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Admin Committee Minutes 2002 11-14-02 UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE APPROVED WITH CORRECTIONS ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 14, 2002 6:30 P.M. In Attendance: Mayor Art Prochaska Alderwoman Valerie Burd Chief Harold Martin Alderwoman Rose Spears City Finance Director Traci Pleckham Guests: Greg Freeman of Freeman's Sports Sue Vos of the Aurora Area CUB Laura Brown Yorkville Park and Recreation OLD BUSINESS: REVIEW OF REVISED AURORA TOURISM 3 -YEAR CONTRACT (FROM 9/19 ADMIN) Alderwoman Rose Spears stated that regarding the contract terms with Aurora Tourism, whatever the committee decides would be pending with subject to Attorney Dan Kramer's review. This item is a 5- year contract with the option to op out after a 3- year period. If the City should decide not to continue after the 3 -year period then they would need to give a 60 day notice. Alderwoman Rose Spears reported that she had spoken with North Aurora. Their hotel properties sent correspondence to them and they recommended staying on with Aurora Tourism. Alderwoman Spears had checked with the 2 Yorkville hotel owners. She did not have any luck with Lydia's Hotel owners. She had also spoken with Mr. Patel of the Super 8 Motel. Mr. Patel said he does not feel like his business is getting any benefits from the City's participation with the Aurora Convention Visitors Bureau and it is not worth the tax dollars that are collected by the City. He finally stated that he is definitely not in favor of a new contract. Sue Voss of the Aurora Area CUB asked Alderwoman Spears to check with the proper owner /manager to verify that because she felt that they do receive benefits because they own multiple hotels. Business owner Greg Freeman of Freeman Sports commented that there was a misunderstanding with the coupons, which the state had given out. He said that the coupons do not work well with his business, but that the Aurora Tourism does a lot of good for his business. Alderwoman Valerie Burd felt that it would be a beneficial to the City to renew the contract. She said it would be unfortunate for the City not to participate because we do not have the resources to market Yorkville as effectively as the Aurora Tourism Bureau. Mrs. Voss stated that the Aurora Convention Visitors Bureau would be issuing a new a Value Card to Aurora Hotels. Included on the back of the card will be special values offered and that a few Yorkville businesses will be listed as participants. This item will go to COW on December 19, 2002. SALARY SURVEY UPDATE This item was tabled. REVIEW CITY EMPLOYEE NEXTEL /CELL PHONE USE (FROM 10 /10 ADMIN) Alderwoman Spears stated that there was a problem with the information that they had received. The committee was to receive an itemized list of minutes and of times the calls were being made. Instead they received only a summary of the minutes. i City Finance Director Traci Pleckham stated that they do have the detailed information but that they would display it for the office to view. There were certain numbers on the list they did not want to be on the record. Mayor Prochaska suggested for the committee to put a policy together indicating specifically how phones will be used for all city employees both full and part-time. He also said it would be difficult to determine if there are employees making personal calls, but that it should also be indicated in the policy. Alderman Marty Munns suggested also stating in the policy that if there are any personal calls that are made with the City phones then the City should be reimbursed by the individual(s). Mrs. Pleckham stated that Public Works now has the employee's sign off on any overages on their plan and they do pay for it. She said that she received a memo from Kim stating that the City will be going with a Government National Plan which will save the City $5,000 annually. Alderwoman Valerie Burd pointed out that only when employees go over the minute limit is when it would need to be tracked. Alderwoman Spears suggested that certain departments could benefit from having 2 —way phones. Mayor Prochaska mentioned having the spare phones to be used as 2 -way phones. He added that it might be a good policy to have at least one phone in the building at all times and then the other phone(s) could be used by employees that might need them while out on the field. i Mayor Prochaska suggested having the committee write down their ideas and concerns on the subject and send them to City Administrator Tony Graff to review and get language on. That way it would ensure everyone's concerns are addressed. Alderwoman Spears added that she felt that not everyone who is employed by the City should have access to a Nextel provided by the City. Laura Brown of Yorkville Parks and Recreations stated that the best possible thing would be to set the standard of what positions needs phones and what kinds of phones they would need. It should be up to the Department heads to determine that and submit the information to the committee for review. This item will come back next month with anticipation of reviewing information received from the Department heads regarding the phones. STATUS OF EMPLOYEE MANUAL This item was tabled. I STATUS OF CORRECTED STATE OF ILLINOIS OFFICIAL WEB PAGE, Alderwoman Spears stated that while reviewing the States official web page she discovered that the page was actually unofficial. Mrs. Brown suggested sending an e-mail to the webmaster and ask them to link to the correct official website. The webmaster would then do the research and e-mail back answering whether or not it can be linked. Alderwoman Spears suggested handing this item over to Mr. Graff for his review. NEW BUSINESS: 2003/2204 TAX Levv Mrs. Pleckham pointed out an error on the first page. The homeowner's tax amount should be changed to $7 instead of $24. i I Mayor Prochaska stated that after reviewing this item with other Department heads they found no reassurance of general properties assessments stayed at 1.6% CPI based upon resale and improvements. See attached. Mayor Prochaska suggested going with Options 1 based upon their review. This item will go to COW on December 19, 2002. SPONSORSHIP PROPOSAL FOR PARK BROCHURE & CITY NEWSLETTER (LAURA, BROWN) Mrs. Brown brought samples of other newsletters. She stated that the committee can set the perimeters of the front and back covers of the newsletter and that there is limited space for advertising. She mentioned that there are other Park Districts that only use the back cover ads. Alderwoman Spears stated she would like to see that The United City of Yorkville letterhead stay on the newsletter. Alderwoman Burd stated she wouldn't like to see ads go into the City newspaper. Alderman Munns added he wouldn't want it overpowered with ads. Alderwoman Spears suggested having only local businesses participate. Alderwoman Burd stated she would like to keep the newsletter personal. Mayor Prochaska voiced concern on getting people to read the newsletter. He suggested trying to find a way to get people to read it without adding too much advertisement. He felt it should be dedicated to stories and issues about Yorkville. He suggested keeping ads on the back cover with a limit of 5 ads. Alderwoman Spears asked that if it is passed by committee if there be anyone in house that would know how to put the letter together. Mrs. Brown said that she had spoken with Deputy Clerk Liz D'Ana and they would do the newsletter together. Alderwoman Spears asked about costs of the newsletter. Mrs. Brown said the budget on the current newsletter is $700. The new newsletter pages would go down from 12 to 8 that would come to savings of $500. Two or three ads could easily pay for the whole piece. This item will go to COW on December 19, 2002. ADMINISTRATOR'S ASSISTANT JOB DESCRIPTION (TONY) Alderwoman Spears stated that this item has been changed and revised. Changes made are as follows: 1. The Administrator's Assistant will now evaluate part-time Administrative Staff person. 2. Item 5 will include acting liaison to Chamber and downtown striations and the City Attorney. 3. Preparation and disbursement of Agendas and packets was taken out, it now goes to the City Clerk. 4. The duty to act as liaison to the Administrator and the City Attorney's office was also taken out. This item will go to COW on December 19, 2002. ASSIST 2003 — FIRST TIME HOMBUYER DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, (TRACIO Alderwoman Spears stated that this item was reviewed. She mentioned that it consisted of charts and breakdowns of information and the progress of this program. She commented that it is helping people in the community. This item will go to COW on December 19,2002. PUBLIC SAFETY REOUEST TO HIRE NEW OFFICER IN JANUARY (HAROLD Alderwoman Spears stated that the Public Safety Committee has passed this item. Chief Harold Martin stated that there would be enough money in the budget to hire a new police officer in January. He said that the costs are approximately $17,000, which also includes benefits. It would be 6 —7 months before the policeman would actually be out working the streets and depends on if they would be full -time or part-time. They will go to the list to choose who will be hired. This item will go to COW on December 19,2002. WATER METER POLICIES (RICHARD/ROSE3 Alderwoman Spears stated that Alderman Sticka brought to attention that there were no water meters in the model homes of certain subdivisions. He said that people that were using the homes were using water for coffee and bathroom use. Alderman Sticka asked if there were a policy for this and how to prevent it. Alderwoman Spears said that there is a list with problems associated with the water meters. These problems need to be addressed. See attached. Finance Director Traci Pleckham mentioned that they are in the process of estimating bills. Mayor Prochaska said that many items on the list have been taken care of by Public Works and that Public Works Director Eric Dhuse is aware of the problems. The Mayor suggested checking with Mr. Dhuse to get an update on the list. Alderwoman Spears stated that Judy Dyon of Public Works has put packets together for Building and Zoning and she has not received much response from them. This would include a form that would let the City know the date of occupancy and names of the new home- owners. Mrs. Dyon is still doing some research on the matter. Mayor Prochaska mentioned that regarding billing for the water that it should start with the developer before there is occupancy. Usually at the time of the sale they do a read of the meter then and that should get charged back to the builder for any use before that time, after that it goes on the list for a regular reading. Alderwoman Spears stated that on new construction the builder pays only for the water usage, but on a model home the builder also has to pay the Sanitary District. She said that Mrs. Dyon recommended that in order to ensure this before occupancy, that building and zoning issue permits. Mayor Prochaska stated that that gets done at final plumbing inspection. He suggested that if they do find a model home or home that is under construction that has disconnected the meter, they should jack up the fine. That would hopefully make it undesirable for builders to want to do that. Alderwoman Spears felt the best way to deal with it is to review the old policy and update it. Alderwoman Spears also made mention of problem with the Bristol/Yorkville Sanitary District and residents being charged for watering their lawns. Mayor Prochaska said he had asked the Sanitary District about that and they said that it regards the graduated billing for the debt service. Alderwoman Spears said that she had discussed with Mr.Graff about the possibility of hiring more staff for Public Works. These item will come back to the next Administration meeting on December 12,2002. i UTILITY BILL PAYMENT ASSISTANCE (JUDY/HRCj This item was in regards to a memo submitted by Mrs. Dyon. She recommended that the City set up a separate program for public assistance for those residents who need help paying their utilities. Mayor Prochaska suggested having a meeting with Mrs. Dyon and Attorney Dan Kramer to work out the issues of the aid to those who need help paying their utilities. This item will come back to the next Administration meeting on December 12, 2002, PROPOSED CONTRACT FOR WEB DEVELOPMENT AND TECHNOLOGY SERVICES, Mrs. Pleckham stated that City is in need of someone who could do the service of computer /software. Though there is a computer tech person we are not as integrated as well as we should be and there needs to be someone who can check it regularly. Mrs.Pleckham stated that there is money in the budget for this under computer requirements. This item will go to COW on December 19,2002. ADDITIONAL BUSINESS: Mr. Graff is reviewing the 6 -month budget and Mrs. Pleckham requests to send it directly to the COW meeting on December 19,2002 COW. Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m. Minutes by Theresa Brady. Revisions by Jackie Milschewski, City Clerk as per Committee's instructions. I