Chicago City Wire

City of Winchester City Council met Aug. 5.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

The Winchester City Council held their monthly meeting at City Hall.

Mayor McIntire called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. with the following council in attendance: Ron Bell, Lawrence Coultas, Terry Gregory, Bill Jacquot, Sandy Long, Jeff Pittman, and City Clerk Brenda Robinson.

Also in attendance were George Lindsey, Police Chief; John Simmons, Supt. of Public Works; John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney; Carmen Ensinger, Scott County Times; Greg Hillis, Benton & Associates and R J Paslay.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Terry Gregory seconded to pay bills as presented. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Lawrence Coultas seconded to approve and dispense with the reading of the minutes from the last meeting. Roll call resulted in 5 yeas and 1 abstention. Ron Bell abstained since he was absent. Motion carried.

RJ Paslay stated on June 3 they lost their daughter Laura. In lieu of flowers they asked contributions be made towards some playground equipment for the kids in the community. Laura had a master's degree in early childhood education, was a preschool teacher and worked with the youth at the YMCA. They thought this would be appropriate for preschool kids 3 – 8 years of age. She loved kayaking down the Tennessee River, rock climbing and hiking through the Smokies. They would like to see a slide symbolizing kayaking down the Tennessee River and a rock wall access and a rock theme ladder to the slide area. Prior to the pandemic he worked with the parks & recreation committee & civic group working toward playground equipment. The pandemic hit and they didn't have their spring fund raiser. He would like to move forward with some updating the playground equipment at Monument Park in conjunction with the civic group and parks and recreation committee. There is a little over $2,000 in this account and maybe use it as seed money to get started. He would like to work with American Legion, VFW, parks & recreation committee to start work on this. They would like to make it handicap accessible with concrete covered in an all-weather surface so it could be cleaned off with leaf blower. He didn't want to just throw up something, he wanted it to be there for years. McIntire asked him if he had contacted anyone about equipment. He saw a park in White Hall and noticed it had a plate stating for 3 - 8 years old around the St. Louis area. This project could go from $10,000 to $100,000 but he hasn't done much investigating on it. He was looking for some guidance on this. Location to install west of the current playground equipment. We recently took down the old slide because of insurance concerns. Maybe a slide, swing set or merry go round. It was suggested fund raisers and maybe apply for grants. The current playground equipment was installed about 25 – 28 years ago. It was designed to be able to add to, but since it is old it may not work. May put in between the two sidewalks and fenced in. There was a meeting earlier about and RJ still has the brochures from them. It was suggested the Parks & Recreations and council parks & recreation committee, consisting of Bill Jacquot, Ron Bell, Sandy Long, get some ideas before the next meeting. Paslay just doesn't want her memorial money to just set there and get stale.

Greg Hillis, Benton & Associates discussed change order #2 for Doyle Plumbing & Heating for 2019 Pool Renovation New Filter Building Phase I, a credit for the start-up and filter equipment. It was going to cost $600 to keep it open for a year, so they decided to do a deduct for next year. It was decided to close out the Phase I project. It was suggested hire Doyle Plumbing & Heating next spring for the start-up of the pool.

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Terry Gregory seconded to approve change order #2 with a $1,500 deduction for Doyle Plumbing & Heating. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Hillis presented the final pay request to Doyle Plumbing & Heating for $26,110.52 to close out Phase I project.

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to approve final closeout payment of $26,110.52 for Phase I to Doyle Plumbing & Heating. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Hillis walked council through the report card of where we've been & potential where this project will go and funding wise where we stand. The IDNR grant application proposal was for $670,000 which included engineering, audit and construction. So actually, you had $580,000 for construction with DNR. First bid we had was Phase I and Phase II all in one package bid it out and came in at $865,000 and was Contagra and was over our estimate by $285,000. He came back to the council and discussed breaking it up into two phases, with this was additional engineering for design & construction observation. Then got into Phase I which we just closed out tonight. It came in at $174,418.26. Phase II, we bid out for bathhouse and pool liner. The pool liner came in a little high as an alternate bid at $71,000 plus. So only awarded the base bid $399.600.67 so total is $574,085.26 so you have $5,914 and some change left over. That does not include the pool liner. He contacted Netari about a pool liner. The city employees will remove the pool liner. The city contacted Netari directly and received a bid of $54,476 for the pool liner which is a savings of $15,000. It is not hard to remove the liner the cost of a dumpster will be higher. By going with Phase I & II and changing bather load from 200 to 100 it will save the city $250,000 from the first bid. Actually, it will be a 60/40 split to get it up and running.

McIntire asked about getting the money upfront for the bathhouse and liner. Hillis contact DNR and was told they will give half up front and now the city must spend an additional $72,000 before getting the $167,500. The last payment will be after the project is complete. The pool liner will be installed in early May. Need to figure how to pay & finance this project. Right now the interest rates are low.

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Terry Gregory seconded to approve the purchase of the pool liner from Netari for $54,476 in early spring savings of $15,000. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Hillis checked on library grant before the meeting and said they are just waiting for Secretary White to make the announcement. McIntire asked about the fast-track grant for the square. It was supposed to have been announced last week but are still waiting. It should be announced shortly. It was a 100% grant. City Clerk Robinson reported the city was to receive an infrastructure grant of $17,497.29.

George Lindsey, Police Chief did not get his monthly reports since he had a burglary this morning. Lindsey said some of his officers are complaining they are underpaid according to other towns. Here are as such: Bluffs - Chief - $17. Deputies – $14.50 1st year; Pittsfield (union members) chief - $27.67,deputy chief - $21.46, full time - $16.00; White Hall - chief - $25.44, full time - $17.89; Roodhouse - chief - $60,000, full time - $18.00; Meredosia – full time - $17.00; Winchester - full time $16.50, part-time $15.00.

Lindsey said Jacob Bettis was interested in working full time now. It was his understanding that he was to be hired as a part-time officer and is ready to be a full-time officer. He is ready to work full time now. Lindsey said he could work him full time now and will make it official next month since it was not on the agenda.

Lindsey said his ex-wife passed away on July 24 and would like to make some changes in his life. He would like to retire and work two days a week as police chief. Dorman Deeder does it in Bluffs. He only wants to be paid 16 hours a week. This will help with his insurance. When an officer retires they can only work 599 hours a year. On August 29 he will have been in law enforcement 40 years. He was thinking about August 19 but can hold off until Sept. 2. Lawrence will get a personal committee and talk about it. If he retires this year he will be able to continue to work. If he retires after the first of the year he will have to be off 2 months before he can return to work.

Chase Burk goes to doctor on August 11 and if he is cleared he will take his power test on August 22. Officer training will begin October 4 and he will be attending.

Leigh Winner, Animal Control Officer turned in her July report as having 8 calls: 5 dogs, 2 foxes, and 1 rooster. Three violation warnings were given out – two for dogs running loose and one for failure to provide necessary care.

Wanda Cody, City Treasurer was absent. She had knee replacement surgery. She had her report ready. The infrastructure account was not correct. It should be there should be another $33,603.21 plus $12,855.83 for a total of $46,459.04. The pool fund and library fund still show a negative balance. Money was transferred before Amy Brown resigned. Amy suggested a permanent transfer from general fund to pool fund in the amount of $12,000 and permanent transfer from general fund to library fund for $6,500 until taxes come in.

McIntire said the auditors had been here for three days. Robin Maloy needed more bank statements to verify the accounts. The finance committee needs to meet along with Angie and Brenda. She said the office needs to go to quick books. Coonrod asked if the auditor specifically audited the TIF fund. After the fund crosses $100,000 it needs to be sent to the state. We have spent over $11,000 from TIF fund for the stimulus grant.

John Simmons, Supt of Public Works passed out monthly report as such: 3 days to pick up brush; 3 days reading meters; monthly odorzation readings; water & sewer samples (Jim & Trevor); new flow meter equipment installed; OQ certification and evaluations completed for next 3 years for gas; 17 3/4 yards of concrete poured in July; emptied watershed twice in July 7th $189.50 and $359.25; Old water plant clean up completed by Jerry Moore; 3 trees removed on Main St by Powell Tree Service completed; flags put up for 4th of July and taken down;. shredded at lagoons that do not get mowed for hay; backwashed sewer line at pool completed, also new water line finished; sprayed weed; 29 work orders; 4 funeral/grave openings; locate tickets (16 received/marked & 5 called in); cut weeds and paint around farm taps on gas main; fixes all gas leaks on gas survey. Several gas meters were replaced; water leaks on W Cross and Green St; USDA came and cut several feet off 2-inch gas main; building of Pat VanDe Velde; repair gas leak on 2-inch gas main on Market St in front of sheriff office, Miller welding fixed on July 31; cleaned restrooms at Monument Park; trimmed up grass and sprayed at library; issued zoning permits; 6 ordinance violations; replaced 1 gas meter.

Simmons said next week the part-time kids will be done. Jim Dobson will be in Edwardsville next for his sewer license. Randy Ford has met his hours for this year.

Simmons said he would like to sell the Electra Fusion Box and equipment to Lindsay Enlow Engineering Firm for $4,000, we paid $5,000 for it several years ago. That way he wouldn't need to stock parts.

John Coonrod, City Attorney passed out an ordinance to sell surplus personal property.

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to pass Ordinance 902, An Ordinance Authorizing the Sale of Surplus Personal Property. Lindsay Enlow will purchase the Electra Fusion Box & equipment for $4,000. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Simmons would like to purchase solar lights for the flag poles from Harbor Freight. They are $79 each. He can't charge them there. He would like to have a credit card for city use. He said several towns around have them so when employees go to meetings, they can use the credit card for expenses. City Clerk Robinson will check into this.

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Sandy Long seconded to purchase four solar lights for flag poles from Harbor Freight not to exceed $400. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried. Simmons looked into a used utility truck, because the '05 is going downhill and the '07 flatbed has been through the mill. Marshall's has a 2013 Prairie Power Chevy l-ton 4-wheel drive diesel with 130,000 miles on it coming in. Cost is $24,160 has Knapheide utility bed with cabinets. The newest truck is 2012 and can exchange the beds. He would like to have a utility flatbed for pickup. It is a Zimmerman flat bed for $5,068. It was decided to shop and get more options for other trucks.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to purchase the flatbed utility bed for $5,068 from Marshall's installed for the 2012 truck. Split the cost between the gas, water and sewer accounts. Roll call results in all yeas. Motion carried.

There was expensive water main leak last Thursday. Fiber optic of IEC tried to bore across the street and hit a 6-inch main. The cost was on the agenda for it and it should never had been there. They were boring in a very narrow area. They did not get a Julie locate. They ended up going five feet deep. It was suggested to itemize the bill and keep in a file for further use. It was a good thing they didn't hit a gas main.

Simmons a tree on curve of Coultas Rd was hit by lightening and split into with it leaning over Coultas Rd. Danny Powell was the only one to submit a bid to remove it. Leave the stump. His bid was $1,000.

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Ron Bell seconded to approve Danny Powell's bid of $1,000 to remove the split tree on Coultas Rd and leave the stump. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Lawrence Coultas said he had people contact him about not knowing the city had a boil order. He suggested looking into the alertafi like they had at the school. Have the residents pay the fee. He didn't know how many would be interested in it.

Mayor McIntire said Jerry Moore got the treatment plant done and did a good job. McIntire and Bill Jacquot met with Trotter, contractor for Phase II of pool. The city will start tearing down the old bathhouse soon. They hope to get a lot of the work done this fall and finish in spring.

McIntire said J. D. Fearneyhough had asked to extend his contract for the property he rents from the city. He has been tiling some of it and has alfalfa on it. His contract was for 3-years. Next year he would like to extend it for 3 more years and he is doing a good job. His lease ends Oct. 31. Add to the agenda for next month.

McIntire said last month they received a TIF application from Big Daddy's Doghouse. Since it was not on the agenda it was held over to this month. He is doing a lot to his façade since they had to tear off the awning on front to put a new light in. The cost is $23,595 to do this and the city goes up to 25% of the bill not to exceed $5,000.

Coonrod presented a resolution for this application. Resolution 2020-08-01: A Resolution Approving Facade and Roof Improvement Program Assistance Application.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Bill Jacquot seconded to approve the application for

TIF funds of $5,000 to Big Daddy's Doghouse with Resolution 2020-08-01 Resolution Approving Facade and Roof Improvement Program Assistance Application. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

McIntire wanted to make council aware of two invoices received from Benton & Associates. One was for 80% of the pool work for $59,008 which had a $29,000+ extension and we are up to $94,208. The other invoice was for the square grant for $18,032.50. It is itemized. The work consisted of reworking the pool house and going from one project to a Phase I & Phase II. Lawrence Coultas said maybe it was time to find a new engineering firm. Sandy Long asked how long they have been the engineers for the city and was told 50 years. The city was the first client when they opened their doors.

McIntire read a letter from Pam Hembrough asking permission to use Monument Park for a Alzheimer's Day walk on September 12 from 8 am to 11 am. They will be practicing safe distance.

McIntire said there was one other business owner submit an application for the TIF Pandemic stimulus. Alice's Attic applied her lease payments are $300 a month which she was approved for the $1,000. All applications submitted were approved except one. There was only one application not approved. There were 12 applications approved, so this makes 13 applications. They approved Willow Branch earlier.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Ron Bell seconded to give Alice Attic the $1,000 stipend from the business relief program for the COVID 19 stimulus fund. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

McIntire stated an employee had been exposed by someone who tested positive for COVID19. He was told to get tested and quarantine at home until he got the results. His test came back negative. He missed 34/2 days of work. McIntire suggested he get paid for his time off. He did not have to tell anyone but did. We need to come up with a policy you have to get tested because of exposure. McIntire suggested something along the line of half pay or something. Coonrod said there is going to be baseline requirement going to be required to do by the families the first COVID response act passed by Congress. There will be a bottom threshold on what we have to pay them. He thought it was 2-week paid sick leave for a positive test. Bill Jacquot wants the city to be legal on what the state or federal government requests. This is all undefined. We had four tested from the city in the past week. If the person tests positive and misses a weeks work they should be paid then they can receive unemployment.

John P. Coonrod, City Attorney passed out an ordinance to make all golf carts, low speed vehicles or recreational off-highway vehicle pay one rate of $75.00 per year.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to pass Ordinance 903, An Ordinance amending Chapter 24, Article 7, Section 6 of the Revised Code of Ordinances of the City of Winchester, Scott County, Illinois. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Coonrod gave an update on the municipal court hearing last Friday and going forward on who will be served. Coonrod said the system is doing what it was supposed to do and get the residence to clean up their properties or face a fine. Last month three of the people we sited cleaned up their property before the court date. Of the three others, two of them cleaned up a substantial amount towards it. Lloyd Camerer moved some things and John Knott cleaned some of his brush up. They were fined $200 each which will abate next month if they have cleaned up. The third person, Jesse Pittman, was fined $300 which will be abated if cleaned up. Glenn Carmean cleaned up his property. The following were served this month: Cheryl Drake was finally served Friday. Jessica Holmes was served as well as Tracy Armstrong. The following will be cited for August 21 @ 9 am: Larry Vortman, debris and weeds, Jim & Tina Ellenbach, debris and weeds, Michael & Debbie Anslyn, debris; Michael Cashens, debris & weeds.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Sandy Long seconded to site the following for municipal court on August 21: Larry Vortman, debris and weeds, Michael & Debbie Anslyn, debris; Michael Cashens, debris & weeds, and Jim & Tina Ellenbach, debris and weeds. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

The Armstrongs have already cleaned up their property, so they will be called off this time.

COMMITTEE UPDATES:

Bill Jacquot said the girls basketball sign will be split the $480 with three entities each paying $160: The City of Winchester, Sports Boosters and Winchester School.

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Lawrence Coultas seconded to have the girls basketball sign split with the City of Winchester, Sports Boosters and Winchester School, each paying $160. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Jeff Pittman shared a bill showing what Gregory Family Electric charged for re-wring city hall. They changed 52 bulbs in 52 lights with 224 LED lights and installed six new LED lights for a total of $7,800. They added three emergency lights; two exit lights, main lobby and John's office; three emergency lights with exit lights, two in conference room at the two doors and one in the very back room; three new plug ins; one light over the sink at no extra charge.

The windows for the upstairs have been bid out with the geometric window at the top. They are double hung to clean better. He has two bidders and will have them at the next meeting.

The dehumidifiers for the basement have been installed. The water will go in the sewer or outside. Brian Schafer is checking to see if the water can go in sewer. He thought it could.

As soon as he gets the door between the break room and main office the downstairs is ready to go.

He received two bids for an Air Conditioning at the old city hall. Little's and Rice were the bidders. Need to compare the two and make sure they are bidding the same thing.

The guy who won the guttering has not completed the job, he has been busy but will get it next week to stop the water from going into the basement.

Rex & John Paul had a teleconference with Dwight Reynolds about the grant to make sure we were on the same page and met all the conditions and they do.

The house on Maple Street was being mowed by the city but Jeff talked to a family member they are planning to start mowing it. The house on E Cherry St, John Paul is looking into it. It needs attention and may be demolished. Jeff Pittman has been mowing it for several years. If it is condemned it will have to be torn down. You can see daylight through the roof. They had a mortgage way over $100,000. The city has voted to condemn it but hasn't moved forward through the court process. The taxes have been paid. Don't know the status of the lien at this time.

Sandy Long has set the city-wide garage sale tentative September 26, depending on COVID. Sandy had met her new neighbor and she was asking about things in town. So she got to thinking about a welcome packet for new residents. She checked doing a refrigerator magnet with phone number for businesses, etc. cost 18¢ for 125. Could hand them out to all residents.

Ron Bell said the wells need cleaned and it cost them $20,000 the last time. They had discussed building a cross-over and they didn't need it if a new water tower was built. They need to hook up for rural water as soon as we can.

Public Comment:

Chuck Frost did not make burgoo in the spring because of the COVID but plans to do it in the fall.

Lawrence Coultas said he had two committee meetings financial and personal committee, they talked with John Simmons and Angie Doolin about a raise since they had extra duties. They did not think it was fair to the other employees. With the times now it is not a good time.

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Ron Bell seconded to adjourn. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 11:10 p.m.

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