City Council

City Council Regular Meeting February 5, 2024 6:30 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: The Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag was given by all that were present. CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Gottman called the regularly scheduled meeting of the Vandalia City Council to order at 6:30 pm. ROLL CALL: Aldermen Brosman, Lester, Bowen, Hobler, Lewey, Stunkel and Hubler were present. Barker was absent. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL Motion was made by Stunkel and MEETING MINUTES DATED seconded by Brosman to approve City JANUARY 15, 2024: Council meeting minutes dated January 15, 2024. Motion carried. TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer’s report for period ending January 31, 2024 was reviewed. No action required. REGULAR BILLS: Motion was made by Stunkel and seconded by Lewey to approve the regular bills as submitted. Motion carried. SPECIAL BILLS: Motion was made by Stunkel and seconded by Lewey to approve the special bills as presented: Sandberg-Phoenix in the amount of $2,400.00 for legal fees; Electronic Architects, Inc., in the amount of $3,243.75 for access control system; Drew Miller Construction in the amount of $6,400.00 for construction fees; Fayette County Clerk and Recorder’s office in the amount of $6,500.00 for animal control; Land of Lincoln Credit Union in the amount of $7,000.00 for sewer vac; Ameren Illinois in the amount of $3,171.28 for electric bill; Julie, 1  Inc., in the amount of $2,261.52 for annual transmissions fee; Land of Lincoln Credit Union in the amount of $10,285.00 for fire truck loan; Mac’s Fire and Safety, Inc., in the amount of $2,427.31 for fire equipment; Cargill Incorporated, Inc., in the amount of $23,601.30 for salt; CSX Transportation, Inc., in the amount of $2,311.50 for sidewalk construction; Milano and Grunloh Engineers in the amount of $2,642.50 for engineering fees; Schulte Supply in the amount of $3,160.96 for supplies; C and C Pumps and Supply in the amount of $3,170.00 for equipment; Brenntag Mid-South. Inc., in the amount of $23,530.66 for supplies; Vandevanter Engineer, Inc., in the amount of $17,823.56 for maintenance to equipment; Durbin’s Overhead Door in the amount of $2,950.00 for door replacement at sewer plant. Motion carried. FIRST READING OF LIQUOR First reading of the Liquor License LICENSE REQUEST FROM request from Kickn 66 Liquor and KICKN 66 LIQUOR AND MORE More Corporation D/B/A Lucky Dogs CORPORATION D/B/A LUCKY was done. Since this is the first DOGS: reading, action will be taken at the February 20 Council meeting. ACCEPT OR REJECT Motion was made by Brosman and RESIGNATION OF ROB seconded by Stunkel to accept the THOMPSON FROM POLICE resignation of Rob Thompson from the PENSION BOARD: Police Pension Board. Motion carried. ACCEPTANCE OF THE Motion was made by Lewey and BUILDING AND GROUNDS seconded by Stunkel to accept the COMMITTEE MEETING Building and Grounds Committee MINUTES DATED JANUARY meeting minutes dated January 16, 16, 2024: 2024. Motion carried. APPROVE OR REJECT BIDS Motion was made by Hobler and FOR CITY HALL CONCRETE seconded by Brosman to approve bid AND CAULKING PROJECT: submitted by Precise Construction in 2  the amount of $37,592.00 for concrete and caulking project at City Hall, which included adding Option 1 to replace area near dumpster with 8” wire reinforced concrete. Motion carried. APPROVE OR REJECT BIDS Motion was made by Brosman and FOR GEOTECHNICAL seconded by Lewey to approve the bid SERVICES FOR CITY OWNED submitted by Midwest Engineering and 120 ACRES: Testing, Inc., in the amount of $25,000.00 for geotechnical services for City owned 120 acres. Roll call: Hubler, yea; Lester, yea; Brosman, yea; Bowen, yea; Hobler, yea; Lewey, yea; Stunkel, yea. Barker was absent. Motion carried. ORDINANCE 2024-2-5-A: AN Motion was made by Stunkel and ORDINANCE DECLARING seconded by Bowen to approve SURPLUS REAL ESTATE Ordinance 2024-2-5-A: An Ordinance AVAILABLE FOR SALE: Declaring Surplus Real Estate Available for Sale. Roll call: Hubler, yea; Lester, yea; Brosman, yea; Bowen, yea; Hobler, yea; Lewey, yea; Stunkel, yea. Barker was absent. Motion carried. ORDINANCE 2024-2-5-B: AN After much discussion, motion was ORDINANCE MODIFYING made by Brosman and seconded by SECTION 17.06.050 Stunkel to table the Ordinance until INOPERABLE MOTOR next meeting. Kopp, Ray and Connor VEHICLES: will review the Ordinance and bring (TABLED): their recommendations to the Council. Ordinance tabled. APPROVE OR REJECT Motion was made by Hobler and DEMOLITION BIDS FOR 1319 seconded by Lewey to approve the W. ST. LOUIS AVENUE: demolition bid for 1319 W. St. Louis Avenue submitted by Grubaugh Contracting in the amount of $8,200.00. Motion carried. APPROVE OR REJECT Motion was made by Brosman and DEMOLITION BIDS FOR 313 seconded by Lester to approve the S. FIRST STREET: demolition bid submitted by Robert 3  Simmons, LLC in the amount of $10,200.00 for demolition of 313 S. First Street. Motion carried. CHASE ALCORN: Chase Alcorn and Bobby Brenneisen introduced themselves to the Council. They had previously requested rezoning of the building located at 13 Old Capitol Shopping Center for indoor storage facilities. Alcorn talked about one property they have renovated and turned into indoor storage facility in Centralia. Brosman said he would like to see something done with the building. Alcorn said he would not be using any TIF funds to renovate the building and bring it back to useful life. Connor said this would need to be forwarded to the Planning Commission for modification of the Zoning map because currently it is not a permitted use. It would need to come out of Downtown Commercial to General Commercial. Lester said he does not think the current owner has marketed the property properly at all. Brosman stated in looking at the Zoning map, the building on 5th Street that is an indoor storage facility is zoned as Downtown Commercial so the City already has this type of building in that zoning. Paslay will check to see if that particular building was issued a variance. Brosman said he is in favor of this project. Rick Radliff, a member in the audience and a downtown business owner, said he himself would be in favor of this project. Gottman, Alcorn, Brenneisen and Paslay will meet to review the preliminary interior drawings and bring those drawings to the next Council meeting. 4 GREATER FAYETTE COUNTY Rick Radliff introduced himself to CHAMBER OF COMMERCE – the Council. He spoke on behalf of BUSINESS CLIMATE IN the Greater Fayette County Chamber VANDALIA: Board. One of the key strategies the Chamber identifies is providing advocacy for their current and prospective members. He shared comments on behalf of the Chamber Advocacy Committee. He stated that it appears that the most recent concern that arose has been addressed tonight with the proposed indoor climate controlled storage facility. Radliff asked how proposals are considered by City leadership and if there is a defined process communicated to people who are interested in investing in the community. Regarding TIF, he asked if citizens can expect consistency in how requests are decided upon. He stated if that process was not in place, he knew 3 or 4 Chamber members who would be willing to assist. He shared when he opened his business in downtown Vandalia, it was a very positive experience. Bowen stated that the City website would be a good place for the process to be outlined and who to contact. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None. MAYOR’S REPORT Gottman reported that the City was awarded $600,000 from the OSLAD grant. Kaskaskia College is working on opening the Art Connection at their Vandalia campus which was funded entirely by the Mary Albert O’Neill Foundation. He reported that he and others met with Madison County Transit representatives in January regarding a possible bike path along the National Road. He will contact the Mayors along the National Road for their input. He stated that Irons has remodeled the 5  front of their building. Gottman stated he did show the former Kroger building to some prospects. He is working with a gentleman who is interested in a restaurant at the former Long John Silver’s building. Hy-Vee has not made a decision on what they will be doing with the former County Market building. He has spoken to an individual interested in the former Family Video building. A local businessman is interested in expanding his business. School meeting was held regarding the proposed OKAW Vocational building. Gottman talked to the architect regarding the Clymer building and he has asked for additional information. Gottman reported that he and the Economic Development Directors from Greenville and Centralia will be meeting with him and Paslay. Gottman said he will be scheduling a meeting with all of the Fayette County Mayors. Ray suggested a third party background check be done as a part of the employment process. CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT: Connor reported the City has been able to collect some of the Ordinance violation fines by placement of liens in lieu of a collection agency. CITY CLERK’S REPORT: Huhn reported that her office has begun the process of offering ACH payments to the Accounts Payable vendors. She also had a phone call today with representatives from Text My Gov with more information to be discussed with the Council as details are worked out. CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S Paslay stated the connector for the REPORT: digital sign at the Tourism Center is bad. She will order a new 6  connector and once it is received, arrange for it to be installed. SAFETY CODE OFFICIAL Report provided in previous meeting REPORT: packet. STANDING COMMITTEE Brosman stated construction on the REPORTS: Main Street lift station is going well. Ray stated that golf cart and UTV stickers cannot be placed on the slow moving emblem sign on those vehicles. This will be addressed in a revised Ordinance that will be effective January 1, 2025. Lewey stated an individual drove into a headstone at the Cemetery. Paslay stated the City cannot move forward on the OSLAD grant until the signed paperwork is received. Lake Lot #139 has been cleaned up. The dock has also been removed. Lake Committee meeting has been scheduled for February 23 at 5 p.m. Paslay said Farmers Market will start in June. Solar Eclipse Event will be held downtown on April 8. SummerFest will be July 5 and July 6. Fireworks will be July 6. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND None. CONCERNS: COUNCIL MOVES INTO Gottman announced Council would be EXECUTIVE SESSION AT moving into Executive Session. 8:17 P.M.: Motion was made by Stunkel and seconded by Lewey to move into Executive Session at 8:17 p.m. under 5 ILCS 120/2 for the acquisition/sale of land and a personnel matter. Roll call: Brosman, yea; Hubler, yea; Lester, yea; Bowen, yea; Hobler, yea; Lewey, yea; Stunkel, yea. Barker was absent. Motion carried. 7 EXECUTIVE SESSION ENDS Executive Session ends at 8:28 p.m. AT 8:28 P.M.: REGULAR SESSION Mayor Gottman reconvened the regular RECONVENED AT 8:30 P.M.: Council meeting at 8:30 p.m. with a roll call: Hobler, yea; Lester, yea; Stunkel, yea; Hubler, yea; Lewey, yea; Brosman, yea; Bowen, yea. Barker was absent. Motion carried. Motion was made by Hobler and seconded by Brosman to purchase 32 acres which would be East of the City’s 120 acres (Parcel Number 18- 14-18-401-003) in the amount of $15,500.00 per acre. Roll call: Brosman, yea; Lewey, yea; Hobler, yea; Hubler, yea; Bowen, yea; Lester, yea; Lewey, yea; Barker was absent. Motion carried. ADJOURNMENT: Motion was made by Hubler and seconded by Stunkel to adjourn meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8:34 p.m. _________________________________ City Clerk 8