City Council

TOWN OF CICERO TOWN COUNCIL STAFF MEETING MINUTES THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2025 at 7:00 PM Call to Order: President Cox called the meeting to order. Present: Joseph Cox Absent: Eric Hayden Dennis Johnson Christopher Lutz Emily Pearson Others Present: Rhonda Gary, Clerk Treasurer 1. Town Council – a. FD Chief – Ms. Gary will advertise an executive session for 3/18/25 at 6:00 p.m.to discuss Chief Overholser’s replacement. b. Financial Plan Review (annexation) – A discussion concerning annexation and how the council would like to proceed or not proceed. Council asked that the department heads review their previous submissions for discussion at a later date. c. GO Bond – This item was removed from the agenda. 2. Plan – a. HB1037 – Mr. Zawadzki briefed the council on HB1037. b. Plan System – Mr. Zawadzki briefly discussed a new plan management system. Roughly the cost is $10,000.00 annually. However, Jackson Township has committed to contributing $2,500.00 annually to the system. More information to follow. c. Plan Commission Meeting – Mr. Zawadzki stated that the Comprehensive Plan was tabled. And that they have several items to discuss at the next meeting i.e. rezoning, park and recreation, impact fees and the comp plan. d. Comprehensive Plan – Mr. Strong stated that it was a good discussion, and they will revisit it at the next meeting on 4/9/25. Once approved, they will present the comp plan to the council for their approval. Mr. Strong also stated that the public information meeting held by Estridge Homes on their proposed project is next Tuesday. 3. Fire – a. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy – Chief Overholser distributed an AI Policy for review. b. Microsoft 365 – Chief Overholser informed the council that the town’s current Office 365 which is a not-for-profit application is not secure. He recommended moving to a government platform which is secure. The cost to move to a secure platform would go from the current price of $3.00 per license to $8.00 per license. The town currently has 57 licenses. 1  c. Purchases - Chief Overholser stated that the final payment for the bond for medical equipment will be paid off next month. He would like to use those funds to purchase new fire equipment i.e. power load, life monitors, etc. Ms. Gary will add this to the 3/18/25 agenda. d. New Fire Truck - Chief Overholser stated that the new fire truck is here. He believes that they will have it in service the first of May. 4. Police – a. Car Repairs – Chief Rednour informed the council that one of his employees has caused damage to one of the departments vehicle causing $1,400.00 in damages. He would like to pay for the repairs out of his budget. Council was ok with that. b. Cryptocurrency – Chief Rednour distributed a document with information concerning cryptocurrency guidelines for review. Ms. Gary will add this to the agenda. 5. Water/Wastewater – a. Truck/Mower Purchases – Superintendent Cooper would like to move forward with vehicle purchases from his 2025 budget. Ms. Gary will confirm that the funds are available. b. 2025 Community Crossings Matching Grant (CCMG) – Superintendent Cooper would like to apply for a CCMG in July 2025 to finish Pearl Street to Main Street. c. 2026 CCMG – Superintendent Cooper would like to apply for a CCMG in 2026 to make repairs on East Jackson Street. d. 2027 CCMG – Superintendent Cooper would like to apply for a CCMG in 2027 to make repairs from the Causeway to Tollgate Road. e. Tank Removal – Superintendent Cooper talked about the tank removal which he believes will cost approximately $25,000.00. He is working with Mr. Bryant to solicit three quotes to present at the next council meeting. Superintendent Cooper believes there is a grant to reimburse 50% of the costs. 6. Clerk Treasurer – a. Conference – Ms. Gary will be at conference March 16-20. b. Billing Software – Ms. Gary stated that the new billing software is in place and that shut off notices will be printed next week. c. Invoice Cloud – Ms. Gary stated that she has spoken with Invoice Cloud and they would like to go live next month. 7. Project Coordinator – a. West Jackson Street Project – Mr. Strong informed the council that letters have been sent to the business owners concerning the meeting on 3/17/25. In addition, all of the businesses have been spoke to personally with the exception of one concerning the project and meeting. 2  b. Encroachment Agreement – Mr. Strong updated the council on the encroachment agreement for rights-of-ways. He and council agree that they don’t want to repeat our last experience. c. Ground Lease – Mr. Strong said that locates and staking for test well sites will be completed Friday or Monday of next week. Weather permitting, the company will start doing test wells mid next week. d. Legal descriptions on the property east of town have been completed and forwarded to the property owners attorney in hopes of getting an agreement finalized to purchase the needed property. e. CCMG – Mr. Strong stated that the next call for projects is in July and asked council to start thinking of projects. 8. Parks Dept – Superintendent Hunter was not present. Motion to Adjourn: Ms. Pearson made the motion. Mr. Johnson seconded, motion carried 4-0. Signatures of Cicero Town Council AYE NAY Joseph R Cox Eric C Hayden Christopher J Lutz Dennis D Johnson Emily K Pearson Attested: Rhonda Gary, Clerk Treasurer 3