Administration Minutes 2011 08-18-11
APPROVED 9/15/11
UNITED CITY OF YORKVILLE
ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE
Thursday, August 18, 2011
City Hall Conference Room
COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:
Alderman Spears, Chair
Alderman Colosimo
Alderman Munns
OTHER CITY OFFICIALS PRESENT:
City Administrator Bart Olson
Treasurer Bill Powell
Finance Director Rob Fredrickson
HR Manager Meghan Ostreko
Mayor Golinski
CITIZENS:
The meeting was called to order at 6:00pm.
Citizen Comments:
As there were no citizens present, there were no citizen comments.
Minutes for Correction/Approval:
July 21, 2011
Chair Spears had several grammatical and structural corrections that will be forwarded to
staff for correction. The minutes will be presented at the next meeting for approval.
New Business:
1. ADM 2011 – 37 Monthly Budget Report for July 2011
Following a brief discussion regarding the dollar figure associated with the
Liability Insurance, Administrator Olson discussed an upcoming future
expense in Professional Services. The Police server needs to be replaced and
the City server is at 95% capacity. The replacement of these servers creates a
need for software and other equipment upgrades costing between $40,000 and
$60,000. Though this amount is not reflected in the IT budget, there is
contingency money available for these upgrades. Once the final details are
completed, the proposal will be submitted to Council for approval.
At this time, the Committee altered the agenda to address item 4 on the agenda.
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4. ADM 2011 – 40 Employee Manual Revision
The current Employee Manual was approved in 2004, and since that time,
there have been various policy revisions as well as multiple personnel policy
amendments. In its current state, the Employee Manual is incomplete and
inefficient as it lacks clear standards for personnel practices and fails to
address many labor laws.
Staff has been working on a revised Employee Manual over the past several
years by researching other municipalities’ manuals, studying labor laws and
discussing past experiences and practices. Many of the revisions are relatively
minor, made to provide clarification on some issues or to provide information
where there previously was none. Other minor revisions include relieving the
Mayor of some of the day-to-day duties and shifting that burden to the City
Administrator.
There are also several areas of change that will have a much larger impact and
will be a shift from current practices. The following areas require some extra
attention and discussion:
Part-Time Employees (Section 1.4.4) – Staff is proposing removing the
requirement that part-time employees must receive City Council approval to
work more than 1,000 per year. Employees expected to work more than 1,000
hour must be enrolled in IMRF. This should be approved by the budget
process rather than on an individual basis. In IMRF benefits can be covered
by the budget than no additional authorization should be required. The
Committee agreed with this provision as the Council still maintains budgetary
control. Administrator Olson stated that additional provisions could be added
that would prevent transferring of part-time positions between departments
and possibly designated specifically the positions that are IMRF eligible.
Drug Free Work Place Policy (Section 3.3 & 3.4) – Staff is proposing
expanding this section to provide much more detail into our drug testing
policies and practices. Separate (but similar) policies for DOT (those holding
a CDL license) and non-DOT employees. Up for consideration is random
testing for non-DOT employees, which is not something we currently do (it is
required for DOT employees), and offering a last chance work agreement for
employees testing positive for drugs and/or alcohol. The Committee
requested that staff determine which employees are DOT qualified.
Additionally, the Committee disagreed with the suggestion to eliminate the
zero-tolerance policy.
Information Systems Use Policy (Section 4.4 & 4.5) – The former IT
Specialist drafted an updated and expanded policy in regards to computer and
internet use and monitoring, as well as email use and retention and electronic
records retention. One specific change is allowing limited personal internet
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use during break or non-work times in recognition that this is a currently
accepted practice (examples: checking personal email or shopping online
during lunch). Administrator Olson informed the Committee that there had
been a couple of recent cases that have defined internet usage as similar to
phone usage. The Committee felt assured that with filters, a firewall and
limited tracking, this policy change would be appropriate.
Grievances (Section 5.3) – Staff is proposing implementing a three-step
process for filing a grievance and shortening the time frames in which a
grievance must be presented and responded to. The proposed process would
require a grievance to be filed within two days of an incident (currently 15
days) with the maximum time frame for resolving the grievance being 23
working days (Currently 81 calendar days). The Committee agreed with this
proposal.
Work Related Injuries (Section 7.5) – Staff is proposing a more descriptive
section regarding Worker’s Compensation to provide employees with more
description on the process. Also proposed is a requirement for transitional
duty (light duty) in which employees released by a doctor to light duty are
required to report to work when there is light duty work available. This is not
something we currently practice. The Committee discussed the need for a
light duty provision to encourage employees to get back to their regular jobs.
They agreed with the proposed revisions.
Vacation Leave (Section 7.1) – There are two major changes proposed in
regards to vacation time. The first is allowing a limited amount of vacation
time (40 hours) to be used after six months of employment as opposed to one
year. The Committee requested staff consider the possibility of PTO (paid
time off), which would allow employees to use their time as they earn it.
However, if PTO is not an option, they agreed with this revision. The second
change is increasing the amount of vacation time for exempt employees in
recognition for the long hours that the employees work. The Committee felt
that there should be different tiers for exempt and non-exempt employees.
Sick Leave (Section 7.3) – Proposed changes include allowing sick leave for
doctor/dental/vision appointments and to care for a sick family member. Also
proposed is a requirement for doctor’s verification if an employee uses 3 or
more consecutive days of sick leave and disciplinary action for excess use of
sick leave without medical verification. Again, the Committee felt that the
creation of PTO would eliminate the need for this provision; however, absent
that, they agreed with the revision.
Employee Termination and Exit Process – This would be a brand new section
as our current Employee Manual only has one paragraph addressing only
layoffs (section 2.4). This section would also address retirement and
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voluntary resignation, provide for an exit interview and detail benefits payouts
and medical benefits continuation.
Hiring Policy (Section 2.1) – The hiring policy in the 2004 employee manual
was amended in 2006 (Resolution 2006-77). That policy will be included in
the revised manual with some minor changes. New hires will continue to be
subject to budget approval. A section on job description creation is also
proposed. This section will give job description approval authority to the City
Administrator and Mayor. Salary ranges will continue to be approved by the
city Council.
Staff assured the Committee that further updates would be made, and that a
redline copy would be provided to the Committee and Council before a final
document is created.
At this time, the Committee returned to the regular order of the agenda
2. ADM 2011 – 38 Treasurer’s Report for July 2011
Treasurer Powell reported that the beginning fund balance was $1,172,613;
the July revenues at $930,085; July expenses of $1,123,592, and an end
balance of $8,846,126. Finance Director Frederickson stated the auditors had
completed their review and he was waiting on their final report. The
Committee agreed to move this item to the Council’s consent agenda.
3. ADM 2011 – 39 Cash Statement for June 2011
The Committee accepted this as an informational item.
5. ADM 2011 – 41 Amusement Tax
This item was requested by Alderwoman Spears at the July 26, 2011 City
Council meeting. This item was last discussed by the City Council on
October 26, 2010. The discussion at that meeting was to repeal the 3%
amusement tax in total, which failed by a 5-4 vote.
Staff strongly recommends leaving the amusement tax in place as the
businesses that provide amusements have a unique good or service that do not
generate sales taxes, and often the amusements are a greater burden on City
resources than other businesses. Also, the largest majority of amusement
taxes come from Raging Waves, which itself has a customer base that is
primarily non-Yorkville residents meaning that most of the amusement tax is
being paid by non-residents. Finally, the City no longer receives a portion of
the admissions tax, which means the amusement tax is the only revenue other
than property tax being received by the City from Raging Waves.
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The Amusement Tax Ordinance imposes a 3% amusement tax on all
amusement and amusement devices in the City. The ordinance defines
amusement devices as “all mechanical devices of entertainment and games of
skill or amusement…including: video games, arcade games, billiards and pool
tables, pinball games, virtual reality games and computerized games.” In
short, amusement devices are arcade games and other arcade-like devices.
Amusements are defined as “all participatory, spectator, exhibitive diversions
and entertainments…including: theatrical, dramatic, musical or spectacular
performance; motion picture show; flower, poultry or animal show; carnival;
amusement park rides; animal acts; circuses, rodeos, athletic contests and
sports or games…” In short, amusements are anything that can be rented to
take to a party, and any ticket you would pay to see a movie, play, or sporting
event. The ordinance requires the amusement to be collected from the user of
the amusement, not from the business profiting from the amusement. The
business must only collect the tax and remit it to the City every month, with
provisions to delay payment if the amount of amusement tax collected is
minimal. The amusement tax does not apply to non-profit and governmental
entities.
The yearly budgetary impact of repealing the amusement tax is $134,000 in
FY 13 and likely to increase substantially each year going forward. Most of
the amusement tax will be generated by Raging Waves, which has had
significant increases in the amount of tickets sold each year, and of which
more than 50% of their revenues are derived from people from outside of
Yorkville. With Raging Waves potential growth in the future, the impact of
repeal of the amusement tax could be two to three times the current amount.
Finally, with the partial repeal of the admissions tax for Raging Waves (done
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at City Council on July 26), a repeal of the amusement tax would leave not
City tax revenue form ticket sales at Raging Waves. From a larger
perspective, it is doubtful the city will be able to afford Route 47 construction
and River Road bridge construction if the amusement tax is repealed.
Some of the more unique amusements in the City create issues for staff that
are much more time intensive than other businesses. For example, Raging
Waves is one of the largest tourist attractions in the immediate area. On any
given day, there are close to 1,000 cars and 3,000 visitors to the park. While
Raging Waves has been particularly good at providing security on their
property, there are impacts on City services associated with the crowds that
are far beyond most other businesses in the City. Another smaller example is
Parfection Park. Due to its use, we take more complaints about the businesses
than most other businesses in that area. In the past year alone, we have had
dozens of conversations with the management at the facility, the owner, and
the surrounding residents about various issues at the Park. While the business
owner has been diligent in reducing those complaints, it still takes staff time to
resolve the complaints. Without the amusement tax, there is no revenue
generated in the facility other than property tax. While Raging Waves and
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Parfection Park pay property taxes to the City, the ratio of services provided to
taxes received is much higher than other businesses in the City (if the
amusement tax is factored out of the comparison). Again, the amusements
that are taxed under the amusement tax do not have sales taxes put upon them.
So, if the amusement tax is repealed those uses will generate no tax revenue
for the City.
The Committee agreed that based upon the information provided by staff,
there was no need to move forward with any changes to the Amusement Tax.
6. ADM 2011 – 42 Training and Conferences - Discussion
Staff is asking for reaffirmation from the Administration Committee that
professional development opportunities, which are budgeted for FY 12, may
be completed, and presentation of a potential option for the IML conference.
As part of FY 12 budget approval, there was money appropriated in each
department for training and conferences. Some of the training and
conferences will meet requirements for job certifications and professional
standards, and others will be for general education and training as items come
up. Before expenses for airline tickets, hotel rooms, management seminars,
etc. show up on the bill list, staff wanted to reaffirm the City Council’s
commitment to professional development for staff. In many cases, City staff
has not attended professional conferences and seminars for the past four years.
While we will always make every attempt to stay current on best practices and
procedures through other methods, there is no quicker way to educate an
employee by sending them to a national or state conference and immersing
them in professional development seminars for a continuous 48 or 72 hours.
An example of a requirement for mandatory certification is the Illinois Parks
and Recreation Association State Conference for Superintendent of Recreation
Tim Evans and Recreation Coordinator Shay Rosborough. This conference is
held in Chicago each year and is the largest Parks and Recreation conference
held in the Midwest. Both employees have a CPRP certification; which is
required by their job description that obligates them a certain amount of
professional development each year. They can both satisfy an entire year’s
worth of professional development standards over a three-day period. The
cost is $600 per person.
An example of a requirement for non-mandatory certification is the
International City/County Management Conference for City Administrator
Bart Olson. This is the largest city management conference in the country and
this year it is being held in Milwaukee. Administrator Olson has a “credential
manager candidate” certification through ICMA, which is the industry
standard for city managers. The CM-candidate certification is not required
but is something that undertaken voluntarily in order to demonstrate
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commitment to ongoing education. The City benefits from this certification
both in the knowledge obtained and showing residents the commitment to run
a professional and efficient organization. The four-day conference can satisfy
an entire year’s worth of professional development. Since it is being held in
Milwaukee, it is cheaper to attend this year than in following years. The last
ICMA conference attended by the City Administrator was in 2007. The cost
for this conference would be approximately $1,450, $650 in fees and $800
hotel expenses).
Some of the general training that is not tied to certifications includes the
Payroll seminar for Accounting Clerks, the Advanced Governmental
Accounting Seminar for the Finance Director, and the Document retention
Policy Seminar for the Clerk’s office. Additionally, the IML conference is
professional development for elected officials. While the City Council
removed funding for the IML Conference, there is a potential that the costs of
registration for each elected official covered through a donation to the City.
Travel and lodging costs would have to be borne by each individual. Specific
seminars at the IML Conference that would be beneficial to each official
include 1) Municipal Participation in Environmental Clean-up and
Remediation; 2) Repositioning and Negotiating Land Use Issues; 3) Pension
Reform; 4) New Life for Trouble Subdivisions; 5) Effective Performance
Measurements for Local Government; 6) Privatization, Shared Services, and
Mutual Aid Agreements; 7) Hitting the Target: How to Develop and
Implement a Successful Retail Recruitment Strategy for Your Community; 8)
Preventing Violence Against Public Officials: Stop the Insanity Before in
Begins; 9) Strategies, Practices & Technologies of Electronic Government;
10) Managing Critical Performance and Employment Issues with High Level
Municipal Employees; 11) The Nuts and Bolts of Community Surveying; 12)
Home Rule vs. Non-Home Rule: The Pros and Cons of Each; and 13) Best
Practices and Budgeting Techniques for the “New Normal”.
The Committee agreed that the proposed training for staff, as it has been
budgeted, should be implemented. Additionally, the Committee agreed that is
would be appropriate that at a minimum, the Mayor attend the IML
conference, but that it would be beneficial for all members to attend.
Additionally, the Committee agreed that it would not be appropriate to accept
donations to cover the expenses for the Alderman. It was agreed that the City
would provide funding for the registration and one night’s lodging for each
Alderman. It was up to each individual Alderman to determine if they would
attend.
7. ADM 2011 – 43 City Services Survey
Over the past several months, different committees have discussed gathering
public input on different City topics. Just last month, at both Administration
and public Works committee meetings, the committee members suggested that
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a survey be conducted in the near future. During the brief discussion at the
Administration Committee about how to conduct the survey, the committee
members ruled out a mailed survey, due to cost and administrative difficulty.
The last time a comprehensive survey was conducted by the city was in
2007/2008, for Parks and Recreation services. At that time, the City paid
Northern Illinois University $10,000 to do create the survey and then execute
the survey through mail and telephone.
There are several online survey websites that would fit our needs. Staff will
do further research to pick a particular vendor, but all can be done for less
than $500 in subscription costs. With a web survey, we are able to assign
each water billing customer a random password, which will allow the
customer to log into the survey website and conduct the survey. This
guarantees we are only hearing from each household once. Specific
arrangements at the Library and City Hall could be made for those without
internet access, by printing on the utility bill hours of computer availability at
both locations.
By studying surveys completed in other cities, and by doing online research
on proper question phrasing, I am confident we can create a survey, which
yields reliable, valid data. However, I do not have an estimate for when a
survey could be completed, until we have a better idea of the types of topics
we want to include within the survey. Staff has brain stormed several topics
that can be discussed by the Committee.
The Committee reviewed the questions proposed by staff. It was determined
that the focus of the questions needed to focus on safety issues as well as
infrastructure (i.e. roads) and should be limited to no more than 25.
Additionally, it was proposed that provisions be made for those residents who
do not pay water bills (i.e. renters).
Old Business:
1. ADM 2011 – 34 Home Rule – Discussion
There was no additional information and the Committee agreed to remove this
item from Old Business.
2. ADM 2011 – 36 Library Impact Fee Ordinance
Alderman Colosimo reported that he had spoken to the Library Board and
they agreed to reduce the impact fee by $100 as long as other governmental
entities were also willing to make the same reduction. Additionally, the
Library would be given full access to the remaining $400 of the impact fee.
Additionally, although the Library Board understood the Committees concern
regarding the number of staff, they stated that many of these positions were
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part-time and required flexible scheduling. Additionally, they did were
already in the process of reviewing the need for four janitorial staff members.
There was further discussion regarding the need for the School Board to be on
board with this change and a suggestion that Council member act as liaison to
the school board.
3. ADM 2011 – 39 Residential Solid Waste Franchise Agreement
The next step in this process is the creation of an RFP, which must be
approved by City Council prior to being sent to vendors. The draft RFP will
either be presented at the meeting. This agenda is being brought back in case
anyone received new feedback from residents about the service, or if any of
the Alderman had questions about the RFP or the service. The Committee
determined that an RFP was appropriate because Waste Management has been
making contact with the City stating their desire to bid for this contract. The
committee reiterated the importance of ensuring that the same service
residents currently received would be part of the RFP. Additionally, the RFP
needed to include quotes with the recyclables revenue being returned to the
City as well as without the revenue stream.
4. ADM 2011 – 24 Procedural Ordinance
This item was last discussed at the May Administration Committee meeting.
At that meeting, the Committee asked staff to take certain components of the
City’s repealed governing ordinance and recommend them for inclusion in a
new procedural ordinance. Pending committee direction, the following items
will be formatted into an ordinance for a future committee meeting, or
presentation to the City Council.
For City Council meetings, 1) meetings shall be regularly scheduled to
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convene on the 2 and 4 Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm in the City Hall
Council Chambers; 2) City Council meetings shall be generally conducted
according to a formatted agenda template; 3) no ordinance or resolution shall
be voted on at a City Council meeting unless the item to be voted on has been
presented in its final form to the Corporate Authorities at least four days prior
to the vote; 4) no application presented during a public hearing shall be voted
on during the same City Council meeting in which that public hearing is held
unless a super majority of the Council votes otherwise; 5) City Council
meeting agenda items may be added by the Mayor, consent of four (4)
aldermen, or direction from a committee; and 6) the Mayor shall preside over
City Council meeting as the Chairman, unless the Mayor is unavailable, at
which time the Mayor Pro-Tem, shall preside. In regards to the provision as
to how the Mayor Pro-tem is nominated and voted upon, staff agreed to
review Roberts Rules of Order for guidance. For the Committees, a) the
Mayor shall be a non-voting member of all standing committees; b) the
Mayor shall select committee members every two years; c) the Mayor shall
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select committee chairmen and vice-chairmen; d) any alderman may add any
agenda item to any committee agenda; e) Committee Chairs may select
liaisons to other organizations and boards provided that the other
organizations by-laws may govern the selection of the liaison; f) the four
committees shall be Public Works, Public Safety; Administration and
Economic Development; g) each Committee shall be presided over by its
chairman, or in the absence of the Chair, the vice chairman; h) Committee
meetings may be canceled by the Chairman of the committee if there is not a
quorum of the members present, or there are no agenda items which require
action by a committee; and i) when moving items from the committee agenda
to a City Council agenda, the committee shall make a recommendation
whether that item should be on consent agenda or the committee’s report. If
on the committee’s report, the committee shall make a recommendation
whether the item is up for the first reading, or is on the City Council agenda
for action.
Following this discussion, Mayor Golinski stated the following Vice Chairs
for each of the Committees: Public Safety will be Alderman Kot, Economic
Development will be Alderman Funkhouser, Public Works will be Alderman
Milschewski, and Admin will be Alderman Gilson.
Additional Business:
Alderman Colosimo asked upon upgrading the video recordings of Council meetings on
the website. Administrator Olson stated that the hosting site determined whether or not
the recordings were continuous.
Alderman Munns asked when the new ward maps would be available. Administrator
Olson stated examples will be provided next month and finalized by the end of the year.
Mayor Golinski informed the Committee that the County voted down KenCom.
Treasurer Powell stated that the audit of the Police Pensions was almost completed and
expected a report within 30 days.
There being no further business, the Committee adjourned at 9:10pm.
Minutes Respectfully Submitted by:
Kristia Leyendecker, Minute Taker
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