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City of Aledo City Council met Dec. 18.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The City Council of the City of Aledo met in Regular Session in the Council Chambers at the Aledo City Hall building on December 18, 2023. MAYOR HAGLOCH called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. The roll was called, whereupon the following answered present:

Aldermen NOEL BUSH, DENNIS DIXON, MARK FRIESE, CARMEN RUH, LINDA SARABASA, and ANDREW WEEKS. Mayor CHRISTOPHER HAGLOCH. Aldermen BARRY COOPER and JAY DOHERTY were excused.

Also present was MICHAEL CHAUSSE, City Administrator, TREVOR FISK, Interim Chief of Police, JUSTIN BLASER, Director of Public Works & Utilities, LINDSEY DUNN, Aledo Main Street, and JAROD DALE, City Clerk.

The media was represented by Jim Taylor, WRMJ.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Public Comment: No Public Comment.

Communication & Correspondence: Lindsey Dunn, Aledo Main Street, appeared before the Committee of the Whole reported Datafy numbers to be compiled by Visit Quad Cities related to the Holly Day’s event on December 1 & 2. This data was noted to take up to 6 weeks to provide detail on a number of those in attendance.

A Community Connection meeting to be held Tuesday, December 19 at 5:30 p.m. at Tobala’s restaurant.

DUNN to work on the Illinois Main Street application to become an IL Main Street Designated Community again with a due date of January 26, 2024. Contribution letters and sponsorship forms have begun to be sent out and looking for donations and business partnership dollars to continue funding for AMS. The annual report for AMS to be sent to the City in January for the overall reporting of 2023.

Requests & Petitions: No Report.

Public Works Activity Report:

• Streets: Daily checks, tasks, JULIE’s, and work orders continue. Vac streets & leaves at all parks; pot hole repair; landscaped waste site clean-up; salt mains and intersections on 12/5.

• Gas: Daily checks, tasks, JULIE’s, inspections and finals continue. Read meters on 12/5; OQ tests; replace one meter; reset and adjust PSI settings on the odorizer.

• Water: Daily checks, tasks, JULIE’s and work orders continue. Piping repair at the WTP; manual meter reads; check manholes at NE 6th Ave; SE 2nd Ave water and sanitary sewer review; investigate water leak at Fenton pool.

• Cemetery: One (1) funeral occurred. Service and clean mowers; install plow on mower; assist other divisions as needed.

• DPW: Work consisted mainly of utility and design reviews for the following projects; SE 2nd Ave; Countryview Villas preliminary plat; Community Improvements Project, and Sponsler Manor Third Addition.

Aledo Police Department Activity Report: CHIEF Fisk reported Quesan “Q” Ford has started his duties as the Community Services Officer. He is working two days per week, four hours per day. His assigned days will be Wednesdays and Thursdays with the exception being the second Tuesday of the month which is when the Code Enforcement Hearings are held. He will be present for the hearings. Q is currently in field training and working with a supervisor when he is on duty.

CHIEF met with the Exchange Club on December 14 and spoke at their dinner. It allowed for an opportunity to introduce himself and provide an overview of the police department.

The police department will be wearing new police uniforms in 2024. The uniform provides a vest which houses the ballistic panels that can be easily removed while officers are on duty and working in an office environment. The vest holds equipment that is normally carried on a duty belt. This allows an officer to distribute some weight off his/her waist and on to their shoulders which helps reduce back injuries over time. The vest has clear police identifiers and a rear drag handle in the event a police officer is injured. The vest can also be worn for plain clothes details. The hybrid duty shirts are specifically made to wear with ballistic vests and the pants have side cargo pockets that are conducive to holding equipment. Most departments either have this style of uniform already or are moving to this style of uniform in the future.

Administrative Report: ADMINISTRATOR Chausse reported on an overview of highlights of what the Administrator (and others) have worked on since the last council meeting:

• Continued discussion on implementation for the Solid Waste and Recycling contract with LRS.

• Had Wednesday weekly meeting with the department heads

• Worked with Cindy Parchert, Finance Director to finalize TIF payments for end of 2023.

• Met with Kyle McEwen, MCBT and discussed a survey they are conducting.

• Attended the Utility Coordination Meeting with representatives from Ameren, Frontier, Mediacom, and Viola Telephone concerning the RDMS Central Park Project.

• Participated in a 3-hour training seminar for Civic Plus on editing and maintaining the city’s website.

• Spoke with a local businessman about zoning regulations, zoning maps and filing a zoning application.

• Attended the Aquatic Center committee meeting.

• Had a conference call with Dave Nichols with Bruner, Cooper and Zuck (BCZ) on the Aquatic Center.

• Met with Mike Sponsler, Dennis Litwiler and Mark Bieri about the Ambulance Service provider status and contract.

• Researched phone system providers and had conference call with one provider.

• Attended the Aledo Park District Board Meeting on Sunday – December 10th.

• Attended the health insurance informational meeting for the PW, PD and other employees conducted by Jamie Hopkins, our insurance consultant.

• Attended the Hazardous Mitigation Plan meeting. The county wide plan will have a two-week waiting period and then it will come to the council for approval in January.

City Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer’s Reports has been marked exhibit “B”, attached hereto and made a part of these minutes.

Mayor’s Report: MAYOR Hagloch thanked those that were able to attend this year’s City Christmas party on December 9 at the Mercer County V.F.W. It was noted as a good event by the Mayor. The CITY COUNCIL noted a thank you to City Staff that helped organize the event for the staff, committees, boards and officials.

Committee Report: No Report.

REGULAR COUNCIL SESSION

Following the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,

CONSENT AGENDA

Motion was made by ALDERMAN DIXON and seconded by ALDERMAN WEEKS to approve the following consent agenda items:

• Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of December 04, 2023.

• Approval of Finance: Invoice Listing – AP23.

• Approval of the Publication regarding the Schedule of Regular Committee of the Whole and City Council meetings in Fiscal Year 2024.

• Approval of Resolution No. 37R, Series of 2023; A Resolution regarding the Release of Closed Session Minutes and Destruction of Closed Session Verbatim Recordings.

A Roll Call vote was recorded as follows:

YES: Bush, Dixon, Friese, Ruh, Sarabasa, and Weeks.

NO: None.

Motion carried. 6 yeas, 0 nays.

PUBLIC COMMENT: No Report.

ACTION ITEMS:

RESOLUTION NO. 38R, SERIES OF 2023; A RESOLUTION APPROVING A PROPOSAL FOR TREE AND BRUSH REMOVAL AT SPONSLER MANOR, THIRD ADDITION IN THE AMOUNT OF $24,000.00:

DPW Blaser reported the City, along with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, started addressing the vegetation along the bank, and on the surface of the water. The vegetation control began this fall and will be performed again next spring to provide improved access around the entire lake, and to eliminate the topical vegetation. To continue the improved access, and to prepare for the site grading planned for 2024, staff had discussed trying to have the trees and brush removed from the east and south banks, along with the drainageways in late 2023 if funding was available.

The trees and brush will be removed starting at the 100th Avenue, following the red property pins along the east side of the water, and ending at the two yellow property pins at the southern tip of the water. Also included is the drainageway in between the phase one and phase two of the development.

Motion was made by ALDERMAN WEEKS and seconded by ALDERMAN RUH to approve Resolution No. 38R, Series of 2023; Approving a Proposal for Tree and Brush Removal at Sponsler Manor, Third Addition by George Excavating of Oquawka, Illinois in the amount of $24,000.00. A Roll Call vote was recorded as follows:

YES: Dixon, Friese, Ruh, Sarabasa, Weeks, and Bush.

NO: None.

Motion carried. 6 yeas, 0 nays.

OLD BUSINESS: No Report.

NEW BUSINESS:

Discussion regarding a One-Year Extension of Audit Contract:

ADMINISTRATOR Chausse reported in late 2020, the City of Aledo requested Proposal’s for Professional Audit Services for 2020, 2021, and 2022. The contract was awarded to Carpentier, Mitchell, Goddard & Company, LLC with the following fees:

FY 2020 $ 18,200

FY 2021 $ 18,700

FY 2022 $ 19,200

The City approached CMG requesting an extension of this contract for two years. CMG was recently acquired by Odoni Parners, LLC. Since the City’s accounting staff will changing during 2024, the firm suggested a one-year extension at a fee not to exceed $19,500 plus $1,200 for the TIF compliance audit. At this time, we do not anticipate a Single audit will be needed for 2023, but if it should be needed, that fee would be in the range of $8,500 to $12,500, depending on the major programs and other compliance requirements.

CITY COUNCIL provided a consensus to provide and to have an action item for the next meeting in January, 2024.

CLOSED SESSION:

Motion was made by ALDERMAN DIXON and seconded by ALDERMAN SARABASA to adjourn to closed session to discuss:

A. Collective Bargaining Section 2(c)(2) Open Meetings Act

A Roll call vote was recorded as follows:

YEAS: Friese, Ruh, Sarabasa, Weeks, Bush, and Dixon.

NO: None.

Motion carried. 6 yeas, 0 nays.

The meeting was recessed to closed session at 6:40 P.M.

RECONVENE IN OPEN SESSION:

Council reconvened in open session at 6:47 P.M. Roll call was taken with the following answering present: ALDERMEN BUSH, DIXON, FRIESE, RUH, SARABASA and WEEKS, MAYOR HAGLOCH, ADMINISTRATOR CHAUSSE, as well as, CITY CLERK DALE.

RESOLUTION NO. 39R, SERIES OF 2023; APPROVING AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF ALEDO AND THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF OPERATING ENGINEERS, LOCAL 150:

Motion was made by ALDERMAN SARABASA and seconded by ALDERMAN DIXON to approve Resolution No. 39R, Series of 2023; Approving an Agreement between the City of Aledo and the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 150 for those employees of the City of Aledo in the positions of Accounts Payable and Finance Assistant, Receptionist and Front Desk Clerk, Utility Billing Clerk, and Public Works Administrative Assistant and Permit Technician effective January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2027. A Roll Call vote was recorded as follows:

YES: Ruh, Sarabasa, Weeks, Bush, Dixon, and Friese.

NO: None.

Motion carried. 6 yeas, 0 nays.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, motion was made by ALDERMAN DIXON and seconded by ALDERMAN WEEKS that the meeting be adjourned. A Unanimous voice vote followed in agreement. Meeting was adjourned at 6:48 P.M.

https://www.aledoil.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_12182023-389