CITY OF KANKAKEE
CITY COUNCIL MEETING
JULY 20, 2009
7:04 P.M.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: It
is a few minutes after 7:00 P.M. I
apologize. Our Utility Board meeting
went a little long. I would like to call
the meeting to order and ask Pastor Jim Williams from the Trinity United
Methodist Church to come up and lead us in prayer.
PASTOR WILLIAMS: Gracious
God, we come before You, thanking You for these servants who come together to
make, sometimes, very tough decisions.
We just ask that You give them special wisdom, that they listen to one another,
excuse me, indistinguishable, that the decisions they make will be for
the betterment of the community. We ask
this in your name, Amen.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. I’d like to invite the youth from
Trinity United Methodist Church to come forward and lead us in the Pledge of
Allegiance. You can come all the
way up here. There’s the flag.
YOUTH FROM TRINITY UNITED
METHODIST
CHURCH AND ALL: Pledge of
Allegiance
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you very much. I will now ask the Clerk
to do roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
PRESENT:
Brown; Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga;
Linneman; Jones; Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT:
Swanson; Schwade (2)
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Department
Heads, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
PRESENT:
Kinkade; Harmon; Doyle; Spice; Bohlen; Power; Simms; Tyson; Shaw;
Rodriguez; Bertrand (11)
ABSENT: Gordon (1)
MAYOR EPSTEIN: I’d
like to welcome Alderman Williams. It’s
nice to have you here. He said he missed
our smiling faces.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS:
That’s right.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: So,
if you’ll all smile for him tonight. I
would entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the July 6, 2009, meeting.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Mayor
Epstein, I would be delighted to do so.
I move they be approved as recorded.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Hunter. Do I have a
second?
ALDERMAN OSENGA: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded
by Alderman Osenga to approve the minutes of the July 6, meeting. Ah, roll call. Or, sorry, voice vote. All those in favor. Opposed.
MOTION TO APPROVE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JULY
6, 2009
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. Motion carries. Are there any Petitions from the Floor? Seeing no Petitions from the Floor, we will
move onto Communications and if it’s..... the Council approves......I think we
can combine A, B, C and E. I believe
there might be some discussion on D. Do
I have a motion to approve Communications A, B, C and E.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: I
so move, Mayor Epstein.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Hunter.
ALDERMAN JONES: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded
by Alderman Jones to approve Communications A, B, C and E. All in favor?
Opposed.
BACK TO PRAYER MINISTRIES IS REQUESTING PERMISSION TO
HOST A
TAG DAY ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2009
ILLINOIS GOLD TRACK CLUB IS REQUESTING PERMISSION TO
HOST A
TAG DAY ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 1, 2009, WITH A RAIN DATE
OF
SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2009
KANKAKEE COUNTY HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE IS
REQUESTING A STREET CLOSURE OF THE 400 BLOCK OF EAST
MERCHANT ON SUNDAY, AUGUST 4, 2009, FROM 9:00 A.M. TO
5:30 P.M. IN CELEBRATION OF THE COURTHOUSE CENTENNIAL
ALDERMAN CHERYL JONES AND KELLY DOYLE ARE REQUESTING A
NOISE PERMIT AND STREET BLOCKAGE OF THE 500 BLOCK OF
SOUTH
WILDWOOD AVENUE ON SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 2009, FROM 9:30
A.M.
TO 9:00 P.M. FOR A BACK TO SCHOOL BLOCK PARTY
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Those
Communications carry. Now, do I have a
motion to approve Item D?
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Mayor,
if I could, I have one item that........
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Do
you need to add something, Alderman Davidson?
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Yes.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: After
this.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Let’s
do this item first and then we will add something. Alderman Williams.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Mayor,
after review of, ah, this request, I’m going to have to vote to deny this
request based upon two reasons. And, I
will give my recommendation at the end.
But, if we approve this recommendation, ah, we would be setting a
precedent for other bands and groups to practice out of their residence in the
communities which could disturb other people–people who work midnight shift,
people who might be ill, and trying to recuperate at their home. And, also, it’s my opinion that we would be
opening the door for insurmountable complaints of neighbors in these various
Wards and areas. But, I do highly
recommend that, ah, these people check with the Resource Center or the Civic
Auditorium for space where they might practice their band in those, you know,
areas where it wouldn’t be affecting other people.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: So,
you’re making a motion to deny the request?
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: I
make a motion to deny the request.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Do
I have a second to that motion?
ALDERMAN CIACCIO: Second. Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Williams, seconded by Alderman Ciaccio to deny the request on
Communications item D. All those in
favor.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: I’ve
got a........
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Opposed. Oh, I’m sorry.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: I
have a question on the motion.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman
Hunter.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Alderman
Williams, do you know if, indeed, the petitioner or the person requesting the
noise permit checked with his or her neighbors?
Do you know if they were in concurrence of this particular request, do
you know?
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: No,
I’m not.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Okay,
so, as far as you know, he has not gotten permission or approval from his
neighbors?
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Right. I don’t think he took due diligence to get
that because it wasn’t in his request.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay. We will go back to all those in favor of
denying the request. Any opposed?
MANUEL GONZALEZ IS REQUESTING A NOISE PERMIT FOR BAND
PRACTICE FOR THREE TO FOUR DAYS A WEEK FOR THE
REMAINDER
FOR THE YEAR FROM 6:00 P.M. TO 7:30 P.M.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay,
Alderman Williams, the motion carries.
Your request to deny this is complete and we will notify Mr. Gonzales of
that. Moving onto Standing
Committees. Alderman Baron, you have two
Budget reports. We might as well do both
of them at the same time.
ALDERMAN BARON: The
meeting that, ah, we had on Wednesday, the 24th.......
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman
Baron, can I interrupt you?
ALDERMAN BARON: Please.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: I’m
very sorry. Alderman Davidson had
something to add.
ALDERMAN BARON: Oh,
that’s fine.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: And,
I’m sorry, I forgot. Alderman Davidson
did you have a Communication to add to the agenda?
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Yes. I do.
Ah, your Honorable Mayor Epstein, Mayor of the City of Kankakee and
members of City Council. As the new
school year approaches, I believe that it’s imperative that we do all we can to
assure that the children of our community are successful in their academic
endeavors. For the past three years, I
have been working with local barbers to organize a free back-to-school haircut
program. Since its inception, this event
has benefitted more than 500 children between the ages of five and twelve as
well as their parents and/or guardians.
I would like to duly note that the barbers have freely donated their
talented time. However, due to tough
economic times, donations have been few.
For this reason we’re asking you to help maintain this worthwhile
tradition with a generous donation of $500.00.
The barbers will utilize these funds to purchase supplies in order to
facilitate the barbering and sanitation of the equipment. And, this event will take place on August 17,
2009, at the Community Resource Center.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you for your comments, Alderman Davidson.
Do I have any discussion on this item?
I need a motion to approve.
ALDERMAN BROWN: I
will make a motion that we approve Alderman Davidson’s request.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: I’ll
second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Carl Brown, seconded by Alderman Hank Williams. Is there any discussion?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: That
comes out of Community Promotions?
MAYOR EPSTEIN: It
does come out of Community Promotions and I would again caution the Aldermen to
understand that we have a very precarious financial position. I would........I don’t know if I’m allowed to
give my opinion, but, ah, I think we should make a donation. I think $500.00 is a little high ‘cause we
only have so much money in that account and, as you know, we get requests from
community members periodically and I certainly would like to maintain money in
that account for future requests. But, that
certainly is the prerogative of all the Aldermen.
ALDERMAN BROWNE: Do
you have a balance on that account?
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Ah,
I don’t have the budget with me right now, Alderman Browne.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: It’s
a continuing spending resolution indistinguishable based upon last year’s
budget.
ALDERMAN BARON: The
entire year is, I think we’re budgeted like at $6,000.00 or something like
that. The indistinguishable
$7,500.00 this year’s budget. The
proposed budget is going to be like about 6 or somewhere around there.
ALDERMAN BROWN: Well,
I.....I....I feel like it’s back-to-school.
That’s to me indistinguishable kids and I think, ah, in these
times, the City Council, but we’re representing in the 7th Ward indistinguishable
to make sure that basically they look appropriately for going to school. And, I think that’s one of the most important
things we can so.
ALDERMAN JONES: Will
that cover the cost of what they need for the barbers, do you know?
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Well,
that’ll cover some of the cost because some of the costs that are incurred
aside from buying supplies for the barbers.
And, I’m asking for donations all over town so it’s not just from the
City Council. This is the first year out
of the first two years that I’ve even asked for any donations, you know, from
the City of Kankakee because I’ve been able to obtain the monies as necessary
throughout the community. But, that’s
become very difficult.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay,
well I will entertain a motion.
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: We’ve
got a motion.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Oh,
I’m sorry, we have a motion. Do we have
a dollar amount attached to that motion?
ALDERMAN BROWN: Yes,
we do. I still stick with $500.00.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Five
hundred dollars. All right. We have a motion and a second on the Floor to
approve Alderman Davidson’s request for
back-to-school haircuts for the children of the City of Kankakee in the amount
of $500.00. Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT:
Swanson; Schwade (2)
MOTION TO APPROVE ALDERMAN DAVIDSON’S REQUEST FOR
$500.00
FOR THE FREE BACK-TO-SCHOOL HAIRCUT PROGRAM
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. We will remit a check to you
for the $500.00.
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: The
check should be made out to Free Back-To-School Haircut Program.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: We’ll
take care of it.
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Okay. Thank you.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. All right. Alderman Baron, back to the Budget Committee
report.
ALDERMAN BARON: Yes. Speaking of Budget, at the meeting on
Wednesday, June 24, we covered two topics, the first of which was the–I’m sure
you’re going to read about this–the consideration of the investment return
assumptions that we have to assume every year.
That has–Jim, let me ask you a question–is that.....does that action, do
we need Council approval for assuming 8% return?
JAMES SPICE: Yes.
ALDERMAN BARON: Oh,
we are going to need.............All right, the.....historically, the last few
years we have assumed 8.15% as the return on our investment. This year, because of the fact that we had a
significant decrease–not only are we not earning as much as we usually, but we
lost this year, as did everybody else in the, you know, in the world. Eight percent seems somewhat indistinguishable
possibly indistinguishable given the fact that we lost a certain
percent last year, however, this is the........the percentage to be addressed
here is what we believe that we’re going to be making over time for good from
here on. And, we adjust that every year
based upon experience. This is pretty
close to our experience over the last five, six, seven years. An average rate of return of 8%. Ah, the assumption makes everything else
go. The assumption.........we start with
a certain amount of money in the Police Pension/Fire Pension. We assume we’re going to make a certain
amount of money and we assume we’re going to have to pay out a certain amount
of money. So, this is.........decreasing
it from 8.15% to 8% increases our costs.
But, it’s just being realistic and it was the recommendation of our
actuary that we make this assumption.
So, I would move that we adopt the assumption pursuant to recommendation
of our actuary, Timothy Sharpe, that our investments in the pension fund–in the
Fireman Pension Fund and the Police Pension Fund are estimated to be 8%.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Second
that, Your Honor.
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: Your
Honor, may I speak to that?
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yes.
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: I
don’t think you need a motion. You are
already contractually and bound by a Consent Order signed by a judge that we
are to follow the recommendations and advice of an actuary that’s mutually
agreed upon by the Fire Pension Board and the Police Pension Board in
setting......if Mr. Sharpe recommended it, I think we have to abide by it
whether we want to or not.
ALDERMAN BARON: That
makes perfect sense. That is, it’s an
important thing for all of us to understand how something that
unusual........something that unusual, that simple could make such a huge
impact on our budget, but it does. So, I
withdraw my motion.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: I
withdraw my second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you.
ALDERMAN BARON: Ah,
and might not even have to make a motion on my second item. indistinguishable
2010. We discussed that and if we
don’t need action on that tonight, the budget for.........we definitely expect
to see the budget by the second meeting in August, but probably by the first
meeting in August. And, so, and for
those who were at the Utility Board meeting tonight, you heard the discussion
as to the current status of the budget.
The draft of the budget was indistinguishable $2.1 million and
with adjustments being made at this point, it’s going to be brought down to
zero. indistinguishable The first
meeting of August indistinguishable The meeting July 13th, ah, the
first item as we discussed again indistinguishable and the Mayor brought
us up to date on that along with Comptroller Spice. In accordance with that, the second item that
we discussed in that meeting was an extension of the Continuing Spending
Resolution until the 2nd meeting in August to make sure that we have
one. We are in the new fiscal year since
May 1, and since May 1, we’ve been operating using the budget from last
year. And, ah, we have to have authority
to spend money and this is the mechanism by which we do that. So, I would move that we pass the Resolution
Continuing Spending based upon last year’s budget until the 2nd
meeting in August 2009.
ALDERMAN BROWN: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Baron to pass the Resolution for Continuing Spending
Resolution, seconded by, I’m sorry, I didn’t see........Alderman Brown. I have a motion and a second. Is there any discussion?
ALDERMAN BARON: And,
that Resolution is later in the.....
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yes,
it’s later in the agenda, but we’ll just act on it right now. Alderman Jones.
ALDERMAN JONES: Can
you explain to me how you’re going to keep spending money like we had last year
when we’re in a $2 million deficit this year?
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Well,
Alderman Jones, I’d be happy to. That
will be presented at the.....when we present the budget to the Council. We will explain exactly how we have arrived
to balancing the budget.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Remember,
he said that we’re paring that amount down to zero.
ALDERMAN JONES: You
just said that you would continue spending like last year when you just said
that.......
ALDERMAN BARON: Last
year was not a $2 million deficit.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: No.
ALDERMAN BARON: The
draft of this year’s budget was the first draft which is the discussion indistinguishable
look at it was in the red $2.1 million.
This year, fiscal 2009.
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: And,
let me clarify. The Resolution does not
allow you to spend in excess of last year’s budget. It doesn’t require you to spend in accordance
with last year’s budget.
ALDERMAN BARON: And,
we weren’t in the red last year.
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: In
fact, there will be........there are fewer expenditures being made now than
there were at last year’s budget. This
allows you to continue in accordance with a budget anyway.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: It
really just allows us to continue paying the bills until we pass a final
budget.
ALDERMAN BARON: That’s
a good question. It is not saying we are
going to be in a deficit position at all.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: I
have a motion and a second. We’ve had
discussion. Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXPENDITURE OF CITY FUNDS
CONSISTENT
WITH FISCAL YEAR 2008/2009
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you, Alderman Baron. Oh, I’m sorry,
motion passes. Thank you, Alderman
Baron. Moving onto Public Safety,
Alderman Hunter.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: We’re
done with Budget? Okay.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yeah,
we’re done.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Okay. Ah, ladies and gentlemen of the Council,
please refer to your Public Safety Meeting Minutes of July 7. I’ll try to expedite these particular action
items under the Fire Department, but I would like to reference the fact that
crime overall is down substantially at this time from last year. As you mosey down to the Fire Department
portion of the Public Safety Minutes there are several indistinguishable
for action items that we must move and second and vote upon. And those items are, the committee approved
the amount of $183,000.00 from McDaniel Fire Systems for the installation of
sprinkler systems in the fire stations.
The grant portion equals $157,800.00.
A contract with Access Physical Therapy, that was some substantial
discussion regarding that was approved in the amount of $1,250.00. They will be providing wellness services and
will facilitate consultations and user orientations. Installation of mirrors in the Fitness Center–and
we’re not talking about ceiling mirrors–
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Are
you sure?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Installation
of mirrors in the Fitness Center was approved in the amount of $1,575.00 and the purchase and installation
of vertical blinds which will cost $2,224.75 was also approved by the
committee. I would, therefore, like to combine
these action items into one motion to approve those items in the aforementioned
costs associated with those items.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: I
have a motion on the Floor.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Do
I have a second?
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded
by Alderman Williams. Is there any
discussion? I will clarify, ah, the
McDaniel Fire........the sprinkler system installation........that
bid.......that was rebid a second time and the bid came down significantly. Ah, the difference between the bid price and
the grant price will be made up with capital funds. Actually, excuse me, not capital funds–money
in the TIF. One of the fire stations is
in a TIF that is expiring and we will make up the difference for the Fire
Department there. The other three items
are capital items. Ah, the last two are
things that were not completed when the building was complete and when we voted
to have a Physical Fitness Center there, these are items to complete the Physical
Fitness Center–the mirrors and then the blinds are for different offices. So, they are all capital items. Any other discussion? Oh, yes the Access therapy account–that’s for
training so the firefighters, ah, go to a training session on how to use the
equipment, that is not a capital item.
Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
MOTION TO APPROVE $183,833.00 FROM MCDANIEL FIRE
SYSTEMS FOR
THE INSTALLATION OF SPRINKLER SYSTEMS IN THE FIRE
STATIONS
MOTION TO APPROVE A CONTRACT WITH ACCESS PHYSICAL
THERAPY IN
THE AMOUNT OF $1,250.00 TO PROVIDE WELLNESS SERVICES
MOTION TO APPROVE INSTALLATION OF MIRRORS IN THE
FITNESS
CENTER FOR $1,575.00
MOTION TO APPROVE PURCHASE AND INSTALLATION OF
VERTICAL
BLINDS AT A COST OF $2,224.75
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Any other items, Alderman
Hunter?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: That’s
all.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. Ah, License and Franchise. Alderman Carl Brown.
ALDERMAN BROWN: Thank
you. Ah, Mayor and Aldermen, I have a
few comments to make about License and Franchise. The first thing I want you to notice in the minutes
is the price of home fuel, ah, this year because just a year ago, it was $1.45
a therm and this year it’s down to 46¢ a therm.
So, it’s.......energy is getting cheaper. But, we’ve been wanting to tell you,
basically, it’s not stable. So, we just
want to warn you right now and it’s been a mild summer so you didn’t use as
much air conditioning so those prices just stayed pretty much consistent. And, the next thing I want to tell you about
is the energy general assistance program.
Last year Illinois has a surplus of
about $225,000,000.00 for the general assistance. These are people that help with heating bills
and stuff like that. And, ah, that money
indistinguishable this year ‘cause they had indistinguishable
last year. And, senior citizens assistance
program for that starts September 1, of this coming year. And, that’s for seniors. And, then, ah, October 1, they’ll start the
program for general assistance. And,
that’s for everybody and that’s based on income. So, we just want to make sure that is
known. The second thing is we want to
give Craig Blanchette a lot of credit since he brings a lot of good information
to these meetings. And, then one thing, indistinguishable
projects in the Kankakee River indistinguishable
completed. He also updated us on, we
have asked him about how we can combine the billing of sewer and the, ah, what
am I thinking about? The water bill
together and, ah, we had a discussion on that and came back that basically we
couldn’t do it because they want to get away from the cards. They want to use letters. And, that’ll cost the City an additional
$12,000.00 a year. So, that is not cost
effective at all so we want to bring it to.
But, we also want to talk to you about the aging active accounts because
those are uncollectible accounts and we’ve got about 6,712 accounts and that’s
the old garbage fees and COPS fees. COP
was the Community Oriented Police that we used to have. Those accounts on the books right now we have
over $558,000.00 on the books, old bills that we can’t collect. And, that doesn’t account for the $225,000.00
that Aqua Illinois has on their account.
So, we just want to pass that out.
So, see, ah, garbage could come back to where we had the garbage and these
fees and this stuff and, you know, it’s still costin’ us money. And, ah, we’d just like to thank Craig for
being a good citizen ‘cause I wanted him to be here tonight ‘cause I want to
give him such praise because he fixed that sinkhole over there on Station
Street and indistinguishable the City and he didn’t have to. But, because they’re a good corporate
citizen, they went on and fixed that anyway and I think that.....that’s what we
should be about, helpin’ each other and he helped us. And, the only action item I have on this
whole thing–I’m sure you’re aware of the big boxes around town that indistinguishable
green boxes. They’ve been put around
here and, ah, before I took over the committee, they was recommended under the
last administration that basically that we could do something to beautify those
and AT&T gave us three options. And,
option one was that AT&T would determine the sites and they would send out
the bid, landscaping to fix those sites and to beautify ‘em and that type of
thing. And, that was option one. Option two was then that AT&T would
determine the sites and they would give City a stipend of $2,000.00. And, then.....and, then they would do the
first free water and then the City could be responsible for all the others. All the others indistinguishable of
those sites. And, the third option would
be that we would determine sites and they would give us $1,500.00 for every box
in this town which is about 12 and we would use those to beautify the
landscaping and all that kind of stuff.
And, I think what’s good about this ‘cause we have Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, ah, community garden club, and all of that, basically, where we can
give them money in their community they can use to beautify it make it indistinguishable
beautified and that, to me, was the best option and that’s the option that the
committee recommends. So, with that, I
would recommend that the City Council adopt option three that we would receive
$1,500.00 per box from AT&T and that we would take care of the landscaping
and beautification of those boxes.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
has been made by Alderman Brown at the recommendation of the License and
Franchise Committee to accept option three as stated by AT&T. Is there a second on the motion?
ALDERMAN BROWNE: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded
by Alderman Rich Browne. Is there any
discussion? When Alderman Brown brought
this to my attention, we decided that this would be the most viable
option. We will work with a landscape
person to identify plantings that will not be........ah, that will be hearty
and that will require very little maintenance and, obviously, every site may be
different depending on whether it’s a shade, whether it’s in the sun, how much
land there might be around it to do the actual landscaping. And, then we’d like to put together a project
that, as Alderman Brown said, neighborhood children or Boy Scout groups or
someone if we gave them the materials and gave them some guidance, that they
would actually do the planting. So, I
have a motion on the Floor and a second.
Any other discussion? Roll call,
please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
MOTION TO ACCEPT OPTION THREE OF THE AT&T VRAD
SCREENING OPTIONS
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. If I can indulge the Council,
we have a visitor that Clerk Dumas told me about who would like to thank the
City and I hate to have him wait through the rest of the entire meeting. So, if you would like to come forward, we’d
be happy to give you a couple of minutes.
STEVE FEEHERY: I
understand that. Thank you.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay. You’re welcome. My name is Steve Feehery. I’m the President of the South Chicago
Wheelmen and we host an annual bike race down at Cobb Park. And, I just wanted to make an appearance
personally and thank everybody for your letting us host the race there. And, I wanted to give you a couple of, ah,
things. Well, we want to thank the City,
we want to thank Bill Yohnka for his coordination through him getting the
barriers out there for us to close off the roads. Ah, the Riverview Historic District, as well,
for hosting us. This year we had 240
riders that came from all over Illinois.
We had a few from Indiana and Wisconsin which was a record for us. You know, we had the rain a couple years ago
and we progressively indistinguishable. Also, this year we had a food drive. And, we asked the competitors that came out
to the race to bring some items and we had a link to a web site and they brought
some perishable items and they had a family from our bike club that took that
to a local food bank. And, so, we had a
sizable–two pretty big size cardboard boxes full of items that we made to the
food bank. So, with that, thank you and
we look forward to the event next year.
So, thank you very much.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. And, thank you for contributing to
the food pantry in our community. We
appreciate it.
STEVE FEEHERY: It’s
our pleasure.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you very much.
STEVE FEEHERY: Thank
you very much.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay,
we will move onto Report of Officers.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Mayor,
I move to approve the Report of Officers, place the money into the proper
accounts and pay the bills in the amount of $1,368,455.51.
ALDERMAN CIACCIO: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Williams, seconded by Alderman Ciaccio to approve the Report
of Officers. Is there any
discussion? Hearing none, roll call,
please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman;
Davidson; Cox (11)
ABSTAIN: Jones (1)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
REPORTS OF OFFICERS APPROVAL OF BILLS - $1,368,455.51
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. I have no Unfinished
Business. We will move onto New
Business.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Could
I ask the Council’s indulgence–not to put you on the spot. I just happen to be reading the
newspaper. I guess the paper came
Saturday, but I didn’t read it until yesterday.
There was an article about the County Mayor’s Association and could you
just give us a little feedback ‘cause I thought that was remarkable
that........that some of the Mayors felt that strongly about what alternatives
we had regarding solid waste. And, if
you could just articulate just a few things about what the consensus was.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: The
Kankakee Area Chamber of Commerce, ah, annually has a Mayor’s Breakfast that
obviously I was asked to attend on Thursday, I believe, Thursday morning. I was in attendance as well as Mayor Bruce
Adams from Bradley, and Mayor Nugent from Momence–excuse me.......
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Manteno.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Manteno
and the new Mayor from Momence. We were
provided with questions ahead of time that the Chamber had crafted and they
wanted our responses to that. One of the
questions dealt with, ah, what are our thoughts about a County landfill and,
actually, ah, Mayor Adams had some reservations, but quite honestly, the other
three Mayors in attendance, while not necessarily speaking directly to the City’s
issue with the County on the landfill, all determined that we are in a crisis
when it comes to our solid waste disposal because the costs are escalating so
dramatically and because of the economy and the reduced revenues that all the
municipalities are facing, and it’s an issue that just doesn’t face the City of
Kankakee, but it faces every single municipality in the County. I think we were in agreement that the County
and the cities and villages need to work together to come up with a viable plan
to address the solid waste issue in the County of Kankakee.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Thank
you.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Ah,
moving onto New Business, I believe we could combine Items A, B and C. Do I have a motion?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Motion
to Suspend the Rules that would interfere with consideration of passage of
these Ordinances at this time.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
by Alderman Hunter, seconded by Alderman Williams to Suspend the Rules. Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Now I need a motion to place
these items on their Final Passage and Pass.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Mayor
Epstein, I move these Ordinances be placed on their Final Passage and Pass.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Hunter, seconded by Alderman Williams to place these motions
on Final Passage and Pass. Roll call,
please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson, Schwade (2)
ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 32, SECTION 180 ENTITLED “PARKING
LIMITED TO CERTAIN TIME PERIODS IN SPECIFIED ZONES;
SIGNS REQUIRED;
LIMITED PARKING ZONES SPECIFIED” OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE
OF THE CITY
OF KANKAKEE FOR FIFTEEN-MINUTE PARKING ESTABLISHED AT
THE WEST
SIDE OF 100 BLOCK OF NORTH COTTAGE AVENUE FROM COURT
STREET TO
THE ALLEY
ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 32, SECTION 231
ESTABLISHING A
HANDICAPPED PARKING SIGN AT 168 NORTH ENTRANCE AVENUE
ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 32, SECTION 231
ESTABLISHING A
HANDICAPPED PARKING SIGN AT 940 SOUTH SEVENTH AVENUE
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Now we will move onto Item
D. We have a proposal for actuarial
services that I believe Mr. Spice, if you would like to speak to. This is a new, I believe I could call it a
mandate, that the City has to provide this report.
JAMES SPICE: The
Governmental Accounting Standards Board has created a new standard whereby the
City has to measure its other pension benefit obligations–they’re called OTEP
for short. And, those basically are the
health insurance that’s provided to employees when they leave the City’s
employ. Generally, when they
retire. For whatever reason when they
retire or if they carry their insurance with them. Ah, for the most part, the City does not
contribute to that liability, but a lot of cities do. A lot of other municipalities. And, that amount is measured over the years
so that’s why the need for the pronouncement.
And, ah, in the City’s case, we are required by State statute to allow
our employees that retire to continue on the insurance at their own cost, however,
we cannot charge for any differentials than what any other employee, so people
that retire, are older, generally, if it was age-based, the premiums for that
insurance continue indistinguishable higher so there is an implicit
subsidy that the City is carrying by allowing the employees to continue with
that. That’s what will be measured in
our case. One other piece that will be
measured is, ah, for disabled........for public safety officers under State
statutes, they now receive 100% of their insurance in their period of
disability. So, that will also have to
be measured. This needs to be measured
by an actuary and that is the reason why we’re doing this proposal so that we
can indistinguishable the actuary services necessary to compute the City’s
liability. We probably would chose not
to fund that liability and indistinguishable.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you, Mr. Spice. Do I have a motion to
approve the Actuarial Services of Mr. Timothy Sharpe to provide us this service
in the amount of $2,500.00?
ALDERMAN BARON: I
so move.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Second
it, Your Honor.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
by Alderman Baron, seconded by Alderman Hunter.
Is there any discussion? Hearing
none, roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
PROPOSAL FOR ACTUARIAL SERVICES FOR GASB 43 AND 45
VALUATIONS
(OTHER PUBLIC EMPLOYEE BENEFITS, I.E. HEALTH INSURANCE)
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. The next item up is the
awarding the contract to the Kankakee Valley Environmental Group for the board
up contract for the Code and Planning Department. The Code Committee agreed with the–accepted
the bid and I would like a motion to approve the contract.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: I
would like to make that motion that we award the board up contract to KVEG
which is a local minority-owned company.
They have the lowest and most indistinguishable bid and I would
move that we award this contract to KVEG.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Hunter.
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded
by Alderman Davidson to award the board up contract for the Planning and Code
Department to Kankakee Valley Environmental Group. Is there any discussion? Hearing no discussion, roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
RECOMMENDATION TO AWARD THE PLANNING AND SAFETY
DEPARTMENT
BOARD UP BID TO KANKAKEE VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. I only have one appointment
this evening. The City of Kankakee has
an appointment to the Metro Transit System Board and currently Bill Yohnka is
in that position and he has asked to not be reappointed. And, I’ve spoken to Carole Franke and she has
graciously accepted the appointment to that board pending Council approval.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: That’s
an excellent appointment. Ah, Carole is
for Kankakee.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Absolutely.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Will
be for Kankakee in all instances and I will concur with your appointment.
ALDERMAN BROWN: Isn’t
that amazing. She must not be here if
you’re talkin’ that nice about her.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: That’s
why she’s here.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Mayor,
I’ll second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Hunter, seconded by, was it Alderman Williams?
CLERK DUMAS: Yes.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: To
approve the appointment of Carole Franke to the River Valley Metro Mass Transit
Board. All those in favor. Opposed.
MOTION TO APPOINT CAROLE FRANKE TO RIVER VALLEY METRO
TRANSIT BOARD
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Thank you. And, Carole, thank you for accepting that
appointment. We will need an Executive
Session this evening to discuss real estate and I do expect that there will be
action when we go back into Open Session.
I would like to have a motion to go into Executive Session.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Mayor,
we have a Resolution.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: No,
we did that already.
ALDERMAN WILLIAMS: Oh,
we did that.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
to go into Executive Session.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: To
discuss Real Estate.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Real
estate.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: I
so move.
ALDERMAN LINNEMAN: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
by Alderman Hunter, seconded by Alderman Linneman to go into Executive
Session. All those in favor aye. Opposed.
MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS REAL
ESTATE
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Clear the Chambers, please.
7:45 P.M.
7:52 P.M.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay. We’re back in session. Let’s open the door. Oh, would you all give me those leases
back? Please. If you’ll just pass them forward. I need a motion to approve the lease
agreement between the City of Kankakee and, I want the proper name here–one
second–Chicago Title and Trust Company as Trustee. Do I have a motion to approve?
ALDERMAN LINNEMAN: I
so move.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: I’ll
second it, Your Honor.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Who
was the first? Alderman Linneman made
the motion to accept, seconded by Alderman Hunter to approve the lease
agreement between the City of Kankakee and Chicago Title and Trust
Company. Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown;
Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Williams; Ciaccio; Faford; Osenga; Linneman; Jones;
Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSENT: Swanson; Schwade (2)
MOTION TO APPROVE LEASE AGREEMENT BETWEEN CITY OF
KANKAKEE
AND CHICAGO TITLE AND TRUST COMPANY AS TRUSTEE
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Any questions or concerns by
the Aldermen? Alderman Jones.
ALDERMAN JONES: It
has been brought to my attention Mayor and Council, the citizens who have their
sons over in Iraq use web cams to speak with their children and they had
suggested that Pete Schiels and the City
could invest in two indistinguishable web cams; one in the City Council
Chambers here and one in our community meeting room and hook it up to the web
site so the citizens of Kankakee could go to our web site and view our City
Council meetings and our committee meetings and see how the tax dollars are
being spent. They said the web cam costs
about $9.00 each and that would be a great investment and that can enable
about 300 people that are homebound to see our City at work.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: I
will be happy to speak to Mr. Schiel. I
am not a techy person, so I have no idea what all that entails. But, I’ll be happy to talk to him about it.
ALDERMAN JONES: Thank
you.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: You’re
welcome. Any other questions or
concerns? I’ll entertain a motion to
adjourn.
ALDERMAN FAFORD: So
moved.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: So
moved by Alderman Faford, seconded by..........
ALDERMAN BROWNE:
Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman
Rich Browne. All those in favor. Opposed.
MOTION TO ADJOURN CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MAYOR EPSTEIN: We
stand adjourned.
7:56 P.M.