NW Illinois News

City of Fulton City Council met June 26.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Meeting called to order by Mayor Wendy at 5:30 p.m. On roll call, Alderpersons King, Banker, Mask, VanKampen, Wilkin, Boonstra and Brondyke were present. Also in attendance were Police Chief, Neblung, Public Works Director, Sikkema and City Clerk, Wade. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Appointments – Mayor Wendy appointed Alderperson Jeff Brondyke as Mayor Pro-Tem. Jeff was re-elected, therefore, he needed to be re-appointed. He agreed to the appointment.

Mayor Wendy asked for Council approval.

It was unanimously agreed upon.

Next appointment was Amanda (Mindy) Burggraaf, as second Ward Alderperson. Mayor Wendy swore her into office and she was seated at the Council desk.

Recognition of Volunteers – None.

Communication from Visitors (Any communication that is NOT on the agenda for consideration) – Mayor Wendy acknowledged Moby Zuberi, present as a visitor. She asked that he speak when the Council gets to item 2 on the Committee of the Whole Discussion as that pertains to him.

Presentations – Mayor Wendy said she will make sure Mr. Snyder gets the $500.00 check for building the Santa House.

Consent Agenda - (All items in the consent agenda will be enacted by a single motion and roll call vote. Any item may be removed upon request by the Mayor or any Alderperson and considered individually after all other items of business on the consent agenda.)

Motion to approve: Alderperson King 1st, Alderperson Brondyke, second.

On Roll Call: Alderpersons King, Banker, Mask, VanKampen, Boonstra, Wilkin, Brondyke, all said yes. Alderperson Burggraaf abstained.

Motion Approved.

Business -

Mayor Wendy asked for a Motion to approve emergency repair of a collapsed sewer main and a Motion to approve waiving the bids.

Motion to approve Alderperson King 1st, Second Alderperson Wilkin.

Motion Passed

Alderperson Brondyke asked Public Works Director, Sikkema, to get some background information on this. He said that early in the Spring they noticed a sink hole was developing. BWC was called to run a camera down the sewer pipe and found that it was completely collapsed in that area.

On Roll Call: Alderpersons Banker, Brondyke, Burggraaf, Wilkin, VanKampen, Mask, Boonstra, King, all Yes.

Motion Approved.

Mayor Wendy explained that letter B should not be a Motion to Approve, it is only an explanation for an action below.

Mayor Wendy moves on to letter C for an action item. Item B is a breakdown of where the Council has committed spending the ARPA funds so far.

Motion to Approve is from Alderperson VanKampen. She is asking to approve allocating ARPA funds to replace the non-operational radios for the Police Department. She also asks that the remaining ARPA funds to be used to build a new bathroom at Drives Park. Specific amounts to be determined.

Motion to Approve: Alderperson King, first, Alderperson Mask, second.

Alderperson Mask asked to wait on this until we have numbers, what the costs of these will be. Public Works Director Sikkema did not have an amount for the new bathroom. He needs to speak to Peterson Plumbing to get some numbers. He said the best place to build the new bathroom would be in the vicinity of where the new bandshell is going to be. It would also give easy access to the bike path. The Council was shown the area of the new bathroom on a map of the City on the screen. Everyone was in agreement.

Mayor Wendy asked Chief Neblung if he would like to speak about the police radios. He said he was given a final quote. Chief said that has been working diligently with a technician from Rock River Radio out of Rockford to come up with a solution with Motorola Starcom which is the facilitator for Illinois. There are a couple of options with them. One, the City would need to allocate $500,000.00 for an antennae on top of the water tower. They would allocate $500,000.00 for a matching fund as well for a total of 1 million dollars for water tower antennae upgrade. Chief does not think this is the best way to handle this. He had hoped Motorola would give the City some financial assistance, they have made it very clear that they will not. If the radios the City has now do not work with their system, it’s up to the City of purchase new radios. The cost being $88,607.34. Police Chief Neblung stated that there are other agencies that are closer to towers that could benefit from the use of these phones in their area. If they could be sold to another agency, we could possibly sell them for $37,800.00 to $49,500.00. Somewhere in that ballpark. Another issue is that with Covid, the supply chain was disrupted, causing a lot of issues. If we purchased these radios, we would have them within a month. However, we would not receive the batteries for four to eight months. If it is decided to go with this plan, we would have to come up with a plan to continue to use our present radios. Multiple surrounding area towns have the same problems with their radios that are the same brand as ours. The towers needed for them to work properly are not condusive to our town being in a river valley. Some towers were damaged in the deracheo. Alderperson Wilkin asked why the proposed Apex radios would be better. Chief Neblung explained that these radios have a cell phone back up. If these radios are in an area where they are not receiving a good signal, they will automatically revert to a cell phone and can be used as such. The radios we have now are about 2 years old. They were meant to be a 10-year solution before the deracheo. It is no longer a 10-year solution. Alderperson King stated he was at the police department and witnessed the fact that these radios do not work properly. He said we are putting our officers at risk by keeping these radios. He recommended purchasing the new radios with the ARPA funds and when we sell the old radios use that money for the new restroom facility at Drives Park. Mayor Wendy said that this is an exact usage of ARPA funds which is something we've been having a hard time trying to find. Communications does comply with ARPA guidelines. Chief Neblung said he believes the Apex radios are a solid 10-year solution. Alderperson VanKampen stated the need for working radios is vital. The ARPA funds are available. She thinks it is a good use of the ARPA funds.

Alderperson Banker made a motion to purchase these radios. Alderperson Mask agreed and seconded the Motion.

On roll call: Alderpersons, Burggraaf, Boonstra, Wilkin, VanKampen, Banker, Mask, King, Brondyke. All yes, approved.

Alderperson Wilkin would like to keep the discussion open regarding the balance of the ARPA funds after purchasing the radios. Alderperson King stated that the balance should be used towards the restroom facility at Drives Park, along with the revenue from selling the old radios.

Moving on to the Committee of the Whole for discussion only.

Public Works Director, Sikkema addressed the Council with a grant for Parks that was brought to his attention by Chief Neblung. It is called the OSLAD grant. It stands for the Open Space & Land Acquisition Development. It is essentially for is for developing a new park or upgrading an existing park. The City is eligible for up to $600,000.00. The Parks Committee is looking at School Park, Drives Park and Cattail Park for upgrades. The Parks Committee has plans in place for these upgrades, but with this grant, they could possibly do all the needed upgrades at one time. Sikkema stated at this point they are looking to get the engineering side of this done witch could potentially cost $30,000.00. The timeline for this grant is from July to September. We have time, but we need to move forward now. Sikkema would like to after this grant and asked the Council to give a head nod to go ahead with pursuing this grant. This grant comes from the Department of Natural Resources. The money is in the Parks fund to pursue this.

Next item: giving back the A1 liquor license to the new owner of Fulton Oil, Moby Zuberi. Mayor Wendy asked Moby to stand and explain to the Council what he intends to do with the building, his plans and ideas. Mulby introduced himself and his family and said they are from Elgin, Illinois. He had been looking for a business like this to buy. He spoke in depth of his plans for the new Fulton Oil Mart business. It will look new, inviting and he will add an array of food and drinks for everyone, as well as adult beverages. He said his goal is to get the A1 license and to be able to run a competitively priced business that people can afford. Alderperson Wilkin asked Moby if he would open up the gas pumps again. He said no, that is not a possibility. Alderperson VanKampen spoke asking Moby that he had purchased this property last August, he said yes, the papers were signed in October. VanKampen then asked him if comes around to check on the property very often. He said he does. VanKampen replied that he has done nothing to improve the property for all of this time. Moby said it was in the process of being sold, but that fell through. He is now responsible for a lot of bills that were not incurred by him, but he will pay them. For example, the City of Fulton water bill and property taxes. Alderperson Mask asked him if he intends to move to Fulton. He replied, yes.

Mayor Wendy thanked Molby for coming and if any Council members have any questions, they can contact her for his contact information. This was for discussion only, no action will be taken tonight.

The Personnel Committee met and has recommended to approve a time sheet for all Alderperson's meeting reimbursements beginning July 1, 2023, a submission of the time sheet will have to be received before being paid. This will be on a monthly basis. An example time sheet was included in the packet and well as a new time sheet for their use next month. It was brought to the Council by Chief Neblung on the administrative side to ease the person doing payroll. It is has been created to help keep track of the hours that the Council really does put it. It creates transparency for the City and is helpful for the auditors.

Alderperson Mask stated that the Finance Committee had also had that discussion and hopefully we can tie those two together.

Chief Neblung brought up for discussion a possible Clinton to Fulton bus route provided by the Clinton MTA. He stated that their have been residents that have left Fulton because of no reliable transportation to Clinton to get groceries, medical appointments, medications, etc. Chief reached out to Clinton MTA to see if there was a possibility of any kind of limited bus service for Fulton residents. They are looking a 3 to 4 month period (August through November) of running a bus route to Fulton on a trial basis. They are looking a every day, Monday thru Friday from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. for a total of 7.5 hours a day. They are asking that the City provide 25% of the cost of approximately $12,000.00. He directed the Council to the map of the route included in the proposal. Students do ride for free. There will be a fee, but it is nominal and there are discounts for seniors. It is a great opportunity for the Gateway area as a whole. Mayor Wendy stated it would be up to the City to promote this heavily to make it something good for Fulton and Clinton. Chief Neblung said he will be getting more information to the Council.

The Council then discussed the hours for the Windmill on the website are correct, yet we have had visitors that were very disappointed that they visited the Windmill and the Cultural Center during advertised open hours and both facilities were closed. Alderperson Wilkin asked who is in charge of being there when it is advertised as being open. Alderperson Mask said that maybe the hours have changed and visitors don't know about. The hours posted on the City's website are correct as sent to Tori Wade from Judy Holesinger in an email on May 3, 2023. Maybe there should be a contact number on the windmill door for visitors to contact. Leslie Webster should be aware of the situation. The millers just do not have the staff to cover all these hours. Alderperson Mask will take this to the Tourism Committee to bring it to their attention and look for recommendations.

Committee reports

Finance Committee - Mayor Wendy stated that the Finance Committee is not in charge of Personnel, which would be to propose a policy. Mayor Wendy is in charge of the committees and the agendas. Recommendations from committees need to come to the Council for discussion to be held

City Administrator position -Alderperson Banker reported they are developing an ad for the position. The application is being revised for a City Administrator position only. Hoping to get the ad to get out at the end of this month.

Economic Development Committee - No report.

Parks & Rec - No report.

Public Safety - No report.

Marina - No report.

Zoning - No report.

Mayor's Report - She has been in contact with Dan Dolan. The TIF agreement is now in our court. The ad for City Administrator will be in various local newspapers, on Linked In and Indeed by the end of the month. Liquor License explanations have been handed out to each member of the Council to familiarize themselves with the City's policies. The State of IL is not in charge of the number of liquor licenses we have. It is determined by the City Council.

Alderperson Mask asked to have the agendas and Council meeting packets earlier in the week in order to not have to go over the lengthy packets over the weekend. (or possibly moving the Council meeting day to later in the week) Getting them on Friday afternoon does not give the Council enough time to go over them and ask questions if needed.

Alderperson Brondyke stated that CA Clark had been in contact with Republic Services in regard to the issues that the City has had with the transition from Moring Disposal to Republic Services. Republic has agreed to refund the City's customers $2068.62 for one missed recycle pick up for 1499 residences at $1.38 on each.

Mayor Wendy agreed that the refund was the right thing to do for the citizen's of Fulton.

Chief of Police Report – Chief Neblung requested the funds for hotel and conference cost to attend the Midwest Security and Police Conference and Expo, Tinley Park, IL on Aug. 9-11, 2023. Getting started with ILEAP Accreditation is one of the steps needed to become an accredited Illinois agency.

Mayor Wendy asked the Council members to say yes or no to fund this training conference for Chief Neblung. All were in favor. It is approved.

Public Works Report as presented.

Tourism Report – Alderperson Mask stated that this is a busy time of the year for tourism. A bicycle club came through Fulton recently with 167 bikes. It went well. The committee will be meeting soon.

Historical Society Report – Alderperson Mask said it is busy with people doing genealogy. Mayor Wendy asked about the hours for the Martin House Museum. They are on the City’s website, posted at the Museum and at the Library.

Mayor Wendy asked for a Motion to go into Closed Session. Alderperson Brondyke 1st, Alderperson King, second.

On Roll Call: All Yes.

Meeting adjourned at 6:47 p.m.

https://www.cityoffulton.us/government/city-council/city-council-meeting-minutes/city-council-meeting-minutes-june-26-2023.html