City Council

4 TOWN OF CICERO TOWN COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, December 14, 2017 At 6:00 PM Call To Order: President Chad Amos called the meeting to order. Present: Chad Amos Absent: Brett Foster Chris Lutz Rusty Miller Craig Penwell President Amos declared a quorum present. Others Present: Jan Unger, Clerk Treasurer Mr. Amos informed the Council that he and Mr. Penwell met with the Department Heads on December 5th for a year end review with how everything went this year. Mr. Amos stated that he would like to share this discussion with the Council. Mr. Amos reviewed the items that were improvements in the Council meetings: 1. More formalized meetings. 2. Ironing out some of the issues in the Staff Meetings. 3. Approving all the minutes under one motion. Items they would like to see changed: 1. Repeating topics. 2. Having time limits on petitions and comments. 3. Direct questions one at a time. 4. Speak up. 5. Is there a need to have petitions and citizens comment? (Petitions are to address a specific issue a citizen has, comments allow citizens to address items discussed by the Council during the meeting, as explained by Mr. Foster.) Mr. Amos then addressed Staff Meetings: 1. These meeting have become longer when extra people are involved. 2. If some Department Heads have longer issues to discuss that do not apply to everyone they like being allowed to leave early. 3. Have longer presentation at the end. 4. Have presentations in a special meeting or have the staff come in later. Mr. Amos inquired about legal counsel: 1. Department Heads would like to know ahead of time when Mr. Culp will be working in the police department. The Council stated that they asked Mr. Culp to send an e-mail out to everyone as to when he will be available at the PD. 2. Department Heads would like to have a response time for questions they have, perhaps within two days. Some items will depend on the urgency. What is the best way to get answers: e- mail, call, text? Mr. Amos said he usually sends a text and asks him to call or e-mail if it could be answered that way. 3. Department Heads do like having Mr. Culp in Town. 1  4. Department Heads inquired if perhaps Mr. Culp could become more familiar with department processes, such as, Fire Standard Operating Guidelines. Mr. Amos then addressed issues the Department Heads had with some of the procedures: 1. They would like for the Council to be united on items they are asked to do. Sometimes one Councilman will ask the department head to get quotes for construction and another may ask for cost of repairs. Each takes time and may not be what all members of the Council wants to do. They would like for directives to be coordinated. 2. Department Heads would like for the Council to keep their priorities in mind as well as review and work on them. 3. There was a discussion regarding prioritizing and strategizing. There was a discussion on the difference. 4. Department Heads would like for the Council to have employees follow a chain of command when an employee has an issue, first discuss with department head, then liaison, and if necessary with the Council. 5. Department Heads thought the Municipal Building study has been a good process. 6. The Community Crossings Matching Grant (CCMG) has been good. 7. Mr. Amos stated that he felt the year has been good and for the staff to feel free to come forward with ideas they may have. 8. Mr. Amos stated that the utilities director may be retiring in the next couple of years and that we need to discuss how this department will be designed in the future. Mr. Amos stated that the meeting went well and felt that the Department Heads liked the meeting. Signatures on Official Documents! __________________________ Robert J. Miller, President __________________________ Christopher J. Lutz, Vice-president __________________________ Chad B. Amos __________________________ Brett S. Foster _______________________ Craig S. Penwell Attested: __________________________ Jan Unger, Clerk Treasurer 2