Board of Trustees

Village of Peoria Heights Board of Trustees Meeting November 20, 2018 The meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm. Everyone stood for the Pledge to the Flag. Upon roll call, the following Trustees were present: Harn, Goett, Dan Mariscal, Reichert, Diane Mariscal, and Carter. Others present include: Mayor Phelan, Administrator Sutton, Deputy Village Clerk Witbracht, Attorney Walton, and Foreman Michael Casey. Trustee Goett made a motion to approve the minutes from October 16th, 2018. Trustee Dan Mariscal seconded the motion which passed 6-0. Correspondence: Deputy Clerk Witbracht read thank-you letters from the Peoria Heights Library and Susan G. Komen. Announcements: Sarah Witbracht gave an update on all the Christmas events. Trustee Reports: Economic and Community Development: Trustee Dan Mariscal had nothing to report. Police: Trustee Carter made a comment regarding the police department doing “No Shave November” and all donations will be made to the honor flight. Chief Sutton gave an update on the Santa Clause Breakfast at TnT’s. Building/Property Maintenance: Trustee Goett had nothing to report. Fire: Trustee Goett had nothing to report. Public Works: Trustee Harn had nothing to report. Administration/Personnel: Trustee Diane Mariscal gave an update on the employee handbook and explained that counsel has approved it and copies will go out to everyone for review. Administrator Sutton has been working on this for the past 5 months. Trustee Mariscal also reminded everyone about the Veteran’s breakfast on December 8th. Comments from the Audience: Katie Parker, Barb Milaccio, and Theresa McDade gave an update on the Paint the Heights Pink event and asked to do a check presentation. She stated that they raised $2,200. Katie gave thanks to all the sponsors. Old Business: There was nothing to report. New Business: Mayor Phelan presented a Small Business Saturday Proclamation to the Peoria Heights Chamber of Commerce. Trustee Diane Mariscal made a motion and Trustee Reichert seconded to approve Resolution 2018-09; A Resolution to Include Taxable Allowances as IMRF Earnings. Bookkeeper Stephanie Turner explained that the audit found that the meal pay for the public works on-call policy is not an IMRF taxable allowance and that this resolution is basically a housekeeping item. The motion approved 6-0. Trustee Goett made a motion and Trustee Harn seconded to approve an Administrator Contract between the Village of Peoria Heights and Dustin Sutton. Trustee Diane Mariscal stated her support for Dustin Sutton and stated that she would like to see the job description changed to an office manager and would like to see the pay revisited. Trustee Goett stated that he is over additional departments and that should be considered. Trustee Diane Mariscal praised the street department. Trustee Carter reminded everyone that due to being union employees, they cannot handle their own Human Resource issues. Administrator Sutton reminded everyone that General Orders were adopted 7 months ago. Mayor Phelan pointed out that Michael Casey and David Marfell chose to remain in the bargaining unit. Trustee Diane Mariscal asked everyone to review the qualifications. Administrator Sutton read the minimum qualifications from the original ordinance and stated that there is a discrepancy between the ordinance and job description. Trustee Harn stated that Administrator Sutton is doing a great job without any mistakes and that he would like to see things continue going the way that they are going. He also thanked his team for their hard work and stated that he is proud of the budget that will be presented. Mayor Phelan thanked the team of employees. Attorney Mark Walton explained that the agreement can be terminated anytime and only includes a stipend for the additional duties. The motion passed 5-0 with Trustee Diane Mariscal voting nay. Trustee Dan Mariscal made a motion for the approval for use of Tower Park for the American Cancer Society event “Night of Hope” on Friday, June 7th, 2019. Trustee Goett seconded the motion which was approved 6-0. Trustee Dan Mariscal made a motion to approve an Exterior Beautification Program Application from Sipco Products, Inc. Trustee Harn seconded the motion. Kevin Shields, Chairman of the Business Development District Advisory Committee came forward to explain his involvement with the committee, state his recommendation, and explain how the grant funds work for this program. He did state that there were 2 meetings where quorum was not met. He explained that it will be a $23,000 project and this program will grant them $10,000 upon approval of expenditures. He also explained that this project is in the best interest of Peoria Heights since this is a visible property located at Lake and Prospect. He also pointed out that this improvement will draw attention to other applicants. His final remarks were that he highly recommends this project move forward and that he can’t support his enough. Trustee Carter inquired about the angle of the building, where the proposed opening will be located, and if they need Zoning Board of Appeals approval. Administrator Sutton explained that its merely cosmetic, but it may need site plan approval. Kevin Shields reminded everyone that the approval is conditional and that costs will have to be verified and approved by the consultant before they can officially be issued. Trustee Carter inquired about the 180-day completion stipulation, and Nic Nelson confirmed. There were also some discussions on the roof. Mayor Phelan thanked Kevin Shields for all his work. The motion passed 6-0. Trustee Harn made a motion and Trustee Dan Mariscal seconded the request of approval for repair to a high service pump control panel located at low level pump station. The motion passed 6-0. Trustee Harn made a motion and Trustee Goett seconded the request for approval to list a 1994 Chevy Rescue Truck with “Fire Truck Resource” with a sale price of $10,000 or best offer. The motion passed 6-0. Trustee Harn made a motion and Trustee Goett seconded the request for approval to purchase a Trimble G.I.S. unit in the amount of $5,697.39 from Precision Midwest using funds from the Infrastructure and Maintenance Program. The motion passed 6-0. Trustee Harn thanked Public Works for their first snow plow! Trustee Dan Mariscal made a motion and Trustee Harn seconded the approval of Ordinance 2018-1572; An Ordinance Amending Title 10, Chapter 8A of the Village Code for the Purpose of Modifying Certain Requirement for Residential Uses in the B-1 Central Business District. Attorney Walton explained that this stems from a zoning map discrepancy that didn’t apply to many of the B-1 zoned properties. It was not known that there were any properties zoned R-3 in the overlay district which directly impacted the PH Samuel project. The motion passed 6-0. Trustee Dan Mariscal made a motion and Trustee Goett seconded the approval of Ordinance 2018-1573; An Ordinance Approving an Amendment to the Peoria Heights Downtown Overlay District Plan. Attorney Walton explained that the R-3 zoned properties needed excluded from the overlay district, and that the properties excluded are outlined in the ordinance. Trustee Diane Mariscal inquired regarding if any of the properties have sold, and Attorney Walton explained that this will affect all projects moving forward. The motion passed 6-0. Trustee Dan Mariscal made a motion and Trustee Goett seconded the approval of Ordinance 2018-1574; An Ordinance Approving Revisions to the Application and Fee Requirements for Zoning Board of Appeals Hearings. Attorney Walton explained that a simple checklist was implemented, the timeline turnaround was extended, and the application fee was raised as well as actual costs incurred from mailings and the legal notice. Attorney Walton pointed out that the Zoning Board of Appeals took a lot of care to review the ordinances. Trustee Reichert shared that she would like to see a smaller scale application for simpler projects. The motion passed 5-0 with trustee Reichert voting nay. Trustee Dan Mariscal made a motion and Trustee Goett seconded the approval of Ordinance 2018-1575; An Ordinance Amending Title 3, Chapter 3 of the Village Code of the Village of Peoria Heights for the Purpose of Imposing a Hotel and Motel Room Renting Tax. Attorney Walton explained that with the current economic development state as well as the increase in usage for AB&B, it is an appropriate time to discuss the draft ordinance. He also explained that it is a 5% tax where funds can be used for tourism and marketing. He also explained that any stays over a month are considered a rental and not taxed. Trustee Dan Mariscal inquired about enforcement which Attorney Walton explained would be a challenge. Mayor Phelan explained that this ordinance is in support of the upcoming hotel, and Trustee Harn explained that with an active building inspector, will be easy to manage. Attorney Walton also explained that it would be effective beginning next fiscal year. The motion passed 6-0. Trustee Goett made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Trustee Goett seconded the motion which was approved 6-0. ______________________________________ ____________________________________ Michael E Phelan, Mayor Sarah Witbracht, Deputy Village Clerk