East Central Reporter

City of Neoga City Council met Oct. 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

CALL TO ORDER

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Helm. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Those present were Commissioners Williams, Schabbing, Edwards, Letizia, and Mayor Helm. Others present were Administrator / City Clerk Brenda Evans, City Treasurer Diana Foor, Police Chief Andy Schabbing, and Neoga News Editor Billie Chambers. Others present were Tony Kepp and Neil Luallen.

MINUTES

After reviewing the regular and executive session minutes from September 25, 2023, Commissioner Edwards made a motion to approve the minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Letizia. Ayes, Commissioner Edwards, Letizia, Williams, Schabbing, and Mayor Helm. Nays, none. Motion carried. 5-0.

PUBLIC AFFAIRS, MAYOR HELM

ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL LEAGUE RISK MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION INSURANCE RENEWAL POLICY

City Clerk Evans explained the Illinois Municipal League Risk Management Association (IMLRMA) Insurance is the city’s work comp, auto liability and comprehensive general liability insurance, portable equipment, auto physical damage, and property insurance. Evans further explained that the city has had IMLRMA for several years, and even after going with another company a few years ago, we went back to IMLRMA. This year the annual rate is $41,625, but if the city agreed to pay it in full before November 17th, they would save $416.25. Evans said that we would have to pay our annual Illinois Municipal League Dues as well, which we do every year, of $250 so the total amount would be $41,458.75. City Treasurer Foor reviewed the previous year’s insurance costs which were $37,368.07 in 2022 and $38,406.58 in 2023. After a brief discussion, Commissioner Schabbing made a motion to pay the insurance before November 17th to receive the full benefit of the discount in the amount of $41,458.75. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Edwards. Ayes, Commissioner Schabbing, Edwards, Letizia, Williams, and Mayor Helm. Nays, none. Motion carried. 5-0.

COMPREHENSIVE HOTEL FEASIBILITY STUDY

City Clerk Evans said that she has reached out to Cobblestone Hotels, and they asked about a feasibility study. Evans said they referred her to Core Distinction Group. Core Distinction Group will do a complete study at a cost of $15,000, which will include introduction/objective, market overview, site analysis, economic overview, lodging demand overview, community interview/survey details, lodging supply overview, conclusion/scale, size and amenity recommendations, room share overview, economic impact, project marketing piece and more. Commissioner Edwards said that with the new sports complex proposed in Mattoon, he felt it would be a good idea to have the study done, so he made a motion to proceed with the feasibility study in the amount of $15,000. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Williams. Ayes, Commissioner Edwards, Letizia, Williams, Schabbing, and Mayor Helm. Nays, none. Motion carried. 5-0.

CREDIT CARD PROCESSING COMPANY

City Clerk Evans told the Council that she and Treasurer Foor have been reviewing four different companies regarding the credit card process. Each company is a little different with pros and cons. The first company is PSN, which is the company the city currently uses, but they have increased their charges to $89 per month plus an annual fee, and 3% to the customer. Recently, they have agreed to decrease their monthly fee to $49 per month, but only for a limited time. PSN does incorporate the customers’ payments with the software company that the city uses, which saves employee time. PSN does have a contract, and if we cancel the contract there is a $550 fee. Another company is E-Pay, which also works with the city’s software, and there is no fee to the city, but a 3% fee to the customer. This system has many pros to it with one allowing municipalities to deposit funds into their accounts at a higher interest rate than local banks. Heartland, which is linked with First Mid Bank, charges $8.50 per month and a fee to the customers as well, but we do not know how well the program will work with our software. The last company is Impact Pay System, which is based out of the Memphis, Tennessee area, but has two representatives from the Neoga area, Tony Kepp and Neil Luallen. This company will charge a fee of $24 per month with no contracts, a fee of 3.25% to the customers, and has promised that it will work with our software. Evans said that Kepp and Luallen have also said they have a referral program which will give the city a refund each month if any other municipality signs on with their company. Evans said that she has mentioned this to Attorney Willenborg for legality, and she would have to see a contract before any action would be taken. After a brief discussion, it was the consensus of the Council to have Kepp send a contract to Evans for the attorney to review.

FINANCE, COMMISSIONER SCHABBING

TREASURER’S REPORT

Commissioner Schabbing said that she has reviewed the report and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. With no questions asked, Mayor Helm ordered that the treasurer’s report be filed in the City Clerk’s records.

PUBLIC PROPERTY, COMMISSIONER LETIZIA

ORDINANCE #1066-09-23 An Ordinance Authorizing the Purchase of an Easement for Utility Purposes (Workman Real Estate Holdings, LLC – 478 East 6th Street)

After reviewing the easement for the shared path project, Commissioner Edwards made a motion to accept the ordinance as presented. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Letizia. Ayes, Commissioner Edwards, Letizia, Williams, Schabbing, and Mayor Helm. Nays, none. Motion carried. 5-0.

ORDINANCE #1067-09-23 An Ordinance Authorizing the Purchase of an Easement for Utility Purposes (Danel L. Potter, Melissa A. Potter, Cynthis L. Hays – 448 East

6th Street)

After reviewing the easement for the shared path project, Commissioner Edwards made a motion to accept the ordinance as presented. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Letizia. Ayes, Commissioner Edwards, Letizia, Williams, Schabbing, and Mayor Helm. Nays, none. Motion carried. 5-0.

STREETS AND ALLEYS, COMMISSIONER EDWARDS

Commissioner Edwards said that he has been thinking about the roads in the city, and the weight limits that they will hold. Edwards said that the city engineer mentioned that the city roads were not able to handle more than 60,000 lbs., and the city should be concerned about heavy equipment and vehicles on those roads. Edwards said that Police Chief Schabbing and City Administrator Evans are looking to see what would be recommended for the streets.

HEALTH AND SAFETY, COMMISSIONER WILLIAMS

Commissioner Williams told the Council that Commissioner Schabbing gave him some information about TextMyGov and how the City of Effingham used the program when they had an emergency in the county. Williams said that Neoga currently has the system, and he would like to see more people sign up for the announcements in the event there is an emergency in our area.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Commissioner Edwards made a motion to move into executive session for Personnel – Section 2 (c)(1) Employee hiring, firing, compensations, discipline, and performance at 8:21 p.m. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Letizia. Ayes, Commissioner Edwards, Letizia, Williams, Schabbing, and Mayor Helm. Nays, none. Motion carried. 5-0.

RECONVENED AND ROLL CALL

The meeting was reconvened at 9:58 p.m. on a motion from Commissioner Edwards. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Letizia. Those present for roll call were Commissioners Edwards, Letizia, Williams, Schabbing, and Mayor Helm.

ADJOURNMENT

Commissioner Letizia made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:59 p.m. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Edwards. Ayes, Commissioner Letizia, Williams, Schabbing, Edwards, and Mayor Helm. Nays, none. Motion carried. 5-0.

https://neoga.org/sites/default/files/meetingminutes/October%2010%2C%202023.pdf