East Central Reporter

City of Olney City Council met Aug. 26.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

AGENDA #1 “CALL TO ORDER” The August 26, 2024, 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. Gary Wachtel led the group in prayer.

AGENDA #3 “ROLL CALL” The following Council members were present: Mark Lambird, John McLaughlin, Morgan Fehrenbacher, Jack Eyer, and Julia Eichhorst. Also present were City Manager Allen Barker, City Engineer Mike Bridges, City Treasurer Jane Guinn, City Attorney Bart Zuber, and City Clerk Kelsie Sterchi.

AGENDA #4 “PUBLIC COMMENTS/PRESENTATIONS” No one from the public wished to speak.

AGENDA #5 “PRESENTATION OF CONSENT AGENDA”

5-A “Approve Minutes of the Council Meeting on August 12, 2024”

5-B “Approve and Authorize Payment of Accounts Payable August 27, 2024” Pooled Cash $188,577.65, Manual Pooled Cash $15,580.39, Electronic Citation Fund $1,968.00, MFT $1,929.95, IMRF $122.66, Tourism $20,000.00

5-C “Raffle License: Richland Memorial Hospital, Inc.”

AGENDA #6 “REMOVAL OF ITEMS FROM CONSENT AGENDA” No items were requested for removal from the consent agenda.

AGENDA #7 “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 #8 “CONSIDERATION OF ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA” No items were requested for removal from the consent agenda.

AGENDA #9 “PRESENTATION OF ORDINANCES, RESOLUTIONS, ETC.”

9-A “Presentation: Donation to the City of Olney for Musgrove Park Lighting Project” Representing Project Community, Herman Zuber approached the Council. Mr. H. Zuber stated that Project Community wished to make a $16,000.00 donation to the City of Olney to go toward the Musgrove Park Lighting Project. The check was presented and photos were taken.

9-B “Discussion/Possible Action: Parking Lot Extension at Musgrove Park” Also representing Project Community, Jason Doris approached the Council.

The Council reviewed a schematic that would extend a parking lot at Musgrove Park and allow for an additional 65 parking spaces. He was seeking the Council’s approval on the plans and project so that Project Community could continue to fundraise towards the extension. If all went to plan, they would fundraise into 2025 and complete in the Fall.

Councilwoman Eichhorst asked if the area of the proposed extension was utilized. Councilman McLaughlin was aware that the area was currently being used as a smaller soccer field. He had talked to some individuals involved in the soccer program, and he had heard that the group was agreeable to not have the smaller field available any longer.

Councilman Eyer had concerns in the past about a parking lot extension at Musgrove Park. Past plans that he had seen showed an extension going further to the south and across a sidewalk that connected to Florence Avenue. He was not in favor of that plan because he felt it was a safety issue. The Councilman felt that this plan was much better, and he was thrilled.

Councilman McLaughlin moved to approve the parking lot extension plan, as presented, with Project Community providing funding for the project, seconded by Councilman Eyer. Councilmen Eyer, McLaughlin, Mayor Lambird, and Councilwoman Eichhorst voted yes. Councilwoman Fehrenbacher abstained. The motion carried.

9-C “Discussion/Possible Action: Presentation & Acceptance of Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Financial Audit & 2023/2024 Tax Increment Financing Fund Audit” The Council was provided with copies of the Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Financial Audit and the 2023/2024 Tax Increment Financing Fund Audit. Representing the auditors at Kemper CPA Group, Krista McLaren was present to speak with the Council.

Mrs. McLaren indicated that the audit was conducted on public funds as of April 30, 2024. Again this year, Kemper CPA Group was able to issue a clean audit opinion.

The General Fund reported $10,720,591.00 in cash with a net profit of $1,670,330.00. The favorable interest rates had helped tremendously.

Over the past few years, Mrs. McLaren had been advising that the increases in tax revenue since the COVID-19 pandemic would stop and slow down at some point. The time had come where this slow down had happened. This was consistent with all local municipalities and was to be expected.

The Water Fund had $5,286,786.00 and the Sewer Fund had $4,131,491.00. The net for the fiscal year was $271,832.00 for Water and $439,198.00 for Sewer. These funds were also greatly helped by interest rates.

The Fire Pension Fund ended with $75,602.00 in cash and $2,515,721.00 in investments. The Police Pension Fund ended with $177,491.00 in cash and $7,222,406.00 in investments. The net for the fiscal year for Fire was $253,998.00, the net for Police was $660,643.00.

TIF funds were also audited. The State required compliance audits on these funds once a TIF has earned over $100,000.00 in revenue. Kemper CPA Group also found that all spending within the TIF was in compliance with statute. No internal control findings were found.

Councilwoman Eichhorst moved to accept the Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Financial Audit and the Fiscal Year 2023/2024 Tax Increment Financing Fund Audit, seconded by Councilman McLaughlin. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

9-D “Request: Fishing Tournament & Boat Permit Requirement Waivers for RCHS Bass Team” Under normal circumstances, fishing tournaments are not scheduled for the following year until November of a current year. Tournaments are approved both locally and through IDNR. IDNR does not allow for tournament requests until November, therefore the City also adopted that policy in order to make coordination with the State a much smoother process.

For the past couple of years, the RCHS Bass Team had been granted an early reservation for a tournament they wished to hold the following year(s). They were granted an exception to allow for more than 30 boats for that tournament, and their fee for daily boat permits were waived for the day of their tournament.

RCHS Bass Team coach Chad Koester was present to speak with the Council. Mr. Koester was again seeking approval for a 60 boat tournament to be held on April 12 and 13, 2025. He also hoped for a 40 boat tournament on May 18, 2025. In the future, Mr. Koester also hoped to be able to host a college event. Mr. Koester was seeking approval for these 3 dates for 2025, and another waiver on their daily boat permit fees on those tournament dates.

Mrs. Sterchi was aware that the East Fork Bassmasters typically held a large, annual tournament the third weekend in May. Mr. Koester said that the May 18th date was on a Sunday. The Bassmasters typically held their tournament on a Saturday. Mrs. Sterchi had concerns that IDNR may not be in favor of back-to-back large boat tournaments.

Councilman McLaughlin moved to authorize early booking of April 12, 13, and May 18, 2025, per support from IDNR, of up to 60 boat tournaments, and waiver of daily boat permit fees during the dates of these tournaments, seconded by Councilman Eyer. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

9-E “Discussion/Possible Action: Dog Park Grant Application” Belinda Henton was present to speak with the Council. Mrs. Henton was representing a committee that was raising funds for the Olney Dog Park.

Mrs. Henton had found a grant opportunity that her committee wished to apply. Only 5 grants would be awarded, and each grant would be $20,000.00. In order to apply, the applicant would need to be affiliated with a non-profit organization or a municipality. Mrs. Henton was asking permission for the grant application to be submitted through the City of Olney and to have a City employee be the contact person for the application. Mrs. Henton’s committee had already completed most of the legwork for the application.

If awarded, notification would be received in October and funds would need to be spent within 24 months.

Councilman McLaughlin moved to authorize the City to apply for a Dog Park grant application, seconded by Councilwoman Eichhorst. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

9-F “Resolution: Amend the 2024-2025 Tourism, Park, & Fire Department Budgets” The Council was provided with a proposed resolution that would amend the Tourism, Park, and Fire Department budgets.

Mrs. Guinn told the Council that these were simple budget amendments. The Tourism amendment would be in order to reflect the recently-approved $20,000.00 donation to the Richland Heritage Museum Foundation. The Park amendment would be the City’s $25,000.00 contribution towards the Dog Park. The Fire amendment would be for the purchase of some pieces of equipment that were inexpensive enough to not be considered capital expenditures, therefore those funds would need to be moved to a regular line item for maintenance of equipment.

Councilwoman Fehrenbacher moved to approve 2024-R-71, seconded by Councilwoman Eichhorst. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

9-G “Resolution: Authorize Execution of Travel Tournament Agreements for Use of the Musgrove Baseball/Softball Facility” The Council was provided with a proposed resolution that would authorize the execution of travel tournament agreements for use of the Musgrove Baseball/Softball Facility. The Council was also provided with a draft of the updated agreement.

Back in February, the Council had passed a travel tournament agreement. Since that time, information had been received that perhaps local tournament directors needed more from the City. A meeting took place with a couple of tournament directors, and changes had been suggested for the agreement.

Mr. Barker explained that the City would be taking over ground work related to the tournaments, and a small change was made to the insurance requirement. The agreement passed back in February would remain in effect for the rest of 2024. The updated agreement would be active for 2025 only, and would be re-evaluated at the end of that year.

Councilwoman Eichhorst moved to approve 2024-R-72, seconded by Councilwoman Fehrenbacher. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

9-H “Presentation/Possible Action: MFT Compliance Review Report Performed by IDOT for January 1, 2023, Through December 31, 2023” The Council was provided with an MFT Compliance Review Report that was performed by IDOT for January 1, 2023, through December 31, 2023.

Mrs. Guinn explained that the City had received correspondence that all books and records on receipt and disbursement of the City’s MFT for the 2023 year were true, correct, and in agreement with the records of IDOT. Each year, IDOT indicated that the finding should be presented to the Council for approval.

Councilman McLaughlin moved to approve the MFT Compliance Review Report for 2023, seconded by Councilwoman Fehrenbacher. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

9-I “Ordinance: Implement a Municipal Grocery Retailers’ Occupation Tax and a Municipal Grocery Service Occupation Tax for the City of Olney” This item was tabled.

9-J “Resolution: Accept Bid for the Main Street Storm Sewer Project” The Council was provided with a proposed resolution that would accept a bid for the Main Street Storm Sewer Project. The Council was also provided with a bid tabulation.

On August 15th, bids were opened for this project with 3 responsive bidders. There was a large discrepancy between the first bid and the other 2 bids. Groundworks Contracting had bid $1,923,212.00, Shores Builders bid $3,151,908.19, and Kieffer Brothers bid $3,417,964.02.

Mr. Bridges told the Council that as he suspected, Groundworks realized that they had made errors in their bid and could not move forward with the project. The situation was explained to the State and they would allow the City to accept the next lowest bid from Shores Builders, and that is what Mr. Bridges recommended to do.

Councilman McLaughlin asked when the project could start. Mr. Bridges felt that work could get started in about a month.

Councilman Eyer moved to approve 2024-R-73, seconded by Councilman McLaughlin. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

AGENDA #10 “REPORTS FROM ELECTED AND APPOINTED OFFICIALS”

10-A “Status Report-City Manager” Mr. Barker reported that the Whittle Avenue Railroad Project had been mostly completed. The only remaining portion of the project was the striping.

Mr. Barker then stated that the sanitary sewer relining on Main Street would take place soon and should only take about four days. The contractor would do the work overnight.

10-B “RCDC Report” The RCDC Executive Director had no report, but Taegan Garner with the Greater Wabash Regional Planning Commission was present to speak with the Council. Ms. Garner told the Council that there was a “site-readiness grant” available through DCEO. She felt that the 80-acre site by the Walmart DC would be appropriate. The grant would be in an amount between $25,000.00 and $150,000.00 and would be an 80%/20% match.

Mayor Lambird commented that the East Industrial Park and Whittle Avenue Industrial Park would run into permitting issues. Additionally, the site that Ms. Garner had mentioned (the Benton site), would incur great costs to run sewer due to the amount of bedrock.

10-C “Chamber of Commerce Report” Councilwoman Eichhorst said that the Bicycle Classic would take place on August 31st in the City Park. The new SIHF facility would also have a ribbon cutting on August 29th, and Brookstone Estates would be having a mini health fair on September 10th.

10-D “Tourism Board Report” Councilwoman Eichhorst stated that the Friends of Olney were planning for their annual Scarecrow Contest. There would be 3 prizes with an additional $75.00 participant drawing. The Councilwoman also noted that Olney was mentioned several times in the new edition of Tourism Times.

AGENDA #11 “CLOSED SESSION: SALE OR LEASE PRICE OF REAL PROPERTY; ACQUISITION OF REAL PROPERTY; AND APPOINTMENT, EMPLOYMENT, COMPENSATION, AND PERFORMANCE OF SPECIFIC EMPLOYEES” Councilwoman Fehrenbacher moved to adjourn to closed session to discuss the sale or lease price of real property; acquisition of real property; and appointment, employment, compensation, and performance of specific employees, seconded by Councilman McLaughlin. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

The meeting adjourned to closed session at 6:28 p.m.

AGENDA #12 “RECONVENE OPEN SESSION” Councilwoman Eichhorst moved to enter back into open session, seconded by Councilwoman Fehrenbacher. A majority affirmative voice vote was received. Open session resumed at 7:17 p.m.

12-A “Approve Minutes of Closed Session on August 12, 2024” Councilman McLaughlin moved to approve the minutes of closed session from August 12, 2024, seconded by Councilwoman Fehrenbacher. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

AGENDA #13 “ADJOURN” With no further business to discuss, Councilman Eyer moved to adjourn, seconded by Councilwoman Eichhorst. A majority affirmative voice vote was received.

The meeting adjourned at 7:18 p.m.

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