DeKalb Times

City of Sandwich Committee of the Whole met  Oct. 5.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Mayor Robinson called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM.

Roll call was taken:

Present: Mayor Robinson, City Clerk Ii, City Attorney Harrill, Aldermen Dell, Kelleher, Killey, Kreinbrink, Littlebrant, Surratt & Whitecotton

Also Present: Director of Public Works / City Engineer Horak, Chief Bianchi & EMA Director Ciciora

Mayor Robinson

Update on City’s Finances: Wes Levy from Lauterbach & Amen detailed the City’s finances through August 2020. There was an increase in cash reserves of the general fund of $209,663.00 since the start of the fiscal year in May, 2020. As of August 31, 2020, the general fund cash and investment balance is $2,203,195.00. Overall balance of the general fund and sub-funds totaled $10,250,683 as of August 31, 2020. The loss of sales tax impacted by the move of Gjovik Ford to Plano is not reflected. There is a lag before the City receives its share of the sales tax revenue from the State. At budget time in April, estimate was a 10% decrease in revenue with the onset of COVID- 19; the actual decrease was 4%.

DCEDC (DeKalb County Economic Development Corporation): Paul Borek, Enterprise Zone Administrator for DCEDC, contacted City Hall advising that CONSERV FS in Waterman will be expanding their operation. In order to facilitate the agribusiness investment and expansion, an Ordinance will be presented at next week’s meeting for passage to amend add-on territory to the Enterprise Zone.

Region 1 COVID-19 Mitigations: Mayor Robinson, along with all DeKalb County mayors, sent a letter to Governor Pritzker requesting immediate relief for bars and restaurants allowing continued indoor service. Also requested were modifications to the IDPH (Illinois Department of Health) Regional Mitigation Plan be shifted to county level versus regional. The letter also stated that 4 communities overlap county lines and three IDPH COVID regions. Governor Pritzker had announced that due to increases of COVID-19 in Region 1, no indoor dining would be allowed at restaurants and bars beginning Saturday, October 3rd.

Gletty Road Cleanup: Mayor Robinson will be meeting with Matt Christensen on Tuesday, October 6th, for final numbers on the Gletty Road Cleanup.

Municipal Code Committee Amendment: Mayor Robinson requested that Ordinance 2020- 12 be placed on next week’s agenda amending the Municipal Code by eliminating some committees listed under Section 2-29. He is recommending that all committees be deleted with the exception of Budget / Finance committee, Plan Commission, Zoning Board of Appeals, Police Commission, and Police Pension Board. The reasoning for the committees to be deleted was due to potential OMA (Open Meeting Act) violations compounded that the Council meets the first and third Monday as a Committee-of-the-Whole where all matters can be discussed without having to meet as separate committees. Alderman Kreinbrink has expressed disapproval of eliminating the Personnel Committee asking that it remain in place citing the Committee would be looking out for the staff’s best interest and lessens the burden of one person managing staff’s questions and complaints. By Code definition, a minimum of three people is required to sit on a committee. The scenario of two committee members discussing a topic would be in violation of OMA. Attorney Harrill will investigate increasing the number of sitting committee members to four.

Foster, Buick, Conklin & Lundgren Law Group: No report

City Clerk Ii announced that due to legal logistics, the DeKalb County Clerk has rescinded the availability of a ballot mail-in drop box in Sandwich. Ballots will have to be mailed. Alternatively, voters can drop off mail-in ballots at the County building in Sycamore where early voting is underway. Early voting in Sandwich will begin the week of October 19th at the Sandwich Fire Station.

Director of Public Works / City Engineer Horak

Hydrant flushing will begin on Monday, October 12th through Friday, October 16th. It is expected that the hydrant flushing will be conducted daily between 8 AM – 4 PM.

2020 Brush Pickup Program: The 2020 Brush Pickup Program ends in October. The last pickup in each ward is as follows.

Monday, October 05: Ward 1 

Monday, October 12: Ward 2 

Monday, October 19: Ward 3 

Monday, October 26: Ward 4

Route 34 Inlets: A contractor has been lined up to do repairs on Route 34 inlets. Permits were approved today.

Nicor Gas: Engineer Horak had emailed Council about Nicor’s therms versus money rebates. Nicor has indicated that the cash payment usually falls short of the unbilled therms. This matter will be discussed in detail at a future meeting.

Hall Street Lift Station: Contractors were pulled off the site several days ago, It is anticipated the siding work will be completed this week.

Crack Filling: Contractor, Behm Pavement Maintenance, anticipates being in town this week. They will honor the DeKalb Country price of 39.9 cents per foot. Additional streets will be included in the overall project that is expected to be under the $25,000.00 threshold for the MFT project.

Latham Street Project: Engineer Horak provided Council with Phase II – Design Engineering Agreement from Hampton, Lenzini & Renwick for the Latham Street project. Estimated cost of services is base engineering fee at $103,993.00; water main upgrade at $19,965.00; and sanitary sewer spot repair at $ 6,260.00. The engineering work will extend into 2021 with a June bid letting. Final plans will need to be at IDOT (Illinois Department of Transportation) by March, 2021 to meet the bid letting date. Goal is to have this matter on the October 26th agenda for approval.

Duvick Avenue Loop Detector: Engineer Horak reported that pavement loop detectors at Duvick Avenue and Route 34 traffic signal need to be replaced with a video detection system. The work would be done in 2021. He also indicated that the stop light at Indian Springs Shopping Center needs to be upgraded. Alderman Dell has been made aware that Plano Molding has some financial responsibility whereas the upgrade at Indian Springs would be solely the City’s responsibility. Engineer Horak will review the developmental agreement for Plano Molding.

Engineer Horak noted that the City has previously determined that emergency vehicle preemption is not required. After discussing with Chief Bianchi, the cost for any EVP is not included at the two intersections. Alderman Kreinbrink objected saying that EVP is needed at all traffic lights along Route 34 in Sandwich making an ambulance trip to the hospital safer. The estimated cost of the EVP is $8,000 - $10,000 per unit. Engineer Horak will contact the Sandwich Fire Department for additional input.

Proposed Bike Paths: Proposed bike paths by the Sandwich Park District had been distributed earlier in the week to Council. Engineer Horak told the Council that the City has never adopted a bike path program, and if desired, will become part of the City’s comprehensive plan. Suggestion was made to add bike paths to annexation agreements committing developers to install.

Equipment & Vehicle Insurance Master List: Alderman Dell proposed that a master list of all equipment and vehicles for insurance purposes be created and maintained. A list has been created in the past weeks but the question of who to maintain it was raised. Wes Levy, from Lauterbach & Amen, said the City has a depreciation list for fixed assets and an inventory list for accounting purposes. He felt the best way to track equipment and vehicles was through the accounting process and departmental heads.

Site Development Design Service / Public Safety Building: Etscheid, Duttlinger & Associates submitted a proposal for revisions to the Public Safety Building that would include detailed engineering plans and a stormwater management report. There are 3 tasks associated with the proposal being Task 1 – revise detailed engineering plans for $4,500; Task 2 – revise stormwater management plan for $2,500; and Task 3 - update design of pond 3 for $1,200. Engineer Horak does not recommend Task 3. This matter will be placed on next week’s agenda for approval.

Wastewater Treatment Plant Modifications: An email from WWTP Superintendent Chris Frederick included a draft of the Engineering Agreement through Engineering Enterprises Inc. initiating modifications to comply with the new lower Phosphorous limits set by the IEPA (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency). Testing resulted that the limits cannot be met without modification to the treatment plant. Total contract for engineering costs will be $24,908.00. The engineering costs can be rolled into the overall project costs; current IEPA loan rates are 1.35%. This matter will be placed on next week’s agenda for approval.

Sign Making Machine: At last week’s meeting, Alderman Kreinbrink requested a sample street sign to be viewed by the Council and a priority list of street signs to be replaced. Engineer Horak expressed he was unable to meet with Street Superintendent Sean Horan on the matter. Engineer Horak indicated that replacement signs for main roadways would be priority.

Leaf Vacuuming: The tentative schedule for the 2020 leaf vacuuming will be November 2 – November 25.

Chief Bianchi: No report

EMA Director Ciciora: No report Aldermen Reports: No reports

Announcements: The Finance Committee Meeting will meet immediately following the Committee- of-the-Whole Meeting on October 5th, 2020.

Audience Comments: None

Adjournment: There being no further business to come before the Council, motion made by Alderman Kelleher and seconded by Alderman Surratt to adjourn the Committee-of-the- Whole Council meeting at 8:30 PM. Motion carried unanimously via voice vote

http://www.sandwich.il.us/MINUTES/cw100520.pdf