City of Winchester City Council met Sept. 4.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
Mayor Rex McIntire called the meeting to order, with the following council members present: Ron Bell, Lawrence Coultas, Cathy Debold, Terry Gregory, Bill Jacquot, Jeff Pittman, and City Clerk Brenda Robinson.
Also in attendance were: Amy Brown, City Treasurer; John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney; Carmen Ensinger, Scott County Times; Greg Hillis, Benton & Associates, Tim Drake and Gwenn Hardy.
MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to pay bills as presented. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Cathy Debold seconded to approve and dispense with the reading of the minutes from the August 7 meeting. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to approve and dispense with reading of the minutes from the August 14 special meeting. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
MOTION: Terry Gregory moved and Cathy Debold seconded to approve and dispense with reading of the minutes from the August 22 special meeting. Roll call resulted in 5 yeas and 1 abstention. Lawrence Coultas abstained since he was absent. Motion carried.
Tim Drake and Gwenn Hardy asked about the alley behind their respective homes on Walnut St. There were told it was closed by John Simmons and he put a barricade at the entrance from Jefferson St. They were told it was not closed and Simmons had removed the barricade. They were told it would be open in case of a house fire and the fire department would have access to the back of the homes. They were told not to block the drive and keep the noise down after hours. Hardy said she knew Boston’s had come to council years ago and it was never closed. She said she had a lot of brush piled at the back alley since the old garden was there.
Mayor McIntire said he had information from Adam Fox about the engineering service agreement for the emergency interconnect with SMG water not to exceed $4,500. They should have the agreement at next month’s meeting.
MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Bill Jacquot seconded to accept the Engineering Service Agreement not to exceed $4,500 for the emergency interconnect with SMG. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Greg Hillis, Benton & Associates met with Bill Jacquot, Mayor McIntire and John Simmons on August 22 about the pool design. There will be a 6-inch sewer line and cleanout, the consensus is to move forward and take out the skate board park to make the layout of the pool better. As an alternative bid the city may do the work. It would add 34 x 18 feet to the pool. We need to get everything sent to the state for approval then send out for bids. Contractors must be pre-approved for the job. Several of the items listed were purchased in 2019 so can use with the new pool.
John Simmons, Supt of Public Works was not in attendance and did not have time to prepare his monthly report as he had dental surgery today.
Mayor McIntire reported the Bill (Zippy) McNeese’s retirement party would be in the pavilion at Monument Park from 1 – 4 pm. A certificate of thanks will be prepared and framed for him.
McIntire will meet at 9:30 – 10 tomorrow with the people from Peoria Subway about selling a franchise to the couple from Carrollton. They like the site and the city, so it looks like we will be getting a Subway in town.
McIntire said a representative from Illinois Electric Company contacted him about the storm sewer along their building on Cherry St. They met with the Mayor McIntire, Greg Hillis, Benton & Associates, Shawn Rennecker, IEC and John Simmons, Supt. of Public Works to see what needed to be done. The sewer line is under the current sidewalk along State Route 106. The sewer line was videoed and was noted it was a clay tile that was in bad shape. Benton’s suggested putting in a 12-inch PVC pipe. IDOT was contacted but they do not want to have responsibility. The mayor contacted the state crew and was told the city would need signal controls when pouring the new sidewalk with IEC paying for everything except labor and supply the flagmen. Flow able fill be used for the concrete base since it hollow under it. The city will supply the equipment and manpower. A permit from IDOP will be needed on who does what. There will be one (1) connection underground. The mayor suggested getting some political help from Senator McClure and Representative C. D. Davidsmeyer. At first it was thought to be IDOT sewer but found out it is a city problem.
MOTION: Cathy Debold moved and Terry Gregory seconded for the city to provide the labor, equipment and disposal of concrete. Have the state provide the signage and IEC will pay for material and flagman. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Mayor McIntire wanted council approval for Benton’s & Associates to lay out lots on North Main St which the city recently purchased. The current area is 293-feet wide and 514-feet deep. The current city lots are 60-feet wide and 120-feet deep. The proposed lots would be 90-feet wide and 120-feet deep. The lots will meet zoning codes and it is recommended rezoned from agricultural to Single Family Dwelling. The lots will need to be appraised to establish a baseline price. If the lots are sold and need utilities we will supply them and the other houses on that side of street. It was suggested to have a minimum bid then invite them to a live auction to sell.
MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to authorize Benton’s & Associates to lay out different option for three (3) lots on North Main St formerly the Coultas Property, possibly be 90-feet x 120-feet. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
The Zoning Board will have a verbal voice in changing to Single Family Dwelling, then it will come back to the city for approval.
MOTION: Cathy Debold moved and Bill Jacquot seconded to send a request to zoning board to have the property on North Main St rezoned to SR1. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Mayor McIntire brought up the computer tower previously used by Barb Hoots before being put on leave. He stated no social security had been submitted in year 2017. It’s not the numbers it’s the payments. How this came about Herschel White, Randy Ford and Leland Evans were looking at their benefits and found nothing there. According to them social security has no records for 2017. Bill Jacquot wanted to know if there was any way to go back and see if the payments had been submitted. The social security does not have any record of the city paying into the system. McIntire said John Simmons came to him last year and said he had tried to order salt and was told it was too late. They don’t know if the email went to Barb’s computer or where it went, luckily he had enough salt for that winter. The tower needs to stay in evidence until May 2020. McIntire suggested maybe the state police could check it out as an independent. McIntire talked to Sargent Weston from the Illinois State police to see if they could assist with this.
McIntire said there were four (4) options:
1) Let sit in evidence
2) Take tower & put back into operation without looking into it
3) Take out of evidence and look over ourselves
4) Take out and have analyzed to find out if any material had been deleted.
Anything found could be analyzed. The next States Attorney will not be able to reopen the case. McIntire stated he would like to get some quotes on the cost for a forensic expert to check out the computer and document everything. Maybe the state police can look at it for free.
McIntire said Barb had been employed 20 some years and was set in her ways on doing things and she had control on things, which needs to be spread out. Ron Bell said you would have thought the auditor would have caught it. We need to get a new auditor. It was suggested to authorize the mayor to find out what it would take to look at other things, scope of things looking into 2015 – 2018. Maybe he will know something by the next meeting. Need to get to the bottom of this.
McIntire asked council what they thought about donating to United Way. Consensus was no.
The purchase of the former First State Bank building will be final in a few days. The building can only be mortgaged for ten (10) years. UCB had the lowest interest rate of 3%, with yearly payments of $4,699 or $387 monthly; First National Bank’s rate was 3.9% adjustable in five (5) years yearly payments of $4,480 or $404 monthly and Farmers State Bank’s rate was 4.5%. Anita Newman is leaving in a couple of days and will be gone for several weeks. She would like to finalize the sale before she leaves town. Coonrod will draw up the deed before she leaves and should close within a week or two. It was decided to go with UCB since it had the lowest interest rate.
John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney passed out an ordinance authorizing the purchase of real estate and for borrowing funds.
MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Ron Bell seconded to adopt Ordinance Number 892; An Ordinance Authorizing the Purchase of Real Estate and for Borrowing of Funds. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Alderman reports:
Ron Bell stated the water tower needs to go from a 3 phase hookup to a 1 phase hookup to save money. Gregory Family Electric gave a bid of $1,900 to change to the 1 phase. Also it was discussed to remove the light from the pole and save $22 for pole rent. The light can be mounted on the building or get a solar light.
MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to authorize Gregory Family Electric to replace the 3 phase to a 1 phase & install a new light on water tower. The cost will be $1,900. Roll call resulted in 5 yeas and 1 abstention. Terry Gregory abstained. Motion carried.
Cathy Debold city library representative asked if the fire marshal checked to see if the library was up to code and said they needed another exit and lite signs. Also they would like a dedicated line for the fax machine.
PUBLIC COMMENT:
Zippy (Bill McNeese) will have his retirement party at Monument Park Pavilion on Friday, September 13 from 9-3. Everyone is welcome to attend.
MOTION: Terry Gregory moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to adjourn. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.
http://www.winchesteril.com/documents/
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