City of Sterling City Council Met April 19.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
Mayor Charles L. “Skip” Lee called a virtual meeting of the Sterling City Council to order at 6:30 pm. Roll call. Present: Aldermen Retha Elston, Josh Johnson, Joe Martin, John Stauter, Christine Wilen, and Jim Wise. Absent: None.
Also attending were City Attorney Tim Zollinger, City Manager Scott Shumard, Finance Director Cindy Von Holten, Superintendent of Building and Zoning Amanda Schmidt, Superintendent of Public Works Brad Schrader, Police Chief Alex Chavira, Deputy Fire Chief Michael Dettman and City Clerk Teri Sathoff.
Mayor Lee, City Manager Shumard, Police Chief Chavira, Alderman Johnson, and City Clerk Sathoff were present in the council chambers, everyone else attended via Zoom. The meeting was recorded and will be kept on the city hard drive. All members in attendance could hear the other members in attendance.
Alderman Elston made a motion to approve the following items on the Consent Agenda:
A. Approval of Minutes
B. Approval of Bills and Payroll
C. Arbor Day Proclamation
D. Ordinance No. 2021-04-07 amending the budget for Fiscal Year beginning May 1, 2020
Motion seconded by Alderman Martin. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Stauter, Martin, Wilen, Johnson and Wise. Nayes – None.
Mayor Lee recognized Alderman H. John Stauter for his service to the City of Sterling. Mayor Lee stated that Alderman Stauter brought the ability analyze the city finances. Mayor Lee thanked Alderman Stauter for always having the best interests of the city at heart and serving the City of Sterling and the residents.
Mayor Lee reported that the City of Sterling has been honored as a Tree City USA. Mayor Lee and Superintendent of Public Works Brad Schrader thanked Deb Dillow for the work she did so the City of Sterling could receive this recognition.
Alderman Wise made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2021-04-10 Adopting Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Budget.; seconded by Alderman Wilen. Alderman Wise asked why there was an increase of 20% in the general insurance. Finance Director Cindy Von Holten advised Wise that the renewal has gone down in the last four years. The insurance company looks at the last four years for renewal, the last year was a large loss year. Alderman Wise also questioned the amount of $26,000 budgeted for body cameras in the police department, Wise questioned if this was due to the new legislation and how many cameras this would supply the department with. Chief Chavira advised that a municipality the size of Sterling is not required to have body cameras until July of 2025. Chief Chavira has budgeted for them now due to the current climate around police officers. This amount will outfit all of the patrol officers and have a couple of extra ones. The amount also includes a Cloud based storage for the data. Alderman Wise went on the thank City Manager Shumard, Finance Director Cindy Von Holten, the department heads and City staff for the work that was put into the budget. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried.
Alderman Elston made a motion to approve the 2021-22 Pay Plan to include a 2.5% general increase for all non-unionized personnel and City Manager; seconded by Alderman Stauter. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried
Alderman Wise made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2021-04-08 Amending the Sterling City Code Section 74-14 to establish the cost of refuse collection; seconded by Alderman Johnson. Alderman Stauter stated he has received several complaints in regards to Republic Services, they are missing entire streets, picking up every other house, picking up one side of the street. City Manager Shumard stated that Republic Services continues to blame new drivers as the issue. Mayor Lee stated that the City will reach out to Republic Services in regards to the issues stated. Alderman Martin stated that the alley pick-ups on the west end seem to be running smooth. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried
Alderman Johnson made a motion to approve Write-off uncollectible accounts for public billings for fiscal year 2020-21; seconded by Alderman Elston. Alderman Wise questioned if there was a way to charge a deposit to ensure that these bills will get paid, Wise stated that the amounts will increase in the next five years and he would like to end this. Attorney Zollinger stated he would sit down with the Alderman to see if there is another option, he also stated that Finance Director Cindy Von Holten does an amazing job collecting payments. Alderman Martin asked what the percentage is of write offs compared to the amount billed. Finance Director Cindy Von Holten, stated that the percentage is less than 1%. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried
Alderman Elston made a motion to approve Resolution No. 2021-04-12 to Refer Consideration to Annex Certain Territory Contiguous to the City of Sterling (Steelton Subdivision - Group 16) to the Plan; seconded by Alderman Martin. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried
Alderman Elston made a motion to accept the bid for tear-off and re-roofing a residential structure at 405 16th Avenue; seconded by Alderman Wise. Superintendent of Building and Zoning Amanda Schmidt stated she is unsure why we only received one bid, it was put in the newspaper. The bid that was received is within the guidelines. Schmidt stated that there is interest in rehabbing the property, it was decided to use grant funds to reroof the structure to make it more affordable for someone to rehab the property. The requirements were the garage was to be removed and the attic apartment had to be removed. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried
Alderman Wise made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2021-04-11 Terminating the Designation of the West Central Business District Redevelopment Project Area and Providing for the Dissolution of the Special Tax Allocation Fund; seconded by Alderman Stauter. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried
Alderman Elston made a motion to approve Ordinance No. 2021-04-12 Authorizing the purchase of Real Property PIN 11-22-402-006; seconded by Alderman Johnson. Voting: Ayes – Aldermen Elston, Johnson, Martin, Stauter, Wilen and Wise. Nayes – None. Motion carried
Deputy Chief Dettman stated that he and City Mechanic, Ben Babin traveled to Albany New York to inspect a 2007 KME 102’ platform aerial fire truck that is that is for sale for $319,000. The current ladder truck has had several issues. The truck and parts are no longer in production. Parts have to be fabricated, this is very costly and causes the truck to be out of service for several months. The New York truck is coming from a wealthy community that is on a 10 year replacement plan. The department that is selling the truck is offering $21,000 worth of equipment with the truck at no cost. This truck would serve the City for a long time to come.
Deputy Chief Dettman stated that while he and the City Mechanic were out there they offered them a bundled deal that would include two 2011 KME pumpers as well as the aerial for $619,000. This will be place on a future agenda for Council approval.
Police Chief Chavira advised the City Council that they will have two recruits graduate from the Police Training Institute on April 29, 2021. They will be reporting for duty on May 3, 2021.
City Manager Shumard stated that there are two openings at the waste water treatment plant for a wastewater operator trainee. There is also a one opening in the IT department at the Police Department, Dennis Fellows will be retiring on May 28, 2021. Dennis Fellows will certainly be missed.
City Manager Shumard presented information on the housing issues in the community. He stated that employers are having an issue recruiting employees due to the housing selection. Baker Tilly did a study on the housing, this is information on the rental portion, the owner occupied portion of the study is not completed yet. Heather Sotelo with the GSDC is putting together a survey for the local realtors. Sotelo is also working with a developer and a financial institution to develop spec houses inside the Community.
The current demand for the rental property is from within the community. One of the issues moving forward is what the population trend will be. The City of Sterling does have more rentals than the state average. The housing costs are low, the goal is to have 33% of the income go towards housing, and Sterling is below that average at 28.2%. There is a 2.7% of vacancy in Sterling. There are currently no vacancies for seniors.
Alderman Martin thanked Alderman Stauter for his service to the City of Sterling and the residents. Martin stated that Alderman Stauter is one of the best he has served with on the Council.
Alderman Elston thanked Alderman Stauter, she learned a lot from him and she was grateful for the knowledge he passed on to her.
Alderman Wilen thanked Alderman Stauter for the all the help he has extended to her, she has learned a lot from him, she wished him well.
Alderman Wise thanked Alderman Stauter for all that he has learned from him and wished him well in the future.
Alderman Johnson wished Alderman Stauter luck on all his future ventures.
Alderman Stauter thanked the council, he enjoyed his 7 years on the Planning Commission and the 8 years on the City Council. He praised Deputy Chief Dettman for the work he has done stepping up to fill the Chief’s vacancy. Stauter thanked Superintendent of Public Works Brad Schrader for the work he has done. Stauter went on to thank the Council and the City Staff. Stauter offered his assistance if it is ever needed.
The meeting adjourned at 7:56 pm.
https://www.sterling-il.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_04192021-173
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