The Minonk City Council appointed Nicholas A. Cavera as Chief of Police at their meeting last Monday night. Mr. Cavera is a 26 year veteran of the Bolingbrook Police Department. He started in the patrol division in 1979, then moved to the traffic division, and in 1996 became a detective and still holds that rank today. According to Mayor Bill Koos his training is well versed----homicide investigation, domestic violence, juvenile law, commercial vehicle enforcement, computer crimes, and identity theft.

Mr. Cavera was also president of the Bolingbrook Benevolent Foundation in 2003 and also has served as a trustee from 1999 to 2003. In 1985 he was nominated by the Jaycees for outstanding police officer of the year in Bolingbrook.  In 1994 he once again was nominated, and in 2004 he was selected as Bolingbrook police officer of the year. He has consistently performed high on his evaluations by his peers and in his performance in the line of duty. Mayor Koos said, " He comes to us highly recommended by his lieutenant and he has always rated outstanding or above average in his performance ratings by his superiors."

Aldermen Fortner, Cunningham and Ruestman voted in favor of the Mayor's appointment while aldermen Carls, Petersen, and Buchanan voted against the appointment.  Mayor Koos cast the tie breaking vote in favor of his appointment. Mr. Cavera's salary will be  $42,500 and he will start his duties on July 5, 2006.

Mayoral Appointments

Mayor Koos announced the mayoral appointments for the coming year. New to the Library Board will be Caroline Glowacki, Mary Ryan. Judy Marcoline will become the new treasurer.

Mayor Koos also announced that he has accepted the resignation of Alderman Jason Buchanan from all committees. The mayor’s appointment list reflects that resignation.

MAYOR PRO-TEM----ALDERMAN SEAN CUNNINGHAM
CITY ATTORNEY---- MILLER, HALL AND TRIGGS
CITY ENGINEER----THE FARNSWORTH GROUP
CHIEF OF POLICE----NICHOLAS A. CAVERA
AMBULANCE SQUAD CHIEF----DEBORAH WEST
AMBULANCE SQUAD 1^ST ASSISTANT----TONYA MINZ
ESDA CHIEF----TONYA MINZ
FOOD PANTRY REPRESENTATIVE----ALDERWOMAN KERI CARLS
PARKS BOARD REPRESENTATIVE----ALDERWOMAN KERI CARLS
LIBRARY BOARD REPRESENTATIVE----ALDERMAN SEAN CUNNINGHAM
DEPOSITORIES----ALPHA COMMUNITY BANK/ASSOCIATED BANK
 
FINANCE COMMITTEE

Sean Cunningham, Chairman
Corey Ruestman
Larry Fortner
Steve O’Riley
Brian Petersen

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE

Larry Fortner, Chairman
Corey Ruestman
Brian Petersen

PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE

Corey Ruestman, Chairman
Keri Carls
Sean Cunningham

 PARKS & RECREATION

Eric Schultz, Chairman
Ryan Orabutt
Jenny Shaw
Steve White
Melissa Hillenburg
Bill Moline
Darren Hester
Glennda Weers
Keri Carls, Council Liaison

PLANNING & ZONING

Dave Shirley, Chairman
TBA
Pat McGuane
Lanna Ruestman
Jerry Welch
Eldon Folkerts
Craig Meyer

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Brian Petersen, Chairman
Larry Fortner
Sean Cunningham
Paul Vallow

LIBRARY BOARD

Shelly Butler, President
Caroline Glowacki
Jim Cinnamon
Paul Vallow
Mary Ryan
Marcia Stolt
Shirley Sanders, Vice President
Shirley Barth, Secretary
Judy Marcoline, Treasurer

2006 Oil and Chip Project announced

City Administrator Trent Smith reported that bids were received for the 2006 MFT Oil and Chip project. The bids were opened on June 12, 2006 at 10 a.m. and the low bid of $20,331.30 was submitted by Steffens 3-D Construction of El Paso. The council awarded the contract to the low bidder.

Tomlinson disposal payment

Alderman Cunningham reported that the bill from Tomlinson Disposal for spring cleanup days came in at $1239.34 over what was budgeted. He said that the city did not have a written contract with Tomlinson and this was carried over from prior years. Being there was no contract, the Finance Committee made a recommendation that the city pay the bill, but also consider re-bidding the monthly contract towards the end of the year as when beginning next year's budget process. According to the letter from Tomlinson Disposal the fuel prices and increased landfill fees have caused an increase in the cost this year.

Alderman Cunningham moved that the City Council pay Tomlinson Disposal bill of $6739.34 for the Spring Cleanup as invoiced less the $5,500 already paid for a total of $1239.34, seconded by Alderman Fortner. The council approved the motion.

Motel 6 payment approved

Alderman Cunningham, Finance Committee Chairman, said that the Motel 6 owner Thakore Patel requested $10,000 in TIF funds per year for the next 2 years from the city. The city has already awarded them $30,000 over 3 years which expired last year. The Finance Committee  recommended a one time final payment of $5,000 from TIF I funds. Mayor Koos said that a picnic table on a concrete pad next to the pond is being added next to the motel.  The council approved a final one time payment of $5,000 from the TIF I fund to the owners of the Motel 6 . Petersen.

TIF payments approved

City Administrator Trent Smith reported that the EDC met on June 8, 2006 to review two funding requests. The first was from Ed Clevenger for repairing the façade on his building located at 420 Chestnut Street. The windows on the building were broken and falling onto the sidewalk. The total cost for the project as per quotes obtained and paid was $4,356.44. Under the TIF guidelines established by the City, 1/3 of the costs may be reimbursed to a maximum of $5,000. The council approved the request to pay $1,452.14 from the TIF II pool.

The second TIF fund request was from Randy Kleen owner of a building located at 444 Chestnut Street. The building is rented to out to what is called 444 Tattoo Shop owned by John Moritz. Mr. Kleen has done some major renovations to the building. Mr. Moritz’s business was an expanding business in town and ran out of room at their former location on West Fifth Street. Kleen requested a reimbursement of 50% as suggested by the TIF guidelines. The council approved the recommendation that the City pay $5,547.50 (50%) of the business retention/expansion project plus an additional $200 from the TIF II pool all contingent on Mr. Kleen replacing the upstairs windows on the front of his buildingt.

Generator purchase approved

The council approved the purchase of a generator to power the Fire Station, City Hall, Police Station, Ambulance Shed, and ESDA and is used for Emergency Services Operations. According to City Administrator Smith the current generator did not have enough power to run everything and blow the tornado siren at the same time. The old generator was not set up with the siren in mind.

Smith reported that he spoke with the fire district trustees to see if they would help fund the generator. They suggested that the monies come from the TIF II pool because the generator benefits all of the taxing authorities. The EDC recommended that the City of Minonk purchase a 40 KW backup generator to power the Emergency Services Operations from TIF II pool of funds with a cost not to exceed $20,000. Smith reported that there is a current balance in TIF II of over $100,000.

Fieldcrest referendum presentation

Mr. Joe Kirkpatrick, Fieldcrest Board President, addressed the City Council to explain the board’s proposed $0.65 increase to the Education Fund in their proposed referendum this November. He said that the current total district tax rate is $5.32 and that the current education fund tax rate is $2.975. This rate has been in effect since the inception of the Fieldcrest school district and was only projected to adequately fund education until 1998. Over the past 8 years the district has averaged an increase in education fund revenue of 1.21% each year while expenses have increased an average of 4.94% each year. In response to this deficit spending, the Board and administration have made over 1.8 million dollars in cuts to an 11.2 million dollar budget. As a result of these cuts a balanced budget has been achieved, but it has reduced programs and required exorbitant fees for Fieldcrest students.

Mr. Kirkpatrick explained that because the district is paying off some bonds and able to reduce the tax rate in some funds with positive balances, the actual total tax rate will drop $0.02 for the next two years and then go up approximately $0.09 for the third year if the referendum passes. Kirkpatrick further stated that if the Board does nothing to increase revenue in the education fund the reserves will last until 2008 and there will be no ability to bring programs back or reduce the high student fees. He also said that by adding $0.65 to the education fund rate, that it will generate $609,000 in new revenue each year and thus allow the Board to bring back programs and reduce fees while maintaining positive fund balances until at least 2011.

Mr. Kirkpatrick said if the referendum is successful the Board will commit $287,000 of the new revenue in the following ways.
• Restore elementary physical education, $80,000 for 2 teachers and supplies.
• Restore elementary art education, $40,000 for 1 teacher and supplies.
• Expand high school curriculum, $80,000 for 2 teachers and supplies.
• Reduce student participation fees 50%, $87,000.

Kirkpatrick went on to emphasize that since the referendum will generate $609,000 per year in new revenue, the remaining $322,000 will be used to maintain the financial integrity of the district. He reported that the Board has already taken action to borrow $1,500,000 in working cash bonds should the referendum fail and this loan will cost the taxpayers $325,000 in interest. This loan will result in the same tax rate as if the referendum was passed. In closing, Mr. Kirkpatrick thanked the Council for allowing him to address them and asked the Council if they would give the proposed referendum a resolution of support.

Alderman Cunningham said that he would like to see the Council pass a resolution of support. He further stated that he thought that the Board has done their job and cut a lot of expenses and made some hard decisions which he did not think they were doing a few years ago. And how many chances do you get to support a referendum and it is not going to raise your taxes?

Cunningham moved that the City Council offer a resolution of support to the $0.65 increase in the education fund for Fieldcrest School District Unit #6 in the November 7, 2006 referendum, seconded by Alderman Fortner. The council approved the motion.

Public comments

Gene Oncken (146 South Elm Street) asked Mayor Koos how the race track was coming. Koos reported that "We have moved into a new phase of the negotiations and a lot of the verbal and written part of this is coming to an end. We have now moved into the drawing stage of this negotiation. We have not signed any documents yet, but it appears that we have found a solution wording wise to the redevelopment agreement."

"Now what we need is an engineering drawing laying out the racetrack development. As I have said we have not signed any agreement and will not sign any agreement until the final drawings have been presented to the City. The discussions over the past 4 months have been strictly over language in what we will allow and will not allow in the redevelopment agreement. It would appear we have common ground and an agreement verbally. But I have taken a stand that I want an engineer’s drawing before we sign a redevelopment agreement. We will not sign until we know where everything is at on the property. This will have an effect on Minonk for the next 40 to 60 years and we want to get it right."

Mayor Koos said that the option to purchase runs out in March 2007, but Minonk as a city still has the option for one year after that date. Koos said, "My first and only priority at this moment is to get this redevelopment agreement signed." He also said that for $10,000 the City can acquire another option on the property for an additional year at $3,200 per acre. All of our efforts are focused on getting an agreement signed as quickly as possible.

Oncken also questioned Mayor Koos about the resignation of Alderman Buchanan from all committees and stated that he thought Alderman Buchanan was not representing his ward very well at all and was derelict in his job as an alderman.

Mayor Koos responded that he had received a letter of resignation from all committees from Alderman Buchanan and that he has accepted it. Mayor Koos said that he was not a lawyer and if he(Buchanan) so chooses to resign he can do so.

CIty Administrator comments

• Thanked Cub Scout Pack #78 for planting 4 White Oak and 8 Walnut trees near the pond in the Carolyn Subdivision.
• City auditors will be starting the 2005/06 financial audit on July 11th
• MidWest Asphalt has undertaken the spray patch program and will come back in August to touch up any areas that need it.
• Reported that the bakery sidewalk project is nearing completion and curbing will be done in August when we are able to borrow the forms from the City of El Paso.
• Thanked the City of El Paso for use of their equipment.
• Reported that Jim Baumann will be finishing up the 3rd Street extension soon and thanked him and Minonk Township for their help.
• Said that the Public Works Department will be preparing for the upcoming 4th of July celebration which will start on June 30.
• Thanked the 4th of July committee for all of their time and effort.
• Welcomed Nick Cavera and his family to Minonk and said that he looked forward to working with him.

CIty Council comments

Alderman Petersen said that he noticed City Attorney Jay Greening was here tonight and asked if Jay was here for the mayor’s appointments and was he here on billable hours.

Mayor Koos responded to Alderman Petersen that he was here on billable hours. He said that he was here because "If there was not going to be a passage of a majority for the Chief of Police appointment, then I was going to temporarily appoint the Chief of Police which meant that I wanted legal opinion sitting here since I am not a lawyer. If I had to do that then he was going to be able to give the legal opinion of his law firm as to the rights and privileges of the mayor and to make that appointment."

Alderman Petersen responded that since we were informed by you and Trent I thought it was kind of a waste of time and money to have him here.

Mayor Koos said that it was his decision to have Jay Greening here in the event that we needed a legal opinion as to about what was to take place if it had to take place. Koos stated that "I determined that it was best if legal counsel was here to settle any dispute or answer any questions as to the temporary appointment of a Chief of Police. We did not have it and he left 20 minutes after he arrived."

Mayor's comments

• Welcomed Nick Cavera as Chief of Police
• Thanked Deborah West (Ambulance Chief) for the job she has been doing.
• Announced that on the Economic Development front this City in the next month is going to start debating the utility tax here in Minonk. We are going to look at several different options and ways to use that tax to attract new businesses to town and things we can possibly do as ways to make it an incentive. Everything we discuss will be across the board. This will be a full look at the City’s utility tax.
• Thanked the 4th of July Committee for all their work.