City Council

 

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

 

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

 

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:  Mayor Graham asked for approval of the minutes of October 3, 2016.  Motion was made by J. Albrecht and seconded by K. Hagarty to approve the minutes.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

PUBLIC HEARING – None scheduled.

 

RESIDENTS:  Mayor Graham asked if anyone wished to come forward to speak to the Council.  

 

Ed Martinez, Commander of VFW Post 805, announced that the Bacon Fest this past Saturday had a great turnout. It looks like the Post made about $6,000.

 

Vern Malare voiced his concern that the building does not have an electrical inspection or maintenance record to give him. He also asked for a report from an alderman that went to the IML Conference. Mayor Graham replied that he can come in any time to talk to him about the benefits of attending. He mentioned that one of the things they learned from attending the conference in the past was utility mischarges. He said the city got back over 1.5 million dollars in a lawsuit that we would not have known about if we had not attended IML. He asked him to look on their website, www.iml.org for slides from the conference.

 

N. Drolet commended the OTHS Marching Band for winning several first-place trophies from the competition in Edwardsville. They also won the Governor’s Trophy at the competition at the University of Illinois. Mayor Graham added that they are raising money to go to the Orange Bowl this year. He said they take over two hundred people.

 

Mayor Graham asked Alderman Gilreath to talk about what he learned at the IML. He stated he learned a lot, including that we have a great staff. He said he learned more about Open Meeting laws, fraud detection, ADA compliance, the value in having a Parks system and how that adds value to property. He also thought the John Maxwell session was a good training program. He has gained confidence in asking questions. He added that he took the oath of office and takes it very seriously.

 

Mayor Graham added that some of the topics were Robert’s Rules of Order, Freedom of Information Act, texting between aldermen during a meeting, and the storm water tax.

 

K. Hagarty said the networking is nice, as well. M. Gilreath added that the roundtable discussions were very good.

 

 

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

 

Motion by D. Cozad and seconded by K. Hagarty to approve the requests. All ayes. Motion carried.

 

Mayor’s Report:  

 

Mayor Graham announced Halloween Trick or Treat hours are Monday, October 31^st from 6 – 9:00 p.m.

 

He added this month’s meeting of the Southwestern Illinois Council of Mayors will be held October 27^th at the Lewis and Clark Visitor’s Center in Hartford. Please contact Jamie to make your reservation by October 21^st.

 

 

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by Hagarty to approve Item 1, a Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the City of Fairview Heights for the O’Fallon – Fairview Heights Communications Center.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, aye; Hagarty, aye; Gilreath, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Marsh, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by K. Hagarty to approve Item 2, a Resolution approving and accepting a subdivision of land to be known as the “Frieze Harley Davidson Subdivision” on parcel 04-30.0-303-080.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, aye; Hagarty, aye; Gilreath, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Marsh, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by K. Hagarty to approve Item 3, a Resolution approving and accepting a subdivision of land to be known as the “Ridge Prairie Heights – Parks Lot Split Subdivision” on parcel 03-26.0-409-001.

 

C. Marsh asked if we were going to allow someone to build on the lot given its awkward shape. In answer to C. Marsh’s question, Justin Randall said that it meets requirements of the SR-2 setbacks. She also asked if modular homes are allowed, and J. Randall replied that SR-2’s only allow stick buildings.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, aye; Hagarty, aye; Gilreath, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Marsh, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

Mayor Graham said the staff with our own expert, Daryl Ostendorf, learned that we were going to lose 911 to the County. Our call times would have gone up, as it would have been routed to the County.  We were able to negotiate with Fairview Heights and Shiloh to keep our response time down. We now have a state-of-the art 911 call center.

 

Captain Cavins said they have been working with our IT to get it all set up. We have six public safety access points and monitors are in. We can do everything in Fairview Heights, as if we were there. Mayor Graham added that they have shared the costs.

 

 

 

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by G. McCoskey to consider Item 4, an Ordinance amending Ordinance 623, Zoning, (Development known as “BP Gas Station”) to be at 720 South Lincoln Avenue.

 

N. Drolet was concerned about the access points between BP and Autozone.  He thinks the west access point should be closed. There was concern about the loss of parking spots.  He thinks that it would be a benefit to have access between BP and AutoZone. He requested that Justin go back to IDOT to get cross access. Mayor Graham asked if the two businesses have been asked. He said that you get a cut when you buy a piece of property. J. Randall said that AutoZone was not approached and added BP said that IDOT said they would lose their access to Hwy 50, if there is cross access.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, no; Hagarty, aye; Gilreath, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Marsh, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, no; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  Ayes – 11; nos - 2.  Motion carried.

 

Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by G. McCoskey to consider Item 5, an Ordinance amending Ordinance 623, Zoning, (Development known as “The Enclave at Augusta Greens” Subdivision).

 

Mayor Graham said he looked at the development in Edwardsville. It is for seniors and is a nice facility. They are having an Open House tomorrow night.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, aye; Hagarty, aye; Gilreath, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Marsh, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

2nd Readings – None brought forward.

 

 

Community Development:  Motion by J. Albrecht and seconded by R. Kueker to approve the Special Event Permit request to hold a Pumpkin Patch stand from September through October 31, 2016 at 1250 N. Lincoln. All ayes. Motion carried.

 

J. Albrecht stated the committee will meet October 24th at 6:00 p.m. at the Public Safety Building.

 

Public Works:  G. McCoskey stated they will meet October 24th at 7:00 p.m. at the Public Safety Building.

 

Public Safety:  C. Marsh stated they will meet the second Monday in November at 5:00 p.m. at the Public Safety Building.

 

Parks and Environment:  R. Holden said they will have a combined meeting with Community Development.

 

Finance/Administration:  J. Albrecht made a motion seconded by R. Kueker to approve Warrant #360 in the amount of $823,680.21.

 

ROLL CALL: McCoskey, aye; Meile, aye; Albrecht, aye; Kueker, aye; Hagarty, aye; Gilreath, aye; Roach, aye; Smallheer, aye; Marsh, aye; Holden, aye; Drolet, aye; Cozad, aye; Gerrish, aye.  All ayes.  Motion carried.

 

EXECUTIVE SESSION:   Mayor Graham announced there is no closed session.

 

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

 

The meeting was adjourned at 7:38 p.m.

 

Submitted by,

 

 

 

__________________________

Philip A. Goodwin

City Clerk                                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                                                           

Minutes recorded by

Maryanne Fair, Deputy City Clerk