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Admin Committee Minutes 2005 07-07-05 Page 1 of 5 APPROVED 9/1/05 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2005 6:30 PM City Hall Conference Room CITY OFFICIALS IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Art Prochaska Treasurer Bill Powell (arr. 6:44pm) Alderman Paul James Attorney John Wyeth (left 7:50pm) Alderwoman Valerie Burd Finance Director Traci Pleckham Alderwoman Wanda Ohare Chief Harold Martin Alderwoman Rose Spears (arr. 7:36pm) City Administrator Tony Graff (arr. 6:45pm) Interim City Clerk Bart Olson The meeting was called to order at 6:32pm by Alderman Paul James. PRESENTATION: None OLD BUSINESS Alderman James suggested that he thought it would be beneficial to have the agenda packets on the Friday prior to the upcoming meeting. There is a shortage of time to review the packets when they are received on Tuesdays. Ms. Pleckham said the Clerk's office prepares C.O.W. packets on Fridays and she did not know if there was adequate time to prepare two sets of packets. Mr. James said that having a weekend to review the material would be helpful. Ms. Pleckham will research. 1. Minutes for ApprovaUCorrection: June 2, 2005 The minutes were approved as read. 2. Monthly Budget Report for May 2005 Ms. Pleckham noted the "Countryside TIF Project" item on the Pre Audit Financial Summary and said this fund holds bonds for the Countryside TIF project. Alderwoman Ohare commented that it was nice to see the investment income broken down into categories and doing so well. The income will be revised as the revenue streams begin to come in, which is expected to be in September /October. Ms. Ohare asked about the increase of 14% for office cleaning. Ms. Pleckham believed it was for bulk cleaning supplies. The Finance Director also commented on an increase in the Page 2 of 5 income due to the efforts of Treasurer Powell. This report, which was given to department heads, was for information only and no further action was required. 3. Treasurer's Report for May 2005 Ms. Pleckham is researching how other communities handle their Treasurer's report and how often they are issued. She said many towns do not revise their reports and that the State Statute just requires that it must be done. Others just compile an "actual vs. budget" report. She will continue her research and report back to the committee. Alderwoman Burd suggested that she check with the Municipal League for guidance. Ms. Pleckham reported that the Fund Balance Reserve is at 21 %. Water and sewer are at 23% and 28 %. The Mayor commented that the Treasurer's report is a snapshot of the activity and he suggested adding "pre- audit" on the report. Finance Director Pleckham would like to see the entire fiscal year, by month, on this report, to check the progress. This item moves forward to the consent agenda. 4. Risk Management Coordinator Update This matter came back from the December Administration meeting and concerned a performance update for the City's liability insurance. There have been eight injury reports this year, however, nothing is outstanding at this time. The sewer issue from several months ago has been resolved. Ms. Pleckham recently received quotes from the insurance company and would like to review this again in three months along with any other insurance quotes that require bids. Ms. Pleckham was asked to bring a list of any such items to the next Administration meeting. Ms. Spears also suggested surveying other communities in August. This matter will be brought back to committee next month. 5. Quarterly Department Vehicle Reports This report was previously done monthly but, is now done quarterly. One trip was made to Peoria where Mr. Graff gave a speech. Ms. Burd said she would like to hear a report on that as she considered that to be noteworthy. It was mentioned that each report was set up in a different format. The Police Department format was favored and Mr. Graff will forward a standard template to all department heads. It was noted that the Engineering vehicle has 181,625 miles. A new vehicle is budgeted for that department. This item will return to committee for further discussion. I Page 3 of 5 NEW BUSINESS: 1. Library Bond Ordinance Ms. Pleckham handed out information regarding the $7.25 million in bonds to be issued for the Library expansion. This amount is based on a certain percentage of the EAV. She said there are two options to make up the difference: 1) issue the difference next year when the EAV increases or 2) rely on upfront developers' fees. Administrator Graff cautioned that any such fees should not be earmarked for debt service. It was also noted that using developer fees is less burden on the taxpayer. Mr. Graff said this project should be 1/3 taxpayer -based and 2/3 developer -based according to population. Mr. James asked Ms. Pleckham to compile a report of the Library funds: bank balance, the amount taxpayers approved and their expansion budget. It was suggested by Ms. Spears to check the capital fees. Ms. Burd said the Library is above their expansion budget at this time. She also suggested researching the possibility of having a person with financial means, sponsor part of the cost. Ms. Pleckham has found some small foundations to assist the building fund and the grant - writer was also suggested as a possible source for help. The bond ordinance will be moved to C.O.W. with a spreadsheet attached showing the sources of funding. The fees will be re- evaluated in September. Ms. Pleckham said that at the end of the ordinance, there will be a re- payment schedule which must be approved with the ordinance. All these items will move to the July 19` C.O.W. 2. Create Ordinance for City Administrator Attorney Wyeth drafted ordinances for the positions of Finance Director and Executive Director of Parks and Recreation. The ordinances addressed the creation of the positions, the duties, compensation, terms and removal. He distributed copies to the committee and asked for their input. Ms. Burd questioned #3b- appointment term/removal. She asked if it allows the Mayor to remove anyone from that office. There is also a procedure in place to reinstate that person. At this time, there is no ordinance for a City Administrator position, though a job description exists. Ms. Spears had a description dated 1998. Mr. James asked Mr. Wyeth to write an ordinance to cover that position and pattern it after the draft already presented. The Mayor said there are no ordinances covering the Director of Public Works, Chief of Police, Building & Zoning Inspector and City Engineer. However, other committee members said some of those positions are appointed. Paul James said a decision should be made if a position is appointed or not and if appointed, establish an ordinance. He felt there were too many appointed positions at this time. Attorney Wyeth stressed the office of a particular appointee is different than the employment. The office can require signatures on behalf of the City. Page 4 of 5 Mr. Graff suggested conducting a survey of trends for appointed officials and said he has collected some information already. There was a brief discussion regarding contract employees and appointed employees. Under the proposed ordinance, there was some discussion about appointed offices being able to be discontinued with a 2/3 vote effective at the end of that fiscal year. The Mayor can also appoint an interim person to then fill that position. Chairman James reiterated the original issue that would create an ordinance for the City Administrator. He was in favor of the ordinance. At this time, it is not an office and Valerie Burd questioned the value of making this position an office. In conclusion, Mr. James asked what positions need to be appointed. When that determination is made, ordinances can then be drafted. Attorney Wyeth will research the State Statutes and this item will be revisited in August. 4. Organizational Chart Ms. Burd said that Mr. Graff s contract clearly states that the Mayor and City Council provide direction for him, but she thought the chart did not depict that. However, Mr. James said he felt this chart simply provided a quick snapshot of the City employees. The committee complimented Mr. Olson on this chart and it will be posted. S. Revising of Administrative Secretary Job Description Mr. Graff said this job description was old and had not been updated. He said it had not been sent to the labor attorney yet, pending input from the committee. This position will become non - exempt. Wanda Ohare commented that the position now expects mathematical functions, however, the job description does not mention the need for math skills. Comments and suggestions will be given to Mr. Graff to incorporate into the job description. This item will be discussed again next month. 6. Utility Billing Past Due /Collection Information Finance Director Pleckham reported that 129 accounts are currently on collection status. Efforts have been exhausted for most of these accounts as the persons cannot be found, but these accounts will be sent to the credit companies. This information is from a report by Northwest Collectors Incorporated, the City's collection company. There is no cost to the City unless money is collected and this agency is not used until all other efforts have failed. Over a 7 -year period, $34,477.39 was outstanding and in the last 2 years, $4,400 has been collected by this company. They receive 35% of the collected amount. The City is attempting to strengthen the ordinance governing these unpaid bills and Attorney Kramer is still working on this update to the water ordinance. Page 5 of 5 This ordinance is also being tied to developers and building permits could be withheld for non - payment of previous bills. Renters are another part of the problem. Mr. Graff said landlords have been spoken with since they are ultimately responsible for the unpaid bills. Now, when the bills are past due for the renters, the landlord is notified. In some instances, the bills are sent directly to the landlords of large apartment buildings. In the last year, only about 25 accounts have been sent to collections. Ms. Ohare commended the diligence of City staff. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS: Mr. Powell said he is considering changing the Treasurer's report based on research he is gathering from other towns. i Mayor Prochaska said that a spreadsheet will be prepared for the next Administration meeting, that will show the number of hours the City Attorney works to help justify a full or part time position. Ms. Burd also said the $9,500 salary needs to be revised to agree with the Code. The Attorney took a cut in pay from the original salary. There is no ordinance currently in effect for his salary and this matter is being researched. At the next meeting, the number of hours worked and the salary will be discussed. The Mayor said the job description draft will also be brought to the next meeting. Paul James said that Longford Lakes behind Jewel, (Ward 4) is now done and 45 trees have not been planted. He asked that Mr. Graff to find out if trees are missing at other sites and how many developers have not met the ordinance. However, the committee agreed that Mr. Wywrot would include that on a punchlist. Mr. Graff will check with Mr. Wrywrot and will report back. Mr. James also said a lake located near Jewel is not being maintained by Tucker Development. The Mayor cautioned that the agreement is between several parties and should be researched before any action is taken. There was no further business and the meeting was adjourned at 8:18pm. Minutes respectfully submitted by Marlys Young, Minute Taker