City Council

 

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

 

Philip Goodwin, City Clerk, called the roll:  Gene McCoskey, present; Richie Meile, excused; Ed True, present; Jerry Albrecht, present; Jerry Mouser, present; Kevin Hagarty, present; John Drolet, present; Herb Roach, present; Michael Bennett, present; Courtney Cardona, present; Jim Hursey, present; Ray Holden, present; David Cozad, present; Harlan Gerrish, present.  A quorum was declared present.

 

City Clerk Goodwin announced the Mayor Graham would not be present and requested a motion to appoint a Mayor Pro Tem.  Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to appoint M. Bennett as Mayor Pro Tem.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Mayor Pro Tem Bennett asked for approval of the minutes.  Motion was made by J. Mouser and seconded by J. Albrecht to approve the minutes of March 2, 2015.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

PUBLIC HEARING – Mayor Pro Tem Bennett opened the Public Hearing at 7:02 p.m. for the Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Plan and Project for the proposed Route 50/Scott-Troy Road Redevelopment Project Area. He asked if anyone wanted to speak for or against it.  Mike Weber of PGAV came forward to let the Council know he was there in case anyone had questions.  He said the change in the original plan is #5 is changed to 50% on the recplex project and 25% under development.  Mayor Pro Tem Bennett asked again if anyone wanted to speak for or against the project.  He asked a final time.  He closed the hearing at 7:03 p.m.

 

RESIDENTS:    Mayor Pro Tem Bennett invited any resident who wished to speak to come forward.

 

Stewart Drolet came forward to speak in opposition to the water/sewer lease.  He voiced his concern about the expense the resident may incur if they have a sewer lateral problem or have to bring it up to code.  The city has given low cost loans and added it to the water bill.  The water and sewer company is a monopoly, and the citizens are the shareholders.  The lease company will need to make a profit.  He also mentioned the Wastewater Treatment expansion could cost 26.5 million dollars, which is a large investment.  Where will that money come from was his concern.  He also was concerned about infrastructure funding, volunteer firefighters, snow removal and the sewer vac trucks expenses.

 

Dino Evigenedes came forward with his concerns about neighbors having home disrepair violations and too many people and vehicles at a house near his.  Mayor Pro Tem Bennett asked if the inspectors had seen it, and T. Shekell responded that they were aware and following up on the issue.

 

Abrahm Mayo came forward to talk about his Vote Yes Please O’Fallon website. He supports innovative ways to fund improvements.  He voiced his concerns that city workers used work hours to send e-mails on the leasing issue.  He asked that it be investigated.

 

Kae Zelms said the flyer that came in the mail today was inaccurate regarding the statistics used.  Mayor Pro Tem said that it is not a city publication. It is from the Vote Yes Please O’Fallon group.    Ms. Zelms said that Citizens Against the Water Sewer Sale does not exist.  She said no city worker is on their committee.

 

Terry Lysakowski asked for a moment of silence for John Mackey, retired city worker, who passed away January 18th.  He also asked for everyone to vote “no” twice.

 

Mike Cook stepped forward to say he supports the good work of the city workers that run our water and sewer systems.  They earn a living salary.  He does not agree with the personal attacks against them.

 

Ron Zelms came forward to state he has gone through hundreds of e-mails and noted that Huron Consulting was hired in March 2014, but consultants spoke to the City a year earlier.  He said they were supposed to provide a management study, not market the systems.

 

Vern Malare came forward to state that the City of Fairview Heights has sent a letter to our city stating that they passed a resolution that they oppose the City of O’Fallon leasing or selling its water supply service system.  He said that we had a profit of $2,306,220 from water and sewer in 2014.  He also asked who would be on the selection committee and evaluation committee.

 

J. Drolet stated that facts are important.  He said that the letter by Dean Rich was correct that we have lost money nine out of seventeen years, but we had a positive cash flow of $260,000.  In those years, we had four significant losses.  The Council has never considered raising property taxes.  The comment was said that we need 4.9 million a year forever.  We need to talk about these issues.

 

H. Roach stated that we have not raised sales or property taxes.  He added that the benefits cover all city employees.  None of our employees are required to live in O’Fallon.

 

 

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

 

1.  Four requests from the O’Fallon Moose Lodge #2608 to conduct raffles for coins and cash

 

2.  Request from Laverna Evans PTO to conduct a raffle on March 28, 2015 for cash

 

3. Request from O’Fallon/FVH Lion’s Club to conduct a roadblock on October 9^th from 7:30 – 9:30 a.m. and 3:00- 6:30 p.m. as well as October 10^th from 7:30 – 10:00 a.m. at the intersections of Smiley and State and Lincoln and State

 

Motion by E. True and seconded by J. Hursey to approve the requests.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Mayor’s Report:   Mayor Pro Tem Bennett asked Chief Van Hook to come forward  with Lt. Kerry Andrews.  Chief Van Hook presented a Chief’s Commendation to Lt. Andrews for his work in ILEAS, and his work as the commander of the Mobile Field Force that covers eleven counties.

 

Mayor Pro Tem Bennett announced this month’s meeting of the Southwestern Illinois Council of Mayors is on Thursday, March 26^th at the East Carondelet Community Center.  Please submit your reservation request to Jamie by March 20th, if you plan to attend.

 

He also thanked the Chamber and Progress for hosting the O’Fallon/Shiloh Chamber of Commerce Candidates Forum.

 

RESOLUTIONS:  No resolutions brought forward.

 

 

1^st Reading – No 1st reading Ordinances brought forward.

 

2nd Readings – Motion by J Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to pass on 2nd Reading, an Ordinance declaring certain vehicles and equipment as surplus:  2001 Dodge Ram 2500, VIN 3B7KF26Z41M276446 and 2004 Freightliner Air Sweeper, VIN 1FVAB6BV84DN10688, and miscellaneous computer and cellphones.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by J. Mouser to pass on 2nd Reading, an Ordinance amending Title XI, Chapter 116, Section 116.18 (C), fee for H-1 Liquor License, $700 for a profit entity and $400 for a not-for-profit entity.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; True, aye; Albrecht, aye; Mouser, aye; Hagarty, aye; Drolet, aye; Roach, aye; Bennett, aye; Cardona, aye; Hursey, aye; Holden, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  Ayes – 13; Nos – 0. All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

 

Community Development:Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by G. McCoskey to approve the following Special Event permit requests:

 

Request from St. Nicholas Church to hold a NickFest Festival on May 15 – May 16, 2015, includes alcohol sales and conditions (Click here to view the staff report, memo, and application)

 

Request from Ace Hardware to hold a greenhouse event from March – June 30, 2015, with conditions (Click here to view the staff report, and application)

 

Requests from Frieze Harley-Davidson to hold several events on March 28^th, May 16^th, May 17^th, June 19, August 21, September 12^th and September 13, 2015, with conditions (Click here to view the staff report, and application for Anniversary Bash, application for Open House, application for Cancer Benefit, application for Friday Night Live, and application for New Model Year)

 

All ayes.  Motion carried.  He stated they will meet March 23rd at the Public Safety building.

 

Public Works: R. Meile was not present.

 

Public Safety:  K. Hagarty said they will meet at 5:00 p.m. April 13^th.

 

Finance/Administration:  Motion by M. Bennett and seconded by J. Albrecht to approve Warrant #321 in the amount of $519,082.64.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; True, aye; Albrecht, aye; Mouser, aye; Hagarty, aye; Drolet, aye; Roach, aye; Bennett, aye; Cardona, aye; Hursey, aye; Holden, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  Ayes – 13; Nos – 0. All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Parks and Environment:  E. True said they may not meet next month.

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION:   No closed session.

 

ADJOURNMENT:  Motion by K. Hagarty and seconded by J. Hursey to adjourn.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 8:14 p.m.

 

Submitted by,

 

 

 

__________________________

Philip A. Goodwin

City Clerk                                                                                                       

                                                                                                                               

Minutes recorded by

Maryanne Fair, Deputy City Clerk

Proper notice having been duly given