REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO
April 5, 2016
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 Bruce Hill, Scott Meier and Derrick Maupin were present. Commissioner Phalen Vancil was absent. Also present was Tampico Police Sergeant Boyd VanDellen. Village Clerk, Kathy Leathers recorded the written and audio minutes.
Mayor Hill led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes of the March 15, 2016 Regular Meeting were approved as presented.
Minutes of the March 22, 2016 Special Meeting were approved as presented.
Reports of Village Officials:
Commissioner Hill reported to those present, mosquito spraying is not recommended by the Illinois EPA. He told them it requires a separate NPDES Permit at a cost of $2,500.00 in addition to the cost of the chemicals and equipment. He said liability costs should be included as well. Commissioner Hill stated spraying for mosquitoes only affects adult mosquitoes. Hill reported the outbreak of the Zika virus has caused increased concern as to whether to spray or not. Commissioner Hill told them of information he has received from the Illinois Department of Public Health. Hill said , they are encouraging people to wear long sleeved clothes, avoid being outside during certain times of the day, clean up things especially things that hold water like old tires. Hill said that’s why his department is asking people to clean up around their property. Mayor Hill stated Whiteside County Health Department helps with the use of larvaecides, too. He offered a copy of the information to anyone who would like one. Mayor Hill said it’s just basically clean up your property and watch for standing water.
Mayor Hill reported she has contacted the electronics recycling business that has helped the village the past couple of years. She said he wants to skip a year because he is overloaded right now. Mayor Hill said she contacted the village’s garbage pickup provider, Republic, but has not heard back from them yet. She wants to see if they can come in and do something similar in recycling electronics. Mayor Hill stated she also asked to see if the village could do a “controlled dumpster” for village residents to dispose of items during a clean up. She said she wants to make sure that one or two residents don’t fill up the whole dumpster without giving others a chance to use it. She stated if you can fill a dumpster, you probably should rent one of your own. She will keep in touch with Republic and try to get something worked out with them.
Remarks from Guests:
Resident Al Morthland told Commissioner Meier about potholes in the alleyway behind Casey’s and also where the trucks park. Morthland said Men’s Club alley needs gravel. Morthland asked Meier if he had gotten a study done about S. Lincoln Street and the standing water. Meier told Morthland he is still working on it. Morthland said that whole block needs fixed to avoid standing water.
Morthland also wanted to know why the sewer plant was left unlocked all weekend. Commissioner Hill advised Morthland they usually don’t lock it. Morthland said it’s always locked at night time. Mayor Hill told Morthland the building is all locked and secure.
Morthland also asked how many kids are in the school. Mayor Hill asked him if he meant the day care. She told him four. Morthland asked if that was paying the bills and he was told yes. Clerk Leathers advised there are more children signed up for the summer as well. Morthland didn’t think they were going to have the day care all year long. Leathers told him parents count on child care during the summer.
A short discussion was held regarding the figures for the pending budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year. Clerk Leathers told the council she would like to have the council pprove it at the next regular meeting. Commissioner Maupin said he did not notice anything out of line. Mayor Hill told the council if they did find something between now and the next meeting to let the village clerk know.
Discussion turned to allowing chickens in the village. Carol Camper, who originally made the request was not present for the meeting. Residents Rob Sigel and Beth Etheridge were present to voice their opinion of the matter. Sigel advised he would like to have chickens and told the council he had checked with his neighbors first to make sure it was alright with them. Etheridge said she does not want chickens allowed in the village. She cited the smell and drawing predators to town such as coyotes, skunks, raccoons and opossums. Etheridge said there are enough of those animals around as it is. Sigel said he has heard of raccoons and things coming in town already without chickens. Etheridge said those animals mentioned are chicken predators as are snakes and skunks.
Mayor Hill said she had contacted the police department in Dixon since chickens are allowed there. She told those present they average one complaint call a week between the smell and the noise. Mayor Hill would like to talk to other towns that allow chickens. Mayor Hill said the village already has so many issues trying to get ordinances enforced, the village sends a letter, a fine is levied. The mayor said it costs a lot with the police, the attorney and then if someone refuses to pay, then there are court costs. Mayor Hill said if there is a really strong backing for this, maybe the village should put it on a ballot.
Commissioner Hill said he is against allowing chickens in the village because he works with the police department every day and right now he has a stack of papers of fines and notices they have been working on. He said a lot of it has been running dogs. He said if there are chickens in the village and a dog is running loose, that’s the first thing they are going to go for. Mayor Hill said no one wants their dogs running loose but by the same token, what if a chicken is running loose?
Commissioner Maupin shared some information previously handed out regarding chickens in the village. Maupin referenced an ordinance Kirkland uses. He said the village would probably use something similar to it and it is really tight. Maupin said some of the things include having to be registered with the Illinois Department of Agriculture Livestock Registration. He also said there is a whole list of things and a person is required to do everything that it says. He said Kirkland’s ordinance is really, really thorough and locked down and that’s the way it would have to be if the village is going to do it. Maupin stated by the time the council sits here and looks through this stuff and as a council thinks we are going to do this and spend time making this feasible, it’s really going to have a cost to it. Maupin said for an average person that wants chickens and has no “handy” skills, that’s going to make it expensive for them to do it to the point where you’re better off going to the store and just buying eggs. Maupin said another point the sample ordinance says is you would need a signed letter from all your neighbors and if one neighbor disagrees then you lose. Maupin stated if it’s going to cost me a thousand dollars or more…if it’s going to cost me two thousand dollars to get chickens in my backyard, then I’m going to just keep buying them,[eggs]. Mayor Hill said even just going through the normal costs without the fees and stuff, they’re not cheap eggs and then you have the possibility of disease and such and give it to your neighbor and they get sick, now you’ve got another case.
Commissioner Maupin said the thing he is looking at, you have all these things, as a village, no matter how airtight we lock this down, we’re still going to have nuisance calls on these chickens no matter how, no matter what. He said so there is going to be the added cost to the police department. Maupin stated the council needs to figure out whether this is the best use of your tax dollars. Maupin said we need to find a way to put this in it doesn’t hinder the council from doing the other things the village needs to do. Maupin advised residents would be looking at the licensing fee, or a fee, like a fine if the police are called out. Maupin said it could become a really expensive thing to do. He said he is not opposed to the chickens but at the same time he thinks it’s not going to be something for the faint of heart if you are only remotely interested in it. He cited the sample ordinance again and said any part of the chickens including the caged in area, they have to be caged in as well, they can’t run around your yard, has to be more than ten feet from your neighbors property. He said some of these houses in town, his house specifically, are not going to be able to meet that condition unless he puts it smack dab in the middle of his front yard, he can’t meet that kind of space.
Mayor Hill mentioned the “henopause” after they get done laying, after 3 or 4 years, are they going to be processed? She asked what would be done with those chickens. She wanted to know how that would be done if you live in town, they would have to be taken to a processer. Mayor Hill told them it is just something they should consider. Resident, Rob Sigel, said he is not trying to force it down anyone’s throat, he is just putting it out there for everyone to take a good look at and see if we can come to an agreement. Sigel said if we can’t, that’s okay. Commissioner Maupin said he wants to know how serious they are about it. Maupin said if the village is going to do this, they’ll be looking at a serious amount of time invested on our part, which isn’t a problem, but the council has to really get it so it’s not a problem. Maupin said that way the village doesn’t lose money chasing chicken calls around, it doesn’t lose money issuing permits, because there are other things the village needs as a whole. Maupin told those present he is not arguing, that is just his stance on it. He continued by saying just by looking at the cost to him personally, he wouldn’t do chickens in town. Maupin wants to know how many people are dead serious about it and how many have a casual interest. He said it could be something as silly as saying the village is only going to allow five people to have chickens. Maupin stated the village could structure this anyway legally possible to where we could have as little a thing they want or as a big thing. Maupin said that is what they need to decide. He said the council needs to find out just what the interest is. Maupin continued, he said let say the council allow people to have chickens in town and the village issues five permits, however the ordinance is set up, the village has to make it so those five people and the money they bring in from doing this can cover the potential calls and the administration fees the village has to pay. Mayor Hill said we fight with that all the time and if we come to a point where we agreed on some type of variance that would be on a person, not on a blanket ordinance, but a variance used for business when off the business district. Mayor Hill said the only way she would go with it is if it is put on a ballot for a vote by everyone in town. She said it would not be just the council deciding it, it would have to go on a ballot.
Commissioner Hill stated if the council does this chicken thing, what is going to be next. He said someone will want a goat, a cow. Hill feels if you want to own chickens, you should live on a farm. Commissioner Maupin said he is looking for overall town interest. Former village Commissioner, Toby Johnson, told those present when this was discussed over a year ago, one person does not an ordinance make. Johnson said at that time he encouraged getting feet on the ground, get some signatures and make it so the council would have no choice but to look into it or in fact put it on the ballot. Johnson recalled mentioning those interested should bring in research and get their feet on the ground and get a feel for the village. He said he feels the should be the only way for this to happen. Mayor Hill said she noticed in the ordinance the village has now was put in place in 1997, so that has not even been 20 years. Mayor Hill stated she would like to do more research to see why those people but that in place. Let’s hear some of the reasons they did. Mayor Hill also asked what next.is it going to be a pot bellied pig or a goat because someone really likes goat milk, or someone is taking “spinning” classes and want their own sheep for wool.
Commissioner Maupin said these are all points to be considered since he doesn’t want to take this lightly with the amount of work that has to go into an ordinance like this. Maupin said the council would really, really need to see some town interest. Resident Rob Sigel asked the council to table the issue and he will try to get some signatures. Mayor Hill said even though she is against it, the issue will be kept open for future review. Commissioner Maupin recommended the council leave the chicken issue off the agenda until somebody brings in more interest. Council members indicated their agreement with that. Mayor Hill stated the council is going to leave it off the agenda until someone comes in to speak on it again and then it would be put back on. Commissioner Maupin said that way the council would not have to skip over it every week if nothing new comes in. Maupin said that way it puts the ball into village people’s court so that way if they want to move forward they have to come in and show initiative.
Discussion turned to baseball diamond fence and maintenance. Commissioner Maupin led the discussion in the absence of Commissioner Vancil. Maupin said Vancil had another quote come in for fence repairs, fence replacements. Maupin said Vancil would like to get the fence repaired at Booth Park since it is a safety issue. Mayor Hill told the Council the Village Clerk has advised the funds to repair the Booth Park fence will come from the General Fund as opposed to having things done with ball diamond funds. Mayor Hill suggested the Booth Park fence repairs may have to wait until the village hears more from state monies. Maupin said he thinks Vancil feels it’s more of a hazard over there. Maupin said he is just relaying information on it. Mayor Hill will have village crews check into the fencing issue at Booth Park. Maupin also said it would be worth looking into to see if the fence company will be able to find an easy fix for Booth Park once they are awarded the fencing projects at the ball diamond. Maupin said he hopes they might find an easy fix for it for now until money starts coming back in from the state. Commissioner Maupin told the council Vancil wanted to express that he would like to have this approved as quickly as possible so he could get it scheduled and get them out here before baseball season starts. Mayor Hill told him the council should have a more solid decision on the plans by next meeting.
Mayor Hill told the council about approving a request from Digifarm to place equipment at the RCC. She said Digifarm is actually a connection company that is working with area farmers for helping them with GPS. The mayor said normal GPS is within 10 ft and the units they use are within less than 6 inches. She told the council the previous location they had in Annawan is getting torn down and Tampico is more centrally located for the farmers in the area so it would be a big service to them. She said we don’t have a solid agreement because they need to have a solid line into the building that they can put a modem on for now. She said according to Village Attorney Shirk, the village can agree to a temporary lease for now and if it does not work out, the village can tell them to take their equipment down. Mayor Hill said she has been in talks with Frontier to get a hard line in that would have the capability to support them. Commissioner Maupin said his opinion is if the village has to upgrade our internet anyway to support them then they are going to have to pay more than what they are wanting to pay. Maupin said he agrees with the attorney’s take on this, $50.00 seems a really low amount. Mayor Hill said right, that is to be negotiated. Maupin said if the council goes temporarily with that it’s fine. He said if that’s a permanent thing it needs to be more. Commissioner Hill said when he had talked to the company, he thought they said more than that. Mayor Hill said that’s right, and they more or less through that figure out to start. Maupin said he would like to see some progress on that saying money is money and the village cannot do this for free. Maupin said otherwise it would be a wash, the village would be taking their money and turning around and paying. Mayor Hill said the spring season is coming up and she would like to give them a chance until things can be negotiated out. Mayor Hill stated it would give them a chance as well if they are not able to come to an agreement they’ll be able to relocate in time to help the farmers. Commissioner Maupin said he is fine with temporary. Commissioner Hill told the council it is just a little dome they would place on the building. A motion was made by Commissioner Meier, with a second by Commissioner Hill to approve a temporary 3-month agreement with DigiFarm to place a base station on the Reagan Community Center for them to provide GPS services to area farms and agri-businesses. It is to be understood the unit will be removed at the end of the 3-month period if an agreement cannot be reached between the Village and DigiFarm. “Yes” votes were Meier, Hill, Maupin and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
The council next discussed the pros and cons of purchasing a used golf cart for village maintenance. Commissioner Hill told those present it is a carry-all with a lift bed that could carry equipment and make it easier to maintain the parks. Commissioner Hill stated the original quote to purchase is $3,000.00 but he may be able to talk them down a little. In previous discussions, Commissioner Maupin had asked for an estimate of the cost savings to use the cart instead of the diesel truck for park maintenance. Commissioner Hill advised the council it would use 6 gallons of gas at a time and can go approximately 250 miles on one tank. He said it can handle up to 1,000 pounds. He also said it will hold it’s resale value. As an example, he said if you purchased it for $2,900 or $3,000, keep it and maintain if for 5-10 years, it would only lose $100-$150 in value. Hill said it would be good for the summer help in keeping up with the parks. Hill also told them it would be less wear and tear on the orange truck. Maupin asked if this would eliminate the use of the orange truck completely. Hill told him yes. Commissioner Maupin said realistically….he said he is just trying to break this down to money. He said that is basically where he is coming from. Mayor Hill said
the summer park maintenance employee would save time by getting around the parks quicker and be off running again. She said as far as time as money as well. Commissioner Hill said it will be much easier getting on and off the cart as opposed to getting in and out of a truck. Commissioner Maupin asked if the village uses the orange truck in the winter for snow removal so that wouldn’t be something we’d need to get rid of until the village replaces the second truck. Maupin said generally the council is talking a bigger picture than just the golf cart at the moment because it all reflects back into the money-wise of the golf cart and it’s not a secret money is tight. Commissioner Hill advised with the golf cart the village would save a lot of money right away. Maupin told Hill he is just trying to get all the information. He said he works best when he breaks everything down. Mayor Hill advised she thinks it is feasible, because it’s so much quicker to get around town as far as reading meters, maintenance on the parks and going back and forth without the wear and tear on the big trucks. Commissioner Hill said it would even be handy out at the sewer plant to do what they have to do out there. Maupin asked where the cost would come from. Mayor Hill told him it could be broken down water, sewer, parks, streets and alleys. Mayor Hills said she didn’t want to wait too long on this opportunity, because it could be gone. On a motion by Commissioner Meier, and a second by Commissioner Hill, approval was given to purchase a carry-all golf type cart at a cost not to exceed $3,000.00 to be shared from parks, water and sewer departments. “Yes” votes were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
The council next discussed approving a donation to Whiteside County Public Transportation. Mayor Hill told the council the village does benefit from their services and suggested waiting until the next meeting to approve a donation. Mayor Hill said it is a great service and she wants to see people continue to use it. Commissioner Maupin explained to those present of the people they serve in Tampico, they are projecting a loss throughout the year. Mayor Hill said the village’s share is over $500.00 this year and the village donation will help them continue to provide service. Mayor Hill said they do have a fundraiser coming up in August called “ A Toast to Transit”. The matter will be tabled until the next meeting.
Mayor Hill signed a proclamation declaring the Month of May as Motorcycle Awareness Month. The proclamation urges all motorists to join in an effort to improve safety and awareness of motorcycles on Illinois roadways.
Building permits issued by Zoning Administrator, Ron Kuepker, were Art Sage – 104 E. Kimball and Beverly Adamson – 408 E. Market Street.
Clerk Leathers advised she has received information from Rock River Energy Services that First Energy, the village’s electrical aggregate supplier, will be sending letters for a supplemental opt-out period.
Mayor Hill told everyone if they see manhole covers off with tape around them, it is because crews will be doing maintenance on the village’s storm sewers. She said it will help with a lot of the drainage issues in and around the village.
Bills were ordered paid on a motion by Commissioner Maupin and seconded by Commissioner Hill. “Yes” votes were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM.
The next Regular Meeting of the Tampico Village Council will be Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the Reagan Community Center located at 202 W. Second Street.
Kathy A. Leathers
Clerk
Kristine L. Hill
Mayor
MINUTES APPROVED THIS ____ DAY OF _______________, 2016
**These minutes are not official until signed, dated and sealed by the Village Clerk**
