REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO

January 6, 2015, 7:00 PM, Reagan Community Center

Mayor Kristine L. Hill called the regular meeting of the Tampico Village Council to order at 7:00 PM.

Commissioners Toby Johnson, Bruce Hill, Mary Jo Sigel and Derrick Maupin answered Roll Call.

Police Chief Terry Strike was present and Village Clerk Kathy Leathers recorded the written and digital minutes.

Mayor Hill led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Minutes of the December 16, 2014 Regular Meeting were approved as presented.

Public Comment:
Resident Al Morthland questioned the council about the recent tire slashing crimes. Mayor Hill told Morthland the council could not publicly discuss the case as it was an ongoing police investigation. Morthland wanted to know if the village had put a reward. Mayor Hill told Morthland Crime Stoppers has it as a case. Morthland wanted to know if Crime Stoppers had a reward out. Mayor Hill said yes. Chief Strike said sometimes the Crime Stoppers reward could go as high as $1,000.00 depending on the case. Morthland wanted to know if the village had it up for this case. Mayor Hill told him yes, it was in the paper. Commissioner Hill told Morthland it was discussed at the last meeting, that the incident was on Crime Stoppers. Morthland said it didn’t say anything about a reward being posted. Morthland said no one in town knows anything about it. Commissioner Hill told Morthland that’s what Crime Stoppers does. Morthland wanted to know why Tampico doesn’t do something. Commissioner Hill told Morthland that is what Crime Stoppers is for. Morthland said nobody in town knows anything about there being a reward or anything. Mayor Hill told Morthland Crime Stoppers is a reward based program. Commissioner Maupin said Morthland is saying the word must not have spread around town. Mayor Hill said it was in the paper and on the radio so there isn’t much more the village could do.

Morthland also told the Council he has talked to Mrs. Sigel about trimming up the trees behind Casey’s and around the Men’s Club. Morthland said they are hanging down and scratching up cars. It is Morthland’s understanding the house is vacant. Commissioner Sigel said she would call the realtor and see if there is anything they can do about trimming the trees.
There were no Unfinished Business items.

In New Business, Mayor Hill signed a Proclamation urging all citizens to participate in activities planned by the Tampico Area Historical Society & Museum and the President Ronald Reagan Birthplace to remember President Reagan’s birthday on February 6, 2015.

A motion was made by Commissioner Johnson, second by Commissioner Hill, that Resolution No. 06-15-01-06 be passed and approved to Review Closed Meeting Minutes from July 2014 through December 2014 to determine their confidentiality or release. “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Sigel, Maupin and Mayor Hill to keep the Closed Meeting Minutes confidential. The motion carried.

Discussion turned to reviewing possible changes to the policy for rules for public comment. Commissioner Sigel stated it looks like the same thing with a few changes from what Bill[Shirk] submitted. Sigel said personally she likes the policy the village has. Sigel said even Bill[Shirk] liked what the village had before
and thought we should just make a few changes. Mayor Hill said he [Shirk]said we could. Sigel said he [Shirk] really liked what the village had. Sigel said what she liked about the current policy is the simplicity it had. Sigel said, she hated to say it, but the proposed policy looks complicated. Mayor Hill stated she thinks the proposed policy further explains the policy the village currently has to clarify any issues people may have. Sigel agreed it does. Mayor Hill said it was what Bill [Shirk] was alluding to also. Mayor Hill asked Sigel if there was something in particular she was questioning. Sigel said she was looking more at the simplicity, more, for everybody to look at, easier to look at on one page compared to having to look at three pages. Mayor Hill said if there is any question on anything, the proposed policy clarifies it so much better than someone reading something into the policy and saying you can look at it this way or you can look at it that way, they are aware of the rules where the original policy didn’t. Mayor Hill said the proposed policy brings the rules out and clarifies what Bill [Shirk] has found to work for communities. Mayor Hill said this is what Erie put in place as well. Sigel said it’s wordy, it’s putting in extra words she doesn’t think are needed. Sigel said she could see a couple of changes. Mayor Hill said the clerk changed the three minutes to speak to the five minutes for a citizen to speak. Sigel said she did see the five minutes. Sigel also questioned the five days up here…. Mayor Hill said that has been in place for years. Sigel said she would make it the five working days. Mayor Hill said that makes it even longer, citizens would have to step in by Tuesday. Commissioner Sigel said it should be changed for the simple reason so the clerk is not rushed on that last day. Sigel said it would help the clerk. Clerk Leathers said that would mean residents would have to let her know by the Tuesday before a meeting if they wanted to be on the agenda. Sigel said the other thing is, the five minutes, she likes that. Sigel told the council, the thirty minutes, with the Sunshine Law, she would extend that to 60 minutes so if they had five minutes, five people. Mayor Hill said that’s the whole thing it explains that in here. Mayor Hill told Sigel, that if there is a discussion going on, as Mayor, she has the right to extend it. Commissioner Sigel said she knows, but if it is put down as a limit of 60 minutes, that’s twelve people talking. Mayor Hill said that is too long. Sigel repeated twelve people. Mayor Hill said the council has deliberated for over an hour, easily at times over some of the issues without any problem. Mayor Hill stated she thinks it is good basis to allow thirty minutes. Commissioner Sigel said the Sunshine Law does put a limit of 60 minutes and Sigel thinks that is what the council should go by. Mayor Hill stated she likes his [Shirk’s] recommendation. Mayor Hill also said Shirk said the council is already going by the Sunshine Laws. Commissioner Sigel said exactly, we are going by the Sunshine Laws. Mayor Hill said it is Shirk’s recommendation. Commissioner Sigel repeated with thirty minutes it only allows six people to talk. Mayor Hill told Sigel the council has allowed liberal speech. Commissioner Sigel said she knows the council is. Mayor Hill said she thinks it’s ridiculous to argue over something this petty. Commissioner said she knows, but to just put it in place. Sigel does not want it to say, ‘okay this is it’. Mayor Hill said that it’s not it. Mayor Hill told Sigel if she would read through the policy, the way it is written, it’s not written in blood. Mayor Hill stated if it goes over thirty minutes and there is more need for discussion, it is allowed. Mayor Hill continued by saying as an agenda, as a business meeting, the council will allow up to thirty minutes and after that point it gives the council a chance to regain the meeting. Mayor Hill said if there are redundancies, the council needs to… Commissioner Hill said going over and over the same thing. Commissioner Maupin said the way he looked at it, it will allow, and he understands what Commissioner Sigel is saying, but the way he looks at it is being more precise in here, [the policy], allows the council to be more precise if necessary. Commissioner Maupin said the council does not very often make anybody follow these rules. Maupin said if it becomes absolutely unruly during the meeting and the council can’t anything done, there are a bunch of people shouting and it just turns into a show, and the council is not getting what they are there to do done, the council can fall back on these rules and enforce them. Maupin said as for 95% of the time, they probably won’t come into effect. Sigel said that’s the same thing the council has in the current law. Mayor Hill said the proposed policy explains it so much more clearly. Maupin stated it is just easier, in his opinion, to over explain at the beginning and then back off. Rather, Maupin, said, ‘I meant to say this, but I didn’t.’ Maupin said the rules imply this but they don’t say it. Maupin said if it clearly states that this is what the council is supposed to have then it is easier to enforce it if need be. Commissioner Sigel said okay and also if the council remembers, Bill [Shirk] said it’s illegal to have them state their name. Mayor Hill said no, their address. Commissioner Sigel, said their name, address and phone number. Mayor Hill stated no, their name, yes. Commissioner Maupin said the address and their phone number the council cannot ask for. Mayor Hill said they can do their address and phone, you can ask if they are a resident. Commissioner Sigel said the council does not have to force them
to say their name. Mayor Hill said if you know them, like with Al [Morthland], he doesn’t have to say his name. Mayor Hill said the proposed policy says that in there, if the council does not recognize them, the council can ask them to state their name and there is no harm in that. Commissioner Sigel stated but they don’t have to. Mayor Hill said right and that’s what is explained in the proposed policy. Commissioner Sigel said the Mayor has up here on the policy, ‘speakers must identify themselves’. Commissioner Sigel said they don’t have to. Commissioner Sigel said she is telling the council. Commissioner Maupin asked Sigel if she was sure since he would tend to think the speaker should identify themselves. Maupin said he didn’t know from a legal standpoint but he would think that. Commissioner Sigel stated it was taken from the law, Rock Falls told her that is what the law states. Commissioner Sigel said the council may want to check on that to verify, but she believes Shirk. Mayor Hill stated she has read through some of the statues and it’s typical in recorded meetings especially, to state who is speaking and a lot of times they have to stand at a podium, the council is not requiring that and the speaker has to say their name, a resident of Tampico. Commissioner Sigel stated until recently but now that has changed. Mayor Hill said the address is the one thing Shirk said we couldn’t have in there. Commissioner Sigel said address and phone number. Mayor Hill said the council can ask for a phone number but the council can’t ask for an address. Mayor Hill said there is really no need, has the council ever asked for a phone number, but the council can fall back on it if the council needs it. Commissioner Sigel said exactly. Mayor Hill said exactly, the council has it to fall back on if it’s in the policy. Commissioner Sigel asked Mayor Hill to please check on that. Mayor Hill said she didn’t think it was necessary when it was taken from Shirk’s recommendation and the policy can always be changed. Commissioner Sigel insisted that Shirk also brought it up. Mayor Hill said the council cannot ask for a speaker’s address. Commissioner Maupin said right now she doesn’t want us to ask for a speaker’s address. Commissioner Sigel said the Mayor wants the name. Mayor Hill said the council can ask for the name. The Mayor stated someone cannot come in here anonymously and spout off and then go out the door. Mayor Hill said a person has to be responsible for what they are saying. Mayor Hill told Sigel she didn’t understand what she is saying, some stranger can come in here, make a case walk out the door and the council would never know who it is. Commissioner Maupin said there would be no way of telling if they were involved in the village. Maupin said if the council does not have their name, how do you know that they even live in Tampico or have any stake in what is going on in Tampico. Commissioner Sigel said she could see Maupin and Hill’s point there. Maupin said granted the council can’t fact check them on their name right away. Commissioner Johnson said just from the name the council is not going to know. Mayor Hill said the council at least needs a reference. Commissioner Sigel would just like that verified. Mayor Hill said she didn’t think that was necessary, she doesn’t think Shirk would steer us down the wrong path. Clerk Leathers stated it was in Shirk’s original policy draft. Commissioner Sigel said she knew that but when she questioned him, that’s why she was wondering. Mayor Hill stated Shirk said address and phone number. Commissioner Maupin said he remembers now that Shirk said the council should not have the address and phone number. Al Morthland said he didn’t know Shirk that’s why he asked who he was. Mayor Hill said there is nothing wrong with identifying yourself at a meeting, you should for the record. Commissioner Hill said it’s no different than when you walk in here you’re supposed to sign the sheet. Commissioner Sigel said she wondered if that was legal. Mayor Hill said yes, it has to be documented that you were part of this meeting. Mayor Hill said a speaker is supposed to put down the topic that you are here for and wish to speak, it’s documentation. Clerk Leathers told the council because of the new transparency laws for government, when she puts an issue on the agenda that says review, discuss, approve, the council doesn’t necessarily have to do precisely that. Leathers said it’s is there if they need it to be. Leathers stated that’s the reason she puts things on the agenda like that. She said if she did not put the approve part on there, if the council really liked something and wanted to approve it right now, if the agenda doesn’t say approve, the council cannot do it. She also said items that appear on the agenda like that are not set in stone, they are there merely for them to review it, discuss it and if the council decides to, then they approve it.
Mayor Hill explained her intention was everybody has a chance to review it, everybody has a chance and then at the next meeting approve it so that everybody has a little time to sit and think about it. Mayor Hill said she is not going to drag it out for months because it’s not like it’s a brick the council is going to throw. Mayor Hill stated the village has had the rules in place for years, the council has had to fall back on them at times when the decorum has gone awry and the council needs to get control. Mayor Hill said she thinks the proposed policy further explains it. Mayor Hill stated the council has had people question things in the policy citing that it does not really say that, and the council is just making it sound like that. Mayor Hill told the council the proposed policy says it. Commissioner Sigel said it sounds out more detail. Commissioner Maupin stated the policy is kind of an in case of emergency, break glass kind of deal, if the council needs it. Commissioner Hill said the policy is a guideline if you need it, it’s there. Maupin said if the council does not have the policy limited to the five minutes in there and the council wants to cut the speaker off, and that’s just an example he’s using, but if the council needs to cut them off because they are dragging on, the council can’t because it does not have the guidelines for how long they can speak in there. Maupin said the more guidelines in the policy, the easier it will be to enforce them when we need them, but the policy is not making the council enforce them any further. Commissioner Sigel said she understands the five minutes, that’s great. Mayor Hill said the council can table the issue until the next meeting but she would really like to get the policy approved and just get it in place because it’s not as critical as other things the council is trying to accomplish, since the council already had the rules and the council is trying to follow them.

Commissioner Johnson asked about the five day period prior to a council meeting for being on the agenda. Johnson asked the village clerk if the five regular days puts a stress on her office. Leathers told him no, unless someone comes in on a Friday morning and demands to be put on the agenda. Leathers said when she tells the person no, citing village policy, they will tell her they have done it before and they will do it again. Mayor Hill said that issue happened just recently. Leathers said at the time she hadn’t sent the agenda packets out so she could change it. Mayor Hill suggested doing four business days so that would take it to Thursday before the meeting. Commissioner Johnson asked if that would just frustrate things more since they are coming in late already. Commissioner Hill stated residents should know the time frame since it has been that way for how long. Leathers said the four business days would be Thursday, Friday, Monday, Tuesday. Mayor Hill suggested using the four days so it would give an extra day. Commissioner Maupin asked if it would be four working days. Mayor Hill said, yes, four business days. Mayor Hill said the council typically lets residents speak any way so it shouldn’t be a big deal. Commissioner Maupin said if the council changed it to the four days, that would give the clerk, because the agenda doesn’t need to posted until Friday or Monday. Leathers said Friday afternoon. Mayor Hill said that way the agenda is closed on Friday leaving that open spot. Commissioner Maupin said he could see that being beneficial. Mayor Hill said at the end of business on Thursday she basically could have the agenda wrapped up and ready to go. Mayor Hill requested the clerk change the policy to reflect the four business days change.

Commissioner Johnson said if the council is not going to bring it to Shirk with the other concerns, then he doesn’t see any reason not to make a motion right now. Mayor Hill said it was in the minutes too, what he described was in the minutes. Johnson asked if the council wanted to make that change is the matter tabled no matter what? Mayor Hill told him it could be approved with that change. A motion was made by Commissioner Johnson, second by Commissioner Hill, to approve the Village of Tampico Policy For Rules Of Public Comment – Citizen Participation, with the following change: “Any person desiring to address the Council at a Meeting shall notify the Tampico Village Clerk, (815-438-2505), at least four (4) business days prior to the meeting date so their name and topic of discussion can be placed on the Agenda.” “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Sigel, Maupin and Mayor Hill. There were no “No” votes. The motion carried.

Clerk Leathers informed the council of the current renewal rates for employee health insurance through Humana. She told them Village rates will rise by $949.41 a month for the next renewal term. She advised she had researched and reviewed several other options with several other companies, Blue of Illinois, United Health Care and Coventry, with the village’s agent, T.J. Kunkel of Kunkel & Associates, Inc. Leathers provided council members with options and rates from the other companies. She advised the council, Accidental Death and Dismemberment coverage is also with Humana. She recommended the council renew with Humana for another year rather than with the other companies who have offered lower premiums at the cost of less coverage and higher out of pocket expense for employees. Leathers also cited issues with prescription coverage when the village has changed insurance carriers as one more reason for staying with Humana. Leathers told the council renewal rates from the other companies will likely result in higher premiums after the first year as well. Leathers stated to be considered for health care coverage, a village employee must work at least 25 hours per week as determined by previous village councils. Council members discussed and reviewed the information and Leathers’ recommendations. On a motion by
Commissioner Johnson, seconded by Commissioner Hill, approval was given to renew village employee health care coverage with Humana for another year at a cost of $3,167.79 per month. “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Sigel, Maupin and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.

Reports of Village Officials

Commissioner Hill reported he has been winterizing the exterior doors at the RCC.

Commissioner Maupin reported one of the basketball hoops in the gym needs repairs.

Tim Hatten advised the council his instructional sports sessions have begun with other sessions to begin in February and March.

Al Morthland mentioned a few of the lights in the downtown Christmas wreaths are not working. Commissioner Johnson advised he is working on the repairs with Dennis Electric. Johnson said the wreath lighting is checked and bulbs are replaced when needed before they are put up. Johnson told Morthland having one or two lights out doesn’t seem to be enough to get the bucket trucks back out each time. Mayor Hill advised Dennis Electric donates their time in putting the wreaths up for the Christmas season.
Communications

Clerk Leathers advised the village has received notice of Mediacom rates going up again.
Mayor Hill stated Mediacom may be forcing themselves out of the market since companies such as Dish and Direct TV are offering better service for a better price.

Clerk Leathers advised the council news from Wipfli, the village’s auditing firm, has it that the senior accountant who has worked on the village audit in the past is no longer with the firm. She told the council the firm has assigned the village’s audit to another senior accountant.

Commissioner Johnson informed council members he has had another conversation with Frontier regarding their internet service. Johnson said the company has told him upgrades will be made in February to allow for faster internet speeds. The company told him the first step in doing so has been made. Johnson said he was told the original engineer for Frontier’s internet service ran it from Morrison, through Prophetstown to Tampico hub and then back to Prophestown. Johnson stated he was also told Tampico hub feeds Deer Grove, Yorktown and a few other small towns including distant ones like Mineral. Frontier officials have told Johnson they have put in a line for Prophetstown itself so that should help with internet speeds in Tampico. Mayor Hill thanked Johnson for staying with the issue.

Commissioner Sigel asked Mayor Hill how the daycare is coming along. Mayor Hill told her very well. Sigel asked the mayor if she had any idea when it will be up and running. Mayor Hill told Sigel she should have more word on that this month.

Bills were paid on a motion by Commissioner Johnson, second by Commissioner Hill. “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Maupin and Mayor Hill. Commissioner Sigel voted “No”. The motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 7:50 PM. The next regular meeting of the Tampico Village Council will be Tuesday, January 20, 2015 at 7:00 PM in the Reagan Community Center located at 202 W. Second Street.

_____Kathy A. Leathers ___________________ _________Kristine L. Hill_________________
Clerk Mayor

MINUTES APPROVED THIS 20th_ DAY OF ____January____, 2015

**These minutes are not official until signed, dated and sealed by the Village Clerk**