DeKalb Times

City of Genoa City Council met Sept. 21.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

Mayor Brust called the meeting of the City Council to order at 7:02 p.m. Roll call was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb were present. Alderman Freund, Stage and Cravatta were absent. Quorum present.

Mayor Brust led the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guest Speakers – INTRODUCTION OF OFFICER BRYAN HAVLICEK

Motion made by Alderman Wesner to accept the minutes of the September 7, 2022 City Council meeting, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. No further discussion. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Alderman Hughes to approve payment of the account’s payables for September 15, 2022, seconded by Alderman Wesner. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

ITEMS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN ATTENDANCE –

OLD BUSINESS - None

NEW BUSINESS 

APPROVE A THIRD AMENDMENT TO AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT FOR CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE OF A COMMUNITY FITNESS CENTER: Motion made by Alderman Pulley to approve a third amendment to an intergovernmental agreement for construction, operation and maintenance of a community fitness center, seconded by Alderman Winter. The District and City entered into an intergovernmental agreement in 2010 for the use of the 2nd floor of City Hall as a Fitness Center. The second extension/option of the agreement is coming to an end at the end of 2022. Due to the Fitness Center struggling financially since COVID, the Park District requested amendments to the existing agreement including:

• 2-year extension instead of 5

• No rent increases

• No maintenance increases

Following the Council’s discussion at a previous meeting, an amendment was drafted in accordance with the Park District’s requests, which the Park District Executive Director will also present to the Park Board on September 19th. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb voted yes.

APPROVE THE REIMBURSEMENT OF $42,310.25 TO 137 WEST MAIN STREET, LLC: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve the reimbursement of $42,310.25 to 137 West Main Street, LLC, seconded by Alderman Winter. 137 West Main Street, LLC applied for a Façade Improvement Grant in February of 2022 which included new windows, lighting, an awning, tuck pointing, and painting. The construction has been completed and the building owners have submitted for reimbursement of their costs under the terms of the grant program, however, their project went over budget. Therefore, they are asking for $2,155.25 more than previously approved. The revised total, $42,310.25 includes eligible expenses for the 2 addresses and side of the building. There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb voted yes.

APPROVE A FAÇADE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM GRANT FOR 682 PARK AVENUE, NOT TO EXCEED $30,000: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve a façade improvement program grant for 682 Park Avenue, not to exceed $30,000, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. In the packet is a Façade Improvement Program grant application for 682 Park Avenue, previously known as “Trackside”. The new owners of the building are currently doing extensive work to the inside of the building and will soon be doing work on the outside of the building, with exterior work amounting to just under $110,000. Much of the work included in the scope of the project is eligible for the Façade Improvement Program grant funds. The new owners approached the Council and asked if they could receive approval for two sides of their building due to the extensive costs and the Council agreed to this. Sam and Dashi LLC is asking for approval of grant funds amounting to $30,000 of eligible project costs including replacing all exterior windows and doors, painting walls, stone work, installing new awnings, and portions of the electrical work, roof work (mansard roof - side of building), parking lot repairs, and landscaping. The building will be a light gray color, with gray or brown stone (yet to be decided). There was no further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb voted yes.

APPROVE A FAÇADE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM GRANT FOR 308 – 316 WEST MAIN STREET, NOT TO EXCEED $35,000: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to approve a façade improvement program grant for 308-316 West Main Street, not to exceed $35,000. In the packet is a Façade Improvement Program grant application for 308-316 West Main Street. The owners plan to install white board and batten on the front of 308 West Main Street, as well as the top portion of 312 and 316 West Main Street as depicted in the color rendering included in the packet. The bottom half of 312 and 316 West Main Street will include a gray or black brick. The owners also plan to add awnings, new doors, flower boxes, and new lighting as shown in the color rendering. The owners are requesting approval of $35,000 in Façade Improvement Program grant funds for the project. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE THE PURCHASE OF WATER METERS AND RADIOS FROM MUELLER, NOT TO EXCEED $11,716.: Motion made by Alderman Pulley to approve the purchase of water meters and radios from Mueller, not to exceed $11,716, seconded by Alderman Hughes. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE A RESOLUTION ADOPTING AN IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION PROGRAM FOR THE CITY OF GENOA: Motion made by Alderman Winter to approve a resolution adopting an identity theft prevention program for The City of Genoa, seconded by Alderman Holcomb. State Law requires that the City implement an identity theft program and policy. In the packet is a resolution that includes a program and policy provided by the City Attorney. Staff has reviewed the program and policy and discussed how the program will be implemented. Many of the ways in which the city can identify identity theft have already been implemented, the Resolution is formally establishing a program. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Winter, Hughes and Holcomb voted yes. Motion carried.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS 

Finance Report – Treasurer & Finance Director, Jan Tures stated that the second finance committee meeting was today and Brian from Sikich was at the meeting, went through the audit more extensive than what is done at the council meeting, there were a lot of questions and answers. They will start updating policies for investments, purchases etc. Audit work will continue for about another month.

Public Works – Public Works Director, Janice Melton stated that public works is moving forward with water hookups on Prairie Street, all of this will be patched in for the winter and then there are plans for asphalt overlay in the spring. Busy cross training, asphalt patching and the fall décor will be going up next week for the Harvest Festival.

Police Department – Chief Smith reported that the events over the last weekend with Volksfest and home football game all went well, all were well attended. Working on staffing for Harvest Fest and who to contact with any issues to Alderman Pulley, the Fall Crawl is also going on Saturday October 1st. A press release went out in regards to the male who tried to enter the high school and battered the principal. Chief in the near future will do a presentation in regards to the new Safe-T Act.

Administrative Report – City Administrator, Alyssa Seguss reported that the staff is continuing to meet with the downtown design group and engineering on the downtown project, they are hoping to have some sketches back from engineering soon to share with the council and public to get feedback of the potential loss of parking and educate people of the potential project and what that will look like. The city received the Rise Grant which is a grant that helps cover part of the cost of the comprehensive plan, the grant itself is for $33,000 which a large portion will go to NIU to prepare a grant about housing and future development within the city, taking a look at utilities going East and the housing market which has changed quite a bit since the grant was submitted, however there is a need for workforce housing within the city. Currently there is $275,000 in the Façade Grant Fund however with what was approved tonight there is $167,780.00 remaining assuming all of the current projects go as planned.

Mayor’s Report – Mayor Brust stated that himself and Alderman Hughes attended the IML conference last Friday, there was a wide variety of sessions to attend, both of the governor candidates were there live answering questions. They talked about the LGDF funds that municipalities used to get, and many asked when the amount would go up. Both candidates did not give any answers, and the Safe-T act was brought up. Property tax was talked about heavily at the conference. There was a forum of about 50 mayors that are also experiencing the same challenges in their municipalities as we are, one of the larger topics was in regards to landlords this is specifically to residential landlords not commercial properties. The biggest issue is absentee landlords, such as the big commercial companies buying property they live in a different state and don’t take care of the property and let it deteriorate. There are programs out there and something that the council needs to take a look at to try and stay ahead of this becoming a bigger issue than it already is within our community. The comprehensive plan is going to be a huge asset in filling out new grants, the city loses points if you don’t have a current plan to show how the city plans to grow and where we will be in the years to come; still need a few volunteers for the task force if anyone is interested. Alderman Hughes talked about potential site selectors going to different cities; they look for is it a growing community, growing housing, distance to universities, demographics, average household income plus many other factors that they look at to determine what business would be interested in coming into the community such as Walgreens would not come into our community as it is just not large enough, however a Burger King or Taco Bell might come to our community since we have a McDonald’s and they feed off each other. Cell phone analysis was brought up which is they are always tracking our cell phones and they can tell how far people travel to go to a location and how long you stay there. There are services out there that track this data to help businesses determine if a particular location is good. There was also a list of what businesses you could attract in a more rural setting.

Motion to adjourn the meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Wesner, seconded by Alderman Pulley. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

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