DeKalb Times

City of Genoa City Council met Sept. 1.

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 Wesner to accept the minutes of the Special Meeting of August 17, 2021 and August 18, 2021 City Council meeting seconded by Alderman Freund. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Alderman Pulley to approve payment of the account’s payables for August 31, 2021, in the amount of $91, 387.23, seconded by Alderman Stevenson. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Holcomb, Cravatta and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

ITEMS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN ATTENDANCE – None

OLD BUSINESS - None

NEW BUSINESS

AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH RKDIXON:

Motion made by Alderman Lang to approve the contract with RKDixon for maintenance and repair of the City’s copy machines, as well as 4,000 black and white copies and 1,200 color copies per month. The Finance Director has reduced the copies per the contract based on past usage, which will save almost $2,700 per year. The cost for the service is $205.60 per month; however, the city will be billed for any overages of copies which may happen from time to time. The cost is $.01 per black and white copy and $.08 per color copy. The term of the contract is for 1 year, which if approved, will retroactively begin on 7/15/2021 due to a delay from RKDixon sending the contract to the City for approval. Aside from the reduction in copies, the service agreement is the same services previously received by the city for the copy machines. The city has worked with RKDixon for several years and is happy with the service they provide, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. There was no discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO REQUEST A PERMIT FROM THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION TO LOCATE, CONSTRUCT, OPERATE, AND MAINTAIN A WATER MAIN BENEATH ROUTE 72:

Motion made by Alderman Pulley to approve the resolution which authorizes the city to apply for a permit from IDOT to allow the city to cut into Route 72 to do work for the Prairie Street Water Main Project. This work will be completed by a contractor at a later date. The City of Genoa will work with a contractor for restoration of the highway as required by IDOT, seconded by Alderman Cravatta. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

Approve an Ordinance Amending Section 7-9-25, Small Wireless Facilities, Providing for the Regulation of and Application for Small Wireless Facilities and Revising Existing Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Provisions: Motion made by Alderman Lang for the agreement to approve an Ordinance to amend the City Code in regards to Small Wireless Facilities. The City of Genoa adopted a “Small Cell Ordinance” that was drafted by the Illinois Municipal League after the State of Illinois passed the Illinois Small Wireless Facilities Deployment Act. Shortly after, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) created new regulations governing the implementation of small wireless technology, which conflicted with Illinois regulations in some ways. Some of these FCC regulations were challenged in court, but with these issues now resolved, our City Attorney is recommending that the City update its Small Wireless Facilities Ordinance. There are still some conflicts between Federal and State law, and in these instances, the City Attorney has deferred to Federal regulations within the Ordinance, seconded by Alderman Winter. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

Approval of the Appointment of Alderman Pam Wesner to the Liquor Commission: Motion made by Alderman Cravatta to approve the appointment of Alderman Pam Wesner to the Liquor Commission, seconded by Alderman Lang. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

Approval of the Appointment of Alderman Courtney Winter to the Liquor Commission: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve the appointment of Alderman Courtney Winter to the Liquor Commission, seconded by Alderman Cravatta. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stevenson, Winter, Cravatta, Holcomb and Lang voted yes. Motion carried.

Approval of A Bid and Authorize the Mayor to Execute a Contract with Schroeder Asphalt Services for Improvements to South Genoa Street, North Washington Street, North Sycamore Street, East Railroad Avenue and Homewood Drive Not to Exceed $721,647.64: Motion made by Alderman Cravatta to approve the bid that were opened on August 23rd for the 2021 MFT street projects as well as a letter from C.E.S., INC., the City’s consulting engineers, recommending the City award the bid for these projects to Schroeder Asphalt Services and to authorize the mayor to execute a contract with Schroeder Asphalt Services for improvements to South Genoa Street, North Washington Street, North Sycamore Street, East Railroad Avenue and Homewood Drive. Schroeder Asphalt Services was the lowest responsive bidder, bidding at $721,647.64. The Engineer’s Estimate was $827,905.75, meaning the project came in over $100,000 under budget. Schroeder Asphalt Services was also awarded the bid for several other street projects in Genoa which should begin in the coming weeks. Per the Contract, Schroeder will complete South Genoa Street in November with the remaining streets to be finished in May 2022., seconded by Alderman Winter. No further discussion. 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 performing the audit cover letter and during 2021 there has been 28 new home permits which is a significant increase and have not seen that many permits since 2007, many of those are for Brian Granger development; those homes are selling between $280,000-$340,000. Building permits have also gone up 150% in 2021. 14 streets are under construction which is a huge undertaking by the city. On the September 22, 2021 agenda there are a few big items that are coming up: Kingston Sewer Agreement and Waste Hauler Agreement. Alderman Holcomb asked if there was an out in the contract with Flood Brothers after a year if things were just not going well. City Administrator Seguss stated that we can define something that would constitute an out if these metrics are not met, we will have our city attorney help us with that area of the contract.

Finance Report – Treasurer & Finance Director, Jan Tures stated that she has nothing new to report at this time.

Public Works – Public Works Director, Janice Melton stated that she had a pre con meeting with CES and Schroder for the 1st bid about getting awarded hypothetically to get the curb situation fixed on Hadsall Street to fix the water situation that residents were concerned about at the council meeting a few weeks ago; looks like we should be able to get it done for just under $10,000 instead of the $20,000-$25,000 as was mentioned before. Alterations need to be completed during the 1st phase of the alley. Met with CES to discuss the safe routs to school program that is a grant program to help with walkways throughout town to get kids safe to school. Met with Genoa Chamber for Volksfest for next weekend. Alderman Cravatta stated that he was approached by someone asked about getting a sidewalk down by Lloyd Landscaping business. Public Works Director Melton and Mayor Brust stated that this has been looked into before and it was a very costly project, however this program might be able to help with that.

Police Department – Chief Smith reported that we are working with the Sherriff’s office because we are having some high temperatures in the South water tower which holds all of the radios and equipment; this is not going to be an easy fix. There is a home football game on Friday, Cruzin is putting on a car show on Sunday down the side streets from 9am-3pm. There were no issues with the car show on August 21st. There were kids playing on the tracks on August 21st that caused the engineer to hit the emergency break that broke something apart on the train, kids were then hiding under the train. There are 6 kids that got tickets for trespassing however at this time the railroad is not siting them for all the time that was lost from this plus damages.

Mayor’s Report – Mayor Brust reported that the city has VIP tickets to Volksfest, there is a demo order to tear down the house behind the lot where the 3 unit building is going at the East end of town as well as he has been talking to a developer who is interested in the lot next to McDonald’s for another food option. Mayor Brust also asked that if anyone could attend the Kingston meeting and report back to the council on what the discussion was regarding the waste agreement. Mayor Brust also announced that the next city council meeting will be moved from September 15th to September 22nd. Congratulation to Alderman Lang who is going to the Coast Guard Reserves.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – Alderman Cravatta stated that he went to the DeKalb County EDC meeting and the mayors of DeKalb and Sycamore were there, they stated that they were excited to have more involvement from Genoa. Volksfest is September 10th through the 12th, Friday is Lucha Libre Wrestling, Saturday is Craft Beer and Wine Festival and Sunday is Fun and Fitness Walk. Alderman Pulley stated that Harvest Fest planning is going well.

Motion to adjourn the meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Wesner, seconded by Alderman Lang. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

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