Kankakee Times

Village of Clifton Board of Trustees met January 8.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Call to Order President Winkel called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:00 p.m.

Members Present: President Andrew Winkel, Trustees Jim Schoon, Randy Gigl, Casey Hull, Brianne Ryan, and Paul Hess. Absent: Trustee Joe Kolosky Also Present: Clerk Shannon James, Police Chief James Lehmkuhl, Treasurer Sandy Tammen, Craig Bull, and John Solomon.

Approval of Minutes Ryan moved and Schoon seconded to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Clifton Village Board, December 11, 2017, the Emergency Meeting of the Clifton Village Board, December 13, 2017, and the Special Meeting of the Village Board, December 20, 2017. 5/0 motion passed by acclamation.

Public Questions and Comments: None.

Planning Commission: No report.

Maintenance Department: No report.

Police Department: No report.

Streets and Alleys: No report.

Water and Sewer Committee Gigl reported that after a three week set back the northwest drainage project is again underway.

In a public question, Craig Bull asked about the berm located on the west side of 1000 E Road between 3000 N Road and 3100 N Road (in front of Mel Lindgren’s property) and why it seems one particular land owner is allowed to keep water from flowing north into the ditch that has been cleaned for such purpose. Winkel relayed the focus right now is on the installation of the drainage tile in the field on the northwest side and gave an overview of both the goal of the current project as well as drainage in the questioned area which has been discussed at recent meetings. Gigl will speak with the Chebanse Township Highway Commissioner Mike Thompson and Haley Brothers about progress in the ditch and any other work to be done. Hull relayed the consensus from the December 20, 2017 village board meeting was the board is going to wait until the current project is complete to take up the issue of berms as the discussion may be more beneficial after the results of the current project are known.

Budget and Finance Committee: No report.

Police and Public Safety Committee: No report.

In a public question, Bull asked what is being done about cars that are sitting around not having been moved for a period of time. Chief Lehmkuhl stated if the tires are inflated and have current tag, etc. they are okay. Lehmkuhl will check on one vehicle reported to not have a current tag.

Ordinance and Zoning Committee: No report.

Local Improvement Committee The Local Improvement Committee will schedule a meeting to discuss running an ad regarding the pool.

Treasurer’s Report/Payment of Bills Treasurer Tammen presented the Treasurer’s report and informed the board the sewer payment has been mailed now that there are enough funds to cover it, no cd’s are maturing, and state checks are coming in slowly. Russell Leigh and Associates has completed the village audit and copies were provided to trustees. The only issue the auditor pointed out is there is no collateral letter pledged at Iroquois Federal and one needs to be provided every year. Tammen spoke with Gracia Turner at the bank and she will provide one. Hull moved and Gigl seconded to accept the Treasurer’s Report. 5/0 motion passed by acclamation.

Tammen presented the listing of bills to be paid. The time frame for sales tax payment was discussed. The last payment received was for September, an indication of how slowly state checks are being sent out. The last video gaming payment received was over $2000.00. Video gaming fund usage and gaming machine fees of nearby towns were briefly discussed. Hull moved and Schoon seconded to pay the bills as presented. Roll call of votes. Ayes 5; Hull, Ryan, Hess, Schoon, and Gigl. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Village President Winkel presented the proposed updated Fee, Fine, Bond, and Salary Schedule. The first version of the schedule was done in May 2017 and needs some adjustment. A wording change to add “or lane” is suggested for 10-46 which deals with license fees for billiard tables, pool tables and bowling alleys. As a dollar amount has never been assigned to the transient merchant or itinerant vendor application, it is recommended to add a $50.00 fee under 10-100. Another proposed change is to specify a value for written ordinance tickets as one has not been previously assigned. The proposal includes a $25.00 fee for the first offense, $50.00 for the second offense, and $100.00 for the third and subsequent offenses. The village has been trying to move toward writing ordinance tickets for state vehicle violations as the village code has language that uses the Illinois vehicle code and allows the village police department to write tickets for violations. The change suggested under 38-1 is to assign fines at one-half (50%) of the State of Illinois fines for infraction. When the police department writes a ticket currently, it goes through the state and courthouse and as a result the village receives a small fraction of the fine assessed whereas the village would receive the full amount of the fine for an ordinance ticket written. The benefits for the violator are that the village fines are significantly less than state fines, the infraction does not go on the permanent record, and can be handled locally. Ryan moved and Hess seconded to accept the changes to the Fee, Fine, Bond, and Salary Schedule. The attorney will be available one Tuesday a month at the courthouse in the event a violator wishes to dispute the ticket. If the violator loses the protest, they will be responsible for any attorney and court fees. Roll call of votes. Ayes 5; Ryan, Hess, Schoon, Gigl, and Hull. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Winkel presented the proposed Extension of Special Use Permit Resolution for the temporary office buildings on East Fifth Avenue. Winkel had a recent conversation with a representative of Presence Health and reports Presence has been moving forward with plans to deal with the existing building and property as well as with plans for the current office such as deciding whether to keep the current location or move and build elsewhere. Those plans unfortunately have been held up by another merger anticipated to go through the first part of this year. In recognition of Presence making an effort to move forward and continuing to express an interest in trying to keep the local office, Winkel believes it would be beneficial to extend the special use permit through 2018 to give them time to work through the merger and try to keep the business local. Hull moved and Ryan seconded to extend the special use permit for Presence Health through December 31, 2018 (Resolution 2017-13). Roll call of votes. Ayes 5; Hess, Schoon, Gigl, Hull, and Ryan. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Winkel will hand out annual performance review forms after the meeting for trustees to complete for village employees that are assigned to the committees they are members of. Forms can be completed by each trustee on a committee, by the chair, or by the committee as a whole. He requested the reviews be turned back in to him by the end of January so the Budget and Finance Committee can review the evaluations and recommend a raise for employees, if warranted, at the next regularly scheduled board meeting on February 12, 2018. The annual performance review was put in place two years ago as a way to make sure employees are receiving a cost of living raise if earned and also to address and document issues with employees if necessary. In the past, employees of the village went years without any kind of review or raise. In a related matter, Winkel said he will check on the class of license held by Maintenance Supervisor, Tim Kent, and part-time maintenance employee, Travis Albright, as it was discussed when Albright was hired he was to receive a raise when he obtained his CDL. For an employee who reports to multiple committees, Winkel will take all of the evaluations and discuss them with the employee himself in order to streamline the process.

Concluding Public Questions and Comments: Lehmkuhl and Ryan gave a brief synopsis of possible changes to the main street parking ordinance that were discussed at the January Ordinance and Zoning Committee Meeting. More discussion is needed before a final decision can be reached and the Ordinance and Zoning Committee will meet again on the subject.

Adjournment Ryan moved and Schoon seconded to adjourn at 7:43 p.m. 5/0 motion passed by acclamation.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1btU4spCz-S1u-JzEKMBt8oP60VJG99xJ