Admin Committee Minutes 2002 12-12-02 Page 1 of 5
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE APPROVED WITH CORRECTIONS
ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2002 lJ V
6:30 P.M.
In Attendance:
Mayor Art Prochaska (until 7:30) Alderwoman Rose Spears Alderwoman Valerie Burd
City Administrator Tony Graff (until 8:00) Finance Director Traci Pleckham
Alderman Paul James
OLD BUSINESS:
Minutes for Approval /Correction
The minutes were approved with corrections.
Status of Employee Manual — No Update
Mr. Graff stated that they had received the verbiage for the military leave. He said that the law had changed
recently and it will be added to the Employee Manual. He said they are waiting for corrections from other
Department Heads, then it will go on to Staff meeting. After that drafts will be sent out to the committees.
This item will come back to the next Administration meeting on January 9, 2003.
Nextel Plan Update
Alderwoman Rose Spears stated that there a two -way radio that the committee requested would not be
available on the new plan.
Mr. Graff and Kim King both submitted memo's regarding the Nextel Rate Plan. See attached. It described
what plans the City currently has.
Chairperson Spears mentioned that the City would receive a 10% discount on the new plan. She said that
the other committees have been asked to submit a list of all employees that have phones and what
department they are under. The Department Heads have also been asked to submit an explanation of why
they are recommending the employee(s) to have a phone, and why they are recommending a particular
plan.
There was a concern raised that if an employee is at home and has their phone on and has made themselves
available for work related calls, would it be policy to pay them. Mr. Graff stated that he checked with the
Labor Attorney about that and he said that as long as it is incidental use and the employee is not asked to
stay at home to be reached then there is no obligation. If the employee is at home and available then it is
fine, they are not under any obligation to stay at home to be on call. It would be more of a convenience to
call the individual to ask where to find certain items or things related to that.
Mayor Prochaska voiced his opinion saying that as long as there is no incurring costs to the employee then
it should not be an issue. If there were costs associated with a call to the employee then there would be an
issue of reimbursement. The Mayor felt that it is an issue that should be discussed with Attorney Dan
Kramer.
Mr. Graff said that he would address this issue at the next Department meeting.
These items will come back to the next Administration meeting on January 9, 2002.
Water Meter Policies
Mr. Graff stated that regarding the review of Judy's memo; they are down to 25 accounts that they are still
working on. He said that YMS School has a meter that is stuck and has a low flow. It is located where there
is still a direct line and can only be reached by turning the boilers down and turn the whole school off.
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There has always been a high use of water at the middle school more so than the high school. There are
plans with Brian DeBolt to have the problem fixed either on Spring Break or when school lets out.
Finance Director Traci Pleckham stated that with the new accounting software coming into play she found
out what the options were regarding billing and payments. She said that the City could go to monthly
billing and the staff would read every other month like they are now doing, and estimate the off months.
She said that they could also look to see what it would cost to separate YBSD from the water bill. They
could run YBSD bill on the odd months and run the water bills by monthly. It would entail some
programming from the software- company and they could give the rates and also read prior months water
usage. The software- company could write up a program to do that.
Mrs. Pleckham stated that there is an option to make the bill on a one -page billing. It would need to be
folded unless a machine was purchased to do that. She said that the postage would be more expensive for
the one- page as well. There would also be the option of a postcard type with better paper stock with color.
She felt to go with the option of the postcard it would be more convenient. She will come back next month
with the estimates on what it would cost particularly if they want to program the YBSD separate and the
water bill monthly or bi- monthly billing.
Mr. Graff suggested having the YBSD on the postcard also to show the bill is coming from the Yorkville
Bristol Sanitary District, but that the payment would be made to the United City of Yorkville. This way it
would be a totally separate bill.
Chairperson Spears asked if there is a resident who would not pay their YBSD bill, would the City charge
YBSD to have Public Works go to the residents house to shut off their water. Mr. Graff said that if the City
were to go to the resident's house to shut off water for the YBSD, then they would charge them for that
call. Mr. Graff said that he would speak with Ralph Fister of YBSD and explain what they are looking at
for the new billing plan.
Mrs. Pleckham said she would bring estimates of what the new programming costs would be to the next
meeting.
This item will come back to the next Administration meeting on January 9, 2003.
Utilitv Bill Pavment Assistance — Referred to Human Resource Committee
Mr. Graff stated that Judy Dyon talked with Social Services about a Utility Bill Payment Assistance
Program. If the City were to give money towards the program Social Services would manage the money for
the City. The Social Services would also choose who would qualify for the program. No dollars would be
expended through the program without approval from the committee. There are plans to meet with the
Human Resource Committee in December so that they might look over the process. Mr. Graff said he
spoke with Attorney Dan Kramer about the program and he suggested asking the YBSD to also participate.
Mr. Graff said that he would speak to the YBSD on Monday night about the program.
Chairperson Spears stated that they would need to come up with broader criteria for the program. She
suggested speaking with Mr. Pftster and with Attorney Kramer about that and thought it would be a good
idea to get something in writing. She added that Ms. Dyon could also get something from the County. Mr.
Graff said that he could speak with them and bring the information back next month.
This item will come back to the next Administration meeting on January 9,2003.
Accountine Software Installation Schedule — Update
Mrs. Pleckham said that she and Kim King had met with MSI on Monday to discuss the schedule. She said
that they are looking to implement generalizing the accounts payable systems in February. They will begin
training in January. Payroll will begin in March and running in April for April's billing cycle. The tracking
system will be working in February. It will track inventory, streets, sewer, water, and anything else to do
with the City. Any new Capital purchases will be put on the system, anything else until now will be added
sometime in June. Mrs. Pleckham and Mrs. King will begin training for the system in January, and then
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Judy will begin training in February. The secretaries will be trained on the cash register in January. There
are also plans to install the register at the Police Department. The secretaries there will also be trained on
the register. Mrs. Pleckham stated that the plans are looking good and installation for the system will begin
on Thursday.
An update will be brought to the next Administration meeting on January 9, 2003.
NEW BUSINESS:
Consent Agendas
Mayor Prochaska stated that a consent agenda is being considered so meetings can be streamlined. The
items considered for this agenda might include building reports and water reports, items that do not need a
lot of discussion. There would be an option for aldermen to request for any item to be pulled off the agenda
at the beginning of the meeting. The item then would go on the regular report, with the opportunity for
aldermen to ask questions if they have any. From there the City Clerk would decide where the item would
best placed. Mayor Prochaska suggested starting a consent agenda in January. The committee consented.
This item will go COW on December, 2002.
Proposed Entry Wav Signs
Mr. Graff reported that the company Plainfield that will be making the sign received the Mayors design and
is modifying it. He said that would have the design in by Wednesday.
Mayor Prochaska said that they received estimates from another sign design- company in Wisconsin but
their numbers came in $300 higher. He also said he would like to see the design have more detail and with
a natural wood with a red background. The costs could run around $2,800.
Mr. Graff stated that the signs are usually placed around the corridors of the city. This would currently
include several locations: Rt. 34 on both sides: Rt. 47 on both sides: 1 on Rt. 71 with the possibility of
adding another one at the other end of Rt. 71 and possibly one on Rt. 30.
Mayor Prochaska felt that with the natural wood background, it could save on having to repaint it.
Mr. Graff said that they usually need painting every 2 years.
Mayor Prochaska suggested that they could have a symbol at the top of the sign and the establishment or
settlement on the bottom. It was also suggested that a fox be added to the sign.
Mayor Prochaska stated that he is opting to go with settled because the United City of Yorkville was
actually formed in 1957, but the village of Yorkville was established in 1836.
This item will come back to the next Administration meeting on January 9, 2003.
Proposed Planning & Zoning Coordinator
Mrs. Pleckham stated that though the applicant for the Planning & Zoning Coordinator was qualified for
the position, they would be able to utilize her services but not yet hire her as a full -time City employee. She
can however bill the services out. This would provide us with a guide as to how many hours she's actually
using for the City and this particular function.
Chairperson Spears asked how many hours would she be using. Mrs. Pleckham said she was unsure right
now. Mrs. Pleckham referred to the contract agreement. See attached. Chairperson Spears pointed out the
position would be locked in on a 3 months notice. She added that it might not be a good idea to have the
position stated like that, in case they were to hire them on a full -time basis. She felt that since the City is
paying so much for Planning and Zoning people then maybe it is time they hired their own. She suggested
getting a spreadsheet of how much the City has paid this past year or a comparison of the past two years.
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Alderman Paul James said that they would not be able to hire one person with the multiple disciplines.
Chairperson Spears felt it should be something to at least consider. The spreadsheets could at least give a
comparison.
Mrs. Spears said that she would look into that. She also felt that the current way works well because the
people hired are experts. It also allows the City to monitor their hours, weekly and monthly. If there is an
issue with the way the contract is written then maybe it can be negotiated.
This item will come back to the next Administration meeting on January 9, 2003.
Comnuter Hardware — regarding Accountine Software
Mr. Graff reported that the City would need to upgrade to the Microsoft server MT. It would involve
integrating with RecTrac. That would enable us to track the dollars that are coming and going. He said that
they did get in all the other bids, but they could have their local vendor give the costs that way they would
not have to go to the RFP again. If he comes in under what the RFP's came in before then it will be okay. If
the bid comes in higher then Attorney Dan Kramer recommends going for the RFP. Mr. Graff said that they
should allow the vendor to come in with his price, if it is low then we can go with them and take it to
Cow.
Chairperson Spears asked what the price might be. Mr. Graff said that the hardware and server could run
around $7,000 plus another $7,000 for environmental software, depending on how many users there are.
He said the RFP's generally run from $25,0000 - $30,000.
Mr. Graff stated that they want to hold off integrating the whole city onto a wide area network on the
Microsoft MT, because NIU came in and talked to them about a proposal to do a study and that NIU would
do this as a practical project for their students. The City would pay for the Government Studies but it would
be very low. One thing that they will be looking at doing is developing a technology plan for the City. A
decision would need to be made if they would want the vendor to come in with the costs of the server and
to get the city on to a wide- area network.
Chairperson Spears stated that she would feel more comfortable with an RSP because she wouldn't want
anyone coming back and questioning the plan. Mr. Graff said that they could and that there is no rush to do
this. The payroll software that's coming in will work on the Nobel system with no problem. Chairperson
Spears added that she would like to see it get to our current vendor that is doing all of this then include the
other ones.
This item will come back to the next Administration meeting on January 9, 2003.
Agreement between United Citv of Yorkville Parks and Recreation Department and Youth,
Baseball /Softball Assoc.
Mr. Graff said that Laura Brown from Park and Rec. asked that regarding the contract with the youth
baseball, what would it cost to have the City do all of the maintenance of the fields. The youth baseball
used to do the maintenance on the fields and the school does the maintenance on the school time and the
City does the maintenance when everything is over. Mr. Graff had a list that Mrs. Brown had created with a
checklist, man- hours, and anything else that might be involved if the City took over the field. The issue is
that it came to about $27,000 in costs. The Recreation Board thought it viable to enter into this type of
agreement with the Youth Baseball. If the Youth Baseball did this then they would not have to increase
their fees.
Alderman Paul James asked if the Youth Baseball had an estimate of what they earned.
Mr. Graff said that last year the Youth Baseball collected about $36,000, but lost about $2,000. He
thought that it cost them about $15,000 in maintenance fees.
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Alderman James asked if it would be possible to purchase any of the maintenance equipment from the
Youth Baseball.
Mr. Graff said that some of the equipment was borrowed from the City. He thought that they would have to
buy a new drag liner.
Alderwoman Spears asked if the City was paying the proposed $27,000.
Mr. Graff said that Mrs. Brown mentioned there is verbage about a donation in the contract. Attorney
Kramer has the information on this but has not sent a memo as of yet. There should be word back on this
some time in March. The School District will take care of the field this season. The contract will be up for
re -newel in the summer. Laura Brown and Bob Williams of the School District will be having a joint
meeting with Brian DeBolt and Dr. Engler about all facilities. They are looking to pass something by
March.
Alderwoman Spears pointed out some corrections to be made in the draft. She asked Mr. Graff to point out
these items to Attorney Kramer.
Mr. Graff pointed out that ultimately the City is reliable for organized play on the fields. The City is
responsible for all the facilities. The City is insured for these types of things.
This item will go to the next COW, after the committee has heard back from Attorney Kramer.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30 p.m.
Minutes by Theresa Brady.
Revisions by Jackie Milschewski, City Clerk per Committee
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