REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO
June 7, 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. Phalen Vancil was absent.
Police Chief, Terry Strike, was also present. Village Clerk, Kathy Leathers, recorded the written and audio minutes.
Mayor Hill led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes of the May 11, 2016 Re-Scheduled Meeting were approved as presented.
Commissioner Meier motioned, Commissioner Hill seconded to approve a fence permit for Chris Lauritzen, 202 W. Glassburn. “Yes” votes were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Commissioner Hill motioned, Commissioner Meier seconded to approve a fence permit for David Pratt, 202 E. Booth St. “Yes” votes were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Reports of Village Officials
Mayor Hill reported she, Commissioner Hill, Chief Strike and Tom Pierce met with IDOT on Main Street and the space between Kickback’s driveway and the driveway to the north has to be taken out. She said plans are to put in a French Drain and try to alleviate some of that drainage problem. Mayor Hill told those present to be compliant, parking is no longer across and you can no longer drive in there and park. She said only parallel parking is allowed on Main Street; every where but down by the doctor’s office. Mayor Hill advised, the parallel parking lines were painted today, she was told, in front of the Post Office and that’s part of this agreement as well. Mayor Hill reported they will see some work going on up there to get that drainage problem addressed. Commissioner Hill talked to the Kickback’s owner, Bonnie Anderson, and told her to make sure and tell people not to park there because eventually the Village will start writing tickets. Chief Strike reported they are not parking there since they put up the “No Parking” sign. Mayor Hill said she had only seen a couple. She also said it’s just a matter of time before getting accustomed to it and even at the Post Office, it’s just a matter of old habits. She said we’ve done it for many, many years but it is a violation of safety as well on a state highway. It was agreed it is hard to back out of the post office because your vision is blocked and everything else. She said we’ll just have to learn to do it, [park], a different way. Commissioner Hill said if someone pulls up in a van and parks beside a car, you can’t see to back out. Hill said someone is going to get hit. Clerk Leathers advised the council the local Postmaster had mentioned earlier this spring that she wouldn’t mind parallel parking because when people come from behind the post office to use the mail drop box, you can’t see to pull out on the highway. Mayor Hill advised when IDOT was looking at the drainage issue at the Kickback, they looked across the street and only parallel parking is allowed over there, the lines need to be repainted. Mayor Hill said she thinks it will save everybody and we’ll get used to it in time, but that’s how that came about.
Mayor Hill reported the village received a “Thank you” from Tampico Memorial Cemetery for their donation. Mayor Hill would also like to remind people if they would like to donate, the cemetery does need help, there are no funds to take care of that. Mayor Hill said a lot of our family and friends are there and it would be nice to….if you are looking to donate it would be a reason get a group together and get some money to them or you can give them a hand, see if there is something you can do to help, it is much appreciated as well. Mayor Hill remarked that they do have it looking nice this year.
Mayor Hill stated the village has been working on repairs to Canal Street. She said there was a slight break down there. Hill told the council there will be more digging so if you are in the area, there might be more delays or road closures to get the rest of it corrected. She said it does look kind of rough right now but it will get smoothed out.
Mayor Hill also told those present that anyone who is a part of the Municipal Aggregation will be getting a letter after June 10. She told them a letter will be sent out advising residents the current aggregation contract has been re-negotiated with a lower rate. Mayor Hill said when residents get the letter they do not have to do anything, it’s just telling you that the original contract states we could negotiate lower on behalf of anybody involved in that and the village did get a lower rate. Clerk Leathers advised First Energy’s contract provided a price match and the current rate will drop from 6.71 cents down to 6.23 cents per Kwh.
Commissioner Maupin reported he and Tom Pierce had a meeting with Matt Hansen from Willett, Hofmann and Associates, Inc. To discuss moving forward with the information he handed out last week about the different potential water line projects throughout town. Maupin said it was just kind of to feel things out to see what Tom thought would be the best project and also what the council was thinking would fit into their budget the most. The problem area that Tom would like to address first is the northwest section from Market to north and west of Main Street. Maupin stated that project ended up being a little bit less than what the village could get to qualify for full grant fund, it was a little bit short. Maupin said in order to meet the full grant funds, Hansen was going to go back and rework the project and add some more problem areas in that Pierce wanted to address such as a bigger main from the water tower up this way and also potentially redoing the services to all businesses on Main Street. Maupin reported nothing is set in stone or anything. Hansen is going to rework those numbers and give them a few more options on how they are going to work it out budget-wise, how they are going to fall into the grant. Maupin said right now Hansen thinks Rural Development is the best option, a rural development loan is the best option but the repayment on that is kind of harsh at 40 years. Maupin said the thing Hansen keeps pointing out is the life expectancy of these lines is much longer than the 40, it’s probably double that. Maupin stated the village should get 80 – 100 years out of the lines. Maupin said Hansen is going to work through the numbers and they will have another meeting with him at the end of the month and then bring their recommendations to the rest of the council. He said the council can go from there, talk it out and discuss what they want to do. Mayor Hill said that’s good, the more the village can check off that list, [water/sewer project list], the better. Maupin said he brought up at the meeting, he is afraid it will take a big chunk of the money the village has left. He advised he doesn’t know what will be done after that, but they will figure it out. Mayor Hill commented that way the village is not addressing emergencies either. Maupin agreed and said hopefully the project will upgrade a quarter of the town, [water lines]. Maupin said it knocks out a quarter of the town without having to raise rates or anything. He added it still falls under the same rate structure the village set a few years ago. Mayor Hill said that will include shutoffs, too, so if the village is working over here, the whole area doesn’t need to be shut off. Maupin said the project would include “re-hooking up” to the customers property to where it goes from the village’s portion to where the customer’s property starts, the village would running new from our main to that, to every customer in that area. Maupin advised some of the shutoffs are not currently in the best of shape, public works has had problems with some of them and recommends it would be silly to not do it. Commissioner Meier said you might as well do it when you’re putting the new lines in. Maupin said it’s a lot of money but in perspective of the project it’s a very small percentage of the project. He said he and Pierce have agreed it would be silly to not replace the services as they go. Maupin told the council sometime in July they should have a better idea what they want to do. Maupin reported that Hansen told them at this point they would have to rush too much to try and do something for 2017 so they’re probably looking at a 2018 project which isn’t bad since it will give them a chance to make sure everything is right. In addition, Maupin told them the engineers are still not sure what they would do with an EPA loan, like we have now. He said no one is sure if they will add forgiveness of funds back into that so Hansen wants to wait and see how that is going to shake down. Maupin said maybe that would be a better option for the village as opposed to Rural Development.
Remarks From Guests
Resident, Beth Etheridge, asked the Council if they had heard anything about someone coming out and taking down trees on Village property near her home. Mayor Hill told her she is working with Tom, [Pierce], to get someone to come down and estimate the cost to remove the trees before they cause damage. Mayor Hill said previously contacted tree removal contractors have not followed through and given an estimate. Mayor Hill advised they are hoping to get someone down within the next week.
Discussion turned to closing a portion of Main Street/IL RT 172 from 8:00 AM on Saturday, June 25, 2016 through 6:00 PM Sunday, June 26, 2016, for the parade and/or other activities. The council discussed keeping the street closed during the entire time on both Saturday and Sunday. Commissioner Maupin stated there is so much going on, such as the Firemen’s Pancake Breakfast, it would be best just to leave it closed. Mayor Hill advised it could be “double barricaded” if need be during the car club’s Cruise Night. A motion was made by Commissioner Maupin, second by Commissioner Hill, to approve a Resolution to Close a Portion of Main Street during Tampico Festive Days. “Yes” votes were Maupin, B. Hill and Meier. Commissioner Vancil was absent and Mayor Hill abstained. The motion carried.
An ordinance Amending the Requirements for Filing a Lien Against Real Estate for Delinquent Water and Sewer Accounts was discussed. Clerk Leathers advised the amendment is necessary if the village wants to take advantage of the Illinois Comptroller’s Office’s help in recovering delinquent water/sewer bills from any monies paid to an individual through the State of Illinois. The change will be made to Section 13.28.150 entitled, “Lien-Notice of Delinquency” as follows: “Whenever a bill for water service remains unpaid for thirty days for monthly service after it has been rendered, the village utilities clerk ‘may’ file with the county recorder of deeds a statement of lien claim.” A change will also be made to Section 13.40.030, entitled “Lien-Notice of Delinquency”, as follows: “Whenever a bill for sewer service remains unpaid for thirty days for monthly service after it has been rendered, the village utilities clerk ‘may’ file with the county recorder of deeds a statement of lien claim.” A motion was made by Commissioner Maupin and seconded by Commissioner Meier, to approve Ordinance No. O01-16-06-07 Amending the Requirements of Filing a Lien Against Real Estate for Delinquent Water and Sewer Accounts. “Yes” votes were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried. The ordinance will take effect immediately and be published in pamphlet form.
Clerk Leathers advised the council she would also like to check in to IPay services through the comptroller’s office to allow residents to pay their bills with a debit or credit card. There will be no cost to the village for such a service.
An ordinance amending Village Municipal Code section Chapter 5.04 entitled “Alcoholic Beverages” was discussed. The amendment will be added to Section 5.04.092 entitled “License – Outdoor Events” and will allow the license holder to sell alcohol inside the licensed establishment that may be possessed and consumed in open containers on Village Streets and Property and in accordance with the terms and conditions of the license and this section. Mayor Hill told the council this came about because of a request with the car cruise. Mayor Hill said it would allow patrons of the establishments uptown and also for the beer garden, so they can come out in the street and look at the cars during the time of the cruise. She said once it’s over, there will be a little time to help people understand that this is not a whole weekend event, this is just during the car cruise event and then go back to the normal codes. Mayor Hill stated they just wanted to have a little bit better atmosphere for this event. She said she thinks it’s a nice idea and she likes the idea of doing other events like “wine in the park” or with other different things coming up. Commissioner Maupin stated he didn’t see a problem with it, he thinks it would be fine. He said they just have to make sure everybody goes back in when it’s over. The group that is organizing the cruise agreed to put people out to use as spotters and could even put tape to section off the area involved, like “no alcohol beyond this point” signs to give the public a general idea of the boundaries. She said this is the first time the village has done this, it’s going to be a learning curve. The Mayor added it will be stated on the village’s permit they will need to stay with plastic and cans only, no glass, no bottles or glasses, nothing of that sort. Mayor Hill stated that will be made clear when give them permission. Commissioner Hill made the motion and a second by Commissioner Meier to approve Ordinance No. O02-16-06-07 amending Chapter 5.04 entitled “Alcoholic Beverages”. “Yes” votes were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Final payment numbers for the South Main Places Sewer and West Kimball Lift Station Improvements was discussed. Commissioner Maupin made a motion, Commissioner Hill seconded, to approve final payment to O’Brien Civil Works, Inc. for the S. Main Place and West Kimball Street improvements. “Yes” votes
were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Commissioner Maupin told the council he has been talking with the organizer of a men’s basketball league and he is looking to expand the league to the Tampico area. He is asking to rent the RCC gym for a substantial amount of time for a set monthly fee to run this program from the end of August through October. Maupin said he would rent the gym solid during that time. Mayor Hill questioned the solid time period. Maupin said, no, just one day, they would specifically ask, whatever the day the village council picks, he would like that day every week or those times every week throughout that entire period. Maupin said he is looking for 5-8 hours at a time. He stated it’s a basic men’s league with referees and stats with a 2-month run time. Maupin said they do shirts and awards, kind of like a real-deal league. Mayor Hill said they do have a website and they have a program in Mount Carroll and another city, too. Maupin said the league gets people from Dixon, Sterling and Rock Falls to go all the way to Mount Carroll to play so they are expecting a really good turn out down here because it’s going to be closer for them to come here. Maupin said he asked them to give him a list of at least three of their most favorable times; Saturdays from 1-6 PM, they can be flexible on the time. Their second choice would be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-8 PM each and Sunday is their final choice from 1-6 PM. Maupin said they are willing to pay, their current contract is for $300 per month. Maupin said if the village rented the gym out everyday on those nights, we still wouldn’t make that money based upon the current given contracts the way the fees are now set up. Mayor Hill commented she kind of likes the Tuesday-Thursday since those are pretty free dates. Maupin said he spoke with the Utilities Clerk about it and the village has nothing on the schedule in that time frame. He said no one has made reservations for that time frame. Maupin stated the league’s biggest fear with the Tuesday-Thursday games would be getting people down here at 5:00, getting guys off work at down to Tampico by 5:00. That is there biggest thing. Maupin stated he honestly thinks it would be easier to get people in here on Tuesdays and Thursdays than it would be Sundays but he thinks they were really wanting that Saturday time frame. Mayor Hill said the gym starts getting busy around the holidays, She stated November, December, January are when the village has the birthdays and stuff. Maupin said he is torn about what he thinks is the best place to put it, [the league]. Maupin said if they go Tuesdays and Thursdays, that fills up the off nights for the village, nights that do not have a lot of rentals it gets people in here so basically during those months the village would using the gym on Tuesday nights, Wednesday nights for the open gym, Thursday nights for the league so that would be three nights out of the week Mayor Hill asked if there could be a small concession stand. Maupin said he hadn’t gotten into that with them yet, but he imagines snacks and stuff would go good for the guys. He stated they will probably be running three to four games each night one of those nights, so you’re talking five on five, so there will be like thirty people in here each night. He said somebody is going to want to buy Gatorade or water or chips, power bar, something. Maupin advised there would be a small money-making idea with a chance of more revenue. Mayor Hill said during August it would be a lot cooler in the evenings since there is no air conditioning. Maupin said he doesn’t think they have air conditioning where they play now. Maupin said the times given were merely suggestions but Maupin feels like the start of a program is the most critical time so if there is even a shred of doubt he is going to have problems signing people up for Tuesdays and Thursdays. Maupin said if the success of the program hinges on the time frame, Maupin doesn’t want to deny Saturdays either. Mayor Hill said Saturday mornings appear to be better for another program already in place. Maupin said that should allow a buffer between the two programs. Maupin advised he wasn’t sure what to do so he brought it before the rest of the council and see what everybody else’s thought was. Mayor Hill said the village has been trying to field all the other reservations between a hand full of us. Anna, [Wetzell], has been trying to keep a calendar for the village but this is bigger than the village has started so the council wanted everyone’s input. Beth Etheridge, present in the audience, said this might be a good incentive for everyone to get their gym rental reservations in early. Mayor Hill advised it’s not so bad with the Saturday time, but Sundays most of them are family reunions, birthday parties with the bounce houses and they are more flexible. She said the village also has the conference room for smaller parties. Maupin said he will communicate with the basketball league further, he was just looking for everyone’s opinion. Maupin stated if the village decides Tuesdays and Thursdays are what’s best for the village, and not intend to shut the door on Saturdays, he can relay that to the league and see what their feelings are. Mayor Hill thinks it will be easier to get more people to run concessions on Tuesday/Thursdays than to commit to a Saturday afternoon. Maupin said she is probably right, for five or six hours on a Saturday, it might be difficult to get someone to volunteer to come in on a Saturday. Etheridge the council wanted it, it might be a money making project for an organization from the school or others and Saturday would work probably work better because school sponsored games are on Tuesdays-Thursdays. Mayor Hill advised there are a lot of different groups to come in and serve at different times. She said if the village does not provide it then the village could be flexible and let others come in so they can benefit as well. Maupin said to work it like that, the village could also share some of the profit and some of the earning and things. Maupin said there are a lot of moving parts to this discussion and the process is just getting started negotiating but it’s coming up to the point where they are going to have to start advertising and nailing some stuff down. Maupin said he just wanted to move forward with everyone else’s opinion. Etheridge said it’s a great opportunity for people that the village can rent it out. Mayor Hill said and it’s just for a few months. Maupin stated it may get people’s attention from other towns to realize it is here and for the village it will be a decent amount of income. Maupin also said to let him know how they want him to steer the conversation and then he can report back at the next meeting kind of how it went and where they are at. Mayor Hill said she wanted to make it public that this is what the council is trying to do. Clerk Leathers asked about some type of an agreement. Mayor Hill said the village does have some weight to their agreement but the council may want to elaborate on it. In addition, Mayor Hill advised the basketball league does have one but it is something that can be tweaked and have the village attorney review. Mayor asked Maupin if he wanted to get more information and have if for the next meeting. Mayor Hill would like to save Sundays for family. Maupin said he would discuss this with the league, tell them about running a concession stand and see how they are feeling about it and go from there. The matter will be tabled for further discussion at the next meeting.
Mayor Hill moved the discussion to approving a change to the council’s July and August meetings. Council members and employee vacation plans were considered in making the decision. On a motion by Commissioner Hill and second by Commissioner Meier, approval was given to having only one meeting during the months of July and August. The July meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 19, 2016 and the August meeting on Tuesday, August 16, 2016. “Yes” votes were Maupin, Hill, Meier and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Building permits issued by Zoning Administrator, Ron Kuepker, were: 207 Glassburn – New Roof; 204 W. Market Street – Replace siding.
Etheridge asked Commissioner Hill if he had checked into the safety of a building downtown next to property she owns. Commissioner Hill advised he had and his department are addressing the issue.
High weeds around downtown properties were also discussed. Commissioner Maupin asked at what point does the village address that type of issue. He was told grass and weeds over 8 inches. Maupin said he had noticed several empty properties around town that are sitting in some pretty tall grass and he was just wondering. Commissioner Hill advised his department has sent notices out and some property owners have been fined. He said if the properties are taken care of at village expense, liens can be placed on the property. Hill stated those properties have gone back to the bank and when they are notified sometimes they don’t do anything about it. Chief Strike advised once the total amount of fines reaches $700.00 for the property it is referred to the village attorney for the courts. Clerk Leathers and Commissioner Maupin asked at what point is it determined the village will need to mow the property and then charging for it. Hill told them his department has already done a few lawns and are trying to do the best they can with the situation.
Bills were ordered paid on a motion by Commissioner Maupin and seconded by Commissioner Meier. “Yes” votes were Hill, Meier, Maupin and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 7:54 PM.
The next regular meeting of the Tampico Village Council will be Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 7:00 PM in the Reagan Community Center located at 202 W. Second Street.
Kathy A. Leathers, Clerk
Kristen L. Hill, Mayor
MINUTES APPROVED THIS 21st DAY OF June, 2016
**These minutes are not official until signed, dated and sealed by the Village Clerk**
