CITY COUNCIL MEETING
FEBRUARY 16, 2010
7:00 P.M.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: I’d
like to call the meeting to order.
Ladies and gentlemen, we do not have a microphone system tonight, so I
beg your indulgence. If you address the
Council or the Aldermen, please do your best to project and to speak up so
Nancy’s microphone here will record the proceedings. I’m sorry for the inconvenience, but we’ll
make sure it’s fixed by the next meeting.
Our first order of business is Pastor Brad Prairie from Kankakee Trinity
Academy will come forward and lead us in prayer.
PASTOR PRAIRIE: Let us pray.
Father, God, I thank You for the opportunity we have to be here
tonight. Lord, I thank You for raising
up these leaders. God, I pray that
tonight, Lord, that You would have unity in this place. God, that You would give clear direction,
give wisdom. And, Lord, we offer all of
our plans to You, God, so that they will be successful. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you very much. Now, I would like the
youth from St. Paul Lutheran Academy to come forward and lead us in the Pledge.
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: There’s
no one here.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: There’s
no one here. Alderman Rich Browne, would
you like to lead us in the Pledge?
ALDERMAN BROWNE AND ALL: Pledge of Allegiance.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you.
CLERK DUMAS: Thank
you.
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: Chief
Young wants to know if Rich wants a picture?
MAYOR EPSTEIN: No. Alderman, we’ll make sure you get a
certificate. Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
PRESENT: Brown; Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio;
Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (13)
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Department
Heads, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
PRESENT: Kinkade; Young; Dear; Spice; Bohlen; Power;
Simms; Tyson; Banasiak; Rodriguez; Gordon; Bertrand; Yohnka (13)
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. Everyone’s in attendance
tonight. Ah, do I have a motion to
approve the minutes of the February 1, 2010, meeting?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Mayor
Epstein, hearing no adverse comments from my colleagues, I move they be
approved as recorded.
ALDERMAN BROWNE: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Hunter, seconded by Alderman Rich Browne to approve the
minutes of the February 1, meeting. Any
questions, corrections? Hearing none. Roll call, please. Or, no, all those in favor aye. Opposed same sign.
MOTION TO APPROVE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 1, 2010
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. Motion is approved. I have no Petitions. Are there any Petitions from the Floor? We will move onto Communications. The first item on our agenda is a
presentation by Nick Allen from Representative Debbie Halvorson’s office. Nick, would you like to come forward?
NICK ALLEN; Thank you very much. Do you want me to come........
ATTORNEY BOHLEN: Sure. Come on up and then you can project out. Come on up here, Nick, if you want and you
can turn around and face.
NICK ALLEN: My
name is Nick Allen and I am Regional Director for Congresswoman Debbie
Halvorson. I think I know a lot of the
Council members this evening, but thank you, Mayor, for allowing me to address
you all this evening. Before I get
started, I wanted to talk a little bit about the HUD grant that the City missed
out on recently. I know that I’ve talked
to several Council members about that and Mayor as well. And, the Congresswoman did inquire to HUD
about what kind of appeal process would be in place for this grant and kind of
what the criteria were and how the City could have had a stronger
application. Unfortunately, we were
notified today that there will be no appeal process for the grant. However, I did........I was able to find a
method by which the City could have a full review of their application and
their strengths and weaknesses so going forward in the future when there are
more grant opportunities, the City can be better prepared. And, I did pass that information onto the
Mayor today. Moving forward though, you
know, and I’ve spoken with the Congresswoman about this and we feel that if
these competitive grants are going to have certain areas of the grant that are
graded higher than other areas, communities should know that beforehand. And, ah, we feel that, you know, the City did
have a strong application and when we go through this process if there are
certain criteria that need to be met, we feel that the communities in our
District should know, going into the process, what they will be looking for to
give the staff a better idea when they’re putting the grant together on the
areas that they need to focus on. Ah, so
the Congresswomen is working on that and, ah, finding the best way to make sure
the communities are prepared for these grants.
These funds are awarded on a competitive basis and if communities are
going to be judged on certain criteria, it’s only fair that these communities
are aware of the criteria before they put their application together. So, I did want to address that because I know
that it has been on the mind a lot of the Council members here tonight. I also wanted to say that, ah, the
Congresswoman is asking me to be available for some community office hours and
I will be holding those here in this building a week from Friday. Originally, we had set up Friday, but had to
move that. I believe that’s the 26th,
Friday the 26th of February from 3:00– 6.00 P.M. And, I’ll be in the 2nd floor
Conference Room (In Public Safety Center) so any City residents or
anyone else who has any federal issues they’d like to discuss can come out and
speak with me. I’ll be representing the
Congresswoman from 3:00 – 6:00 P.M. on the 26th. Does anyone have any questions or anything
that I can take back to the Congresswoman?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Mr.
Allen, with all due respect, ah, I know that I was one of the individuals who
talked to you regarding our dismay after having
not received any of the HUD dollars.
In years past, we’ve always been competitive and the authors of such
documents regarding lead abatement we have been successful. I think the same authors that presented the
HUD proposal, were the same individuals where we were successful. Based upon what you’ve just articulated, you
indicated there’s no appeal process and there’s no other means and ways to
address our failure to receive those dollars inasmuch that you take a look at
the demographics in the County and, specifically, the City of Kankakee. I would be remiss if I didn’t indicate that
we met all the criteria as promulgated by HUD.
If there is any kind of way that you can further get some definitive
response from HUD, I know you kind of intimated
that you would in terms of, you know, where our application sat in terms
of some of the weak points and some of the strong points. We would like to hear that and sooner rather
than later.
NICK ALLEN: Definitely. And, the contact information I passed onto
the Mayor today. I know she was going to
pass it onto Jenny.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: I
already did.
NICK ALLEN: Okay. And, ah, we can get a little bit more
insight. I know that some of it, you
know, we’ve all read what was in The Journal and then hashed and rehashed, but
hopefully, we can go through this process and get some more details on
that. Ah, we have a lot of high
foreclosure areas in the 11th Congressional District and none of
those areas received the grant either so we are concerned about the process
and, like I mentioned Alderman, making sure that our communities know what they
should be looking for when they’re putting together these grants.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you, Nick. Ah, please let all of your
residents know that there will be office hours here in this building Friday,
the 26th, from 3:00 – 6:00 (P.M.) if they have any questions
or concerns that they would like Mr. Allen to take back to Congresswoman. The next two items on the Agenda are
information only. Item D, sadly, is the
resignation of Jenny Rodriguez, the Director of our Community Development
Agency, effective April 5. Jenny is
going to be helping her family in Puerto Rico, so she will be going back and
forth quite a bit. It is with great
sadness that I ask all of us to accept her resignation. Do I have a motion?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Motion
to Table........oh.........motion to approve with regret.
ALDERMAN SCHWADE: I
second it with regret.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
by Alderman Hunter, seconded by Alderman Schwade to accept Jenny’s resignation
with regret. All those in favor,
aye. Opposed, same sign.
LETTER OF RESIGNATION FROM JENNY RODRIGUEZ, DIRECTOR
OF
THE CITY OF KANKAKEE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY,
EFFECTIVE APRIL 5, 2010
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Jenny, it’s been a pleasure,
but I know you’re not leaving, so.......
JENNY RODRIGUEZ: I’ll
be around. They’ll say, “My god, won’t
she leave?” indistinguishable and
I do call it home now, too, so I have a vested interest in indistinguishable
so I’ll be around. Thank you.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. Next item on the agenda, Community
Resource Center is requesting permission to host a tag day on March 27, (2010). Do I have a motion to approve?
ALDERMAN BROWN: Motion
to approve.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
by Alderman Carl Brown, seconded by........
ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: ......Alderman
Glen Davidson to approve. All those in
favor, aye. Opposed, same sign.
KANKAKEE COMMUNITY RESOURCE CENTER IS REQUESTING
PERMISSION
TO HOST A TAG DAY ON SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2010
MAYOR EPSTEIN: The
motion carries. Standing
Committees. Public Safety, Alderman Hun
ter.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Just
a brief comment. If you take a look at
the, ah, latter part of the second page of the report, there’s very good
information from Chief Young although I was not there to hear that portion of
the report. The Gentlelady from the 2nd
Ward chaired the meeting as I was only there for a short period of time having
another commitment. So, as I indicated,
the Senior Alderman and Gentlelady of the 2nd Ward chaired the
meeting and I understand had a very professional meeting, so the balance of the
committee report is self-explanatory.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. I’m sure Alderman Schwade
appreciates those comments. License and
Franchise. Alderman Carl Browne.
ALDERMAN BROWN: Thank
you, Mayor. I....someone said that it
would be my job indistinguishable. Number
one thing I’m sure that you are aware that the Aqua Illinois is requesting a
rate hike–over 20-some percent in over four years. And, I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a
bad thing. I’m not speaking for it or
against, but I would like to mention that there has been no corporate sponsor
that’s been better to the City of Kankakee than Aqua Illinois. They plan on investing another $20 million in
the City. There are plenty of
infrastructure in this town and one of the things that scares me the most is
the continuation of the river to made sure the water is safe for our consumers
in this town. So, I just want to say
that to Aqua Illinois. It’s unfortunate
they had to do it at this point in time when the economy’s in such a bad state,
but they are asking for it and I think it’s just information that we need
to.......we need to, ah, I need to mention that the County of Kankakee did send
a response that basically they will be a part of against the.......when they go
through the commission–ICC–and I had three County whatchcallits– County Board
members at my committee meeting on that day.
So, I just want to make sure they have opposition to the increase. So, I just wanted you to know. And, Craig, I do want to say, when you’ve
worked with me for all these months and time, I do appreciate you and I want to
thank you because what you doin’ with the indistinguishable. We get a lot of water indistinguishable. It is tremendous.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you, Alderman Brown. Budget
meeting. Alderman Baron.
ALDERMAN BARON: The
first item that we discussed was the current financial condition
throughout the City as we generally do in our minutes. You’ll notice that we.... the second to the
last sentence of that subject, you’ll notice that we astutely “agreed on the
need for the economy to start showing some improvements.” It was a close call indistinguishable. We agreed about that. That’s what we agreed on. The second item, the proposed tax levy
abatement. Should we do the resolution
now?
MAYOR EPSTEIN: That
would be fine if you’d like to do it as part of the minutes of that meeting.
ALDERMAN BARON: Ah,
the memo dated February 12, 2010, was proposed indistinguishable
resolution was a good explanation of what the abatements are all about. When the City borrows money, the principle
and interest due that particular year is automatically levied on the tax bill
unless we specifically abate it. And,
every year, we, traditionally, we abate certain principle and interest payments
as long as they’re paid from some other source.
The other source is–the other typical sources are indistinguishable
from a TIF where we have money to pay indistinguishable or from the
Utility. The Utility indistinguishable
loan by bond and it’s paid indistinguishable don’t expend it to the
general revenue. So, the list of the
abatements that we are requesting, is on indistinguishable. You can tell by reading the minutes of the
discussion about the 2001A bond. In
years past we have abated that. It’s not
a TIF. It’s not directly related to the
Kankakee Municipal Utility. But, this year
because of the tax indistinguishable economy, we are suggesting that we
not abate this $388,260. So, the list
that you see before you is what we discussed
with the exception of that 2001 abatement. Are there any questions about that? Any questions about the abatements? I know the first few times that I went
through this it was confusing. It’s
something that it’s good to review every year, but the significant thing to
remember is that it’s automatically levied–it’s automatically taxed as part of
our tax indistinguishable unless we specifically abate them. So, if there are no questions, I would move
that we authorize the Mayor and the City Clerk to sign the Resolution
authorizing the Mayor to certify the abatement of the bond levies indistinguishable.
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Second
it, Your Honor.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
has been made by Alderman Baron and seconded by Alderman Hunter. Are there any other questions?
ALDERMAN BROWNE: Yes,
I just had one query. Duly noted the
agreeing on the need for the economy start with some indistinguishable
actually requested indistinguishable.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: We
have........we have a motion and a second on the Floor. Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown; Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio;
Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (13)
RESOLUTION
AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO CERTIFY THE ABATEMENT OF BOND LEVIES FOR BONDS
PREVIOUSLY ISSUED UNDER
THE CITY’S FULL FAITH AND CREDIT (GENERAL OBLIGATION)
AND TO
AUTHORIZE THE CITY CLERK TO DELIVER THE CERTIFICATIONS TO
THE CLERK OF KANKAKEE COUNTY
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries.
ALDERMAN BARON: And,
finally, while there’s no action requested, ah, our consultant, ah, our
financial advisor from Morgan, Stanley, Smith, Barney for the Police Fire
Pension Fund ah, the Police and Fire Pension Fund made a presentation as he’s
done for the last–on an annual basis.
Very informative, the highlights indistinguishable.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you, Alderman Baron. I’d like to thank
Alderman Osenga for arranging that Budget Meeting and for having.........
LOUD CRASH
MAYOR EPSTEIN: That’s
the delicate Alderman from the 2nd Ward. This is a very silly meeting tonight. Thank you, Alderman Osenga for providing the
Morgan, Stanley representative. I think
we all benefit from the information that we received that night. Moving onto the Report of Officers. Do I have a motion to approve the bills?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Come
on, you guys......
UNKNOWN; That’s
Faford’s job.
ALDERMAN SWANSON: I’ll
make it. I’ll make a motion to approve
the bills in the amount of $79,598.43.
ALDERMAN CIACCIO: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Swanson, seconded by Alderman Ciaccio.
ALDERMAN SCHWADE: It’s
much less now that Alderman Williams is gone.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: And,
Alderman Swanson didn’t say to put the money in the proper accounts.
ALDERMAN SWANSON: I’m
sorry.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: So,
we’ll just put it in “a” account and pay the bills anyway.
ALDERMAN SWANSON: Motion
to put the money in the proper accounts.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Are
there any questions? Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown; Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio;
Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)
ABSTAIN: Jones (1)
REPORT OF OFFICERS APPROVAL OF BILLS - $79,598.43
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank
you. Motion carries. Under, Unfinished Business, we have the
second reading of the Municipal Utility budget and I would like a motion to
approve the budget on the second reading.
ALDERMAN BARON: I
would so move.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman Baron.
ALDERMAN BROWN: Bipartisan,
I will second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded
by Alderman Carl Brown. Are there any
questions? This is the second reading of
this Budget Ordinance. Roll call,
please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown; Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio;
Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (13)
(SECOND READING)
BUDGET AND ANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS ORDINANCE FOR THE
KANKAKEE MUNICIPAL UTILITY, KANKAKEE COUNTY, ILLINOIS
FOR
THE FISCAL YEAR 2010-2011
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown; Hunter; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio;
Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (13)
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. Moving onto the very long list
of Motions and Resolutions. In addition,
there’s another one that was passed out from Mr. Tyson regarding release of
funds for Brookmont Boulevard. Do I have
a motion or would you like to do these en masse? Or would you like to separate them?
ALDERMAN HUNTER: Unless
anybody has any objections to the motion to pass these Resolutions en masse? Okay, I move to adopt........move to approve
the Resolutions as specified in the agenda...........en masse.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
has been made by Alderman Hunter, seconded by.....
ALDERMAN SWANSON: I’ll
second it.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman
Swanson to approve items A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H–we’ve already done I–J and the
additional one passed out on your desk.
Roll call, please.
CLERK DUMAS:
AYE: Brown; Hunter (I just have one comment,
Dave Tyson, on this ‘cause Chris came down and showed me. It’s also enclosed in our books regarding D,
the resolution supporting....Kankakee County Board’s resolution blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah Illiana Expressway. I
have some concerns. Somebody indistinguishable
mentioned to me–and I know this resolution does not have the location
specific. And, I know that organized
labor has some concerns about dropping the proposed location further south
whereas building trades will get more jobs as opposed to Will County or Cook
County. So, I just want to make reference to that we’re only approving the concept.
MAYOR
EPSTEIN: That’s correct. And, my
understanding with meetings that I’ve had with the County, that Kankakee County
is certainly lobbying for the southern alignment. The middle alignment would certainly be
better than the northern alignment if we had to compromise, but we certainly
are supporting the southern alignment for the Illiana Expressway.
ALDERMAN
HUNTER: What I’m saying, more jobs, you know, for people in Kankakee County.
MAYOR
EPSTEIN: Well, economic development and everything else.); Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga;
Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (13)
WELCOMING STEVE BIRDINE AS 2010 CITY OF KANKAKEE
BLACK
HISTORY MONTH LUNCHEON SPEAKER
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF THE GRANT OF
STORM SEWER EASEMENT AND AGREEMENT BETWEEN HOLOHAN
NORTH ADDITION, LLC AND THE CITY OF KANKAKEE
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING INTERVENTION IN THE PENDING
ASSESSMENT APPEAL OF HAKEEN A. ALI
RESOLUTION SUPPORTING KANKAKEE COUNTY BOARD’S
RESOLUTION # 2010-02-09-14 (ILLIANA EXPRESSWAY)
SUPPLEMENTAL RESOLUTION FOR MAINTENANCE OF STREETS AND
HIGHWAYS BY MUNICIPALITY UNDER THE ILLINOIS
HIGHWAY CODE AND REVISED MUNICIPAL ESTIMATE OF
MAINTENANCE COSTS – 2010 MFT STREET MAINTENANCE PROGRAM, SECTION 10-00000-00-GM
- GROUP 1 - ROCK SALT
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE AND EXECUTION
OF A GRANT AGREEMENT FROM THE ILLINOIS HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR THE HOMEBUYER PROGRAM
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE AND EXECUTION
OF A GRANT AGREEMENT FROM THE ILLINOIS HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR THE TRUST FUND
MODIFICATION PROGRAM
RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE ACCEPTANCE AND EXECUTION
OF A GRANT AGREEMENT FROM THE ILLINOIS HOUSING
DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY FOR SINGLE FAMILY
OWNER-OCCUPIED REHABILITATION PROGRAM
RESOLUTION CELEBRATING AND HONORING THE MUSICAL
BLESSINGS
OF MR. RICHARD POWELL
AUTHORIZING THE PREPARATION AND FILING OF THE PETITION
FOR THE AUTHORIZATION TO RELEASE PHASE 2 FUNDS FOR THE
RECONSTRUCTION OF BROOKMONT BOULEVARD UNDERPASS
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
carries. We’ve come to the end of the
agenda. Are there any Aldermen’s
questions, comments or complaints? We
have........Alderman Brown.
ALDERMAN BROWN: I
would like to congratulate Alderman Baron on almost being appointed judge. My understanding is this is his first time
out and I think that was great of him to be in the top two.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: We
appreciate those comments, Alderman. Selfishly, I’m very pleased that he’s
still in that seat.
ALDERMAN BROWN: I
am, too. I am, too.
ALDERMAN BARON: Thank
you. I had a speech all prepared. indistinguishable
MAYOR EPSTEIN: If
you would like to do an acceptance speech, just not so it’s not wasted, but
probably not. There is no need for
Executive Session this evening, so I will entertain a motion to adjourn.
ALDERMAN BROWNE: So
moved.
ALDERMAN OSENGA: Second.
MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion
made by Alderman, was it Baron, oh, Browne, seconded by Alderman Osenga. All those in favor?
MOTION TO ADJOURN CITY COUNCIL MEETING
MAYOR EPSTEIN: We are adjourned. 7:25 P.M.