City of Olney City Council met July 11.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
AGENDA #1 “CALL TO ORDER” The meeting of the Olney City Council was called to order at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Olney City Hall located at 300 S. Whittle Avenue, Olney, Illinois, with Mayor Mark Lambird presiding.
AGENDA #2 “PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG-PRAYER” Council members and visitors joined in the pledge of allegiance to the flag. Steve Wingert led the group in prayer.
AGENDA #3 “ROLL CALL” The following Council members were present: Mark Lambird, Morgan Fehrenbacher, John McLaughlin, Belinda Henton, and Greg Eyer. Also present were City Manager Allen Barker, City Treasurer Jane Guinn, City Engineer Mike Bridges, City Attorney Bart Zuber, and City Clerk Kelsie Sterchi.
AGENDA #4 “PRESENTATION OF CONSENT AGENDA”
4-A “Approve Minutes of the Council Meeting on June 27, 2022”
4-B “Approve and Authorize Payment of Accounts Payable July 12, 2022” Pooled Cash $299,099.75, Manual Pooled Cash $120,732.49, Petty Cash $105.31, Foreign Fire $2,352.60, IMRF $27,156.04, Tourism $10,825.39
4-C “Various Re-Appointments to Boards & Commissions” Zachary Holder & David Abell to the Plan Commission, David Abell to the Board of Appeals, Brandan Michels & Julie Hill to the Library Board, Robert Webber to the Airport Authority, and Joshua Feddes to the Parks & Recreation Board.
4-D “Raffle License: St. Joseph Church”
AGENDA #5 “REMOVAL OF ITEMS FROM CONSENT AGENDA”
No items were requested for removal from the consent agenda.
AGENDA #6 “CONSIDERATION OF CONSENT AGENDA”
Councilwoman Fehrenbacher moved to approve the items on the consent agenda, seconded by Councilman Eyer. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.
AGENDA #7 “CONSIDERATION OF ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA”
No items were requested for removal from the consent agenda.
AGENDA #8 “PRESENTATION OF ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, ETC.”
8-A “Request: Fishing Tournament & Boat Permit Requirement Waivers for RCHS Bass Team” The Council was provided with a letter from the RCHS Bass Team. Members of the RCCU #1 Bass Organization were present to speak on the request.
RCMS Boat Captain Tony Holtschlag approached the Council and disbursed another letter. This letter was from the Illinois Bass Fishing Coaches Association. Mr. Holtschlag explained that his group was interested in holding a large youth fishing tournament on East Fork Lake on April 15, 2023. Many teams from other towns would be attending, and many motel rooms would likely be booked for the event.
The requests made by Mr. Holtschlag went against some current City regulations regarding tournaments, so he was needing the Council to waive these regulations so they could start planning out the logistics. The City and IDNR did not accept tournament date requests for the next year until November of the current year. This meant that Mr. Holtschlag could not attempt to reserve the April 15, 2023, date until November of 2022, and those requests would be on a first come, first served basis. Mr. Holtschlag also requested that the City allow up to 60 boats instead of the current 30 boat limit. Lastly, Mr. Holtschlag requested a waiver on the daily boat permit fee for April 15th only.
Mr. Holtschlag continued by stating that this type of tournament could lead to a 3-year commitment. After this April 2023 tournament, numbers would be evaluated and impact to the City would be reviewed.
The tournament was also a fundraiser for Richland County where 10% of the generated revenue would go towards the RCHS Bass Team for scholarships. Mr. Holtschlag likened this tournament to a travel ball tournament or cross country jamboree.
Chad Koester, RCHS Bass Coach, also advised the Council that adult boat captains would be driving all boats. That captain would also be affiliated with the represented school and would have passed a background check.
Councilman McLaughlin moved to reserve April 15, 2023, for the RCHS Bass Team, allow up to 60 boats for their tournament, and to waive the daily permit fee for participating anglers on April 15, 2023, seconded by Councilwoman Henton.
Mayor Lambird acknowledged that Mrs. Sterchi had a question. For clarification, Mrs. Sterchi wanted to be sure that she understood that if any of the participants had or were purchasing an annual permit, they would not be getting the annual permit discounted by the daily rate. The Council agreed.
A majority affirmative voice vote was received on the motion above.
Councilwoman Henton also felt that it was still important for the City to have acknowledgement of appropriate insurance for participating boats. It was decided that boaters would still need to fill out a boat permit application and receive a daily tag, but they would be waived the fee for the tag.
In order to avoid possible confusion at the third-party boat permit vendors, it was encouraged for the organization to have applications filled out at the time of sign up and taken to City Hall for disbursement of the daily boat permits.
8-B “Resolution: Accept Quote for Sewer Department Diffuser Parts & Waive Formal Bidding Procedures” The Council was provided with a proposed resolution that would accept a quote for Sewer Department diffuser parts and waive formal bidding procedures. The Council was also provided with a quote for the diffuser parts from Evoqua of Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Mr. Barker told the Council that this item and item 8-C were related. On the diffuser parts, Evoqua submitted a quote in the amount of $45,480.60 but only $36,000.00 had been budgeted. Mr. Barker requested that the Council approve the quote and waive the bidding on this for now so that the purchase can be made as soon as possible. A future budget amendment would be needed with funds being transferred from the line item used in 8-C.
On the blower motor package, two quotes were received. Wabash Valley Motor & Machine, Inc., of Terre Haute, Indiana, quoted $7,708.00 plus the cost of accessories and freight. Schaffer Electric of Oblong, Illinois, quoted $9,600.00 plus the cost of accessories and freight. It
was recommended to approve the quote from Wabash Valley Motor & Machine, Inc., for the blower motor package. This purchase was budgeted in the amount of $17,000.00.
The Council wished to take action on both resolutions at the same time.
Councilman McLaughlin moved to approve 2022-R-58 (diffuser parts) and 2022-R-59 (blower motor package), seconded by Councilwoman Fehrenbacher. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.
8-C “Resolution: Accept Quote for Sewer Department Blower Motor Package & Waive Formal Bidding Procedures” Action on this item was taken under item 8-B.
AGENDA #9 “REPORTS FROM ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS”
9-A “Status Report-City Manager” Mr. Barker told the Council that the City Park restroom facility was complete, but concrete work on the outside was still needed. He hoped to have the concrete work completed by the end of next week.
Councilwoman Henton had noticed that water fountains were included on the outside of the restroom facility. Mr. Barker said that was almost mandatory to add.
Mr. Barker then told the Council that locating a loader for the grinding of the streets under the MFT program was becoming problematic and would likely delay the program. There were none available to rent that were the size that the City needed for its grinder. Mr. Barker was trying to work out something with a contractor to where they could come in and do the grinding work.
9-B “RCDC Report” There was no report.
9-B “Chamber of Commerce Report” Councilwoman Fehrenbacher said that the Chamber’s golf outing was coming up on July 29th.
9-D “Parks & Recreation Board Report” There was no report.
9-E “Tourism Board Report” There was no report.
AGENDA #10 “PUBLIC COMMENTS/PRESENTATIONS” No one from the public wished to speak.
AGENDA #11 “CLOSED SESSION: SALE OR LEASE PRICE OF REAL PROPERTY; ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY; APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, COMPENSATION, AND PERFORMANCE OF SPECIFIC EMPLOYEES; AND LITIGATION MATTERS”
Councilman McLaughlin moved to adjourn to closed session to discuss the sale or lease price of real property; acquisition of real property; appointment, employment, compensation, and performance of specific employees; and litigation matters, seconded by Councilwoman Fehrenbacher. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.
The meeting adjourned to closed session at 6:12 p.m.
AGENDA #12 “RECONVENE OPEN SESSION”
Councilwoman Fehrenbacher moved to enter back into open session, seconded by Councilman Eyer. A majority affirmative voice vote was received. Open session resumed at 6:20 p.m.
Councilman McLaughlin had been approached by an individual that expressed concerns with the City’s current regulations on vending. The individual had a unique situation that was not considered when some of the current City ordinances were created. The individual may attend a Council meeting in the future to discuss changes, but the Councilman felt that some changes would be very appropriate.
Councilwoman Fehrenbacher asked how often the downtown trash cans were supposed to be emptied because they had not seen recent attention. Mr. Barker replied that Republic was supposed to be dumping the cans twice per week. Mrs. Sterchi added that Republic had been contacted and they said that they would be dumping the downtown trash cans tomorrow.
The Council briefly discussed some problems with vagrants around town.
A reminder was also mentioned about the Special City Council meeting scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on July 18, 2022.
Mayor Lambird said that the City needed to begin the process of some annexations for the Business District.
A Plan Commission meeting had been scheduled to hear a request for rezoning at 200 W. Elm Street for the construction of townhomes. Councilman McLaughlin wondered if the townhomes would be rented or owned by occupants. Mayor Lambird replied that they would be rentals. Councilman McLaughlin asked if the rentals would be low-income housing. Mayor Lambird replied that most would not be, but that a percentage would need to be in order to receive grants. No tax abatements would be provided, so the City should receive the property tax from any future development projects at that location.
AGENDA #13 “ADJOURN”
With no further business to discuss, Councilman McLaughlin moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilwoman Fehrenbacher. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.
The meeting adjourned at 6:27 p.m.
https://cms2files.revize.com/olneynew/cc%20July%2011%202022.pdf
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