City Council

City Council Regular Meeting June 3, 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, Barker, Stunkel, Lewey and Hubler were present. Hobler was absent. MOMENT OF SILENCE: A moment of silence was held for Fred Tessman, former owner of Full Moon Bar and Grill; Lonnie Whipple, grandfather of City employee Micheal Miller; and Clyde Nevergall, father of City Police Officer Wade Nevergall. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL Motion was made by Stunkel and MEETING MINUTES DATED seconded by Barker to approve City MAY 20, 2024: Council meeting minutes dated May 20, 2024. Motion carried. TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer’s report for period ending May 31, 2024 was reviewed. Motion was made by Stunkel and seconded by Lewey to file the Treasurer’s report for audit. Motion carried. REGULAR BILLS: Motion was made by Stunkel and seconded by Brosman 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: DC Pest Control in the amount of $1,826.00 for pest control; Land of Lincoln Credit Union in the amount of 1  $7,000.00 for sewer vac; Ameren Illinois in the amount of $2,352.10 for electric bill; IIA Lifting Services, Inc., in the amount of $2,203.24 for inspection; Land of Lincoln Credit Union in the amount of $10,285.00 for fire truck; Cargill Incorporated in the amount of $11,689.82 for salt; Vandalia Asphalt Service in the amount of $1,790.00 for rip rap; Ritchey Painting in the amount of $13,250.00 for painting; Imco Utility Supply in the amount of $1,997.72 for supplies; C and C Pumps & Supply in the amount of $10,445.28 for maintenance; Gateway Truck and Refrigeration in the amount of $10,171.24 for maintenance; Brenntag Mid South, Inc., in the amount of $22,577.14 for supplies; Water Solutions Unlimited in the amount of $1,760.00 for supplies; Sidener Environmental Services in the amount of $1,540.80 for annual maintenance; Gateway Truck and Refrigeration in the amount of $3,520.28 for annual maintenance; Homefield Energy in the amount of $7,286.03 for electric bill. Motion carried. FIRST READING OF LIQUOR Ms. Llano shared her plans for a LICENSE APPLICATION FROM restaurant with the Council. First REBETHA MAE RAMIREZ reading of the liquor license LLANO D/B/A MAX’S FAMILY application submitted by Rebetha Mae DINER – SEEKING CLASS E Ramirez Llano D/B/A Max’s Family LICENSE: Diner was held. Action will be taken at the June 17, 2024 Council meeting. FIRST READING OF GAMING First reading of the Gaming LICENSE APPLICATION FROM Application submitted by Rebetha Mae REBETHA MAE RAMIREZ Ramirez Llano D/B/A Max’s Family LLANO D/B/A MAX’S FAMILY Diner was done. Lewey said he would DINER: like for them to apply for a gaming license once the restaurant is opened. Action will be taken at the June 17, 2024 Council meeting. 2 APPROVE OR REJECT LAKE Motion was made by Stunkel and LOT TRANSFER #313 FROM seconded by Bowen to approve Lake MARK STOUT, VANDALIA, Lot Transfer #313 from Mark Stout, ILLINOIS, TO TAWNYA Vandalia, Illinois, to Tawnya Stout, STOUT, VANDALIA, Vandalia, Illinois. Motion carried. ILLINOIS: APPROVE OR REJECT NEW Motion was made by Lewey and PERSONNEL POLICY MANUAL seconded by Barker to approve the – EFFECTIVE JUNE 4, revised Personnel Policy Manual, 2024: which will be effective June 4, 2024. Motion carried. ACCEPTANCE OF LAKE Motion was made by Lewey and COMMITTEE MEETING seconded by Brosman to accept the MINUTES DATED MAY 20, Lake Committee meeting minutes dated 2024: May 20, 2024. Motion carried. ACCEPTANCE OF JOINT Motion was made by Stunkel and PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE seconded by Brosman to accept the MEETING MINUTES DATED Joint Public Safety Committee MAY 29, 2024: meeting minutes dated May 29, 2024. Motion carried. ACCEPTANCE OF PUBLIC Street closing application was SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING discussed. It was the recommendation MINUTES DATED MAY 29, of the Public Safety Committee not 2024: to use the application form but to have street closing requests submitted in writing to the Council with a decision to be made on that request at the next Council meeting. Motion was made by Stunkel and seconded by Lewey to accept the Public Safety Committee meeting minutes dated May 29, 2024. Motion carried. ORDINANCE 2024-6-3-A: AN Motion was made by Brosman and ORDINANCE OF VACATION: seconded by Stunkel to approve Ordinance 2024-6-3-A: An Ordinance of Vacation. Roll call: Barker, yea; Hubler, yea; Stunkel, yea; Lewey, yea; Bowen, yea; Lester, yea; Brosman, yea. Hobler was absent. Motion carried. 3 APPROVE OR REJECT BID Motion was made by Brosman and FOR TRUCK STOP LIFT seconded by Bowen to approve the bid STATION PUMP: submitted by Vandeventer Engineering in the amount of $13,398.00 for a lift station pump at the truck stop. Motion carried. DISCUSSION IN REGARD TO Gottman stated the City owns PROPERTY LOCATED ACROSS property across the street from FROM STOMBAUGH HEATING Stombaugh’s Heating and Air AND AIR CONDITIONING: Conditioning. The homeowners who live contiguous to the property are interested in purchasing it. They have requested a purchase price. Gottman will meet with the homeowners to see if they are agreeable to paying for the survey and appraisal costs. He will ask the homeowners if they are also interested in purchasing additional properties behind said lot. There were no objections. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: Lee Beckman will be at the June 17, 2024 Council meeting. MAYOR’S REPORT: Gottman reported he has a meeting set up with Robert Plummer in Edwardsville regarding the Veterans Memorial Park. He will be attending the IML Board of Directors meeting in Springfield tomorrow. He reminded the Aldermen that they need to turn in their evaluations for the City Administrator to him this week. There is a letter being included in the liquor license renewals for 2024-2025 stating that effective July 1, 2024, any special events that require licensing outside of the City-issued liquor license parameters will need to be submitted 30 days before the event to the Clerk. He also noted that Sparklight is increasing rates again. 4 CITY ATTORNEY’S REPORT: Connor reported that he had court regarding the Keiser building. The court granted the motion to place the building in receivership but stayed that order for 30 days. CITY CLERK’S REPORT: Renewal of liquor and gaming licenses is underway. 90% of renewal applications have been submitted to the Clerk’s office. Licenses expire on June 30, 2024. CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S Paslay reported this Saturday is the REPORT: first Farmer’s Market. She has received a request from a group that is asking to extend the Enterprise Zone so they can install a battery energy storage system. Lester asked what kind of training the Fire Department has for electric vehicle fires. Gottman will ask Mark Meadows to attend the next Council meeting. SAFETY CODE OFFICIAL Report provided in prior meeting REPORT: packet. STANDING COMMITTEE Brosman thanked the Council for REPORTS: approving the purchase of the new lift station at the truck stop. Ray reported 5 vehicles have been stolen in the past couple of months. All of those except 1 had the keys in them. He encouraged people to lock their cars and not keep valuables in them. Lewey said the flags looked beautiful on the graves this weekend. Lester said at the old City Hall there is a large mural that will hang on a wall behind the Council table. Stunkel reported that they will be purchasing buoys for the Lake. Next year the City will possibly mow the campgrounds instead of contracting it out. Key card gate entrance to the campgrounds will be researched. Letters will be emailed and mailed to the lake lot list for Lake Lot 139. Charging for second 5  campers on the North side was discussed at the Lake Committee meeting. Ordinance will be drafted for the next Council meeting. Economic Development Director position will be posted on several websites. Applications will be due by July 31, 2024 and will need to be sent to the attention of the City Clerk. They are going to reach out to 13 area universities and post it on their job banks. Gottman thanked the Public Works Department for replacing the flags that were blown over in the storm on Sunday. Connor will work with Gottman, Kopp and Paslay on the City owned properties, and getting them ready for sale. They will also be working on the Clymer property, and also what needs to be done to finish up those who are interested in purchasing their subdivision lots. Gottman is meeting Beckman at the 120 acres on Wednesday to get that property remarked. ANNOUNCEMENTS AND Bowen said Danielle Caruso, CONCERNS: Treasurer, is doing a great job getting the best interest rates for the City’s money. Stunkel stated that he talked to Chancellor’s Outdoor Solutions and stated that Chancellor is going to take care of it. Lewey said he voted no for side by sides and go carts and one reason was because he recently saw 3 golf carts without stickers. Lewey said electric bikes are traveling down roads that golf carts and side by sides are prohibited. Gottman said the City has been contacted by a firm that would like to put solar on some property the City owns. He will forward that information to Connor for his review. Connor said the City does not have a comprehensive solar Ordinance at this time. Connor will 6  do research on this and draw up an Ordinance. Mike Wehrle asked about vacating ground to the North of the sewer plant. He said it appears that Fourth Street and Sixth Street go through the sewer plant property. He was interested in getting those roads vacated. Stunkel said the Personnel Committee met earlier today and the recommendation was to not open up negotiations with Laborers’ Local 1197 at this time and begin negotiating a new contract 3 or 4 months before the current contract expires. Motion was made by Stunkel and seconded by Barker to begin negotiations with the Laborer’s Local 1197 Union. Roll call: Lester, nay; Bowen, nay; Stunkel, nay; Hubler, nay; Barker, nay; Lewey, nay; Brosman, nay. Motion failed 0-7. Hobler was absent. ADJOURNMENT: Motion was made by Barker and seconded by Lewey to adjourn the meeting. The meeting adjourned at 7:57 p.m. __________________________________ City Clerk 7