City of Braidwood City Council met July 25.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
Call to Order: The Regular Meeting of the Braidwood City Council on July 25, 2023 was called to order at 7:06 p.m., by Mayor Hart in the Council Chambers of the Braidwood City Hall.
Pledge of Allegiance: Mayor Hart requested all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll Call: Upon Roll Call by the Clerk, the following members of the corporate authorities answered "Here" or "Present";
Elected Officials;
Present: Commissioner Money, Commissioner Wietting, Commissioner Walsh, Commissioner Mikel, and Mayor Hart
Absent:
Appointed Officials:
Present: Temporary City Clerk Weaver, City Administrator Altiery, Chief Lyons, City Engineer Dave Weber, and City Attorney Wellner
Absent:
Quorum: There being sufficient members of the corporate authorities in attendance to constitute a quorum, the meeting was declared in order.
Public Comment: Matt Graf 406 S. Washington St.: Has a 3-acre lot and is looking build a pole barn about 30x40 or 30x50 then the following year build a house. Wants the building to put equipment in. Attorney Wellner suggested contacting City Hall during the week purposing your plan. Generally accessory structures cannot be built before a residential structure. You need to talk to City Hall. Graf: That is why I was wanting approval today. Attorney: No approval happens unless its on the agenda for it. You are probably weeks or month away depending on your plans. Graf: Ok, thank you.
Josh Bolatto 219 Park Rd: Updates about the Intergovernmental Agreement between Will County and the City of Braidwood for the Everbridge Notification system was received and given to the attorney and is on display here at City Hall for 7 days. Hopefully will be on the agenda for next meeting for approval. After that it will go to the Will County ETSB board where they will do their approval on it, then it will be intern, ratified at that point. So, it will take a few weeks to be built out before we can put it out for registration and sign-ups. We will notify on all our platforms when ready. Also, with the heat coming up this week they are forecasting highs in the 90's, keep in mind City Hall is a local cooling shelter if needed. If after hours please contact the police department with the non-emergency number and they will dispatch an officer to open the building. On behalf of the Braidwood Lions Club wants to thank the city for their help this year with Summerfest. It was a successful year despite losing some time on Friday night with the storm. We got a lot of support from the community, we look forward to next year, we are already planning it. Thank you and was nice to see all in the parade on Sunday and all the support from the street department crews as well as the police department making it a successful event. Our website is going into a full redesign right now, hopefully in the next few weeks, we should have photos posted. Dave Slager 335 N Walker: Thank you all for a good job. Question for Mr. Altiery, What is the time for the dealerships? Admin: I will speak about that during my time. Dave: Thanks to Josh Bolatto, for his amazing job in this town.
Approval of Minutes: Commissioner Money made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walsh, to approve meeting minutes from the July 11, 2023. Regular Council Meeting. Motion carried with 5 ayes: O nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart)
Mayor's Report: Mayor Hart asking for a motion to make the appointment of Interim City Clerk Sarah Weaver. Commissioner Money made a motion to approve Interim City Clerk Sarah Weaver, seconded by Commissioner Mikel. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart) Mayor Hart swore in Interim City Clerk Sarah Weaver and signed papers. Asking for a motion for a Resolution to approve benefits to be provided to Braidwood City Clerk Sarah Weaver. Commissioner Wietting made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Money to approve a Resolution to approve benefits to be provided to Braidwood City Clerk Sarah Weaver. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart. Asking for a motion for an ordinance granting a variance to 120 S. Hickory St. George Kocek spoke saying the zoning commission already looked at this. This is a variance for section 23-14 fences, which calls for all fences in Braidwood to be 72" which is 6ft. We are not asking for a change in the ordinance just asking for a variance for the one property. Nick Bulanda is building Ultimate Rides; he would like to build a 96” tall fence on the south end by the Sun Motel. It will have the same siding as the building. The second fence will be in the parking area to block off incomplete cars. All members on the board approved this and is asking for the council approval also. Nick Bulanda confirming that cars that could be an eyesore out of sight to public and for the motel side, just keep it looking clean and separate. Commissioner Money made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Wietting for an ordinance granting a variance to 120 S. Hickory St. Braidwood, IL. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart. Mayor Hart spoke on networking: Representative Deluca had a picnic luncheon for the vets in July in Manhattan. Tony and I met with everyone there including Mayors from other towns. Also went to Silver Cross Hospital for a luncheon for those they serve in the community. Learned they have 100 bed in-patient hospital for mental health. I have been meeting with many people and met Doug Prior from Will County.
Administrator Report: Tony Altiery met with Doug Prior from the Community Economic Development; he will be helping with IDOT to clean up our interchanges. Also, with Pat Joyce to help with IDOT with this as well. So, we can maintain our side of the highway between Kennedy and 113. Spoke on the benefits of the Everbridge system that is in the works. As for the car dealerships the engineering is about 98% done. They are working on the building blueprints for Ford is almost done. They are starting on the Chevy dealer. Ground breaking will be last thing in the winter and work with sewer and water or first thing in the Spring. We did go from just Ford and Chevy to Chevy bought out GMC and Ford is working with Tesla hoping to get a dealership with them. This takes time but they are growing also.
City Clerk Report: Sarah Weaver wants to remind everyone about our online payment system through our website at www.braidwood.us. We are still receiving checks from people who Google search City of Braidwood Pay my Bill which can send you to DOXO. They take your money and intern mail us a check, which you could be subject to late fees if received after the due date. It can take up to two weeks for us to get those checks if we get them at all. Please use our website as we receive those payments immediately and are reflected on your account. Aso with the water department, they have been mailing out letters to people who have old or broken meters. We need to have appointments scheduled, if you have received one of these letters, please reach out to City Hall and schedule an appointment.
Engineer Report: None
City Attorney Report: Bryan Wellner responding to public comment rules and why commissioners do not respond during that time. There is a legal reason. Everyone is entitled to speak at a public meeting, as a government we cannot infringe on those rights of free speech. So, when you get up and speak, we want you to be fully heard and then sit down. It does not mean we are never going to answer your questions. My preference is when public comment is entirely closed, then during their reports, they can respond to the questions that were asked. The reason we wait is so there is not the back and forth and confusion on whether it was answered or not. The commissioners are not being unfriendly they are following attorney's advice to not respond during public comment to avoid any possible legal action that can be taken.
Accounts & Finance Report: Commissioner Money made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Mikel to approve the Payment of Bills, in the amount of $131,283.69 as identified in the Accounts Payable General Ledger dated July 25, 2023. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart) Commissioner Money then made a Motion, seconded by Commissioner Wietting, to Approve Payroll Expenses, in the amount of $77,896.89 as identified in the Payroll General Ledger dated July 21, 2023. Motion carried with 5 ayes; 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart).
Streets & Public Improvement Report: Commissioner Walsh, the crew has been filling in ditches. Reach out to the city if you want your ditch filled in, our crew does the labor, but the homeowner needs to pay
for the pipe that is required to be installed. They filled in a ditch down by the Marathon station.
Public Property Report: Commissioner Wietting, we will be posting a job opening for a position in the water department because we have someone retiring at the end of the summer. We will allow our current employees to apply first, then it will be put to the public if no one wants it or is not qualified. We are also waiting on some quotes for 3 lift stations that are in need of repair. Shadow Lakes, the Townes, and Harbor Landing lift stations. The properties at 141 W Main and 902 N School, which are city properties are due for the annual test of fire alarm systems and battery replacement in all the panels.
Public Health & Safety Report: Commissioner Mikel, from July 10th to 24th we had a total of 265 calls for service and total subjects arrested were 2 and total arrest charges were also 2.
Planning & Zoning Report: None
Old Business: Admin: We okayed a sludge building to be built at the city plant that will be starting this week, hopefully by the next month it should be done. Dale and I went to other towns council meeting to get ideas of what we do and don't do, to help keep our citizens more informed. Neither Coal City or Wilmington video their meeting and post online.
New Business:
Executive Session: Commissioner Money made a motion for Executive Session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees under 5 LCS 120/2 C 1 at7:31 p.m., seconded by Commissioner Mikel. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart) Attorney noted that all is welcome to stay but no action will take place, if you stay it will be to adjourned when council returns. Commissioner Money made a motion to close executive session at 7:56 p.m. seconded by Commissioner Wietting. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart
Adjournment: Commissioner Money made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Walsh, to adjourn the July 25, 2023 regular meeting of the Braidwood City Council. Motion carried with 5 ayes: 0 nays. (Money, Wietting, Walsh, Mikel, and Hart) The next regular meeting of the Council will be held Tuesday, August 8, 2023 at 7:00pm
https://www.braidwood.us/_files/ugd/4cd10a_5f04c8e122654a54b9884fff0f0367cc.pdf
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