Braidwood City Council met Nov. 13.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
Call to Order
Mayor Vehrs called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.
Pledge of Allegiance
Mayor Vehrs asked Deputy Chief Finlon to lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call
Elected Officials present: Commissioner Hibler, Commissioner Hutton, Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Tessler and Mayor Vehrs were present.
Appointed officials present: City Attorney Kopman, City Clerk Sue Grygiel, City Administrator Don Labriola, Deputy Chief Finlon and City Engineer Todd Gereaux were present. Chief Nick Ficarello was absent.
Public Comment
Opened and Closed at 7:01pm.
Approval of Minutes
Comm. Smith made a motion to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes of October23, 2018, seconded by Comm. Hibler. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Smith, Hibler, Hutton, Tessler & Mayor Vehrs).
REPORTS BY CITY OFFICIALS
Mayor
Mayor Vehrs addressed his Agenda item Motion to Surplus Police Seized Vehicles. Atty. Kopman advised him that as Mayor, he doesn’t need to have a Motion. The Mayor advised there are (9) vehicles up for Auction and will be taking Sealed Bids for these vehicles. The Notice will give the dates and times for accepting and opening the Sealed Bids which will be published in the newspaper and posted on doors in city hall and Police Department. All the vehicles to be Auctioned are across the street from the Police Department in the City Parking Lot.
Administrator
Don advised the Mayor and city council that he’s been updated on our Annual Audit. He said through our Auditing Firm, Sikich LLP, the City of Braidwood has obtained a standard two month extension to complete the current Annual Audit. He said a number of factors came into play which guided the decision to apply for the extension. As Sikich worked through the Audit they discovered various issues that required a more in depth and detail examination of our fiscal financial procedures. The primary reason for the delay is the pursuit of an accurate Audit, one that the city and taxpayers can rely on for future financial planning and policy maintenance. The only avenue available to achieve this goal is to devote the resources and time necessary for a thorough Audit that the city can depend on and one that is inclusive of all required reports and documentation. Our Auditor’s have assured us that their report will be completed well within the extended period, which ends December 26th. Don said he will keep the Mayor and city council as well as members of the public informed on their progress.
City Clerk
Nothing to Report.
Engineer
Todd addressed his (3) Agenda items. The first was Resolution 18-22, Authorizing the City’s Participation as a Sponsor in the Safe Routes to School Program. Todd advised this is a Grant Application of $200,000 to provide additional sidewalks to the school. They have filled out the forms, have letters of participation from the Administrator of the School with surveys, Support Letters from Legislators and now the Grant is ready to be submitted, Application Date is November 19th. Todd then asked for a motion from the city council for this Grant Application.
Comm. Smith made a motion to approve Resolution 18-22, Participation in the Safe Routes to School Grant Application, seconded by Comm. Hutton. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Smith, Hutton, Hibler, Tessler & Mayor Vehrs).
Next Todd addressed the Pay Estimate #2 & Final to Austin Tyler, a total amount of $45,906.56 for the Phase 1 Paving Program under the 2018 MFT Program.
Comm. Smith made a motion to approve the payment of $45,906.56 to Austin Tyler for Phase 1 Paving Program under the 2018 MFT Program, seconded by Comm. Hutton. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Smith, Hutton, Hibler, Tessler & Mayor Vehrs).
Todd then addressed his last item, the Pay Estimate #2 & Final to Austin Tyler, a total amount of $27,710.00 for the Phase 2 Paving Program under the 2018 MFT Program.
Comm. Smith made a motion to approve the payment of $27,710.00 to Austin Tyler for Phase 2 Paving Program under the 2018 MFT Program, seconded by Comm. Hutton. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Smith, Hutton, Hibler, Tessler & Mayor Vehrs).
Todd then advised the council that they had a resident with a drainage concern on Reed St. that was part of the IDOT High Speed Rail Project. This resident brought in photos and MG2A supplied the photos to IDOT’s Resident Engineer. He said IDOT has visited the site, they claim to correct the situation and install a pipe and a storm sewer inlet. Todd has talked with Comm. Smith about this advising him that this problem will be taken care of by IDOT.
City Attorney
Atty. Kopman addressed an issue brought to him about the upcoming Municipal Elections in the spring. Our city clerk received an email and direction from the Will County Clerk’s office, that directed her to put out packets and indicate that the Election was to be by a Primary. The city clerk questioned that with the county clerk’s office and the county clerk’s office insisted that the information given her was accurate. A resident came into city hall and raised the same issue to the city clerk who in turn contacted the county clerk’s office again. The county clerk’s office insisted to this resident over the phone that the information was correct and there was to be a Primary. At that point the city clerk brought this to his attention. Atty. Kopman said that he then started looking into and actually there are some conflicting provisions within the laws of the State, and don’t make it entirely clear. Atty. Kopman then talked to the county clerk’s office, the Will County States Atty. and talked with the General Counsel for the State Board of Elections. After much frustration and talking through many things, they have determined in fact the Petitions are not to be for the Primary Election, they are to be for the Consolidated Election on April 2, 2019. Therefore, Petitions are not due until December 10, 2018. The original Packets handed out were dated November 19-26, 2018. A Law was repealed by our State Legislature in 2007 and when they did this they did not address other small parts in the statute to refer back to, which is not uncommon for our Legislature. The attorney said he spoke with the city clerk and Updated Packets will be put together at the latest by this coming Friday. The city clerk will be putting something in the paper with the Corrected Dates for filing in the Consolidated Election.
REPORTS BY CITY COMMISSIONERS
Accounts & Finances
Comm. Hibler made a motion to pay the total bills due on our Check Register in the amount of
$617,260.58, seconded by Comm. Smith. Motion approved with 5 ayes, 0 nays (Hibler, Smith, Hutton, Tessler & Mayor Vehrs).
Comm. Hibler made a motion to approve the Payroll Expenses in the amount of $135,393.93, seconded by Comm. Smith. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Hibler, Smith, Hutton, Tessler & Mayor Vehrs).
Streets & Public Improvements
Comm. Smith just wanted to say that they were able to get a lot of streets done and thanked everyone for their help. This all helps with drainage issues that lead to mosquitoes. Comm. Smith said he had something to bring up under Old Business.
Public Property
Comm. Hutton addressed his Agenda item, the payment to Great Lakes Water Resources for Well#2 for a partial payment in the amount of $7,000.
Comm. Hutton made a motion to approve partial payment to Great Lakes Water Resources in the amount of $7,000, seconded by Comm. Smith. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Hutton, Smith, Hibler, Tessler & Mayor Vehrs).
Comm. Hutton gave the Plant Crews Report and then gave the Outside Crews Report.
Public Health & Safety
Comm. Tessler gave the numbers report provided by the Chief for the period from 10/23/18- 11/13/18. Their total calls for service for this period were 253. The commissioner said people were inquiring about number of Drug Arrests for the past year. Comm. Tessler then gave stats on Drug Arrests only, starting with 2015-63, 2016-58, 2017-57 and this year thus far is 22.
Comm. Tessler then addressed his Agenda item, Resolution 18-21, Authorizing Execution of Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Braidwood and the County of Will. This Agreement would allow Equipment to be based on our Water tower at 902 N. School St. The County of Will is providing this as we having small issues with our radios. They have admitted that the problem is on their end and at no cost to the city. This Agreement with the County will help correct that problem.
Comm. Tessler then made a motion to approve Resolution 18-21 Authorizing Execution of Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Braidwood and the County of Will, seconded by Comm. Hutton. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Tessler, Hutton, Hibler, Smith & Mayor Vehrs).
Comm. Tessler addressed his next Agenda item, making a motion to adopt Ordinance 18-20, Ordinance Amending Chapter 50-Law Enforcement Article II-Police Department of the Code of Ordinances. Atty. Kopman gave insight to the council on the Amendment to Chapter 50. After much discussion by council members back and forth, Comm. Hutton seconded the motion to approve Ordinance 18-20. Motion approved 3 ayes (Tessler, Hutton & Mayor Vehrs) 2 nays (Hibler & Smith).
Planning & Zoning
No Report.
Closed Session
No request for Closed Session.
Old Business
Comm. Smith asked who was in charge of putting the Christmas Tree up across the street. The Mayor said
it has been the city workers who put the tree there. The last couple of years it’s been Joel Corbin and Tyler Geiss. Comm. Smith has a lady who has a beautiful tree in her front yard and would like to donate it in her name to the city for Christmas. Comm. Smith said it’s a tall blue spruce. Comm. Hutton said today they got all the bushes in front of city hall lit up, all LED bulbs.
New Business
Nothing to Report.
Adjournment
Comm. Tessler made motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 7:41pm, seconded by Comm. Smith. Motion approved with 5 ayes, 0 nays (Tessler, Smith, Hutton, Hibler & Mayor Vehrs).
https://braidwood.us/government/
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