DeKalb Times

City of Genoa City Council met Oct. 1.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

Mayor Vicary called the regular meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken. Aldermen Carroll, Di Guido, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta and Lang were present. Aldermen Wesner and Brust were absent.

Mayor Vicary led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guest Speaker: Chief Smith recognized Officers Baxa and Schuring for their actions in saving 2 people’s lives during drug overdoses. Officer Hoffstead was unable to attend the meeting, but was recognized for saving a baby’s life due to choking.

Motion made by Alderman Stevenson to approve the minutes of the September 17, 2019 City Council meeting, seconded by Alderman Carroll. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Alderman Lang to approve payment of the accounts payables for the second half of September 2019 in the amount of $129,354.84, seconded by Alderman Stevenson. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Lang, Carroll, Di Guido, Stevenson, Winter and Cravatta voted yes. Motion carried.

ITEMS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN ATTENDANCE – None NEW BUSINESS

PRESENTATION OF THE CITY OF GENOA FISCAL YEAR 2018-2019 AUDIT REPORT BY SIKICH: Brian LeFevre from Sikich provided a brief overview of the 2018-2019 fiscal year audit. He stated that the City of Genoa has received the reward for excellent financial reporting from the Government Finance Officers Association for the 13th consecutive year. Mr. LeFevre indicated that the audit went smoothly and in a timely manner. Mayor Vicary commended Treasurer, Janis Tures for her excellent work.

 Motion made by Alderman Carroll to accept the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2019, seconded by Alderman Lang. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Carroll, Di Guido, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

CONSIDER THE PURCHASE OF A DUMP TRUCK: Motion made by Alderman Lang to approve the purchase of a new 5 yard dump truck chassis and equipment, not to exceed $137,723, seconded by Alderman Winter. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Lang, Carroll, Di Guido, Stevenson, Winter and Cravatta voted yes. Motion carried.

CONSIDER SIDEWALK AND CURB REPAIRS: Motion made by Alderman Stevenson to approve sidewalk and curb repairs, not to exceed $20,914.50, seconded by Alderman Cravatta.

It was determined that these repairs are included in the budget. There was an approximate $10,000 difference in the 2 bids for the sidewalk and curbs. Public Works Director, Rich Gentile indicated that the reason for that is due to RAI Concrete already working with IDOT, so some of the costs were already included in the project. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Lang, Carroll and Di Guido voted yes. Motion carried.

DISCUSSION REGARDING FOOD TRUCK LICENSING: Motion made by Alderman Di Guido to approve an Ordinance creating Title 3, Chapter 7, Mobile Food Vendors, of the City Code of the City of Genoa, seconded by Alderman Winter. It was asked what the annual fee timeframe would be. It was determined it would be the City’s fiscal year, beginning May 1st and ending April 30th. If a license were to be issued mid-year, the fee would be pro-rated. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Di Guido, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Lang and Carroll voted yes. Motion carried.

CONSIDER AWARDING A CONTRACT FOR ASBESTOS REMOVAL AND DEMOLITION OF 131 SOUTH SYCAMORE ST:

 DISCUSSION REGARDING BUILDING TOUR AND CONTACT WITH PROPERTY OWNER: Alderman Cravatta began the discussion by stating that he was unsuccessful at contacting the property owner. He indicated that he found out where she works and will try to contact her that way. Alderman Cravatta, Public Works Director Rich Gentile, Alderman Di Guido, John Shipley of Shipley Construction and one other investor/contractor, Mike Steinbis, did a walk-through of the inside of the home to get some professional opinions of whether or not the home is salvageable. He indicated that the roof is solid and it has a 90% efficiency furnace in the basement, so he is not in favor of tearing the home down. He feels the City would get more money from the sale of the property with the house still standing. Alderman Cravatta was asked if he has an economic interest in the property. He responded that if he was, he would abstain from the vote. Attorney Slingerland stated that the judge has given the City permission to demolish the house, but there is no timeframe as to when it has to be done, so we can go another route if we choose to. He also indicated that if the City wants to purchase the property, the owner would have to sell it to us or we would need to foreclose on the property and bid on it at the auction along with everyone else that is interested in purchasing it. Mayor Vicary stated that the City has been trying to do the fiscally responsible thing via several Executive Sessions, process servers and legal opinions regarding this property for over 2 years and a decision needs to be made as to whether or not the home should be demolished. Attorney Slingerland stated that if the City goes the route of foreclosing on the home and getting it to auction, it would take approximately 7 or 8 months for the auction to be complete and another few months for the City to get the money for the property. Roger Keys, Owner of the Genoa Guest House addressed Council and stated that he has restored homes in that condition before and the renovation costs are a lot higher than people think. He feels the house should be torn down. John Shipley stated that in his opinion, the house is salvageable and believes the City would get more money by foreclosing on it and selling it as is at an auction.

 Motion made by Alderman Di Guido to authorize the City Attorney and Mayor to execute a contract with Northern Illinois Service Company for the asbestos removal and demolition of 131 South Sycamore Street, not to exceed $29,355, seconded by Alderman Lang. Roll call vote was taken. Alderman Di Guido voted yes. Alderman Winter abstained. Aldermen Stevenson, Cravatta, Lang and Carroll voted no. Motion did not carry.

OTHER BUSINESS

RECREATIONAL CANNABIS REGULATION (DISCUSSION ONLY): City Administrator, Art Osten began the discussion by stating the recreational cannabis will be legal in the State of Illinois beginning January 1, 2020. He then indicated that staff will need to revise the personnel policy to reflect the new law and Council will need to decide if they would like to regulate or prohibit the growth and/or sale of cannabis. Consensus amongst Council was to regulate it. Due to time constraints of the meeting, it was decided to continue the discussion at the next City Council meeting.

DISCUSSION REGARDING PROPERTY MAINTENANCE (DISCUSSION ONLY): Mayor Vicary began the discussion by stating that the City currently does not have a consistent process in place regarding property maintenance, so we are trying to put policies and regulations together. City Administrator, Art Osten began by informing everyone that the purpose of property maintenance is more of an Economic Development standpoint. The City would like the downtown area to improve the aesthetic appearance to be more inviting to draw more businesses to Genoa. He presented 4 options of how to proceed going forward:

1. Continue current process of only responding to resident and business complaints

2. Doing a visual survey of the downtown area, using the TIF boundaries, to detect obvious exterior issues that need to be inspected. Things such as broken or boarded up windows, loose brick or roofs that do not appear to be structurally sound. Also continuing to pursue resident and business complaints.

3. Everything in option 2, to include apartment complexes that have 6 or more units.

4. What Council members want to include

Several business owners expressed concerns regarding property maintenance. They wanted to know to what extent the inspections would go. They indicated that the buildings downtown are old, so it would be too much of a financial hardship to stay in business if they had to bring everything up to code. Mayor Vicary responded that the City is in the process of reaching out to State Representative, Jeff Keicher to see if there is any type of relief that he can bring through Springfield and some legislation that gives a break to businesses located in older buildings. Council responded to these concerns by assuring the business owners that the City’s intent is to support them and help their businesses thrive. Council also conveyed that we want to ensure safety and security to the residents. Another business owner asked Council to use caution when receiving complaints from tenants because sometimes they are disgruntled and knit pick every little thing and then the owner has to jump through hoops to be in compliance. He believes a checks and balance approach would be the best way to handle those situations. There was some discussion regarding our inspection company B&F. Consensus amongst the business owners and some Council members was that they feel B&F pushes inspections to make more money.

Mayor Vicary responded that we have Casey Fellows, Rich Gentile and Nick Garvey to help with some inspections, but right now we need to utilize B&F for the more in depth projects & inspections. Jeff Engel, owner of Remax Classic, expressed his frustration regarding a water flow problem that goes straight towards his building that has created structural damage. He indicated that it has been an on-going issue for quite some time. Director Gentile responded that he was made aware of it a while ago. He apologized and stated that he will look into it. There was some discussion regarding which option the City should adopt. A few Aldermen expressed leaving the current process as is and just doing property maintenance inspections when there is a complaint. Alderman Di Guido indicated that he would like more people to utilize our on-line form to report property maintenance issues. Assistant City Administrator, Alyssa Seguss responded that a lot of people want to remain anonymous to avoid any retaliation. Alderman Di Guido then encouraged the business owners to help each other and reach out to us with their concerns and thanked them for attending the meeting, as it shows how much they care about their businesses and Genoa.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

Administrative Report – City Administrator, Art Osten reported that some information has been added to the Council Library. He stated they are articles from IML and encouraged the Aldermen to utilize them.

Public Works – Public Works Director, Rich Gentile, reported that the City’s cost to get the bump outs done with the IDOT project and add additional sidewalks adjacent to the bump outs is $5,800. Consensus amongst Council was to move forward with this. He then indicated that Public Works is in the process of hiring a new employee; an offer has been made. Fall decorations will be going up next week. Lastly, he stated that the drainage problem that a resident expressed concern about at a prior meeting has been fixed.

Police Department – Chief Smith reported that the speed trailer has been moved by the Genoa Elementary School on Route 23. He stated that in 11 days it has tracked 49,000 vehicles. When broken down, it is approximately 3,000 vehicles per hour. He then reported that although there were a few staging area issues, the new homecoming parade route seemed to work out well. Lastly, he reported that the new radios are here, but the reception is terrible. They are working on resolving the issue. Mayor Vicary asked Chief Smith to give an update regarding the incident at the high school. Chief Smith stated that there was social media buzz regarding a threat to the high school, but after looking into it, the threat was not credible. A high school student thought he was being funny. He has since been suspended. The City will most likely do a referral and it will be up to the State’s Attorney if the student will be charged or not.

Mayor’s Report – Mayor Vicary reported that he is planning on attending the next Council meeting. All the Aldermen indicated that they would be able to attend the next Council meeting as well.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – Alderman Cravatta announced that his annual Halloween party is October 26th and everyone is invited.

RECESS INTO CLOSED SESSION: Motion made by Alderman Winter to go into closed session for the purpose of approving the minutes of the previous closed session, for the purpose of releasing closed session minutes and for the purpose of discussing Collective Bargaining as provided for in 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2), seconded by Alderman Stevenson. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Winter, Cravatta, Lang, Carroll, Di Guido and Stevenson voted yes. Motion carried.

RECONVENE INTO REGULAR SESSION: Motion made by Alderman Lang to reconvene into the regular session, seconded by Alderman Stevenson. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

In Closed Session, the minutes of the September 3, 2019 closed session were accepted.

Motion made by Alderman Lang to approve the release of certain closed session minutes, seconded by Alderman Stevenson. Alderman Lang read the dates of the closed session minutes to be released, the dates of closed session minutes to be released in part and the dates of closed session minutes to be held. They are as follows:

Minutes to be released: 05/01/2018, 06/05/2018, 07/03/2018, 07/03/2018, 07/17/2018, 10/16/2018, 11/06/2018, 11/14/2018, 02/19/2019, 05/07/2019

Minutes not to be released: 01/02/2018 and 06/04/2019

Minutes to be released in part: 01/20/2009 Of the seven paragraphs, withhold paragraph four, 02/07/2019 Of the six paragraphs, withhold paragraph four and 04/16/2019 Of the nine paragraphs, withhold paragraph four.

Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Lang, Carroll, Di Guido, Stevenson, Winter and Cravatta voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion to adjourn the regular meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Winter, seconded by Alderman Cravatta. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 9:10 pm.

https://www.genoa-il.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CCMinutes20191001.pdf