Village of Machesney Park Village Board met Feb. 18.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Mayor Steve Johnson. Youth Pastor Corey Whitford gave the Invocation, which was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Trustee Joe Schmidt
Present: Mayor Steve Johnson, Trustees Joe Seipts, Jake Schmidt, James Kidd, Aaron Wilson, Terri Bailey, and Erick Beck
Present: Village Clerk Lori Mitchell
Village Attorney Tom Green
Village Treasurer Bradley Robison
Community Development Director James Richter II
Village Administrator Tim Savage
Finance and Human Resources Manager Michelle Johannsen
Public Works Superintendent Chad Hunter
Village Engineer Chris Dopkins
Harlem Student Liaison Hannah Herrera
Public Safety Supervisor Lt. Tammie Stanley
The Journal of Proceedings for the Regular Board Meeting and the Budget Kick-Off Meeting of from February 3, 2020, were approved per typewritten copy submitted by the Clerk on a motion by Trustee Kidd and seconded by Trustee Bailey. Motion carried by voice vote.
Treasurer Bradley Robison presented the Treasurer’s Report as of February 10, 2020, reflected a total of all funds to be $14,388,788.68. Copies of the report are available at the back of the room. A motion was made by Trustee Wilson and seconded by Trustee Seipts to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Motion carried by voice vote.
Clerk Mitchell had no report this evening.
Trustee Schmidt presented the warrant in the amount of $301,091.96 and moved for its authorization; seconded by Trustee Seipts. Motion approved. On roll call: 6 ayes (Trustees Seipts, Schmidt, Kidd, Wilson, Bailey and Beck), 0 nays, 0 absent
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Mayor Steve Johnson reported that he will be hosting Coffee with the Mayor at several locations during the next upcoming months. All of the coffee events will be held from 7-9 a.m. on the following dates and places:
Tuesday, March 3 at Gill’s Diner
Tuesday, March 17, at By the Dozen Bakery
Tuesday, April 21 at Gill’s Diner
Tuesday, May 19 at On the Curve Café
Tuesday, June 16y at Robin’s Nest Café
Tuesday, July 21 at 3B’s Cafe
Attorney Tom Green had no report this evening.
Village Administrator Tim Savage reported that the 24-month plus effort to resolve the issues regarding 911 Dispatch and the PSAP funding between the County of Winnebago and the nine communities lying outside of Rockford has culminated in an agreement that has been recommended for approval by the County Finance Committee and will shortly be forwarded on to the County Board as a whole. The nine communities involved are in agreement with the terms of the proposed plan for helping the County fund that operation dispatch portion of the PSAP function. In the future, we will see that come before us in the Village. The current amount being paid by the Village of Machesney Park is approximately $158,000. With the new agreement, that number will be lowered to $128,000 for the year.
Finance and HR Manager Michelle Johannsen had no report this evening.
Community Development Director James Richter II reported that the roll-out of new 5th Generation 5G wireless technology has begun as the Village has received our first permit application for upgrading cellular tower antenna and equipment.
For those of you who have cellular phones and tablets that run off of cellular networks, most of us are currently using 4G towers to make calls and to send and receive texts, and in some cases, 3G equipment is still used when 4G equipment is overloaded and in remote areas.
Once implemented, 5G technology will be considerably faster, offering download speeds up to 10 Gigabytes per second. As an example, you could download an hour and a half long movie in a few seconds.
5G equipment can serve up to 1 million devices or connections per square mile.
However, one 5G tower’s effective range is only about two-tenths of a mile, compared to a 4G tower which offers about a 9 1/2 mile range in ideal conditions. What this means is that customers are going to be receiving blended levels of services and there will likely be an increase in the number of small cell wireless equipment in the near future.
On June 1, 2018, State Legislation went into effect that basically paved the way for small cell wireless equipment to be installed throughout the state within public right-of-ways. Much of that equipment will be placed on public infrastructure such as light poles and utility poles or on new poles to be installed by the service providers. The Village cannot prohibit the installation of the equipment, but we were able to adopt an ordinance that allows us to implement a permitting process that gives us some say over how and where the equipment is installed and it allows us to receive lease income for the location if it is a Village utility pole and Village right-of-way.
Just wanted to be aware of the changes in technology. The recently approved permit for new 5G equipment will be installed on a US Cellular tower at N. 2nd and Route 173, behind Alnabali Motors and Attitudes Bar & Grill.
Public Works Superintendent Chad Hunter had no report this evening.
Village Engineer Chris Dopkins reported contractors made very good progress in the Public Works Building during the last couple of weeks. All of the concrete and masonry walls have been installed, heaters have been hanged in the garage, and overhead lighting is up. We will start running power to that tomorrow. Floors are all poured and in. There was a small hiccup on the garage doors as they were late coming in and when they arrived they were about two feet too small. That problem is being rectified and hopefully by the end of next week, all of the garage doors will be installed.
Harlem High School Student Liaison Hannah Herrera reported that Harlem Varsity Cheer Team went to State Competition and placed 13th out of the entire state. In addition, she reported that Track Season has begun. The Girls Indoor Team placed 2nd at their last meet. Boys Basketball is having their Senior Night tomorrow night. Girls Varsity Basketball is having Sectionals tonight at Harlem High School. Boys Varsity Swimming had their Conference Meet last Saturday and placed 2nd. Finally, the Harlem Model United Nations Club did very well at their Conference in Chicago. Sophomore Evie Sandell received an Honorable Mention at that conference out of thousands of students who attended.
Public Safety Supervisor, Lt. Tammie Stanley reported the stats for January. There were 20 arrests, 31 warrants served, 177 traffic citations, 5 DUI’s and 865 citizen contacts made.
COMMITTEE AND TRUSTEE REPORTS
District #1 Trustee Seipts, Administration and Finance Committee Vice-Chair had no report this evening.
District #2 Trustee Schmidt, Administration and Finance Chair reported the A&F Committee met this evening and recommended approval of Resolution 11-R-20 which is on tonight’s Consent Agenda as well as Resolutions 12-R-20 and 14-R-20 which will go to the March 2, 2020 Board Agenda with positive recommendation.
District #3 Trustee Kidd, Planning and Economic Development Vice-Chair spoke about the Road Tax. He indicated of those residents whom he had polled, there were some for, some on the fence and some against. He also said what that people have shared some of their concerns with him. Further, he spoke about how the roadways are maintained. He said residents would like to be involved. He said he was not against the road tax and he was for the people.
District #4 Trustee Wilson, Planning and Economic Development Chair, reported that he serves on the Harlem Scholarship Foundation. He said they met today and approved $50,000 to potentially be given in scholarships this year. He encouraged anyone who has a student that is a senior at Harlem High School this year to get the application from the Guidance Office and go through the process to potentially get some of that money in scholarship form to help with college next year.
District #5 Trustee Bailey, Public Improvements and Safety Vice-Chair, had no report this evening.
District #6 Trustee Beck, Public Improvement and Safety Chair, reported the Public Improvement and Safety Committee met this evening and recommended approval of two resolutions one of which is on tonight’s Consent Agenda and the other will go to the March 2, 2020 Board Meeting.
CONSENT AGENDA - Mayor Johnson noted that the next item is the Consent Agenda. He asked Staff to introduce all items to be considered under the Consent Agenda.
Village Administrator Tim Savage, presented the items on tonight’s Consent Agenda as follows:
A. Ordinance 06-20, Modification to the Responsible Bidder Ordinance, Final Reading
B. Resolution 10-R-20, Authorizing the Village to Enter into a 2nd Extension to the Option to Lease with Cenergy Power on Village Owned Property
C. Resolution 11-R-20, Authorizing Group Dental and Life Insurance Coverage
D. Resolution 13-R-20, Awarding the Bid for Mitchell Path Improvements to N-Trak Group
Mayor Johnson asked if there were any items to be removed from the Consent Agenda to be considered separately. There were no items removed from the Consent Agenda. The Consent Agenda was accepted as presented.
Mayor Johnson called for a motion to approve all items under the Consent Agenda. The motion was made by Trustee Wilson and seconded by Trustee Schmidt. The motion was approved by roll call vote: 7 ayes (Trustees Seipts, Schmidt, Kidd, Wilson, Bailey, Beck and Mayor Johnson), 0 nays, 0 absent
UNFINISHED BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS: None
PUBLIC COMMENT: Village Administrator Tim Savage asked for permission to speak under Public Comment. Mayor Johnson granted permission.
VA Savage indicated that there were a couple of items in Trustee Kidd’s report that needed clarification. He didn’t want anyone in the public to have the misconception about what is happening with the Road PAC Committee or Citizens for Roads and issues that were brought up.
He said it is important to clarify that the Village does not advocate voting yes on the referendum question. We are merely here to answer questions and provide accurate information.
The committee was set up as a group of independent residents who come together to promote the ballot issue question. It is open to anyone who wants to attend, it is not a closed-door meeting, it is not a public meeting, nor is it a public hearing. The Mayor is going to host some coffee-talk type sessions where people can come and ask a number of questions about Village business, one of which includes facts on the referendum question.
Secondly, it is important to note that the lack of a Sunset Clause is covered to a very large degree by the fact that at any time the Village Board has the right to remove or reduce that tax. While there is not a specific date, we are, through the engineer’s office, developing a three-year rolling program for improvements. At any time, at any three-year juncture, the Board decides the roads are all well paved and looking good, the tax can be removed. The fact is that this Board has the Sunset Clause within its purview to execute. Further, when it comes to taxes within the county and around the state, we have no control over those. This tax has been in existence since 2008 and has been well received by the public. Estimates are that 50% of the money that comes in through sales tax in the Village is paid through revenue received from individuals outside our community, outside our zip code. He stated that this is a huge leverage for the Village to have our roads paid for by approximately 50 cents on each dollar of sales tax generated by residents.
Administrator Savage said that he felt it was important to make sure the residents are not left wondering after tonight’s meeting what some of the answers are.
Trustee Kidd said that he fears that as Trustees, Administrators, and Mayors, etc., change, there is not that citizen overview of the Road Tax. He said he feels it is important that a deadline is placed on this and review it every five years to be proactive.
CLOSED SESSION: Mayor Johnson called for a motion to go into Closed Session for the purpose of 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1), Performance Evaluation of Personnel. Motion was made by Trustee Beck and seconded by Trustee Wilson to go into closed session. The motion was approved by voice vote.
The Board went into Closed Session at 6:28 p.m. and returned to Open Session at 6:45 p.m. Mayor Johnson called the open meeting to order at 6:47 p.m.
Present: Mayor Steve Johnson, Trustees Joe Seipts, Jake Schmidt, James Kidd, Aaron Wilson, Terri Bailey and Erick Beck
Also Present: Clerk Lori Mitchell, Attorney Tom Green, Administrator Tim Savage, Finance and HR Manager Michelle Johannsen
Attorney Green noted than other than approval of Closed Session Minutes, there was no action taken during the closed session and all information discussed in closed session is confidential.
Trustee Beck moved to adjourn; seconded by Trustee Seipts. Motion approved by voice vote. Meeting adjourned at 6:49 p.m.
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