DeKalb Times

City of Sandwich Committee-of-the-Whole met December 3

Here is the minutes as provided by the committee:

Mayor Olson called the Committee-of-the-Whole Council Meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

Roll call was taken:

     Present:          Mayor Olson, City Clerk Ii, Aldermen Chmielewski, Kelleher, Killey, McMahon, Redden, Robinson & Surratt

                            Absent: Alderman Dell

     Also present: Attorney Harrill, Department of Public Works / City Engineer Horak, EMA Director Ciciora, City Treasurer Webber & Chief Bianchi

Mayor Olson

Announcement: Sandwich Chamber of Commerce Director, Geri Benning, shared the news of a local juvenile being interviewed Tuesday, December 4th, on “Good Morning America”. Tempted by the 1980’s movie, The Christmas Story, local student Spencer Cline got his tongue stuck on a metal pole at the sledding hill recently. EMT’s were called but the boy had already freed himself by the time of their arrival. Clerk Ii noted that the story is also in this week’s People Magazine.

Announcement for Levy Meeting: A special meeting will be scheduled for Thursday, December 6th, 2018 at 10 AM to meet with Wes Levy of Lauterbach & Amens. He will have 2 levy proposals to present, and will further explain the levy process.

Ordinance 2018-21 Tax Abatement of Waterworks Refunding Bonds was presented for first reading. The ordinance will be placed on next week’s agenda for passage.

State Grant Application for $100,000: Encouraged by State Representative, Tom Demmer, the City has applied for a $100,000.00 grant for sidewalk repair and replacement. The application is completed and must be submitted by December 5th. The grant money will be used in conjunction with IDOT’s “Safe Routes to School” program.

DeKalb County Economic Development Grant: Economic Development Director Jim Teckenbrock will be receiving a $1,900.00 grant that will be forwarded to the City. Funds can be used for strategic planning

Kendall County Mayor’s Meeting: A round table discussion on building codes, and how codes differ between cities will be the topic at the Wednesday, December 5th meeting. Building Official Todd Steffens will be attending with Mayor Olson.

Foster, Buick, Conklin & Lundgren LLC: No report

City Clerk Ii:

2019 Holiday & Meetings Schedule: Clerk Ii distributed the proposed holiday and meeting schedules for 2019. In 2019, Veterans Day falls on Monday, November 11th. Veterans Days is a recognized city holiday but in the past, the Council has chosen to have a council meeting on that date. Council chose to continue having the November 11th, 2019 meeting on Veterans Day.

Discussion on December 26th, 2018 Regular Council Meeting: Monday, Christmas Eve and Tuesday, Christmas Day are recognized city holidays. In past few years, the Council has chosen not hold a meeting the last week of the December. Council agreed to cancel the scheduled December 26th meeting. A special meeting will be held on Monday, December 17th, for approval of bills for payment and passage of the City’s tax levy.

Aldermen Election Packets: City Hall will start receiving nomination packets for aldermen beginning on Monday, December 10th through Monday, December 17th. City Hall office hours are 8 am – 5 pm.

City Treasurer reported that due a clerical error on the part of the bank, the wrong CD (Certificate of Deposit) was recently closed. The error has since been rectified, and the City has returned excess interest back to the bank. The CD that was closed in error has been reinstated under the original terms and interest rate.

Director of Public Works / City Engineer Horak:

ZBA2018-02 (1310 E. 6th Street): ZBA granted the following variations at the November 27th regular meeting by a vote of 5-0: (a) to reduce the required number of office-business parking spaces from 12 to 6 with 2 of the spaces designated ADA; and (b) to reduce the required number of manufacturing building parking spaces from 31 required to 19.

DeKalb County Community Development Department Special Use Permit Petition SO-18-56: Building Official Todd Steffens attended a November 28th meeting regarding a special use permit for a solar garden consisting of approximately 13 acres. The new site would serve the electrical needs of 350 households. As yet, no date has been scheduled for a vote by the County Board. Because the property is located within 1.5 miles of the City’s boundaries and included in the City’ 2003 comprehensive plan that created land reserves beyond the 1.5 miles, the City would be able to exercise its power to control the uses proposed for the land reserve areas, including the special use for solar gardens. In August, a similar request was made for a solar garden to be located along Pine Road and the Somonauk blacktop consisting of 28.50 acres.

In the audience, former alderman Dave Fraser expressed concerns on the proposed projects as well as his experience with the companies proposing the solar gardens. He has questioned their ethical practice noting that with proposed 20-year leases, the solar businesses could sublet the property for any use.

Municipal Sanitary Sewer Service Rates: Per Municipal Code Section 86-187(b), the municipal sewer user rates will be increased 2% beginning with water/sewer bills mailed after January 1, 2019. The new rate will be $6.92 per 1,000 gallons.

2018 Leaf Program: Engineer Horak explained that weather conditions have prevented the street department from completing the last sweep of wards for the season. The leaf vac will be doing a final collection on Thursday and Friday of this week. Residents can still bag their leaves, and Community Disposal will collect on their normal trash pickup days.

Chief Bianchi: No report

EMA: No report

Alderwoman Chiemlewski: No report

Alderman Dell: Absent

Alderman Kelleher: No report

Alderwoman Killey advised that the finance committee would meet immediately following this evening’s Council meeting.

Alderman McMahon: No report

Alderman Redden, in response to the downtown lighting issue, stated that the street lights were erected in 1950 and wiring has started to deteriorate. He stressed that there is no money allocated for street lighting in the current budget, and that the city’s lighting infrastructure will need to be addressed with the new fiscal budget.

Alderman Robinson requested Executive Session at the end of the meeting under Section 2(c)(1). No action will be taken resulting from the Executive Session.

Alderman Surratt: No report

New Business: None

Audience Comments: None

Executive Session

Motion made by Alderman Robinson and seconded by Kelleher to go into executive session at 7:43 PM, pursuant to Section 2(c)(1) “The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity”. Aye: Aldermen Chmielewski, Kelleher, Killey, McMahon, Redden, Robinson & Surratt Nay:0 Motion carried 7:0

Motion to return from Executive Session: Motion made by Alderman Redden and seconded by Alderman Surratt to return to regular session at 7:54 PM. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

Adjournment: There being no further business to come before the Council, motion made by Alderman Surratt and seconded by Alderman Redden to adjourn the Committee-of-the-Whole Council meeting at 7:54 PM. Motion carried unanimously by voice vote.

http://www.sandwich.il.us/minutes/cw120318.pdf