City Council

4 TOWN OF CICERO TOWN COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, April 18, 2017 At 7:00 PM Call to Order: President Chad Amos called the meeting to order. Mr. Amos led the Pledge of Allegiance and Ms. Unger said the prayer. Mr. Amos called for the roll call. The members of the Town Council were present or absent as follows: Present: Chad Amos Absent: Brett Foster Chris Lutz Rusty Miller Craig Penwell Mr. Amos declared a quorum present. Others Present: Jan Unger, Clerk Treasurer Pat Comer, Street & Utilities Director Dave Hildebrand, Police Chief Lance Overholser, Fire Chief Dan Strong, Interim Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Commission Director Aaron Culp, Town Attorney Keith Bryant, Town Engineer Paul Utterback, Storm Water Management Board President Deen Rogers, Umbaugh, To Discuss The Water & Wastewater Financial Management Reports. Mr. Roger distributed copies of the Financial Management Reports to the Council. He then reviewed the first the water report. Mr. Roger stated that Cicero was well within the requirements for reserves. He compared the budget for 2016 to actual revenue and expenditures. There was a net increase in the balance for 2016. Mr. Rogers compared the 2017 budget to the 2016 actual results and there was a decrease in the 2017 budget. Mr. Rogers discussed the forecasted receipts and disbursements for 2017, 2018, and 2019 and it showed a fairly steady balance with a slight decrease. Mr. Rodgers discussed the fact that current water bond issue would be paid off in December of 2019 and that the reserve could be used to make that payment. Mr. Rogers then reviewed the wastewater report. This reports showed similar patterns. There is still an outstanding bond that runs until 2034. Ms. Unger inquired about the rate study and Mr. Rogers stated that both funds are holding their own. Mr. Comer stated that there are no projects currently scheduled for water but there are things that will come up and improvements that will have to be made. Mr. Comer stated that with wastewater there will be an agreed order and the cost of that could be considerable but at this point we do not know what that cost will be. Mr. Bryant agreed with the cost for the agreed order with IDEM. Mr. Roger stated that Umbaugh has often used Cicero as an example with the small rate increases. This has kept the utility cost up with inflation and there has not been a need to have large increases in the rates. He has had some towns that have had to increase by 15% or even double their current 1  rates. Cicero has increased their rates 1.5 to 2 percent a year over that last 14 years. Mr. Roger inquired if there were any questions. Mr. Lutz inquired what the bonding ability of the water department would be after the current bond was paid off. Mr. Rogers said he would get back with him. The Council thanked Mr. Rogers for the information and said they would get back with him on what they wanted to do with the rates. Mr. Roger stated that once they decided they could prepare the rate sheets and give the information to Mr. Culp to write the ordinance. Approval of Agenda: Mr. Penwell made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Mr. Lutz seconded, motion passed. Approval of Prior Minutes: Town Council Meeting Minutes, April 4, 2017, 7:00 PM – Mr. Penwell made a motion to approve the Town Meeting Minutes for April 4, 2017 as presented. Mr. Miller seconded, motion passed. Approval of Claims: Mr. Lutz made a motion to approve the Claims as presented. Mr. Penwell seconded, motion passed. Petitions by Citizens: T.J. Tryon addressed the Council concerning the Cicero Triathlon. Mr. Tryon stated that he would like the Council to consider retracting the decision of the event committee to not allow the Cicero Triathlon. Mr. Tryon stated that Cicero was in violation of the Public Access law. Mr. Culp stated that the Town was not in violation of the public access law, that this committee was informal and dealt with items that related to their departments. There was a discussion in which Mr. Tryon stated that he wanted copies of all documents that related to the meeting in which this decision was made. Mr. Tryon stated that he has given $10,000 to the Chamber of Commerce, $2,000 to the Friends of the Park and also given money to Our Town Cicero. There was another discussion ending with what Mr. Tyron really wanted which was to meet with the event committee and request a retraction of their decision to not allow the Triathlon. Mr. Amos directed the committee to schedule a meeting with Mr. Tryon. Mr. Tryon then stated that he retracted his request for documents relating to the Committee’s decision. President’s Report: President Amos stated that he had nothing. Council Committee Reports 1. OTC - Mr. Miller had nothing for OTC – Mr. Miller reported the following: a. The Murder Mystery Dinner is April 27th. It is not sold out at this point. b. 3rd Thursdays are going well. The next one will be April 20th. c. There will be no board meeting this month. 2. EDC Committee - Mr. Lutz reported the following: a. There was no meeting this month. b. Regarding On Ramp Mr. Lutz inquired is the EDC was to be addressing this. The Council said they were. Mr. Culp stated that he has a proposed contract he just needs to know what the Council wants to do. Mr. Lutz stated that he would try to move this forward. Legal Counsel Report- Aaron Culp: 2  Mr. Culp stated that he had nothing. Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Commission Report-Mr. Strong: 1. MI Home - Mr. Strong stated that MI Homes would be meeting with Mr. Bryant and Mr. Comer on April 26th to discuss utilities. a. Mr. Strong had distributed a copy of the Planned Development (PD) for the Council to review. The Council asked for an electronic version of the PD. b. Mr. Strong stated that MI will be on the Council agenda either May 2nd or May 16th. c. Mr. Amos inquired about “No Parking on the Streets” in the PD. Mr. Strong stated that he is working with Mr. Culp on that. d. Mr. Amos asked to have no parking on the grass also in the Home Owners Association (HOA) requirements. e. Mr. Miller inquired if they would be asking for any utility upgrades from the Town. Mr. Strong stated that he didn’t know yet since they haven’t met with Mr. Bryant and Mr. Comer. Town Engineer Report-Mr. Keith Bryant: Mr. Bryant was not present but submitted the following written report: Town of Cicero April 4, 2017 Town Council Meeting Engineer’s Report 1. IDEM Notice of Violation / Agreed Order: The evaluation of the I & I sources and wastewater treatment plant has continued. Flow meters are being moved today to their 9th and 10th location. We continue to monitor reports and loadings at the treatment plant as well. All of this will help assemble the final Compliance Plan by August of 2017. As always, feel free to contact our office to discuss any project or other needs. Thank you, Keith Bryant Old Business: Ms. Henderson To Discuss Façade Improvement Grant: Ms. Henderson with Mendenhall & Associates gave an update on the Façade Improvement Grant. Hughes Insurance is the only business not participating. Ms. Henderson explained the flexibility of the grant. If needed, the Town of Cicero can cancel once we have the award and wait until next round which starts in July. Ms. Henderson would like approval to move forward without all of the funds prepaid. Ms. Gary confirmed that the funds are trickling in and that we currently have received approximately $25,000.00 from participants. The consensus of the Council was to move forward with the grant. Council to Consider Advertising for RFP’s for Municipal Building Study: Mr. Miller made a motion to table this for now. Mr. Foster seconded, motion passed. Council to Consider Baseball Park Contract: 3  Mr. Miller made a motion to table this for now, but it needs to be done by next meeting. Mr. Foster seconded, motion passed. American Legion-Veteran’s Memorial Wall: Mr. Jody Brown and Mr. Joe Robbins gave a short presentation concerning the financial situation of the Veteran’s Memorial Wall. They also presented some visuals to show what the final product will look like. Mr. Brown handed out an estimate from Dorsey Enterprises Concrete, LLC who is performing the services at Red Bridge Park (entrance). After all was said and done, they need $3,600.00 and some change to complete the project. Mr. Foster made a motion for the Town of Cicero to donate up to $3,600.00 to the American Legion for the Veteran’s Wall. Mr. Miller seconded, motion passed. New Business Council to Consider Resolution 04-04-2017-1 Transfer of Funds to the Façade Improvement Fund (125): Mr. Miller made a motion to transfer $5,000.00 from the Rainy Day Fund to the Façade Improvement Fund. Mr. Foster seconded, motion passed. Council to Consider Resolution 04-04-2017-2 Transfer of Funds, Parks Department: Mr. Foster made a motion to transfer funds within the Parks Department. Mr. Miller seconded, motion passed. Fire Department to Ask Permission to Sell Vehicle: Removed from Agenda. Voss Hiatt Partnership: Prior to the Town Council Meeting tonight, Mr. Comer emailed the following information to the council members concerning Voss Hiatt: Here is what we have come up with to fix Voss Hiatt road. Our part is $14,950. I have $150,000.00 in my MVH & LRS budgets this year. The paving bid to Midwest Paving, to be paid out of these two budgets is $102,000.00, leaving enough of a balance to cover Voss Hiatt with no problem. The other paving bid will be paid from the grant money and our match, which is both set aside for this. What the county & I came up with on Voss Hiatt, seems like a good fix to me at a lower cost. It should work fine for that road. I would like to add this to the agenda for next Tuesday so the council can approve it, if you agree. The county will then take care of getting the contractor, then we will pay the county for our part. Mr. Foster made a motion to approve the Voss Hiatt project. Mr. Miller seconded, motion passed. Miscellaneous There was nothing. Comments By Citizens There were none. Signatures on Official Documents! 4 Motion To Adjourn: Mr. Foster made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Miller seconded, motion passed. Signatures of Cicero Town Council __________________________ Chad B. Amos, President __________________________ Robert J. Miller, Vice-president __________________________ Christopher J. Lutz __________________________ Brett S. Foster _______________________ Craig S. Penwell Attested: __________________________ Jan Unger, Clerk Treasurer The next Cicero Town Council Meeting will be on April 18, 2017, at 7:00 PM at the Cicero Town Hall. 5