General Government & Information Technology

Village of Niles General Government / IT Committee Meeting Summary September 13, 2017 The following Voting Persons were in attendance: Chair George D. Alpogianis, Village Manager Steve Vinezeano, IT Director Bill Shaw and Member Cammy Fortuna. Staff present were: Hadley Skeffington-Vos, Marlene Victorine, Cathy Spadoni, Katy Darr, Ross Klicker, Mitch Johnson, Steve Cusick, Kathy Thake. I. Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 8:50 a.m. in Room 218 at the Niles Administration Building. II. Approve Meeting Summary – General Government/IT Committee – August 9, 2017 – Approved, on voice vote all concurred. III. Old Business a. National Farmers Day/Steil Family Recognition Update 5:00 p.m. on September 26th there will be an unveiling of the plaque at Farm on Franks. Also there will be a display of memorabilia provided by the Steil Family in the lobby of the Administration Building the afternoon of September 26 to the afternoon of September 27. There will be an honorary street naming of Merrill Street from Dempster Street to Park Avenue. A Farmers Day Proclamation will be read at the Board Meeting. IV. New Business a. Board Approval – Amendments to Employee Handbook Section 1.1 General Introduction, Section 1.6 Recruitment and Selection of Personnel, Section 1.11 Residency Requirements, Section 1.13 Outside Employment or Appointments, Section 3.1 Vacation Benefits, Section 3.2 Holidays, Section 3.3 Personal Day, Section 4.2 Paydays, Section 5.7 Business Travel Expenses, Section 5.8 Pregnancy and Post-Partum Accommodations, Section 5.9 Village Employees as Volunteers, Section 8.3 Use of Village Equipment and Vehicles The following amendments to the Employee Handbook were proposed by staff, drafted by Human Resources, reviewed and amended by the Village’s labor attorney, approved by the Village attorney and discussed and recommended for approval at the September 26 Board Meeting by the General Government/IT Committee: • Article 1 – Section 1.1 General Introduction *Insertion of two new paragraphs under title “Volunteers”. *Reaffirms Village’s enthusiasm and gratitude of volunteers. • Article 1 – Section 1.6 Recruitment and Selection of Personnel  *Amendment due to request from staff. * Allows for easier re-filling of a vacant position from original candidate pool. *Reduces from having to re-post position and repeat hiring process when a position becomes vacant shortly after it was filled. *Change from 30 to 90 calendar days. • Article 1 – Section 1.11 Residency Requirements *Amendment due to request from staff due to expanding applicant pools. *Changes residency requirement from defined physical road boundaries to a fifty mile radius from Village Hall. *Insertion of commas to clean up punctuation. • Article I – Section 1.13 Outside Employment or Appointments *Punctuation clean up only. • Article III – Section 3.2 Holidays *Amendments further define a Village recognized holiday and make consistent the references to Village recognized holidays. *Clarifies language on floating holidays. *Clean up only, no changes to meaning or intention. • Article III – Section 3.3 Personal Days *Clean up only, no changes to meaning or intention. • Article III – Section 3.6 Educational Assistance *Clean up only, no changes to meaning or intention. • Article IV – Section 4.2 Paydays *Clean up only, no changes to meaning or intention. *Amendments make consistent the references to Village recognized holidays. • Article V – Section 5.5 Technology *Clean up only, no changes to meaning or intention. • Article V – Section 5.9 Village Employees as Volunteers *This is a new section. * Protects the Village against future liability claims. • Article VII – Section 7.1 Employee Conduct, Work Rules and Discipline *Clean up only, no changes to meaning or intention. • Article VIII – Section 8.3 Use of Village Vehicles *Amendments due to request from staff. Management staff would like policy language to reflect current practice to allow employees to use *Village vehicles when it is more efficient for them to take the vehicle home for lunch rather than return to their main work space. *This section moved from Section 5.7 to a new section, Section 8.3 and retitled to remove “Equipment” to focus solely on vehicles. *Added language on restricted cell phone use in Village vehicles per State law. *Added language requiring any vehicle damage or accidents to be reported to the local Police Department.  * Added language detailing personal vehicle use is subject to tax withholding. This is a past practice that is handled through the Finance Department. b. Electrical Aggregation Update on Streetlight and Water Pumps The Village’s current Electrical Aggregation contract for Streetlight and Water Pumps will expire in December 2017. A decision will need to be made soon prior to weather predictions and price increases. V. IT Project Updates The Board approved the Munis project and the Village now has a project manager with Munis. Also a project manager from the Human Resources Review Team was chosen to represent the Village through the end of this fiscal year, a contract is currently being written and an extension is possible for the next fiscal year if necessary. A cap will be put in place. Energov software in the Community Development Department is in place, IT will soon start on data conversion. At the old maintenance garage the re-routing of the network is being done to stay on schedule to start demolishing the building in November. Plans for the demolition are being approved and permitting is being done through Community Development. VI. Open Discussion / Public Comment Rental properties must be closely monitored for permits and maintenance on both commercial and residential properties. Landlords and homeowners need to be held accountable. VII. Next Meeting – Tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, October 11, 2017 at 8:45 a.m. VIII. Adjournment With unanimous approval the meeting was adjourned at 10:02 a.m.