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Monday, November 25, 2024

City of Winchester City Council met July 7

City of Winchester City Council met July 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

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

Also, in attendance were Wanda Cody, City Treasurer; Caleb Handy, Police Chief; John Simmons, Supt of Public Works; John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney; Drew Ruholl, Benton & Associates; Carmen Ensinger, Scott County Times; Ben Cox, WLDS, Shawn Brown and Cindy Colbert

Sandy Long led those attending meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Wanda Cody, City Treasurer presented bills for approval.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Terry Gregory seconded to pay the bills as presented.

Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Mayor McIntire asked for any corrections for the regular meeting minutes June 1, 2022.

MOTION: Terry Gregory moved and Sandy Long seconded to approve and dispense with the

reading of the minutes of the regular June 1, 2022 meeting. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Mayor McIntire asked for any corrections for the minutes of the special June 15, 2022 meeting.

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Terry Gregory seconded to approve and dispense with the reading of the minutes of the special June 15, 2022 meeting. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Shawn Brown brought an issue to the attention of the council. There are signs at the end of North and South Commercial Street that have a weight limit that is deterring Semi drivers from utilizing the Gas station at FS. When they google places to get diesel fuel FS comes up. Local drivers are aware that they can utilize the street but out of towners are deterred. He is requesting that the signs be removed if no longer valid.

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Lawrence Coultas seconded to remove the weight limit signs on Commercial Street as soon as possible. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Council thanked Mr. Brown for attending the meeting and bringing the issue to the council attention.

Drew Ruholl, Benton & Associates, presented 1 bid from Illinois Valley Paving for annual road work. The bid was 5% higher than recommended but oil prices were up and rock prices were a little lower than expected. The estimated bid was $33,665.00 and the bid was for $35,415.20,

Benton and Associates recommends accepting the bid from Illinois Valley Paving for $35,415.20

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Bill Jacquot seconded to accept the bid from Illinois Valley Paving for $35,415.20 Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

No payment requests from Trotter Construction for the library this month due to limited work. Waiting on windows to be able to continue. Should be here by end of July.

Mayor McIntire has a bid from Brian Schafer for the mop sink that was requested. It is for $995.00. This includes sink, parts and labor.

MOTION: Terry Gregory moved and Lawrence Coultas seconded to accept bid from Brian Schafer for the library mop sink for a total of $995.00. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

The library board also discussed maybe having some security motion lights installed in the back around the new addition. It will be looked into and discussed at a later time.

Sandy Long, Alderwoman, brought an idea to the council from a local business owner. It seems on Sundays that there are very limited places for people to eat in Winchester and a lot of residents are going out of town just to eat. It was requested that on Sundays allowing a food truck or two to come to town to try and keep the residents local and also maybe draw more business to the square. The council did not see an issue with this as it should not affect what is open in town. As long as they agree to the fees and terms the council does not see any issues with this.

Caleb Handy, Police Chief, passed out his monthly report. His report is as follows: Animal Complaints - 2; Assist EMS – 2; Assist Outside Agency (Police) – 5; Assist Fire Department - 2; Building Alarm - 6; Domestic Disturbance - 3; Extra Patrol Requests – 1; Found Property – 2; Harassment – 2; Interviews – 3; Juvenile – 3; Noise Complaint – 5; Prowler - 1; Speak to Officer – 33; Suicidal Subject/Mental Health - 2; Suspicious Person – 4; Suspicious Vehicle - 1; Theft – 3; Traffic Accidents – 2; Traffic Control – 1; Traffic Stops-Citations – 4; Traffic Stops Verbal Warnings – 8; Trespassing - 1; Vandalism – 3; Vehicle Complaint – 2; Well-Being Checks - 9. Total Vehicle Miles - 1811.

Cameras have been installed at the park and are working well. Hoping this will deter the vandalism or help catch the ones that are responsible.

The Morgan-Scott Crime Stoppers would like Scott County to become more involved with the group and have someone on the board.

Ron Bell, Alderman, brought request for VFD Speed Set Point Integration system for Water Plant. This will allow remote access to help increase water pressure and reduce trips and overtime for employees, it is $65.00 a year and an initial $2150.00.

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Lawrence Coultas seconded to approve VFD Speed Set Point Integration system for Water Plant for $2150.00 and $65.00 a year. Roll call resulted all yeas. Motion carried.

Lawrence Coultas, Alderman, brought up the issue of speeders again. He has had a few people in his area request speed bumps in certain areas of town. This is something to look into.

Wanda Cody, City Treasurer, passed out the profit/loss statement for the month and the expenses.

Bill Jacquot, Alderman, provided pool report. There will be a pool board meeting held 7/11/2022 at 3 pm. There have been a number of donations. New umbrellas, Sun Shade's, Used refrigerator and new freezer. There were also 2 new signs installed.

Concerns that the pool was closed on 07/04 this year. It was hard to believe that one of the hotter days of the summer the pool would be closed and could have missed out on a number of admissions. This will be looked into for next year.

There were 45 cemetery stones marked. There have been 7-10 letters sent to potential bidders. The date to be returned by is 07/29/2022

Lawrence Coultas, Alderman, reported that there is going to be an extra $14,000 cost for the new gas meter readers. There was a miscommunication on which meters were being replaced and how quickly. Lawrence has asked Phil to look into a break in price. They have already reduced some but checking for more.

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Terry Gregory seconded to approve upto $14,000.00 additional cost for AMI meters. Roll call resulted all yeas. Motion carried.

There will also be a meter on the water tower itself to help in seeing water loss faster.

Cindy Colbert was at the meeting to advise of a 1st Responders Day that is being planned for October 15, 2022 from 12-? This will be to recognize and show appreciation to any 1st responder in Scott County. She feels that this is something that has been needed for a long time. We depend on them daily and a good thing to show they are appreciated. It will be out at the park and will be serving them lunch and offering a token of appreciation. More to come as plans progress. John Simmons, Supt of Public Works, needed to order new tires for the Supt truck. He ordered 4-285/16 10 ply for $1240.96. These are 2 sizes taller than old ones but will work much better with the snow plow. MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Lawrence Coultas seconded to approve $1240.96 for 4 tires for supt. truck. Roll call resulted all yeas. Motion carried.

Two quotes for new trucks have been received from Marshall Chevrolet and Morrow Brothers in Greenfield.

Marshall's truck Chevy $57,869.00 and Morrow Brothers Ford $57,105.00. John Paul Coonrod will look into facility grants that may enable to get 2 trucks instead of one. Will check with contact and discuss at August meeting.

Still in the process of getting quotes on new backhoes.

Will check with salvage yards in area to sell the truck beds and parts since sealed bids were so low.

Monthly report – Locate Tickets – 32; Work Orders – 16; Brush pick up – 7 days; Water Shed - $375.50; Monthly meter reading - 3 days; Monthly odorant report; Cathodic Protection survey - 1day; Regulator station survey - 1 day; Water leaks – 4; Ordinance violations- ongoing; Exercise emergency gas valves – 1 day; Helped with playground equipment - 2 day; Replaced culvert pipes on East Park - 3 days; Poured concretel and half yards - 1 day; Several days of mowing; Enclosed back wash piping (pool); Handed out disconnect notices; Marked out stones to be repaired(cemetery); Storm damage power out, and street clean up; Started replacing storm sewer next to REA.

Mayor Rex McIntire, advised the need to fill spot on the zoning committee. Ed Gant has retired. Would like someone from ward #2. If anyone knows of anyone interested, please advise.

Mayor McIntire has declared 07/11/2022 as Verma Lee Carlton day for her 100th Birthday. Family has planned a birthday parade for here as requested anyone participate if they can.

New Dollar General Building is in process and the money has been received. Profit of $31,810.05 and $31,720.05 has been applied to the loan.

Requesting approval to advertise for full-time police officer. This will help reduce overtime and on call pay that the city has been paying. Council approved to advertise for new officer.

Plaque is being order for the library to honor the contributions of Leiner Family. August Council meeting will be moved to Tuesday August 2, 2022 due to the mayor being out of town on the 3rd.

John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney, presented Ordinance 939 was presented. This is to amend the Cemetery ordinance to require a vault at time of burial. Can be steel, concrete or fiberglass.

MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Bill Jacquot second to approve Ordinance 939 changing to require a Vault for all burials. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Ordinance 940 is to amend noise ordinance for unreasonable load noises and list as disorderly conduct.

Ordinance 941 is second part of ordinance 940 to allow the police to issue citations and those would be handled in municipal court.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Terry Gregory second to approve Ordinance 940 and 941 that amends the Noise ordinance and allows police to issue citations. Roll call resulted in 4 yeas and Ron Bell voting no. Motion carried.

Ordinance 942 is the annual appropriations ordinance fiscal year 2022-2023. This was passed out in June meeting for review.

MOTION: Lawrence Coultas moved and Terry Gregory second to approve Ordinance 942 is the annual appropriations ordinance fiscal year 2022-2023. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

Tower North submitted a counter offer of 40 years and $90,000. Council did not accept and agreed to stay with the original contract.

Municipal court updates: 6 open cases and 1 paid.

Teri Little, City Clerk, presented several options for POS systems for the city to be able to take credit and debit payments. This is something that has been requested by several customers and hopefully help them make timely payments. The recommendation is for the CourtMoney system. It does not cost the city anything and is very simple to use for customers. They would be able to just go to the city website and make payment. There is a fee that is applied for each transaction hat is from the vendor not the city. It is a convenience fee that they apply for using the service. It is in no way a fee from the city or city making a profit. The only money city collects is the payment for bill. For a bill 0-$50.00 it is a flat $1.75 fee anything over that is 3.75% of the bill. This shows at the very beginning so the customer knows what is being charged. Many area municipalities use this service as well as Stacy Evans, Scott County Circuit Clerk. After speaking with several it is a very easy system. MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Terry Gregory second to approve Court Money as the POS service for the city. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

No Public Comments

MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Ron Bell second to adjourn at 10.22 pm. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.

https://www.winchesteril.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/July-7th-Agenda-minutes.pdf