DeKalb Times

City of Genoa City Council met Aug. 18.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Mayor Brust called the meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang were present. Quorum present.

Mayor Brust led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guest Speakers – None

Motion made by Alderman Pulley to accept the minutes of the August 4, 2021 City Council meeting seconded by Alderman Freund. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve payment of the account’s payables for August 15, 2021, in the amount of $105,321.94, seconded by Alderman Winter. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Holcomb, Cravatta and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

ITEMS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN ATTENDANCE – Resident Bill Bugna lives on Central Ave and the alley behind those houses since it was repaved now has a slope and is flooding the backyards along the alley. Mr. Bugna stated that there used to be speed bumps staggered in the alley to not only control the speeding down the alley but also control the water so that it does not flood the back yards. Mr. Bugna also stated that people are speeding down the alley. Public Works Director Jan Melton stated that Alderman Pulley called her and she went out to investigate the area with our city engineer and has 3-4 options to look into along with getting estimates for cost. Public Works Director Melton stated that once the estimates were put together, she would inform the council to decide the best solution.

OLD BUSINESS - None

NEW BUSINESS

Approve the Purchase of Iron for the Prairie Street Water Main Project from Core and Main, Not to Exceed $56,500: Motion made by Alderman Stevenson to approve the purchase of iron for the Prairie Street water main project from Cor and Main, not to exceed $56,500, seconded by Alderman Pulley. There was no discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

Consider an Ordinance Amending Appendix A of the Municipal Code of the City of Genoa: Motion made by Alderman Lang to consider an ordinance amending Appendix A of the Municipal Code of the City of Genoa, seconded by Alderman Winter. This Ordinance amends fees for various building permits. Some of the fees are being simplified (i.e. rather than two separate fees for a rough and final inspection for electrical projects, there is just one fee for electrical permits). The fee for replacement of a hot water fee is being increased by $5 to be consistent with the City’s costs for this inspection. The $.09 fee per lineal foot for fences over 150’ is being removed because it causes confusion with applicants and it has not been used in the recent past. There are 3 new inspection fees that are proposed to be added to

Appendix A:

• A fee for sheds with a concrete pad-$75.00- one fee for the shed, another for the concrete pad. This simplifies the permitting process to have one fee rather than two.

• A fee for a patio-$75.00- this fee has not been explicitly stated in the Code, however, this is the fee residents have been charged under the miscellaneous permit based on required inspections. This simplifies the permitting process to have one fee rather than two.

• A fee for utility permits-$100- these are permits requested by utilities to get approval from Public Works prior to digging. They have been charged $100 in the past, however, this fee should be adopted by the Council and stated in the Code.

Alderman Freund asked for some clarification on replacement of water heater and patio permits; City Administrator Seguss stated that residents are supposed to get a permit to replace a water heater and a permit is needed for a larger patio however a walkway does not a permit. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

Approve an Ordinance Pertaining to the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund: Motion made by Alderman Cravatta for the approval of an ordinance pertaining to the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, seconded by Alderman Lang. This Ordinance, drafted by the Illinois Municipal League, allows the Mayor to sign and agree to both the NEU Award Terms and Conditions and the Assurance of Compliance with the Civil Rights Requirements for the American Rescue Plan Act funds. The NEU Award Terms and Conditions generally states how the funds can be used, the time period for using the funds, and reporting/record requirements. It also outlines that an award recipient cannot discriminate. There are other requirements, such as any publication produced with the funds must contain a sentence that the project is supported by the federal award and that an award recipient should encourage contractors to adopt on the job seat belt policies, among other requirements. A conflict of interest policy is also included on page 2 of the ordinance. The City is eligible for $711,939.83 in ARPA funding. Finance Director Tures stated that this new Federal Grant money the city is slated to get, part of this process to get this Federal Grant money is to have this agreement signed and an ordinance to go along with it. There is a preliminary list the Federal Government decides how to spend the money, they will have a finalized list. The city will get half the money one year and then the other half the next year. The city has to know by 2024 how they will spend the money and the projects have to be completed by 2026. The city has until September 30, 2021 to apply for the money on the website. Roll call was taken Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

Administrative Report – City Administrator, Alyssa Seguss reported that the sewer agreement with Kingston is getting closer to being complete. The next proposal will include a rate to be charged to Kingston that is 76% of 100% (100% of our resident’s rates). Kingston will be paying the capital fee and user fee.

Finance Report – Treasurer & Finance Director, Jan Tures stated that the monthly statements are in the packet and if anyone has any questions to please reach out.

Public Works – Public Works Director, Janice Melton stated that at this time she has nothing new to report.

Police Department – Chief Smith reported that we had all the tornados this past Monday, the siren is designed to go off 3-5 minutes then shut off, in the future when there are multiple tornados instead of hitting the siren multiple times the police department is only going to have it go off once, then if we get another tornado that is close, they will set the siren to go off again. At this time the County can’t set off our siren because we moved to digital radios and the siren is the old radio, it needs to have an updated program so that county can set the siren off if needed. School started on Monday not too many problems. Car Show is this Saturday we will have staffing there for it. Had 8 applications for new hire, the first pick passed away, the second pick another job, number 3 we are starting background check on. Starting demo work on the police garage.

Mayor’s Report – Mayor Brust stated that he has nothing new at this time.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – Alderman Winter stated that she posted on Facebook in Hampshire and Pingree Grove to see how those communities liked Flood Brothers, most of the feedback people were happy with the service.

Motion to adjourn the meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Wesner, seconded by Alderman Stevenson. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:32 p.m.

https://www.genoa-il.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Meeting-Minutes-20210818.pdf