City of Winchester City Council met Feb. 1.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The Winchester City Council held their monthly meeting February 1, 2023 at City Hall.
Mayor McIntire called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. with the following council in attendance: Jeff Pittman, Ron Bell, Bill Jacquot, Terry Gregory and City Clerk Teri Little. Lawrence Coultas and Sandy Long absent.
Also, in attendance were Wanda Cody, City Treasurer; John Simmons, Supt of Public Works; John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney; Greg Hillis, Benton & Associates; Carmen Ensinger, Scott County Times; Steve Doolin, City Police Chief; Molly Traw, School Board Member: Kevin Blankenship, School Superintendent; Bill Walquist, 911.
Mayor McIntire led those attending the meeting in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Wanda Cody, City Treasurer presented bills for approval.
MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Jeff Pittman 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 of January 4, 2023.
MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Terry Gregory seconded to approve and dispense with the reading of the minutes of the regular January 4, 2023 meeting. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Greg Hillis, Benton & Associates, advised that there is great news. The city has received the low interest loan from the USDA and a grant totaling $3.4 million dollars for the water main project. The loan for $2.4 million is at a locked in rate of 2.25% and the grant is for $1 million. He advised this was a much better rate than expected. Hoping to be able to start construction this summer but maybe October. Still steps to follow and complete before they can start construction. With the ever-rising costs of materials there may be a chance that bids come in over budget. If this happens may be able to go back to the USDA and see if there is more money that might be available. The city will need to hire a bond council for the loan, Benton and Associates recommended hiring Mike Southworth. He does a lot of their work. Council gave their agreement to hire him for this position. The ordinance for this will be approved next month.
Benton and Associates has not been charging the city for all the work that has been done to this point and was requesting that the city starts paying $25,000.00 a month until the loan closing. If the council approves, he will present an invoice at the March council meeting.
A bit of bad news, due to the incident in Flint MI, lead service lines have become an issue with the EPA. To comply the city will have to have an inventory of all lines by April 2024. This not only includes the main line to the meter but from the meter to the home as well. This is to help develop plans on replacement. There are about 150 meters that are inside residents' homes so the city will have to have permission to enter and determine the line. Still more information to come on this project. It is a federal program but Illinois is the first to do it.
The libraries last USDA money will not be requested till the drive is being done. The last of the Secretary of State money is the 10% for total of $18,825.00 this is being requested. The legal fees were nowhere near the $8000.00 so that will be added in as well. Hoping March or April is when the driveway work will start. This will depend on the weather.
Kevin Blankenship, School Superintendent, requested that the city re-consider changing the name of the street that runs in front of the school. Changing the name of the street would have a tremendous impact on the school and the administration. This will affect at the local, federal and state levels. Not only will it be a financial issue but this could also trickle down to titles on vehicles and buses. When this happened in Bluffs and it took months to get grant money corrected. Paperwork with the state is not easy on a normal day and then trying to change everything will not be a quick or easy task. Bill Walquist was present at the meeting and discussed an alternate street to change the name of that would not affect any residents.
John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney, presented Ordinance 953 which repeals the prior ordinance renaming the street. The council agreed that it would create a hardship on the school district.
MOTION: Terry Gregory moved and Jeff Pittman seconded to approve Ordinance 953 that repeals Ordinance 952. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Steve Doolin, Police Chief, presented monthly report. Arrests - 2; Assist EMS – 1, Assist outside Agency (police) - 5, Building Alarm - 1, Child Endangerment - 2; Domestic Disturbance - 5, Harassment -2, Investigation - 1, Juvenile - 3, Noise complaint - 3, Property Exchange - 2, Speak to an officer - 18, Suicidal Subject/Mental Health - 1; Suspicious Person - 3; Traffic accidents - 1, Traffic control - 3, Traffic stops-verbal warnings - 10, Well-being checks - 4.
Advised of resignation letter from Chase Burk. He has moved to Auburn. Would like to request a few no passing signs that are portable to be used at the school for drop off and pick up. These would be set out prior to those times to assist in the safety of the children. John will look into getting these for him.
Wanda Cody, City Treasurer, passed out all financial sheets for the month. Audit has been completed. Booklets were passed out.
Ron Bell, Alderman, would like to create a committee for looking into other areas for dispatching. We are currently in a contract with the county until 12/2024. Things are still a bit raw and feelings are still a bit out of sorts so Mayor McIntire would like to wait on this till things have settled down more. We have plenty of time to look into alternates.
Teri Little. City Clerk, wanted to see if it was necessary to keep the lock box at UCB bank. It only has a couple items in it that could be housed in one of the vaults that we already have at city hall. It was discussed and decided to just keep it as is for now.
John Simmons, Supt of Public Works,
Monthly report - Work orders - 24, Locate Tickets – 19, Funeral/Graves - 2, Brush cutting by the county - 2; Gas leak calls - 1, Water leaks - 1, Zoning permits - 1; Monthly meter reading – 2 Days; Violation notices - 2; Monthly odorant reading; New gas meters - 2, Monthly sniff test; Gas test recertification - John & Josh, several days.
Jeff Pittman, Alderman, street lights have been marked and Ameren has been advised of the ones that need replaced that are currently not working. For the others that need to be added (8) he will get pricing for next month's meeting. These are on Commercial Street.
The police station has to have an interrogation room by law. Currently we use the one at the Sherriff's office. Would like one of our own. They have been checking into building one in the front part of the old city hall. Would partition this off and soundproof the room and have a camera system. He will have estimates for this next month.
Mayor McIntire, wishes to discuss Bereavement leave and Maternity/Paternity leave. Recently an employee had a death in immediate family and currently employees have to use their own time. Would like to look into having some sort of leave in place for instances like this. Also, will have a paternity leave instance coming up soon as well. Right now, we follow the State FMLA guidelines for maternity leave. The personnel committee will look into this and come up with something.
There will be a meeting at 10 am on 02/15/2023 with Heather Feezer to go over items for Looking for Lincoln. There are grants available to help purchase statues.
Janet Gant has retired from the library board after many years of service. The library board has recommended Teri Little to fill her spot on the board.
MOTION: Jeff Pittman moved and Ron Bell second to approve Teri Little to take Janet Gants place on library board. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Mayor McIntire, read a letter from the WHS yearbook committee for advertisement in this year's yearbook.
MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Ron Bell second to approved a 1/8th of a page advertisement for $50.00 for the WHS year book. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
Mayor McIntire advised that the settlement on the first gas transportation fees lawsuit is close to being done. Hope to see something on this soon.
John Paul Coonrod, City Attorney, advised of the recent municipal court cases.
1 dog case for $100.00 fine.
Railroad St. Guy Lewis $3000.00 fine. Total fines are now over $7000.00 after 30 days can file a lien.
Asking for approval on 2 new citations.
314 N Main St - trash and inoperable vehicle
253 Overton Dr - debris, trash junk
MOTION: Bill Jacquot moved and Terry Gregory second to approve 2 cases for Municipal court cases. 314 N Main and 253 Overton Drive. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Sandy Long and Lawrence Coultas absent. Motion carried.
Ordinance 954 Policies for the Operation, Maintenance and purchase of City Equipment was presented for approval. This basically is already in place just needed to be in writing to comply with the grant for the city truck. This applies to Public Works, Fire Department and Police Department.
MOTION: Ron Bell moved and Jeff Pittman second to approve Ordinance 954 Policies for the Operation, Maintenance and purchase of City Equipment. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Sandy Long and Lawrence Coultas absent. Motion carried.
No Public Comments
MOTION: Jeff Pittman moved and Terry Gregory second to adjourn at 10:15 pm. Roll call resulted in all yeas. Motion carried.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1R5BSVJxyY3gjp0HgUSt6Dx8c1yoF-FiV1ZSOY978HoE/edit
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