The Minonk City Council approved to spend $10,000 for an engineering study for drainage analysis in the city at their normal Monday night meeting on May 18.
Mayor Bill Koos gave the Council a list of the three most important areas that have some water problems and sanitary sewer problems.
• Farm field located south of the Fourth Street & Lincoln Street intersection.
• Area between Lincoln Street & Walnut Street located in the 7th Street to 8th Street corridor
• Area in the vicinity of the Elm Court cul-de-sac
Bob Kohlhase, from the engineering firm The Farnsworth Group, said a survey would identify the exact elevations of these locations and would also determine if there is enough slope to get the water out of there. Kohlcase said that you really cannot add water to the sewers to go to the treatment plant. He encouraged the city to do it right the first time and fix the problem by sending the water to a creek and not through the sewer plant.
Alderman Sean Cunningham asked about the concerns of a resident at the end of 5th Street that has a water problem. Kohlcase responded that it would not be a problem to look at that also.
Alderman Cunningham said that there is also a need to take a look at the north end of Washington Street. Kohlcase said they have looked at that area in the past and when that whole sector gets developed there will be a need for a new outlet for the quadrant.
Storm Sewer Update
Kohlhase reported that he drove the town before the meeting and looked at all of the different drainage issues and reviewed the most recent project. He said it looks like the streets are in good shape and asked if there have been any complaints with the last rain we received and have we had successful drainage.
Mayor Koos reported that he surveyed the recent project during the recent rains and said the project was working fine at both ends.
The Council approved pay request Number 2 from Opperman Construction for $183,311.55 for the storm sewer project. Kohlcase said that there will be one more pay request that will address balancing change orders and they will meet with Opperman Construction to settle these and work out the details.
Chaning City Treasurer Position to Appointive
The Council unanimously approved an ordinance that changes the position of City Treasurer from elective to appointive.
Demolition of Abandoned Buildings
Mayor Koos passed out several pictures of two abandoned sites (736 Johnson Street and 828 Jefferson Street) which were taken by Police Chief Cavera. Chief Cavera reported that the 736 Johnson site belonged to Eylene Persic who is deceased and the other at 828 Jefferson belongs to Steve Bottcher who is in a nursing home.
Mayor Koos said the city attorney has given us what our options are as to what we can do with those parcels of property. He said that it is going to cost taxpayer dollars to do something about it and on average you get about 50 cents on the dollars spent back if you get anything at all.
Koos said that this is a very complicated issue and one that can either be sent to a committee and work through this or just go ahead and start proceedings. The mayor said the City has been mowing some of the foreclosed homes simply because we cannot get anybody else to mow it. He added the City cannot send a bill to anybody because a lot of these homes are being sold below market value which does not give the City a position at all. The banks are taking all the money they can get out of these foreclosed properties. Koos said that all the City is doing is trying to satisfy the area residents so it does not become a complete eyesore.
Police Chief Cavera reported that investment groups are paying the taxes on the abandoned properties at Johnson and Jefferson and the State of Illinois has a lien on both properties.
Mayor Koos said the cost to proceed will average $8000 and told the Council the police chief needs direction here.
The Council was in agreement to have Chief Cavera begin proceedings with the City Attorney concerning abandoned buildings in the City.
Mayor's Appointments
Mayor Koos announced that the Pubic Works Committee has been split up and will now consist of two committees, Streets and Alleys/Sidewalks and Water and Sewer. Koos said that there are so many issues with each segment and that is why he separated them. Also he reported that during the recent election a number of people told him they have concerns about their alleys and sidewalks.
Mayor Koos said that the committee needs to prioritize how much money to spend on the alleys and prioritize the installation of new sidewalks and how many lineal feet every year and which ones get done.
Mayor Bill Koos announced the following appointments for the City of Minonk as follows:
MAYOR PRO-TEM----ALDERMA SEAN CUNNINGHAM
CHIEF OF POLICE----NICK CAVERA
AMBULANCE SQUAD CHIEF----DEB STEWART
ESDA DIRECTOR----TONYA MINZ
ZONING ENFORCEMENT OFFICER----RON REDENIUS
FOOD PANTRY REPRESENTATIVE----ALDERMAN KERI CARLS
PARKS BOARD REPRESENTATIVE----ALDERMAN DAVID JENKINS
LIBRARY BOARD REPRESENTATIVE----ALDERMAN JOHN HILL
DEPOSITORIES----MORTON COMMUNITY BANK
COMMITTEES:
FINANCE/ECON DEVELOPMENT
SEAN CUNNINGHAM, CHAIRMAN
JOHN HILL
LARRY FORTER
STEVE O’RILEY
PAUL VALLOW
PUBLIC SAFETY
LARRY FORTNER, CHAIRMAN
COREY RUESTMAN
DAVID JENKINS
STREETS & ALLEYS
KERI CARLS, CHAIRMAN
LARRY FORTNER
COREY RUESTMAN
WATER & SEWER
DAVID JENKINS, CHAIRMAN
SEAN CUNNINGHAM
JOHN HILL
PARKS & RECREATION
ROGER GASPARDO, CHAIRMAN
MARK HOLLAND
ROBERT HOCHECKER
STEPHANIE FUCHS
JAY JOCHUMS
SCOTT RUESTMAN
MINDY GOODRICH
JAY HURD
DAVID JENKINS, COUNCIL REP.
WASTE DISPOSAL
COREY RUESTMAN, CHAIRMAN
JOHN HILL
KERI CARLS
LIBRARY BOARD
SHELLY BUTLER to Apr.30/12
CAROLINE GLOWACKI to Apr.30/12
JIM CINNAMON to Apr.30/12
PAUL VALLOW to Apr.30/10
MARY RYAN, SECRETARY to Apr.30/10
MARCIA STOLT to Apr.30/10
SHIRLEY SANDERS, PRES. to Apr.30/11
SHIRLEY BARTH to Apr.30/11
JUDY MARCOLINE, TREAS. to Apr.30/11
JOHN HILL, COUNCIL REP.
Ambulance Squad Report
Ambulance Chief Deb Stewart reported that the year end stats from St. James Hospital for the January through December period for 2008 on call times and response times to page out to on the scene time average overall for the year 2008 was 4 minutes which is very good. She reported that the overall average that the State of Illinois requires is 10 minutes. Deb said that to our squad time is life. She reported that the squad has all pulled together and those 4 minutes is great and everyone on the squad should be commended as that means everyone is working towards the same goal.
Stewart said that for the year 2008 the Minonk Ambulance Squad received a rating of 98% out of a possible 100% on their year end stats from St. James Hospital which is their resource hospital. Deb also reported that three members of the squad have attained the status of EMT-Intermediate and this is quite an accomplishment.
Stewart thanked the Council for their support because without it and the community support those numbers would not be possible. In closing, Deb reported that the new ambulance should be arriving in the next two weeks.
Mayor Koos also thanked the Ambulance Department for a job well done and that we appreciate all the work and hours that are put in and hope it will continue.