15^th as “Bike to Work Day”. Ms. Schmitt mentioned that the Group Ride will start at 101 W. State Street at 6:30 a.m.

Mayor Graham asked Philip Goodwin, City Clerk and Maryanne Fair, Deputy City Clerk to come forward. He read a Proclamation declaring May 3 – May 9^th as “Municipal Clerk’s Week”. Mayor Graham thanked them for their efforts in running an efficient office. Maryanne invited anyone interested to come to the Parliamentary Study Group she facilitates. They meet once a month.

RESIDENTS: Mayor Graham invited any resident who wished to speak to come forward.

Mike Cook came forward to state that there was a 25% voter turnout, one of the highest for a Consolidated Election in O’Fallon history. Regarding the City’s question on the water/sewer lease, the voters voted “no” by a 75 to 25% margin. Regarding the citizen’s question on the sale or lease of the water/sewer, the voters noted “no” by an 83 to 17% margin. He also thanked the Council for stating that they will discontinue any further considerations of selling or leasing our water and sewer systems. He asked that the RFP information on the website be removed.

A Fairview Heights resident came forward to ask why he was not able to vote on the issue, since he gets his water from O’Fallon, and he was told only O’Fallon residents could vote on the issue by law. Mayor Graham also added that he had approached Fairview Heights and offered to sell it to them but without success. He said 83% of the people did not vote in the last election. He said we did not have the numbers before, but they came in at 100 million dollars. It cost about $30,000 in costs to answer all the Freedom of Information questions. The Attorney General sent us a letter and stated that there were no violations of the Open Meetings Act in any of the proceedings.

REPORTS:

Clerk’s Report: City Clerk Goodwin read the following:

1. Request from American Cancer Society Relay for Life of O’Fallon to conduct a raffle from May 4 – June 20, 2015 for a 39” television and Blu-ray Player

2. Request from O’Fallon Kiwanis Club to conduct a raffle for alcohol from May 20 – August 8, 2015

Motion by J. Mouser and seconded by M. Bennett to approve the requests. All ayes. Motion carried.

RESOLUTIONS: Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to consider Items 1 – 4 under the Omnibus Agreement. All ayes. Motion carried. Mayor Graham read the following:

ITEM 1 – Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with Burns & McDonnell for I-64 and areas East Sewer Study in an amount not to exceed $62,900

ITEM 2 – Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute a change order to the agreement with Gonzalez Companies for the design of the Woodstream Sewer Bypass project, change order cost of $24,438

ITEM 3 – Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with Rooter’s Asphalt for Street Resurfacing – CY2015 in the amount of $544,497.35

ITEM 4 – Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement with Hank’s Excavating & Landscaping, Inc. for the calendar year 2015 Concrete Replacement Program in the amount of $281,495.15

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to approve Items 1 – 4 under the previous Omnibus Agreement.

ROLL CALL: Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, aye; Mouser, aye; Hagarty, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Bennett, aye; Cardona, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye. Ayes – 13; Nos – 0. Motion carried.

ORDINANCES:

1^st Reading –

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to consider on 1^st reading Item 5, an Ordinance establishing and designating the Route 50/Scott-Troy Road Business District and approving the Route 50/Scott-Troy Road District Plan.

ROLL CALL: Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, aye; Mouser, aye; Hagarty, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Bennett, no; Cardona, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye. Ayes – 12; Nos – 1. Motion carried.

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to consider on 1^st reading Item 6, an Ordinance establishing and imposing certain Business District taxes in the Route 50/Scott-Troy Road Business District.

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to consider on 1^st reading Item 7, an Ordinance amending Section 94.03 of Chapter 94.

M. Bennett questioned why we could tell someone to cut property that is not theirs.

2nd Readings –

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by H. Gerrish to approve on 2nd reading Item 8, an Ordinance Ord. amending Ord. 623, Zoning, development known as Green Mount Professional Park located at 1405 N. Green Mount Road.

J. Mouser asked T. Shekell to explain the mowing issue. He answered that we have a few people who do not mow the strip of right-of-way between the sidewalk and parking lot, so the City has to mow it. If the issue becomes a nuisance, we want to be able to enforce it. We also added an appeals process.

STANDING COMMITTEES –

Community Development:Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to approve the Special Event requests from:

Newbold Toyota May Sales Event with conditions

Keller Farms, Inc. to hold a Sweet Corn Stand from June 15^th – August 20, 2015

Metro East Cycling “O’Fallon Grand Prix Bicycle Race” to June 20^th with conditions

All ayes. Motion carried. He stated they will meet May 11, 2015 at the Public Safety building.

Public Works: Motion by D. Cozad and seconded R. Holden to approve the proposal from Demond Signs for Holiday decorations, storage, installation, and takedown in the amount of $34,822.

N. Drolet said the banners looked bad and some lights were out last year.

D. Cozad stated they will meet June 22nd at 7:00 p.m. at the Public Safety building.

Public Safety: C. Cardona said they will meet May 11^th at 5:00 p.m. at the Public Safety Building.

K. Hagarty stated that he wanted to commend Chief Van Hook for setting up the Safe Haven at the Public Safety building where people can meet people to exchange their items that they have bought or sold.

J. Mouser wanted to commend Bob Karras and another Public Works employee for being first to respond to a recent fire. He said Frank Shewmaker went into the building with a fire extinguisher to start getting the fire under control.

Finance/Administration: Motion by M. Bennett and seconded by J. Albrecht to approve Warrant #324 in the amount of $728,637.63.

Parks and Environment: R. Holden said the committee will meet May 11^th at 5:30 p.m. at the Public Safety Building. Mayor Graham mentioned that Alderman Meile will also be on the committee.

EXECUTIVE SESSION: Mayor Graham stated he needed a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss a threat of litigation. Mayor Graham added he does not expect to have action afterward, but it will be up to the Council. Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to go into closed session.

ROLL CALL: Meile, aye; True, aye; Albrecht, aye; Hagarty, aye; Drolet, aye; Roach, aye; Bennett, aye; Cardona, aye; Hursey, aye; Holden, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye. Ayes – 12; Nos – 0. All ayes. Motion carried.

The Council went into closed session at 7:49 p.m. and returned at 8:11 p.m. with no action.

ADJOURNMENT: Motion by J. Mouser and seconded by J. Albrecht to adjourn. All ayes. Motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:12 p.m.

Submitted by,

__________________________

Philip A. Goodwin

City Clerk

Minutes recorded by

Maryanne Fair, Deputy City Clerk

Proper notice having been duly given

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