Although it was not on the agenda, members of the Minonk City Council expressed their concern over the garbage pickup performed by Tomlinson Company for the city. Council member Keri Carls reported that she was having a problem with her garbage pickup at her residence. She said that she was told the broken broom handle she put in her garbage can would cost her $10 and she also said that she was told that they would only pick up household garbage. On the last garbage pickup day she noticed that there were several items at various residencies on Eighth Street that were not picked up by our garbage carrier. She said , " I am so mad with our garbage man and that we need to have a little "chit-chat" with him because I cannot have garbage sitting in front of my house and other residences in my ward that they will not pick up. Some people brought their garbage back in and others left it out on the street."
Alderman Corey Ruestman said that two weeks ago he had a barrel sitting outside half full of garbage that was not in a sack and on top of that garbage was 2 bags of garbage. He said that they drove by and dumped all of the cans and they would not pick up the 2 bags in the other barrel and throw then in the truck. Ruestman said, "If they do not want to pick the barrel up and dump it that is fine with me, but they would not even pick up my other 2 bags. I would have put them on the ground, but I did not want stray animals chewing holes in them."
Carls said that the garbage man opened every one of her garbage sacks and went through every piece of her garbage to see if she had only household garbage. She stated that the garbage employee told her it was $10 per item if it was not household garbage. She said that she had a broken toy truck, my broom stick, and so forth. Carls said, "If I would have added up the $10 charges, I would have had to pay him $150 for the items in my sacks and can."
City Administrator Trent Smith said that the city's contract with Tomlinson says that garbage is defined to include all organic household or kitchen waste such as food or food residues and any paper used for wrapping food. Smith said that according to the contract the employees are not supposed to argue with the customers. When a dispute arises between a resident and the licensee, the licensee will collect the garbage and inform the City Administrator within 24 hours. The purpose is to avoid disputes between the resident and the employees of the licensee. All complaints shall be resolved to the satisfaction of the City within 48 hours.
Mayor Koos said that we need to call Tomlinson Disposal and set up a meeting with them when Alderwoman Carls and Alderman Ruestman can both be present. Koos said that it is obvious that we have a discrepancy in the definition of garbage.
City Spring Cleanup Contract
City Administrator Smith said that the spring cleanup days are May 1st and May 2nd. At the time of the announcement, Smith said he did not have a cost estimate in from Tomlinson Disposal who has been doing it for several years. He said Tomlinson’s estimate has come in and it is for $8500 and that amount has increased $3000 in the past two years.
Smith said that he then went out and obtained a second estimate from Titan Environmental Services from El Paso, Illinois and that estimate was $4350. It is almost half of the estimate from Tomlinson Disposal.
Smith stated that if Titan is given the contract for clean up, he would suggest changing the dates to April 29 (Sunday) and April 30 (Monday). That is fine with Titan and it is still the day after the town wide garage sale. This would put clean up days on Sunday and Monday. Smith said the reason he would like to change the days is so that it does not coincide with the regular garbage pick up days of Tuesday and Wednesday by Tomlinson. It could be either before or after those days. He said if we have it before the regular garbage pick up days it will cause the least amount of problems and that is fine with Titan.
Smith said that Tomlinson’s contract is up in March of 2008. Alderman Petersen said that the present contract automatically renews if something is not brought up before a specific time. Smith said, "that we will need to review this contract in November and we have to give Tomlinson Disposal a 60 day notice that we will be going for bids on the garbage contract."
Smith said that one thing that is being considered in the next contract is to include the Spring Clean Up with the contract and it would be once a month or every week or whatever can be worked out with the hauler.
The Council approved the contact with Titan Environmental Services of El Paso, Illinois for $4,350 for Spring Clean Up and the pick up dates be changed to April 29 (Sunday) for the West side and April 30 (Monday) for the East side.
Utility Rate Ammendment
City Administrator Smith reported that the Utility Rate Ordinance provides that from time to time adjustments can be made to the rates for water, sewer and garbage utilities. It has to be approved by a motion of the Council. Smith said every year annual costs keep going up for chemicals, electricity, and repairs. He said this was discussed at a Finance Committee meeting and they recommended a 3% increase in the water and sewer rates. This would be $.25 on a minimum bill or $3.00 per year.
All Council members were in agreement to change the ordinance to index the costs and vote on it at the next Council meeting on April 2, 2007.
New Rec Board Appointee
Mayor Koos announced the resignation of Melissa Hillenburg from the Recreation Board. The City Council approved the appointment of Scott Ruestman to the Recreation Board as her replacement.
New Police Officer Appointed
City Administrator Trent Smith reported that four people were interviewed for the full-time position of police officer and that the Public Safety Committee unanimously selected Chris Renken. He is currently enrolled in PTI and will be done in a month or two. Smith said he is also currently working for the city as a part-time police officer and the recommendation from the Public Safety Committee is to appoint Chris Renken as full-time police officer beginning May 1, 2007. The council approved the nomination.
Other Business
City Administrator Smith said that currently two of our three squad cars have a computer and an ILEAS(Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System) grant would provide a computer for the third car. The grant has been approved and was applied for by Police Chief Cavera. The total cost of the computer system including the docking station is $6,920 and the city will have to pay for installation.
Smith also reported that the City of Minonk has applied for and has been approved for overtime and equipment costs expended for the ice storm that occured on November 30 and December 1, 2006. The reimbursement from the United States Department of Homeland Security (FEMA) is $7,736.64.
Public Comments
Bill Bane said that he would like to suggest that the Spring Clean Up not be done around the churches on Sunday while they are having services and leave these areas until Monday.
Mayor Koos responded that was a good idea and we will talk to Titan Environmental Services about that issue.
Bill Bane would like to know about the baseball diamonds and said that the high school boy’s team is going to Wenona this year.
Mayor Koos said that it was in the budget process and that the Farnsworth Group has been up here to look at the diamonds. Koos said, "We are going to address the needs that need to be addressed out there and fix it, but it is not going to change the time table just because they moved the games. We had planned on July and August to do a majority of the work and we are getting the information and costs together and will be repairing the fields. We are fixing the ball fields for the community of Minonk and not for the school district. What the school district does is not our business."
City Administrator Comments
Reported that he has someone from the Illinois Department of Natural Resource coming this Friday to look at the site for our recreational trails and that we could possibly get a grant for them.
Mayor's Comments
Mayor Koos told Woodford Journal editor Julia Voss that this town sincerely appreciates every thing that she has done for this community. Koos said, "You did it professionally, with a passion, and everybody was informed and knew what was going on. And you always did it with a smile and were always polite and there is nothing but praise for you in this community. And we are going to miss you and thank you for a job well done."