Chicago City Wire

Peru Committee of the Whole met Monday, Jan. 9.

Here are the minutes as provided by Peru:

COMMITTEE OF A WHOLE MEETING JANUARY 9, 2017

A Committee Of A Whole meeting was called to order by Mayor Scott J. Harl in the Peru City Council Chambers

on Monday, January 9, 2017 at 6:00 p.m.

Mayor Harl called the roll with Aldermen Potthoff, Ferrari, Waldorf, Radtke, Sapienza, Payton and Ballard present;

Alderman Lukosus absent; Mayor Harl present.

MINUTES

Mayor Harl presented the Committee Of A Whole Minutes of December 12, 2016. Alderman Waldorf made a motion that the minutes be received and placed on file. Alderman Potthoff seconded the motion; motion carried.

PRESENTATION

Mr. Mike Stocking of Illinois Valley Waste Service addressed the Council regarding a change to the garbage pickup schedule. Mr. Stocking reported IV Waste would like to collect garbage/recycling on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday only. Mr. Stocking stated the current schedule isn’t very efficient and there would be a cost savings on their end. Mr. Stocking stated the biggest disruption would be for the residents whose garbage is picked up on Monday and Tuesday. Mr. Stocking stated that IV Waste would need three days in Peru due to the layout of the City and not due to volume of trash. Alderman Potthoff inquired if the contract would need to be amended and Mr. Stocking responded yes. Alderman Potthoff stated the City would need a good amount of time to inform residents of the change. Alderman Potthoff asked Mr. Stocking when they would like the change to start. Mr. Stocking stated they would like to institute the change ASAP and hoped the change could be done February 1st. Mr. Stocking stated the

City of LaSalle and City of Spring Valley have already implemented the change. Alderman Potthoff suggested a June 1st start date in order to inform the residents three times of the change. Alderman Potthoff also stated he would like to have recycling picked up every week. Committee was in favor.

FINANCE AND SAFETY SERVICES COMMITTEE

Alderman Potthoff stated Finance Officer Justin Miller will have a FY16 audit review at the Regular Meeting.

Alderman Potthoff referenced the purchase of squad cars on the Regular Meeting agenda and asked for any questions. Police Chief Doug Bernabei reported the cars get paid for out of the enforcement account, which is impound fees, drug fines and seizures that we make from time to time. Chief Bernabei stated the total cost will depend on the trade-in value of the vehicles the city is replacing. Chief Bernabei stated it is ideal to trade in vehicles with under 100,000 miles and that maintenance can be costly with higher miles. Chief Bernabei stated the SUVs typically sell for between $25,000 and $27,000. Mayor Harl asked if the two vehicles were the totality of the fleet’s needs for the year. Chef Bernabei stated we’re in excellent shape.

Alderman Potthoff informed the Committee that Finance Office Justin Miller will have a budget soon.

Alderman Potthoff highlighted the following regarding the FY16 audit:

· Budget is balanced

· $7 million in general fund net positions

· Savings forming the Illinois Valley Regional Dispatch Center will be calculated

· Paid off $2,800,000 in bonds

· Developed strategy to exceed pension actuary mandates

· Saved on liability and workman’s compensation by switching carriers.

PUBLIC SERVICES COMMITTEE

Alderman Waldorf reported on the motion to seek bids for the EWWTP Clarifier and Area 3 Phase 2 Sewer Separation projects. Alderman Waldorf stated the projects are EPA mandated. Alderman Waldorf reported on the motion to exercise one year option with D & M Landscaping for the 2017 mowing season. Administrative Services Manager Doug Bernabei reported we just finished our third year with D & M landscaping with options to renew for next two years with zero increase. Mayor Harl asked if they provided a bid to mow the cemetery. ASM Bernabei stated no, there is too much work at cemetery possibly costing $4,000-$5,000 extra. Alderman Ferrari inquired about Baker Lake. ASM Bernabei also stated that due to the size, it was taken out of the bid.

Mayor Harl inquired about whether hey or wheat can be grown at the landfill to sell. Mayor Harl inquired if it could grown at the airport but advised there are height restrictions on what can be grown on the property and that the FAA could restrict growth due to wildlife that needs to stay away from airport.

Mayor Harl inquired about the 3 acre track farmed at Veteran’s Park. Mayor Harl stated that the corn is so high and asked what we can do. Mayor Harl suggested making it a place to bring material on to make a parking lot; the parking lot needs to be constructed per the grant and bermed up. City Engineer Eric Carls reported Hertz Farm is aware of potential changes and notice to tenants regarding future growth.

Alderman Ferrari asked the Committee what we do with grindings. City Engineer Eric Carls reported they are taken to the Electric Department and can be sold back to contractor or what we want to do with it.

City Engineer Eric Carls reported on the 2016 Road Assessment:

· Overview on how report was put together

· Definitions of types of failures

· Narrative on how street program is put together

· Tabulation on each segment in the city

· Visual of 2016 street evaluations

· Maps by ward for proposed 2017 street program

· Preliminary plans for 2017 street program

Alderman Potthoff inquired when the 2017 street program will be bid. City Engineer Eric Carls reported early March and MFT will be bid around the same time. City Engineer Eric Carls reported the MFT program will only feature Church Street. City Engineer Eric Carls stated he hopes to push that project off until Parkside is out of school.

City Engineer Eric Carls reported that streets will be performed in sections as opposed to doing a street here, a street there. City Engineer Eric Carls stated that is more cost effective to do sections than random streets.

Alderman Radtke stated he would like to see a map of the streets/projects already done.

Alderman Potthoff questioned the proposed alley vacation policy. Alderman Waldorf reported the policy will outline the procedures including cost. City Engineer Eric Carls reported the City has been approached on a few occasions recently on the process for vacating an alleyway. City Engineer Eric Carls stated we didn’t have a policy in place for how to proceed through that process, so we developed a process. City Engineer Eric Carls reported the basics of the policy are if an individual is seeking a vacation of an alleyway, they would have to go out and get signatures of all of their neighbors that abut that alleyway. City Engineer Eric Carls stated that once that process is complete, it would then be submitted to the City for review, then the city would review whether it had utilities in the alleyway. 

City Engineer Eric Carls stated that once we get to that step, if everything goes well and passes through the inspections, we would then send it over to the attorney’s office for the scheduling of a public hearing. City Engineer Eric Carls stated that after the public hearing is held, it would come back to the city council for final approval and at that time, then we would record an alley vacation plat for the county.

Alderman Ferrari inquired on the timetable for the splash pad. City Engineer Eric Carls stated that final engineering was submitted and is working with the Department of Natural Resources. City Engineer Eric Carls reported the project will be out to bid in February and awarded in March with a summer 2018 completion. Mayor Harl inquired about the method of payment. Finance Officer Justin Miller reported the hotel/motel tax fund would cover the expenses and once a dollar amount is established we could possibly hold fundraisers as well.

Assistant Corporate Counsel Scott Schweickert reported he received the deed for 248 Putnam Street.

CLOSED SESSION

Alderman Ferrari made a motion that the meeting be adjourned. Alderman Potthoff seconded the motion and motion carried. Meeting adjourned 6:51 p.m.