City of Galva City Council met Jan. 24.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The City Council of the City of Galva met in regular session at 6:00 p.m. with Debbie VanWassenhove serving as City Clerk. Mayor Rich Volkert presided with the following Aldermen in attendance: Jayme Hopping, Jackie Clucas, Doug Anderson, and Mitch Boston. Aldermen Hartman and Otterstrom were noted as being absent.
The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance.
MINUTES
Alderman Hopping made a motion and was seconded to approve the December 20, 2021 council meeting minutes. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.
BILLS AND CLAIMS
Alderman Boston moved and was seconded that the bills and claims be approved as presented and the City Clerk is instructed to issue orders on the Treasurer’s account for the several amounts. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.
COMMUNICATIONS
Mayor Volkert reported that the City had received: State of IL: December Video Gaming tax $3,590.01, November Sales tax $26,626.09, November Telecommunications tax $2,042.35, December Cannabis Use tax $349.04, November Local Share of State Use tax $7,544.61, December Income tax $33,654.23, December Personal Property Replacement tax $15,557.42, December MFT $9,627.62, October Telecommunications tax $2,203.06, November cannabis Use tax $284.86, November Income tax $18,902.16, October Local Share of State use tax $8,091.74, and November Video Gaming tax $3,567.76
First on the agenda was the Senior Citizens Presentation. Pam Kelly was representing the Senior Center. Pam stated that the Senior Center has been in operation for over 40 years now, helping Galva’s senior citizens with health, spiritual, outreach programs and much more. As of right now the building is not in ADA compliance because of the bathrooms, they need to be updated to be handicapped accessible. The total price should come to about $8,000 and they have been able to raise $2,200 for this so far. Alderman Hartman joined the meeting at this time. Pam stated that her church is willing to pay for the actual labor but that still leaves them about $2,000 short for the materials. She is asking the city to help in any way possible. After some discussion Alderman Anderson made a motion and was seconded to donate $2,500 from TIF funds to help the Senior Center with this project. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays.
Next on the agenda was Advice & Consent: County Fiber Project. David stated that the County has approved fiber installation up to the Wolf Rd subdivision, also in Woodhull, Atkinson, etc. This agreement would allow for anyone in Galva who does not have fiber in 5 years (from start date of Geneseo project) to be able to get it hooked up at that time. They do not have to get fiber internet, but would give them the capabilities to get it in the future if they choose to. This language has already been put into their contract, we just need to give them the ok if everyone agrees. There were no objections to this.
Next on the agenda was Fees, Rates, & Charges: Towing & Impound. We are currently charging $100 for towing (which goes straight to Tarleton’s for their fee) $25 for an Administrative fee, and $25 per day for storage. Chief Townsend stated that these fees are much less than other towns/counties in our area. It was proposed to raise the fees to $150 for towing, $100 for admin, and keep the storage fees at $25/day. He is afraid if we raise that too much we will have a lot more people just abandoning their vehicles. Alderman Hartman asked how many tows we usually get and Chief Townsend replied about 5-10 per month. Alderman Hartman then asked if we could just have an auction to sell the abandoned vehicles? Chief Townsend replied that we only get a salvage title for those types of vehicles which means they cannot be titled again and would have to be sold as salvage, Alderman Hartman asked him to look into it a little bit more, could be a good way to generate more income. After some more discussion Alderman Anderson made a motion and was seconded to amend Ordinance 1605 to raise the fees to $150/towing, $100/Admin, and $35 per day for storage. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays. Alderman Anderson then made a motion and was seconded to make a new ordinance to allow for fees up to $500 for certain offenses. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays.
Next on the agenda was Ordinance 1630: Liquor Ordinance. Mayor Volkert stated that they invited all of the bar managers and owners, however no one was in the audience tonight. David Dyer then stated that he had included all of the changes that were asked for by the aldermen including the closing hours, fixed the streets, all minors out by 10pm, and added language about the ½ hour time frame to leave the premises and that no employees of these establishments selling liquor can be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Alderman Anderson made a motion and was seconded to pass the new liquor ordinance. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays. It was agreed that Chief Townsend will hand deliver a copy of the new ordinance to all of the establishments effected by this. Mayor Volkert then thanked everyone for their time spent on this.
Next on the agenda was a dilapidated property update. David Dyer asked for an update on the West house. Elisa Nelson, city attorney, replied that they have not been able to find him yet. Alderman Anderson asked about the property located in the 200 block of NW 1st Ave that is in terrible shape. David replied that the back taxes have been sold so we can make an offer to purchase the property to demolish it. The end of the tax period is October and then they will have some time to claim it.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There was no public comment at this time.
Next on the agenda were the department head reports. Greg Thompson stated that when they had the water leak survey done they reported 18 leaking fire hydrants & they are ones that turn hard also. He got a bid for 18 new ones and had them put line stops in the bid as well and the total bid came to $48,147 from Core and Main, which was almost $300 cheaper than the last time they were bid out & that bid did not include the line stops. Alderman Anderson asked how long it would take to change them all out, Greg stated that the last time it took them about 3 years to get them all, but this time they are more informed on what needs to be done and he thinks they can get them done sooner than that and this will weed out most of the older ones & help with our ISO rating too. Alderman Hartman made a motion and was seconded to purchase the hydrants. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays. Richard Plummer asked that residents not put their trash cans out in the road when it snows and to please pick the cans up. Alderman Boston asked if we had any news on the new truck yet and Richard said no, possibly in June, and that he is calling once a month now. Kraig Townsend had nothing at this time.
Next on the agenda were the Aldermen’s Reports. Alderman Hartman stated that they need manholes by SW 4th St and 6th Ave. Alderman Anderson asked what is going on with the ice skating rink. Greg replied that he asked them not to put water in until the frost level was higher. Alderman Anderson then stated that we need to come up with a better game plan for next year and that the city should just take it over, Greg said that he would be on board with that, they need to wait until there is at least 6” of frost then we can put a tarp over it then fill it and that should work.
City Administrator’s Report
David Dyer stated that he has had Debbie compile a folder for Elisa on the 609 NW 7th St Apartments. They have not been paying for garbage pickup so we have had to hire Joel Brewster to remove it so it does not just continue to pile up. We do not want to have to continue to do this so we are having Elisa write them a letter and we are going to start fining them. We will give them 10 days to take care of the issue. Alderman Anderson asked if they had been paying their water bill still, Clerk VanWassenhove replied that they have been so far. She was asked to bring an update on the water bill for the next meeting, and if they fall behind shut them off. David then asked how much we should start fining per day. Elisa replied that a judge would start at the lower end so maybe start at $75 per day for the 1st 10 days and go from there.
Alderman Boston moved and was seconded to move to executive session. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays.
Alderman Hartman made a motion and was seconded to come out of executive session. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays.
Coming out of executive session Alderman Anderson made a motion and was seconded to look into replacing Resolution 152 (Personnel Rules) with a new resolution or an ordinance. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays.
After no further discussion Alderman Boston made a motion and was seconded to adjourn. The vote was 5 yeas and no nays.
https://www.galvail.gov/Minutes/012422Minutes.pdf
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