Kankakee Times

City of Watseka Council met Nov. 27.

Here is the agenda provided by the council:

The City Council meeting was called to order by City Clerk Amanda Hibbs at 7:00pm. Present were Aldermen Dewitt, Garfield, Barragree, Cahoe, and Mayotte, Alderwomen Ulfers and Foster. Absent was Mayor Allhands.

Motion was made by Mayotte, seconded by Barragree to appoint Alderman Cahoe as Mayor Pro Tem for the meeting since Mayor Allhands was absent. Motion passed 7-0.

Berkot’s Presentation: Matt Scales a representative from Berkot’s Super Foods gave a presentation on plans for the store to make renovations and a brief over view of why they would like to push forward with this plan. Mr. Scales thanked the Council for their time. Berkot’s would like to renovate and offer on -site food, offering a café inside of the store where customers can place an order at the customer service counter, sit and have their order brought to them while they dine inside, they would like to seat 15-20 customers and also offer beverages such as beer and wine. They are looking at minimal construction and they would like to use Watseka’s building departments for this project. They will need some separation inside of the store to allow for menus and signage. He asked the council if they had any questions the council asked their questions Berkot’s would like to start the renovation after the Super Bowl. Mr. Scales did ask for the council to let him know if they had any thoughts or ideas on this project. The Council seemed very supportive of this all were in favor of Berkot’s moving forward.

Motion was made by Dewitt, seconded by Barragree to approve the City Council meeting minutes from October 23rd and November 13th 2018. Motion passed 7-0.

Public Comment: None

Ordinances, Resolutions, Agreements & Proclamations

 #2523-Ordinance Authorizing the Purchase of Real Property Commonly Known as 223 North Kay Street, Watseka Illinois.

 #2524-Ordinance Authorizing the sale of an Approximately 30’ x 733’ Parcel of Land Along the East Property Commonly Known as 715 E. Raymond Road, City of Watseka, Iroquois County, Illinois

Consent Agenda

• #2523-Ordinance Authorizing the Purchase of Real Property Commonly Known as 223 North Kay Street, Watseka Illinois.

• #2524-Ordinance Authorizing the sale of an Approximately 30’ x 733’ Parcel of Land Along the East Property Commonly Known as 715 E. Raymond Road, City of Watseka, Iroquois County, Illinois

Motion was made by Ulfers, seconded by Garfield to approve #2523-Ordinance Authorizing the Purchase of Real Property Commonly Known as 223 North Kay Street, Watseka Illinois. Motion passed 7- 0.

Motion was made by Mayotte, seconded by Barragree to approve #2524-Ordinance Authorizing the sale of an Approximately 30’ x 733’ Parcel of Land Along the East Property Commonly Known as 715 E. Raymond Road, City of Watseka, Iroquois County, Illinois. Motion passed 7-0.

Standing Committee Reports

 Finance, Legal and Audit

A Motion was made by Dewitt, seconded by Garfield to pay claims in the amount of $734,396.91 Motion passed 7-0.

A Motion was made by Ulfers, seconded by Mayotte to Accept and Place on file the October Treasurer Report. Motion passed 7-0.

A Motion was made by Garfield, seconded by Dewitt TIF 3 Disbursements to Belmont Oaks $117,649.10, and Heritage Woods $56,095.99

A Motion was made by Ulfers, seconded by Mayotte Donation from the City to Watseka Rocks in the amount of $5,000 to come from the promotions line item. Motion passed 7-0.

A Motion was made by Garfield, seconded by Dewitt to accept 208 W. North Street as a gift with the City cleaning up the foundation. Motion passed 7-0.

A Motion was made by Garfield, seconded by Ulfers for Berkot’s Gift Certificates in the amount of $50 each for employees for Christmas excluding tobacco and Alcohol. Motion passed 6-0 Alderman Dewitt Abstained from voting.

 Public Works

-Move forward with the expansion of the Public Works Facility for Water & Sewer, no action was taken some discussion was had to look into the office by well #10 that is not in a flood plain the Council would like to investigate this site before anything else is done, Alderman Cahoe will let Marvin at Public Works know.

 Public Safety

A Motion was made by Cahoe, seconded by Mayotte to appoint Andrew Douglas to the Fire Department Reserve Roster. Motion passed 7-0.

 Code Enforcement

A Motion was made by Garfield, seconded by Barragree to put 224 E. Hickory St. out for bids. Motion passed 7-0. Alderman Garfield then asked City Attorney Cainkar if he had an update on 304 W. Oak St. Joe has been trying to get the deed from the Trustee the Trustee lost the contract so Joe resent it this is still on hold for now.

Miscellaneous Business

 One Call- Motion was made by Dewitt, seconded by Ulfers Motion passed 7-0.

 Utility Service-No action was taken Council feels the City should not be involved

 ICOM Agreement-Motion was made by Garfield, seconded by Dewitt Motion passed 7-0.

 Fees for Dispatch and Infrastructure, Council feels no to dispatch and they would like to add $2.50 to Infrastructure making the fee $5.00 Joe will take care of this.

 Sales Tax- No action taken

 City Responsibilities after Flooding- No action taken Alderwoman Ulfers shared we are mandated to pick up garbage after a flood.

Reports from Officers- None, Alderman Mayotte just shared that he had spoken with a contractor that the city has had issues with he believes tomorrow is his last day he has spoken with Thom Webster this should be taken care of.

Open Discussion:

Alderman Cahoe read a letter from the Watseka Public Library that Kim Zumwalt is retiring Dec. 31st 2018 and that they formed a new search committee to hire a new director and that Rose Gilman from Manteno has accepted the offer she will replace Kim Zumwalt for 2019.

A motion was made by Ulfers, seconded by Cahoe to Adjourn at 7:45pm. Motion passed 7-0.

http://www.watsekacity.org/files/2815/4395/4520/Council_meeting_11-27-18.pdf