Will County Gazette

Braidwood City Council met May 28.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

Call to Order

Mayor Jones called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

Pledge of Allegiance

Mayor Jones asked everyone to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

After the Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Jones asked everyone to please stay standing for a Moment of Silence for the passing of Commissioner James Hutton.

Roll Call

Elected Officials present: Commissioner Saltzman, Commissioner Money, Commissioner Smith, Commissioner Hart and Mayor Jones were present.

Appointed Officials present: City Attorney Wellner, City Clerk Sue Grygiel, City Engineer Weber, Chief Lyons and City Administrator Altiery were present.

Public Comment

Opened at 7:01pm.

Mike Guinta, Owner of property at Rte. 53 & Division St., where Mayor Jones was the prior owner. He said about 4 mths. ago he went before the Zoning Board and they voted on a proposal that he was seeking for an Industrial (I2) Zoning and because of the transition period after the election the city administrator asked him to come to this meeting. He’s looking from the new council a feeling as to what they’re looking for that particular property and whether they could support an I2 Zoning from a B2 Zoning. Mike said he’s looking for an I2 because the parcel is divided into (11) parcels all 1 ½ to 2 acres each. He has some people that are interested in bringing business into town that require 4-5 acre parcels and will be building 10,000 sq. ft. buildings or a little bigger. Some of which require Manufacturing of Steel Fabricating, a Plastic Manufacturer, Towing Company that tows semi’s and services semi’s. So there would be some overnight parking for vehicles. Mike said he’s spoken to people inquiring if they’re opposed to fencing the property and all were willing to do so, maintaining a clean and decent looking environment. Mike then asked for some feedback, comments from the council as to whether you would entertain this type of zoning.

Atty. Wellner asked if there’s been an application submitted to rezone yet. Mike said yes there was with the previous administration and wasn’t sure if he had to re-submit. The attorney suggested to the council that they look at the application and get some more information on the property because there’s a lot that goes into rezoning. Mayor Jones then commented that they have to get a Zoning Board in line and that’s their next step.

Closed at 7:03pm.

Approval of Minutes

Comm. Saltzman made a motion to approve the Minutes from the May 14, 2019, Regular Meeting, seconded by Comm. Hart. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Saltzman, Hart, Money, Smith & Mayor Jones).

REPORTS BY CITY OFFICIALS

Mayor

Mayor Jones said he went to Whitmore’s to buy some flowers to put around the Welcome to Braidwood signs, asking for a deal or if they could help the city out. Whitmore’s volunteered to donate the flowers, plant them and put mulch around everyone of them.

Administrator

Tony had a couple things. Since residents in town are going to start doing a lot more things in town and we have No Charge Permits. So if someone is roofing, sealcoating their driveway, just a reminder that the Contractor doing the work needs to be licensed and most of them are No Charge Permits. We do the N/C Permit for the purpose of us making sure that we know who’s doing the work, in the case of a complaint we know who’s doing the work to see if they’re licensed in order to help the homeowner.

Tony also mentioned that he and Chief Lyons have been working pretty much every day on Budgets and looking to see where money may or may not be saved. He said for the most part they’ve been pretty much been pulling up between $10,000-$20,000 a week on money that does need to be spent or can be moved around.

City Clerk

The clerk addressed her Agenda item regarding the Annual Alzheimers Collection. She explained that Joe Byer’s who has been doing this collection for the last (4) yrs. He had a family member with Alzheimers and wanted to start an Annual Collection to the Alzheimer’s Foundation to help other families with Alzheimers. Joe is requesting August 17th to hold their Annual Byers Brigade Alzheimers Collection from 9am-1pm.

Comm. Smith made a motion to approve the Byer’s Brigade Annual Alzheimers Collection on August 17th from 9am-1pm, seconded by Comm. Saltzman. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Smith, Saltzman, Money, Hart & Mayor Jones).

Engineer

Nothing to report.

City Attorney

Atty. Wellner said he put a packet in front of everyone that has (4) different Statutes. He said he will continue to try and bring in some laws and regulations that each of the council members will see at least every meeting and how to address certain Ordinances, Resolutions. He said he highlighted portions that are going to be particular to this council and action that will be taken. He asked the council to please read through them and if they have any questions as they’re not clear to them to please talk with him later, at the next meeting, whenever you have time. These things pertain to each meeting and how to do.

REPORTS BY CITY COMMISSIONERS

Accounts & Finances

Comm. Saltzman made a motion to approve the Payment of Bills in the amount of $116,164.13 seconded by Comm. Hart. Motion approved with 5 ayes, 0 nays (Saltzman, Hart, Money, Smith & Mayor Jones).

Comm. Saltzman made a motion to approve Payroll Expenses in the amount of $127,358.57 for the Pay Period of 4/29/19-5/12/19, seconded by Comm. Smith. Motion approved 5 ayes, 0 nays (Saltzman, Hart, Money, Smith & Mayor Jones).

Streets & Public Improvements

Comm. Smith jokingly said we need rain bad. He said he’s never seen this much rain and it’s putting them so far behind and there isn’t anything we can do about it.

Public Property

Comm. Money had nothing to report.

Public Health & Safety

Comm. Hart made a motion to approve the Use of Property and Hold Harmless Agreement for National Night Out at the City Park. Atty. Wellner told Charlie this is one he’d like to Table. He said one of the Statutes he included in everyone’s packet tonight talks about certain Ordinances that need filing for Public Inspection. This goes for any Contract the city would be going to approve must be available for Inspection at least a week before its approval in its Final form. He said he doesn’t believe we followed this Statute and would like to Table and address at another meeting. Comm. Hart also advised that the Police Dept. had 147 calls for service and 86 Traffic stops were their activites since the last council meeting.

At this point Chief Lyons addressed the council regarding what the city administrator said earlier about going through the Budget. We are going through line items looking to where we can save money. One of the things he came across is we’re paying a Private Lab $14,000 when we can use the Illinois State Crime Lab for free. Todd contacted that Lab and they sent us the $14,000 check back without cashing, so we saved $14,000. We are spending a lot of time going through each line item to where we can save money to come within the Budget. Todd said last years Budget was $2.3 million and think they ended at $3.1 million, so he’s looking to shave off roughly $900,000 in the Budget to meet the budgeted amount for this year.

Planning & Zoning

Nothing to report.

Closed Session

No Closed Session requested.

Old Business

Nothing to report.

New Business

Comm. Saltzman asked the Mayor about Zoning Appointments after the resignation of the Chair Michelle Serena and Charlie who is now a Commissioner, both off that board. Mayor Jones said they’re going to work on that next week.

Adjournment

Comm. Saltzman made motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 7:15pm, seconded by Comm. Money. Motion approved with 5 ayes, 0 nays (Saltzman, Money, Hart, Smith & Mayor Jones).

https://braidwood.us/government/