| City Council Minutes: December 6, 2010 |
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CITY OF FULTON
Mayor Russell called the meeting to order and directed the clerk to call the roll. On roll call, Mayor Larry Russell, Alderpersons Charles Dykstra, Gene Field, Margaret Crosthwaite, Charlie Letcher, Warren Juist, Wes Letcher and Ron Roels answered present. Alderperson Randy Boonstra was absent. Also in attendance were Bill Shirk - City Attorney, Randy Balk - City Administrator, Dan Clark - Public Works Director and Jim Rhoades - Chief of Police. The pledge of allegiance was recited. The invocation was given by Pastor Edie Lenz of First Reformed Church. Ald. Roels announced that he will not be running for a third term on the council. Ald. Boonstra arrived at 5:35pm. Ald. Field moved, seconded by Ald. Crosthwaite to approve the November 15, 2010 regular council meeting minutes. Roll call vote/all yes/ motion carried. Ald. Dykstra moved, seconded by Ald. C. Letcher to recommend approval of the Hunter's Ridge Phase III plat as presented. Roll call vote/all yes/motion carried. Darwin Olsen, contractor was present to answer any questions. Ald. C. Letcher moved, seconded by Ald. Roels to pass Tax Levy Ordinance No. 1420. Roll call vote/all yes/motion carried. The tax rate is the same as the previous year's (0.8024) but due to an increase in the EAV, we should receive approximately $6,000 more this year. Ald. Roels moved, seconded by Ald. Crosthwaite to pass Ordinance No. 1421 Abating the tax heretofore levied for the year 2010 to pay the principal of and interest on $1,445,000 general obligation waterworks and sewerage refunding bonds, series 2004 and Ordinance No. 1422 Abating the tax heretofore levied for the year 2010 to pay the principal of and interest on $784,000 general obligation bonds (alternate revenue source), taxable series 2005. Roll call vote/all yes/motion carried. Ald. Roels moved, seconded by Ald. Boonstra to pass Ordinance No. 1423 Amending Chapter 33, entitled finance and revenue, to establish a non-home rule municipal service occupation tax and retailers' occupational tax. Roll call vote/all yes/motion carried. Ald. Roels moved, seconded by Ald. W. Letcher to approve employee Christmas bonus checks in the amount of $200 for full time workers and $100 for part time workers. Roll call vote/Ald. Roels, Boonstra, W. Letcher, Juist, C. Letcher, Crosthwaite and Field voted yes/Ald. Dykstra voted no/motion carried.
Ald. Roels moved, seconded by Ald. W. Letcher to approve the re-platting of Heritage Field to 6 building lots. Roll call vote/all yes/motion carried. The plat shows layout only, not the cost of the lots. The City will not be a part of the development other than infrastructure needs. The sale of the property will pay off the debt in the economic development fund. Ald. Crosthwaite moved, seconded by Ald. Juist to approve the final payment to Northwest Illinois Construction in the amount of $2,753.92 for bike path work. Roll cal vote/all yes/motion carried. The Mayor said the focus in the past week was on working with the businesses that have to be relocated after fire destroyed the building on the corner of 4th Street and 10th Avenue. Building owner Bill Blecha has arranged for an environmental contractor for the clean up process. The Blechas will rebuild appropriately. The city's public works crew put up a temporary fence around the area. The Senior Center opened this weekend. Randy Balk said he saw a lot of volunteers picking up bricks from the burned building for possible future use. The Christmas Walk was a success and the boy scouts and seniors worked together at the senior center serving a meal that evening. Chief Rhoades said it was impressive how many departments and citizens came forward to help at the time of the fire tragedy. Old Business. Chief Rhoades reported that from January 1, 2010 through November 24th, there have been 72 traffic, 9 criminal, 55 no valid registration, 40 no license or insurance arrests. There were 41 false alarm calls; 34 businesses and 7 residential. Three of those were the Windmill, the Windmill cultural center and the Martin House. The discussion on the proposed $300 administrative fee for an arrest involving vehicle impoundment was discussed at length. There were questions about refund potential if someone pays the fee and then is found not guilty. Some of the council felt it was an unreasonable amount to charge and some felt it should not be charged at all. Chief Rhoades will do more research on other municipalities' procedures. Old Business. Ald. C. Letcher asked about the deadline for Matt Van Kampen's business, Nave, Inc. and stated he would not vote for another extension. The extension deadline is January 1, 2011. Randy Balk will get in touch with Mr. Van Kampen and see what the status of his business is and email the council. Ald. Dykstra said he, too would vote against another extension to operate an industry in a residential zoned neighborhood. New Business. A work crew is in town at the present time to determine what repairs are needed on well #3. This is our main well and although it is still functioning there have been some issues with it. Repair costs won't be known later in the week. Repair costs could be paid from the depreciation fund. Ald. Roels moved, seconded by Ald. Crosthwaite to adjourn. Voice vote/all yes/motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 6:50pm. Minutes recorded by,
Linda Hollis
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