REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO
November 7, 2023
7:00 PM
Reagan Community Center
Mayor Bruce Peltier called the Regular Meeting of the Tampico Village Council to order at 7:00PM.
Commissioners Sherry Coleman, Susan Dean, Jim Coleman and Tammy Kendell were present. Chief Strike and Village Public Works Superintendent, Tyler Chriest, were also present. Village Clerk, Jamie McIntire, was present and recorded the written and audio minutes.
Mayor Peltier led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes of the October 17, 2023 Regular Meeting were approved as presented.
Reports of Village Officials
Chief Strike provided the Mayor and Council with an updated schedule and reports from yard clean ups that have been sent and taken care of.
Clerk McIntire advised that Village Utilities Clerk, Jennifer Vails, was able to add a serial number to the new Golf Cart Registration Stickers which will prevent theft from happening since everyone will be assigned their own number, and it will make it easier to keep track of for reporting purposes. Mayor Peltier reminded that the Village plans to take care of Golf Cart Registrations in March of 2024, and make it an annual date for everyone to have it completed at the same time. Unless it’s a brand-new registration. Then that individual will come to the office as soon as possible to fill out the paperwork, have the golf cart inspected and pay the registration fee to receive their sticker.
Commissioner Kendell thanked Public Works Superintendent, Tyler Chriest, on how nice the Village dump site currently looks. Chriest added that he’d like to publicly thank the Township with their help in making it look nice.
Chriest advised that he would like to ask Village residents to refrain from blowing leaves out into the street to help prevent problems with the storm sewer.
Mayor Peltier reported that the Chili Cook Off event held by the Tampico Historical Society went really well. Jenee Blackert did a great job and said they raised right around $3,000 from the event. Mayor Peltier said he hopes they can have more events like that because it was a good time.
Remarks from Guests
Sarah Ford with Aroundptown said she took her kids to the Halloween Dance held by the Recreation Board, and they had a great time. She said it was really well done.
Unfinished Business
There was no unfinished business at this time.
New Business
The Council reviewed the Levy Ordinance for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 Annual Tax Levy. Clerk McIntire provided the Mayor and Council with a copy of the purposed levy for them to review. Village attorney, Mr. Shirk, helps the Village with the levy and was able to move numbers to help increase the amount received for the Municipal Auditing Tax. Clerk McIntire said if anyone has any questions to please let her know, otherwise this will be on the next meeting agenda to approve and follow the next steps to complete.
Next on the agenda was to discuss and possibly approve Filing a Claim for the 3M Class Action Suit regarding PFAS. Mayor Peltier advised that Clerk McIntire did send an email to the Council with all the information from Mr. Shirk on how to file, who is eligible to receive funds and the process and steps on how to proceed. Mayor Peltier said it was a lot of information, but he went through most of it, particularly what would pertain to the Village. After some research it appears to be a 12.5 billion settlement so a lot to go around to affected municipalities. These funds could be used to treat the PFAS, such as if a new well is needed. There was not a specific amount for what we could qualify for. It’s a calculation based off population, how much water is pumped and how many towns file. Mayor Peltier said in his opinion, it’s worth trying for. The only real cost to the Village would be the help from Mr. Shirk helping us file for the claim. Mayor Peltier said he does not think that cost should be real substantial because between himself, Chriest and Joe Glynn with Test Inc., they could fill out the claim form. Clerk McIntire advised that claims have come across our path in the past that were presented to Mr. Shirk that he said would not be worth the time and cost to try for. He does think this 3M Suit would be worth it. Mayor Peltier thinks the payment for settlement would expand over 13 years so we could continue to monitor and test. The Council agreed that if Mr. Shirk said it’s something the Village should go for then we should do it. A motion was made by Commissioner Coleman, second by Commissioner Kendell to approve filing a claim for the 3M Class Action Suit. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, J. Coleman, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
Next the Mayor and Council began to discuss the possibly purchase of a 2018 Ford Explorer Police Vehicle. Mayor Peltier advised that information on the vehicle was provided in the weekend packets from Asian Motors, along with the loan information from the bank. Chief Strike and Officer Lukehart both went and looked at the vehicle. Mayor Peltier said he knows we did not budget for this purchase, but our police are now required to transport suspects and neither of our police squads currently have a cage in them. The drive to transport is approximately 5 hours round trip. Mayor Peltier said we owe it to our officers to keep them safe and the Council agreed. This is a decent vehicle and decently priced. After speaking with Clerk McIntire, we should be able to fit this into the budget. We talked about waiting until next year but sometimes you have to jump on the opportunity. Clerk McIntire said there are specific line items in the police budget for such a purchase that we did not budget for, but there are so many line items that often don’t get used or come close to meeting their budgeting amount. Clerk McIntire suggested going with the 4-year term with an annual payment. That will help when fitting this into the next budget and future payments. The Village also has the Police Protection Fund that can be used for a purchase such as this. That fund currently has around $36,000 and we receive money from the State every year for that fund. Clerk McIntire said I think we can make this work, but the decision is up to you. Mayor Peltier suggested putting a $10,000 down payment from the Police Protection Fund to lower the loan amount and annual payments. That would drop our annual payment to approximately $5,400 a year. Commissioner Kendell said I think the odds of finding something with everything we need already installed is few and far between. Chief Strike said this dealership had roughly 165 squads and there were 2 good ones we were looking at. This one and the other has already been sold. The only thing we would have to do with this squad is install the radio. Everything else is already there. Commissioner J. Coleman said that’s $10,000 worth of equipment already installed without the cost of labor. Kendell asked do you plan on keeping the Tahoe and getting rid of the other? J. Coleman said something needs to be done. Chief Strike said I priced out a new vehicle and that was roughly $62,000 with everything in it. Mayor Peltier said there are grants to get a new squad, but I don’t think that’s the best route for us to take. We’d still have approximately $40,000 come out of pocket with a grant. Kendell said it would take longer too. Kendell asked what other reason would we use the Police Protection Fund? Clerk McIntire said in the past it has been used to help with the police salary budget, and it could be used for when we have to get the body cameras. Mayor Peltier said we can talk about that more in the future, but there are grants out there for that as well. J. Coleman asked when the body cameras need to be purchased by. Mayor Peltier replied by 2025. Kendell said she likes the idea of taking the $10,000 out for a down payment and putting the Village at a lower annual payment. Chief Strike added that whoever had this vehicle previously kept it in really nice shape. Chriest asked how much are the body cameras? Officer Lukehart said roughly $800 per camera and $100 a month for the cloud storage. The Council agreed they like the 4-year term, then we can try to get in the habit of trading vehicles in instead of running them until they die if possible.
Chriest asked if the Council would consider taking a little extra out to get the body cameras now instead of waiting until last minute. It would be approximately another $1,600 for body cameras on the $10,000 that you’re going to spend on the car. Then you can think about the future and upgrading every 4 or 5 years for a new squad. Get this out of the way then budget accordingly. Hit the road running. J. Coleman said the only thing is once you get the body cameras, you’d have to get on the cloud right away, then you have that $100 a month also. Officer Lukehart said there is more to it than just the purchase of the body cameras. Kendell said we’re not intentionally putting it off. Clerk McIntire said she just sent an email to the Mayor and Chief about a grant to help with the body cameras. Mayor Peltier said I know this is a different topic, but I think the grant for the body cameras was $850 you could get per camera and approximately $5,000 for the cameras for the squad. We’ll work on it. Kendell said if it doesn’t have to be implemented until 2025 and we start working towards it in early 2024, we’ll still be somewhat ahead of it. The Mayor and Council agreed.
Mayor Peltier asked the Council’s thoughts on the police vehicle. Kendell said I’m good with it and I feel better if you take the $10,000 out of the Police Protection Fund for a down payment. The Council agreed. A motion was made by Commissioner Dean, Second by Commissioner S. Coleman to approve the purchase of a 2018 Ford Explorer Police Vehicle from Asian Motors out of Melrose Park, IL for police vehicle in the amount of $29,185 with $10,000 down payment to be used from the Police Protection Fund. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, J. Coleman, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
A motion was made by Commissioner Kendell, second by Commissioner J. Coleman to approve Resolution NO.R03-23-11-07 a resolution designating the authority of Mayor Bruce Peltier, Susan Dean or Jamie McIntire to do business with Peoples National Bank on behalf of the Village of Tampico. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, J. Coleman, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
A motion was made by Commissioner Dean, second by Commissioner S. Coleman to approve payment #1 (Final) to Martin & Co. for 2023 General Maintenance 23-00000-00-GM in the amount of $47,759.25. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, J. Coleman, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
Building Permits
Building Permits approved by Zoning Administrator, Tyler Chriest, were 307 W. Fourth St. – Windows and 208 S. Lincoln St. – Roof.
Communications
Clerk McIntire advised that the Mayor and Council received their copies of the Municipal Minute and The Monitor.
Clerk McIntire reminded that typically in the month of December, there is only 1 meeting due to how busy that month is. Jill Pepin and Courtney Warren with Community Funding & Planning Services would like to hold a public hearing before our December meeting as a requirement to resubmit the application for the DCEO CDBG Sanity Sewer Relining Project – Phase 2. Clerk McIntire asked if the date of Tuesday December 12th would work since it’s closer to the middle of the month. The Mayor and Council agreed that the 12th would work best. Clerk McIntire advised that the approval of 1 meeting for the month of December with that date will be on the next meeting agenda.
Commissioner Kendell asked if we know how the Lead Line Inspection appointments are going. Mayor Peltier advised that he is going to reach out to see how the process is going. Clerk McIntire advised that there have been a few calls to the office with questions about it and we explained the situation and try to keep MO-ST up to date with whatever information our office or Chriest receives.
Bills were ordered paid on a motion by Commissioner Kendell, second by Commissioner J. Coleman. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, J. Coleman, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 7:29 PM. The next Regular Meeting of the Tampico Village Council is Scheduled for Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 7:00 PM in the Reagan Community Center located at 202 W. Second Street.
Jamie M. McIntire Bruce Peltier
Clerk Mayor
MINUTES APPROVED THIS 21st DAY OF November, 2023
**These minutes are not official until signed, dated and sealed by the Village Clerk**
