DeKalb Times

City of Genoa City Council met April 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

PUBLIC HEARING ON THE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING MAY 1, 2022 AND ENDING APRIL 30, 2023

Mayor Brust called the public meeting on the annual budget for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2022 and ending April 30, 2023 to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll call was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb were present. Alderman Cravatta was absent. Quorum present.

Public Comment – None

Motion to close the public hearing of the City Council was made by Alderman Pulley, seconded by Alderman Freund. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes.

Motion to adjourn the public meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Wesner, seconded by Alderman Stage. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:01 p.m.

Mayor Brust called the meeting of the City Council to order at 7:01 p.m. Roll call was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb were present. Alderman Cravatta was absent. Quorum present.

Mayor Brust led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guest Speakers – None

Motion made by Alderman Holcomb to accept the minutes of the March 16, 2022 City Council meeting, seconded by Alderman Pulley. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Alderman Winter to approve payment of the account’s payables for March 31, 2022, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

ITEMS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN ATTENDANCE – None

OLD BUSINESS - None

NEW BUSINESS 

APPROVE AN ORDINANCE ADOPTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET FOR THE FISCAL YEAR BEGINNING MAY 1, 2022 AND ENDING APRIL 30, 2023 FOR THE CITY OF GENOA, DEKALB COUNTY, ILLINOIS: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve an ordinance adopting the annual budget for the fiscal year beginning May 1 2022 and ending April 20, 2023 for the City of Genoa, DeKalb County Illinois, seconded by Alderman Winter. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes.

APPROVE A LEASE AGREEMENT WITH THE GENOA AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE FOR PROPERTY AT 113 NORTH GENOA STREET: Motion made by Alderman Winter to approve a lease agreement with the Genoa Area Chamber of Commerce for property at 113 North Genoa Street, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. The lease agreement being considered includes the same terms as in years past: the Genoa Area Chamber of Commerce will rent a space at the Old City Hall free of charge with the exception of $100 to be paid to the City per month to reimburse the City for utility costs. The other two units at Old City Hall currently have tenants in them with leases that expire April 30, 2023. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes.

AUTHORIZE THE USE OF THE MUNICIPAL PARKING LOT DURING THE GENOA AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S FALL CRAWL FROM 2:30 P.M. TO 5:00 P.M. ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2022: Motion made by Alderman Pulley to authorize the use of the municipal parking lot during the Genoa Area Chamber of Commerce’s Fall Craw from 2:30pm to 5pm on Saturday, October 1, 2022, seconded by Alderman Wesner. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes.

APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT WITH THE METROPOLITAN ALLIANCE OF POLICE FOR MAY 1, 2022 THROUGH APRIL 30, 2026: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve and authorize the mayor to execute a collective bargaining agreement with the Metropolitan Alliance of Police for May 1, 2022 through April 30, 2026, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. An agreement MAP for 2022-2026 is included in the City Council packet for Council consideration. This agreement has been reached following several months of discussions with MAP. Language changes within the contract include sections related to Officer involved shootings, laterally hired Officers, discipline, child bereavement leave, grievance procedures, a no strike clause, and an update on legal language that has changed since the last agreement was adopted including FMLA, recreational cannabis, and “Fair Share”. The wage scale was also amended to increase officer’s pay to become more competitive among the City’s comparable communities. Adjustments were made to compensatory time allowances in order to help offset wage increases. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE A SIDE LETTER WITH THE METROPOLITAN ALLIANCE OF POLICE DATED FEBRUARY 15, 2022: Motion made by Alderman Winter to approve and authorize the mayor to execute a collective bargaining agreement with the Metropolitan Alliance of Police dated February 15, 2022, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 3, CHAPTER 7, MOBILE FOOD VENDORS, OF THE CITY CODE OF THE CITY OF GENOA: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve an ordinance amending Title 3, Chapter 7, Mobile Food Vendor, of the city code of the City of Genoa, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. A local business owner has requested the City Council consider creating an annual mobile food vendor site permit that allows a business owner to be permitted for mobile food vendors as opposed to each individual mobile food vendor applying for a permit from the city. The Ordinance to be considered creates a permit for a Mobile Food Vendor Site where each applicant is required to submit an application annually with a list of mobile food vendors with the dates and times that they will be at the site. The building inspector will still inspect each food truck during these events. Requiring an annual Mobile Food Vendor Site permit will reduce the administrative costs for collecting and reviewing individual applications. In addition, a background check will not be done on each applicant, which also reduces administrative costs. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH COMED TO SATISFY ALL CLAIMS OF UNPAID TAX LIABILITY: Motion made by Alderman Winter to approve and authorize the mayor to execute an agreement with ComEd to satisfy all claims of unpaid tax liability, seconded by Alderman Pulley. An audit conducted showed that ComEd failed to collect taxes on 4 residential addresses between 2011 and 2014. ComEd is willing to settle the unpaid taxes amount to $105.69. Council approval is needed for the mayor to execute the agreement. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE CRACK ROUTING AND FILLING OF CITY STREETS PER THE BID SPECIFICATIONS SUBMITTED BY PATRIOT PAVEMENT MAINTENANCE, NOT TO EXCEED$31,725: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve crack routing and filling of city streets per the bid specifications submitted by Patriot Pavement Maintenance, not to exceed $31,725, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. The City of Genoa is partnering with the DeKalb County Highway Department, the Village of Malta, and DeKalb and South Grove Road Districts to help reduce the unit pricing for crack routing and filling. Bids were received with the lowest responsible bidder for the county-wide contract being Patriot Pavement Maintenance. This work is included in the draft 2022-2023 budget to be considered by the City Council on April 6, 2022. In the packet is a map that shows the areas to be crack routed and filled in red. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CITY OF GENOA, DEKALB COUNTY, ILLINOIS TO DECLARE CERTAIN PROPERTY AS SURPLUS AND APPROVING THE SALE OF SAID PROPERTY: Motion made by Alderman Holcomb to approve an ordinance authorizing the City of Genoa, DeKalb County, Illinois to declare certain property as surplus and approving the sale of said property, seconded by Alderman Freund. The Police Department has accumulated 10 unclaimed bikes that they would like to sell at the upcoming Genoa Area Chamber of Commerce Home and Business Expo. The proceeds from the sale will be deposited into the City’s General Fund. Should any of the bikes not sell, they will be disposed of. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS 

Administrative Report – City Administrator, Alyssa Seguss reported that the economic development commission has been meeting the past 6 months and have been working on some surveys and creating a one page which is just a summary of the advantages for the economic development in Genoa, they are planning on coming to the next city council meeting with some questions that they have, they want to make sure they are headed in the right direction with the surveys. City of Genoa was awarded Tree City USA again for the 28th year, thank you to Public Works Director, Janice Melton and Treasurer and Finance Director Jan Tures for putting in the hard work to make this accomplishment happen. Street projects are moving forward Public Works Director, Janice has had lots of meetings with Schroder and Polar Tech to get things moving forward. The city has been getting quite a few calls in regards to brush pick up and the new pick-up requirements with Flood Brothers, some residents have been upset that they have to bundle and tie the brush which they did not have to do when the city was picking it up. The city is trying to get more information out to residents as to what the requirements are. This is saving Public Works a lot of time to be able to focus on other projects. Public Works Director, Janice has submitted a grant with ComEd for a butterfly garden and we are hopeful that we will receive that. The city is keeping a running list of all the grants that are out there, it is very difficult to keep track of not only the dollar amounts that are out there for Federal and State and even private companies. The FFA has a grant and the city was contacted by DeKalb County, they are giving each community in the county $100,000 dollars of their American Rescue Plan Act Funding; there is discussion on how to best use that money, plus the city has their own funding and what is best to use that on. The city is looking at an economic development grant that is mostly geared to the downtown area however it needs to be focused on the recovery from COVID and how to build back up the businesses downtown. There is a grant for a comprehensive plan as the city’s current comprehensive plan is from 2003, this is very much needed and will be a very long process and a very expensive one. Infrastructure grants for walking paths along 72 to help with foot traffic going under the bridge on the roadway. The last grant that the city is looking at is to help with a new HVAC system for city hall, a quote was received for $700,000. At this point the city is just fixing it as needed with parts off EBay, however, it is starting to get quite costly. Everyone should have received their statement of Economic Interest and if you have any question contact the Illinois Municipal League, when you call their office, they will transfer you to an attorney to help answer any questions you have. Lastly, the new polo shirs have arrived. Alderman Pulley asked if the city has heard anything about the downtown grant, City Administrator, Alyssa stated that as of yet they have not heard anything but was informed at the beginning it could be well into 2022 before we hear anything. Alderman Holcomb asked about the butterfly garden, City Administrator, Alyssa stated that each year ComEd picks a theme and this year’s theme was pollinators, for the grant you have to come up with an idea that is helpful for their theme. Public Works Director, Janice had come up with the idea along with signage to explain what the flowers are that will be in the area. Included in the grant money is garbage receptacles, picnic tables and some trees. The butterfly garden will be on the Riverbend side as you come in off Middleton it will be along the prairie area that will be a raised garden with a bunch of flowers. It will be a great educational tool. The grant is for $10,000.

Finance Report – Treasurer & Finance Director, Jan Tures stated that the new budget will be filed with the county and all requirements will be completed. They will be starting on the audit soon.

Public Works – Public Works Director, Janice Melton stated that the concrete work on the storm drains have been completed on Brown, Homewood CT and in Riverbend. Public Works will be putting together the new Park Equipment for Riverbend on Monday and starting the Prairie Street project hopefully on Tuesday weather permitting.

Police Department – Chief Smith reported that more K-9 donations have come in and with the donations are hoping to replace the K-9 vehicle, they are appreciative of all of the support that they have received with the donations. ATV & Golf Card permits will be in soon, the current permits don’t expire until the end of April. Chief Smith will be coming back to the council with some new ordinances due to some of the tickets that are currently in place the police department is not able to be written.

Mayor’s Report – Mayor Brust stated that he and City Administrator Seguss went to Springfield for IML Lobby Day, it was a full day of sessions and some private meetings to talk about help with grants, pension issues and issues in regards to non-home rule community. This was a great experience and such an eye opener to see how accessible everyone at that level is. They met with so many people and hearing different opinions. The common thread out of everyone they met was “please just keep us informed” as they are so focused on State initiatives and things from the Federal level that are coming down that occupy so much of their time they don’t get to focus on the municipalities. However, they do want us to reach out to them if we feel that something needs to have their attention.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – Eggapalooza is this Saturday at 9:00am, there are many great prizes including a Yeti Cooler, Kyak, Webber Grill plus many other prizes.

Motion to adjourn the meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Wesner, seconded by Alderman Winter. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:48 p.m.

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