City of Byron City Council met Sept. 4.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
1. CALL TO ORDER – Mayor Rickard called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m.
2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE – Led by Mayor Rickard
3. ROLL CALL – Aldermen present: Todd Isaacs, Emily Gerdes, Mittzi Fulrath, Dan Reilly (via telephone), Zeke Hobbie, Amber Dach, Michael Gyorkos, Christy Hanlin. Eight members present by roll call vote. Quorum established.
* - denotes start of the roll call vote
PRESENT: Mayor John Rickard
City Clerk Caryn Huber
Treasurer Carol Walters
City Attorney Kim Krahenbuhl
Dir. Of Public WorksAaron Vincer
Chief of Police Todd Murray
Dir. of Econ. Dev. Larry Hewitt
City Engineer Jason Stoll
Citizens Bill Pirnat
4. REVERENCE PERIOD – Mayor Rickard led the Council in prayer.
4. REVERENCE PERIOD – Mayor Rickard led the Council in prayer.
5. APPROVAL/AMENDMENTS TO AGENDA – Motion by Alderman Fulrath to approve, as presented, the September 4, 2019, agenda, seconded by Alderman Hanlin. Roll call vote: Gerdes, AYE; Fulrath, AYE; Reilly, AYE; Hobbie, AYE; Dach, AYE; Gyorkos, AYE; Hanlin, AYE; Isaacs, AYE. Motion passed: AYE, 8; NAY, 0; ABS 0.
6. MINUTES –
a. August 21, 2019, Regular Council Meeting Minutes – Motion made by Alderman Hanlin to approve, as presented, the August 21, 2019, Regular Council minutes, seconded by Alderman Fulrath. Roll call vote: Fulrath, AYE; Reilly, AYE; Hobbie, AYE; Dach, AYE; Gyorkos, AYE; Hanlin, AYE; Isaacs, AYE; Gerdes, AYE.
Motion passed: AYE 8; NAY 0; ABS 0.
7. PUBLIC COMMENT – None
8. TREASURER’S REPORT – No report.
9. LIST OF BILLS - The tentative bills for the City of Byron were presented to the Council for discussion. Alderman Gerdes asked about the bill from Galen Bennett for squad car striping. Motion made by Alderman Hanlin to approve the payment of bills dated August 21, 2019, in the amount of $44,409.27. Motion seconded by Alderman Gyorkos. Roll call vote: Reilly, AYE; Hobbie, AYE; Dach, AYE; Gyorkos, AYE; Hanlin, AYE, Isaacs, AYE; Gerdes, AYE; Fulrath, AYE. Motion passed: AYE, 8; NAY, 0; ABSTAIN, 0.
10. MAYOR’S REPORT –
a. Credit card limit increase – Mayor Rickard has requested an increase in his credit card limit for the weekend of Sept. 19-21 in order to be able to accommodate hotel check-ins, parking and meals for the attendees of the IML conference. His current limit is $5,000, and it will be increased to $12,000. No objection by council.
b. Zoning Board Appointment – The mayor plans to appoint Jen Bouton to fill a vacancy on the Zoning Board of Appeals. No objection by council.
c. Byron Chamber ChiliFest proposal – The mayor directed the council’s attention to the ChiliFest proposal in Dropbox. The packet included a map, street closings, and schedule. It will be held in Municipal Parking lot 1 on Saturday, September 21. Motion by Alderman Hanlin to approve the 2019 ChiliFest proposal. Seconded by Alderman Gerdes. Roll call vote: Hobbie, AYE; Dach, AYE; Gyorkos, AYE; Hanlin, AYE, Isaacs, AYE; Gerdes, AYE; Fulrath, AYE; Reilly, AYE. Motion passed: AYE, 8; NAY, 0; ABSTAIN, 0. Wheezy’s has informally requested extended hours for ChiliFest.
d. OMA Training – The required Open Meetings Act training is available online, and Caryn has forwarded the link to everyone. Once completed, certificates can be turned in to Chief Murray.
11. CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT – No report.
12. CITY ENGINEER’S PROJECT STATUS – N-Trak will start the storm sewer portion of the Walnut St. project next week. There will be a detour around the area, and information is posted on our website. The School District, Police Department, Fire Department and Moring Disposal have been notified of the detour. The project should be completed by the end of October. Driveways will be open to homeowners. • Paperwork has been completed and a final pay estimate has been delivered to William Charles for work on the 2018 street project. There are a number of change order requests by William Charles, and they have been reviewed by Engineers Jason and Gene Stoll. Their recommendations and final payment will be presented to the Administrative Committee at the next committee meeting, and then Council in October. • Alderman Reilly received an email from Loomis regarding their flooding issues. Mayor Rickard and Director Hewitt will be talking to them about short term and long term options.
13. REPORT OF DIRECTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT – Outdoor work at Hairy Cow should be done today or tomorrow. • There have been requests for slot machines from gas stations and grocery stores. • The Park District is getting an appraisal on the Baker house on 4th Street.
Alderman Isaacs asked if there were any flooding issues after the rain yesterday. Director Vincer feels that the flooding wasn’t bad relative to the rain event yesterday, where 4-1/2” of rain fell in just a little over an hour. There were a few residents with property damage, but
it was not a result of a planning or engineering failure. As we look at making changes to the infrastructure in the future, we may consider increasing the size of our storm sewer pipes, however, options will be limited by budget. The Park District will be developing land by the river, and they will need to work within the city parameters for storm sewer options.
14. COMMITTEE REPORTS
a. Community Services – The committee discussed a possible crosswalk across Mill Road. Aaron will look into pricing for marking a crosswalk lane and adding signage. • The committee looked at options for signage for the municipal parking lots. The additional parking that was just put in by China King seems to be overlooked by patrons, possibly because they don’t realize it is a public lot. • Public works has not been able to secure anyone willing to do show removal in front of the storefronts on 2nd Street. The next option is to write and implement an ordinance regarding snow removal in the downtown district. The mayor has drafted a letter to downtown business owners, but it will not be sent out until the committee decides what direction to go.
b. Public Safety – Alderman Reilly thanked Chief Murray for putting together the information for the Public Safety Special meeting that was held on 8/29, and he thanked all who attended. Discussion was held regarding increasing the size of the Police Department. Over an eight year average, the Police Department returned $20, 608.75 in salary surplus plus $58,500.00 in budget surplus to the general fund. We are looking at approximately $52,000 in overtime this year. Those figures, combined with additional revenue from towing fees and court related fees, will help with the hiring of new personnel. Ideally, the department would have one chief, two sergeants, four patrol officers and a school resource officer. The committee is recommending the hiring of one officer immediately and a second officer pending the decision to implement utility taxes.
c. Administrative – Alderman Hanlin had several items on the agenda that appear later on the agenda and others that will carry over, such as personnel policies and cannibus ordinances. The committee has made the recommendation to move forward with the implementation of utility taxes.
15. CONTINUING BUSINESS –
a. Rush Property – Chief Murray is waiting to be contacted by the guardian of one of the heirs to the property.
b. Reruns TIF Grant Application – Alderman Hanlin reported that the Administrative Committee is recommending a total TIF payment to Reruns in the amount of $30,000 - $10,000 for three years, starting with this fiscal year. If there is surplus money from the TIF fund at the end of the year, that money will be paid toward the $30,000 total. The grant will be used to fix the façade of the building. Attorney Krahenbuhl will draft a promissory note. Roll call vote: Dach, AYE; Gyorkos, AYE; Hanlin, AYE, Isaacs, AYE; Gerdes, AYE; Fulrath, AYE; Reilly, AYE; Hobbie, AYE. Motion passed: AYE, 8; NAY, 0; ABSTAIN, 0.
c. Revisions to personnel policies – The committee is still working out details of the revisions and will carry this over to next meeting.
d. Cannabis Ordinances – In committee. Hoping to gain more knowledge at the IML conference.
1. Retailers’ Occupation Tax Ordinance 2. Business Zoning Ordinance
e. Utility Taxes – The committee is recommending the implementation of utility taxes. Council will vote once an ordinance is created.
16. NEW BUSINESS
a. Hiring New Police Officers – Alderman Reilly motioned to hire one new police officer. Motion came from Public Safety Committee. Chief Murray added that the candidates both need to attend school, and he is hoping training for one officer can begin at the end of September. Roll call vote: Gyorkos, AYE; Hanlin, AYE, Isaacs, AYE; Gerdes, AYE; Fulrath, AYE; Reilly, AYE; Hobbie, AYE; Dach, AYE. Motion passed: AYE, 8; NAY, 0; ABSTAIN, 0.
17. COUNCIL TALK – Mayor Rickard would like to have personnel expected costs by the beginning of next month. He hopes to have the next fiscal year budget approved by May 1, which means it needs to be voted on by the second meeting in April. A 1st reading and public hearing should be held in March. Preparations for the budget should begin now, with an extended budget meeting in late December or early January. Next year we will try to push up the dates even further so that good budget numbers are in place at the time we need to set the levy in December. It is important that the levy reflect actual budget numbers. • Chief Murray said that there is a good chance picketers will be at the Top Tracer golf building at PrairieView. The Police Department is aware of this, and the picketers are aware of the rules. • Director Hewitt said that the owner of the diesel repair shop on 7th Street has now bought the building and will be graveling and eventually paving a large area for the vehicles.
18. EXECUTIVE SESSION
a. Section 2(c)11 – Pending, probable or imminent litigation
b. Section 2(c)1 – Personnel
c. Section 2(c)(5)(6) – Purchase/Sale of City Owned Real Property
d. Section 2(c)(21) – Review/Approval of Closed Meeting Minutes
e. Section 2(c)(2) – Collective Bargaining Negotiations
Mayor Rickard advised there was no need for an Executive Session.
b. COMMUNICATION
a. Next Regular City Council Meeting – Wednesday, September 18, 2019 @ 6:30 pm.
Mayor Rickard adjourned the City Council meeting at 7:05 pm.
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