CITY OF KANKAKEE

CITY OF KANKAKEE

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

MARCH 15, 2010 7:00 P.M.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Good evening. I’d like to call the meeting of the City Council to order and ask Pastor Ben Seyden from Riverside Baptist Church to come forward and lead us in prayer.

PASTOR SEYDEN: Let us pray. My gracious Heavenly Father, we thank You for the opportunity tonight to come and meet together. Lord, we pray for Your continued blessings on the City of Kankakee and, Lord, for the wisdom of our leadership. Lord, would You bless this evening tonight? May it be a profitable time for the further ministry here in Kankakee. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. Now, I would like to call the youth from Riverside Baptist Church and Lafayette Primary School to come forward and lead us in the pledge. You can come up here. Stand here and there’s the flag.

YOUTH FROM RIVERSIDE BAPTIST CHURCH AND

JAMES BENOLERAO, JESSA MAE BENOLERAO,

KENNETH BENOLERAO, EVA ECKHOFF, JACOB

FELTON, JAZMINE FELTON, JABREA PADEN,

LEONA PELLETIER, PAIGE PELLETIER, AND SADIE

PELLETIER FROM LAFAYETTE PRIMARY SCHOOL: Pledge of Allegiance

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. Do you want to do a picture? You can come back and do a picture. Thank you very much. Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

PRESENT: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. Department Heads.

CLERK DUMAS:

PRESENT: Kinkade; Young; Dear; Spice; Bohlen; Power; Simms; Tyson; Banasiak; Rodriguez; Gordon; Bertrand; Yohnka (13)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. I will entertain a motion to approve the minutes of the March 1, 2010, meeting. Who would like to make that motion?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Carl Brown.

ALDERMAN BROWN: In light of my seat mate not being here, and seeing no objections from my colleagues, I would move that they be submitted and approved as written.

ALDERMAN JONES: Second it.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderman Jones. All those in favor. Opposed, same sign.

MOTION TO APPROVE CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MARCH 1, 2010

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Thank you. I have no Petitions. Are there any Petitions from the Floor? Moving onto Communications, if the Council would like, we can combine items A, B and C. Do I have any objections to doing that? Alderman Osenga, would you like to make the motion to approve items A, B and C?

ALDERMAN OSENGA: So moved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: And, do I have a second?

ALDERMAN SCHWADE: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderman Schwade. All those in favor, aye. Opposed, same sign.

BLANCA HERNANDEZ IS REQUESTING A NOISE PERMIT FOR A

BIRTHDAY PARTY AT 1137 SOUTH FOURTH AVENUE ON SUNDAY,

MAY 16, 2010, FROM 10:00 A.M. UNTIL 7:00 P.M.

SOUTH CHICAGO WHEELMEN ARE REQUESTING PERMISSION TO BLOCK

OFF THE FOLLOWING INTERSECTIONS ON SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2010, FROM

10:00 A.M. UNTIL 5:00 P.M. FOR THEIR ANNUAL COBB PARK BIKE RACES:

SOUTH WILDWOOD AVENUE AND COBB BOULEVARD; SOUTH WILDWOOD AVENUE AND EAST EMORY STREET; SOUTH WILDWOOD AVENUE AND

EAST DUANE BOULEVARD; EAST DUANE BOULEVARD AND COBB

BOULEVARD; PARK PLACE AND SOUTH GREENWOOD AVENUE;

SOUTH CHICAGO AVENUE AND SOUTH GREENWOOD AVENUE; AND

PARK PLACE AND SOUTH CHICAGO AVENUE

JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION COMMITTEE IS REQUESTING PERMISSION TO

HOST A PARADE ON SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2010 FROM 10:00 A.M. TO NOON STARTING AT KANKAKEE COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY AND ENDING

AT LINCOLN CULTURAL CENTER

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Communications A, B and C pass. Committee meetings. Public Safety. Alderman Hunter is not here. Is there any comment from the Public Safety Committee? Okay, the minutes are in the packet. License and Franchise, Alderman Brown.

ALDERMAN BROWN: The minutes are also in the packets and I’d like to thank Alderman Linneman for leading us in that meeting because I called and I forgot my co-chair was Alderman Browne, so I apologize to Alderman Browne for that.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. And, Budget Committee, Alderman Baron.

ALDERMAN BARON: Mayor, we have no action items, but Comptroller Spice reviewed with us the monthly financial figures and I would just like to review just a couple things about the financial situation for the City. Ah, as far as sales tax go, interestingly, even though we continue to decrease in the March figures for sales tax, we are $383,000.00 behind last years for just the month of March, however, because we budgeted we are going to be about right on target or maybe even exceed the sales tax revenue–the actual sales tax revenue– for this fiscal year ending at the end of April. We’ll be equal to or maybe even greater than what we’ve budgeted for.

JAMES SPICE: Net.

ALDERMAN BARON: Net, right. Which really is the only significant figure. So that’s good. Ah, gas utility tax is up by about $95,000.00 because we are.....we are recovering more and more pursuant to our agreement with the contractor. The rest of the taxes are down. Ah, the net revenue for the year–for the ten months of the year so far, we are down. Expenditures exceed our revenues by about $1.3 million. That’s through February 28, 2010. That’s the reality of our financial situation. Ah, and, as Mayor Epstein mentioned in the Utility Board meeting, at the beginning of March we had to make our first draw down on the buffer, on the surplus money–the money pursuant to our–the bond issuance in the amount of $380,000.00. That’s something that hopefully will last us for a couple years, but because of the cash flow situation we had to draw down on that. I’m sure that Comptroller Spice will be able to answer any questions.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. Any other questions?

ALDERMAN BROWN: Just one. Just one.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Brown.

ALDERMAN BROWN: Are you saying that sales tax revenue is down 18.3%? Is that the figure?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Our tax revenues are down–you mean our other revenue sources or our sales tax?

ALDERMAN BROWN: Sales tax.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: No, the sales tax is holding to budget.

ALDERMAN BROWN: It’s holding?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: The sales tax. The other revenue sources, the utility, the income tax, the replacement tax, those are all down.

ALDERMAN BROWN: Okay.

ALDERMAN BARON: The 18.3 or 18.2% is March of this year as compared with–net–as compared with March net of last year. The monthly figure’s down, but

JAMES SPICE: The gross amount is down 18%. The gross amount.

ALDERMAN BROWN: Okay. Okay.

ALDERMAN BARON: indistinguishable sales tax sharing agreement.

ALDERMAN BROWN: Okay. Thank you.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Moving onto the Report of Officers. Do I have a motion to pay the bills?

ALDERMAN FAFORD: I move we approve the Report of Officers, place the money in the proper accounts and pay the bills in the amount of $863,806.67.

ALDERMAN CIACCIO: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion made by Alderman Faford, seconded by Alderman Ciaccio. Are there any questions on the bills? Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (11)

ABSTAIN: Jones (1)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

REPORTS OF OFFICERS, APPROVAL OF BILLS - $863,806.67

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Moving onto New Business. We have an agenda addition to the New Business items. Item E was passed out to the Aldermen at the Utility Board and then to the rest of the Aldermen. There is a bid for odor control for the Stone Street pumping station so we will have that as Item E. The first item of New Business is an Ordinance annexing certain territory to the City–Kankakee Community College property. There has been a discrepancy at Kankakee Community College based on the GIS County map. They thought there was a portion of the college that was not in the City. After extensive study by Dave Tyson and, actually, the Clerk helped out, we found a pre annexation resolution that was passed. We assume that there was an Annexation Resolution Ordinance passed. We’re not sure. We can’t find it, so just to be sure, we’re going to re annex all of Kankakee Community College into the City again this evening.

ALDERMAN SWANSON: I’ll make that motion.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. I’m glad someone did. Alderman Swanson. Is there a second?

ALDERMAN FAFORD: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Faford. Are there any questions? Roll call, please. Oh, I’m sorry, we need to Suspend the Rules.

ALDERMAN SWANSON: I’ll make a motion to Suspend the Rules that would interfere with the passage of this Ordinance.

ALDERMAN FAFORD: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Okay. And, then, Alderman Faford will second that. This is to Suspend the Rules.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Now, we need a motion to put this on its Final Passage and Pass.

ALDERMAN SWANSON: So moved.

ALDERMAN FAFORD: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion made by Alderman Swanson, seconded by Alderman Faford to put this Ordinance on its Final Passage and Pass. Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

ORDINANCE ANNEXING CERTAIN TERRITORY TO THE CITY OF

KANKAKEE, KANKAKEE COUNTY, ILLINOIS (KANKAKEE COMMUNITY

COLLEGE PROPERTY)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Thank you. The next item is a special Ordinance authorizing the ceding of private activity bonding authority to Will Kankakee Regional Development. This is done, I believe, annually........

ATTORNEY BOHLEN: If we don’t use it.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: If we don’t use all of our bonding capacity, we allow them to have that ability to use our excess capacity. I need a motion to Suspend the Rules.

ALDERMAN BROWN: Motion to Suspend the Rules that would interfere with the passage of this Ordinance.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion made by Alderman Brown to Suspend the Rules, seconded by.......

ALDERMAN BARON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Baron. Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. I need a motion to put this Ordinance on its Final Passage.

ALDERMAN BROWN: So moved.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion made by Alderman Carl Brown, seconded by.......

ALDERMAN BARON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Baron. Any questions? Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

SPECIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE CEDING OF PRIVATE

ACTIVITY BONDING AUTHORITY WITH WILL KANKAKEE

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. The next item on the agenda is Handicapped Parking to establish parking at 141 N. Schuyler Avenue. Do I have a motion to Suspend the Rules on this Ordinance?

ALDERMAN COX: I so move, Mayor.

ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion made by Alderman Cox, seconded by Alderman Davidson to Suspend the Rules that would interfere with the passage of this Ordinance. Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. Do I have a motion to put this Ordinance on its Final Passage?

ALDERMAN COX: I so move.

ALDERMAN DAVIDSON: Seconded.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion made by Alderman Cox, seconded by Alderman Davidson. Any questions. Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 32, SECTION 231 ESTABLISHING

A HANDICAPPED PARKING SIGN AT 141 NORTH SCHUYLER AVENUE

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. The next item on the agenda is an appointment of Clifford Cross as Director of Planning, Zoning and Community Development Agency. Do I have a motion to make this appointment?

ALDERMAN BARON: I so move.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion made by Alderman Baron, seconded by Alderman.......

ALDERMAN SWANSON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Swanson.

ALDERMAN BROWNE: Could I ask just a couple questions? Just out of curiosity.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yes. Absolutely.

ALDERMAN BROWNE: Will this person be living in the City of Kankakee?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yes, he will.

ALDERMAN BROWNE: Okay. And, do we know–from what I understand–we’re going to be combining CDA along with this, is that correct?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: His responsibilities will include Planning, Zoning and Community Development Agency.

ALDERMAN BROWNE: Okay. One of the other questions, do we have a salary for this individual?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Yes, we can discuss that in Executive Session if you’d like.

ALDERMAN BROWNE: Very good. Okay. And, were there any other candidates for this?

MAYOR EPSTEIN: This was my decision to, ah, have Mr. Cross come back. He has a detailed knowledge of the City. He’s been our Planning and Zoning person previously and then he was doing it on a part-time basis. He had been director of Code and he certainly understands the Community Development Agency and I thought that this would be an excellent person to bring back.

ALDERMAN BROWNE: Okay. Thank you.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: You’re welcome. Let’s see, where were we? Motion by Alderman Baron, seconded by Alderman Swanson. Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

APPOINTMENT OF CLIFFORD CROSS - DIRECTOR OF PLANNING, ZONING,

AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AGENCY, EFFECTIVE APRIL 5, 2010

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. The next item was passed out at the Utility Board and then it was passed out to the other Aldermen. We have a bid for the Stone Street Pumping Station. Mr. Simms, if you’d like to detail. This is for odor control. He explained this at the Utility Board, but in case the other Aldermen would like to hear the same explanation I’d appreciate it.

RICHARD SIMMS: Okay. The odor control system was added a couple of years ago to the Stone Street Pumping Station. That’s located on Kennedy Drive when you’re passing by. That was a result of the neighbors complaining. That handles a very large percent of the waste water from the community and during the summer months that waste water becomes stale and there are odors that travel through the sewer and are released into the pumping station, so, we added this. And, the decision was made to go with carbon absorption versus chemical addition. We felt it was more economical. We knew that using the carbon–activated carbon system–that we’d have to recharge the carbon. The carbon gets exhausted and then once it’s exhausted it doesn’t work anymore. So, we had hoped to get three years out of a charge of carbon which actually is about 10,000 pounds. This is a lot of material. But, we weren’t able to get quite that much this first time. We went back to the original manufacturer who has a proprietary carbon product and, ah, it seemed like an awful lot. That’s the $43,000.00 number. And, so we went to equipment representatives in the waste water industry and asked them if anyone else makes a product similar. They turned us to Purafil which is also a manufacturer of carbon and their price was $31,500.00 plus there’s a cost of installation. They just manufacture the product and deliver it. Someone else has to install it. The Utility will remove the old carbon and dispose of it at a landfill, but this material will have to be then added to the system and we hope to get at least three years. We try to limit the use to the summertime only because that’s when we have the odors, so we get a little more longer life. The Comptroller raised the issue to us, frankly, we were moving along too rapidly and we realized that we hadn’t put this out for public bid and the reason is really nobody could bid on it because carbon manufacturers are limited to probably two or three in the country. And, these are the closest suppliers. So, we’d like the Council to consider waiving the public bid and accepting the low price of Purafil for the carbon recharge. The reason we’re kind of pressing the issue is, we’d like to have it in place before the hot weather this summer for the benefit of the neighborhood.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. Are there any questions of Mr. Simms? Alderman Schwade.

ALDERMAN SCHWADE: Mr. Simms, is this a problem that a different company will be installing that product whereas it was Siemens they were going to install their product?

RICHARD SIMMS: No, it’s not a problem. We talked to them and this is something that they’re comfortable doing, so..........and, we’ve never done it and we would have to rent equipment and you have to take significantly large bags of carbon, load them in the top and then pack them in in layers. We will remove the old carbon, but we need a tractor to do that. But, we have no experience. What we’ll do, is we’ll watch this time. The next time, if it doesn’t look too challenging, maybe we’ll do it ourselves.

ALDERMAN SCHWADE: Okay. Thank you.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Any other questions? Motion to approve the amount from Purafil, $31,500.00 in addition to the installation charge of $4,965.00.

ALDERMAN FAFORD: I so move.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Faford, seconded by........

ALDERMAN BARON: I’ll second it.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Baron. Roll call, please.

CLERK DUMAS:

AYE: Brown; Browne, R.; Baron; Ciaccio; Faford; Swanson; Osenga; Linneman; Jones; Schwade; Davidson; Cox (12)

ABSENT: Hunter (1)

MOTION TO APPROVE CARBON REPLACEMENT IN THE AIR CLEANING

SYSTEM AT STONE STREET PUMPING STATION

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Thank you. Motion carries. Moving onto Motions and Resolutions, we have a Resolution approving an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Kankakee and the Kankakee County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, the Village of Bourbonnais and Bradley, also, enter into this intergovernmental agreement. Do I have a motion to approve this Resolution?

ALDERMAN SCHWADE: I so move that we approve this Resolution.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion by Alderman Schwade.

ALDERMAN SWANSON: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Seconded by Alderman Swanson. All those in favor, aye. Opposed, same sign.

RESOLUTION APPROVING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT

BETWEEN THE CITY OF KANKAKEE AND THE KANKAKEE COUNTY

CONVENTION AND VISITORS CENTER, THE VILLAGE OF BOURBONNAIS,

THE CITY OF MOMENCE, THE VILLAGE OF MANTENO, AND THE VILLAGE

OF BRADLEY FOR THE PROMOTION OF TOURISM

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Motion carries. The last item on our agenda is the execution of the Operating Engineers’ contract. We will discuss that first in Executive Session and then we will come out into Open Session and vote on that contract. Are there any questions or concerns from the Aldermen before we have a motion to go into Executive Session?

ALDERMAN COX: Mayor.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Cox.

ALDERMAN COX: I would like to encourage everybody to fill out their census forms.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: You’re absolutely right, Alderman Cox. When I went home quickly, the census form had come. I don’t know if everyone has received theirs, but I encourage all of you to ask your neighbors, your friends, people at church, anyone you know, please, please encourage them to fill out their census form. It means hundreds of thousands of dollars not only to our community, but to all the communities in our area. So thank you Alderman Cox. Do I have a motion to go into Executive Session?

ALDERMAN OSENGA: So moved.

ALDERMAN SCHWADE: Second.

MAYOR EPSTEIN: Alderman Osenga, seconded by Alderman Schwade. All those in favor, aye. Opposed.

MOTION TO GO INTO EXECUTIVE SESSION TO DISCUSS UNION CONTRACT