Kankakee Times

City of Gilman City Council Met Feb. 8.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

The regular meeting of the city council was called to order by Mayor Theesfeld. Council responding to roll call were: Eimen aye, McGehee aye, Kraft aye, Bachman aye, Elliott aye, and Fancher aye. Clerk Morris was also present. Treasurer Johnson was absent.

Moved by McGehee        Seconded by Bachman

to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held on January 11, 2021. All aye.

Moved by McGehee        Seconded by Fancher

to approve the transfer of $15,000.00 from the general fund to the road & bridge fund. All aye.

Mayor Theesfeld advised the council that the lift station near where Bloomquist Oil’s building used to be located is in bad shape. John McBride will obtain a proposal/estimate of replacing the rails, control panel, pump, etc., which may be around $50,000.00.

Mayor Theesfeld also advised that both pumps at the water tower are having problems and may need to be replaced. John McBride will provide an estimate for those pumps as well.

Moved by Elliott               Seconded by Eimen

to add Eimen to the police committee to replace Elliott. All aye.

Moved by Eimen              Seconded by McGehee

to approve and adopt Ordinance No. 20-21-12 authorizing the ceding of private activity bonding authority to the Eastern Illinois Economic Development Authority for the city’s 2021 private activity volume bonding cap of $185,020. All aye.

The city’s electrical aggregation agreements expire in 2021, and the bid day with Good Energy is March 10, 2021. The city is entitled to take an administration fee, which it has not done in the past, but Mayor Theesfeld inquired to the council about whether they wish to take a fee, as most municipalities are now doing so. That fee increases the consumer’s per Kwh rate.

Moved by Eimen             Seconded by Elliott

to take an administration fee of 1/10 of 1% of the consumer’s rate per Kwh. All aye.

The council was advised that the city received $30,916.62 from the Local Coronavirus Urgent Remediation Emergency (CURE) Support Program, as reimbursement for police payroll and benefits paid to Chief Anderson from March 1, 2020 through the date of his resignation, excluding payments to him for vacation, sick and personal days. Mayor Theesfeld recently spoke with Austin Grammar of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), who made some suggestions on how the funds could be spent. However, the city may use the funds as it so chooses. Further discussions will be had in that regard.

Mayor Theesfeld advised the council that a decision about the grant applied for the N. Central streetscaping project has been pushed back to April 2021.

Practical Technology Services, who previously provided the city with computer technical services, closed its business as of November 30, 2020. The council was advised of recent conversations with representatives of MCS Office Technologies in Gibson City to provide technical support for the city’s computers and related equipment. They will charge $135.00 per hour on an as needed basis. They also offer managed services which are paid monthly, but the cost for those services is quite high and does not seem necessary at this time. The city may also purchase a new computer from MCS for the city clerk, and have the treasurer use the computer that the city clerk currently uses. MCS does not design or work on websites.

The council was also advised of recent conversations with representatives of Accuraty in Champaign regarding the city’s website. Without knowing exactly what the city wants its website to look like, Accuraty estimated a cost of $4,000 to $9,000 for redesigning the city’s website. There will also be a charge of $25.00 per year for the domain name, $200.00 per year for a certificate, and a $35.00 per month charge. Once the website is redesigned, it is possible that a city employee may be able to do more with it, such as adding information about special events, boil orders, garbage pick-up, etc., which cannot be done now as the city’s website/domain name is part of Practical Technology’s GoDaddy account. No motion was made or vote taken, but the city will contact Accuraty to discuss redesigning the city’s website.

Alderman Eimen advised the council of the status of negotiations with the Iroquois County Sheriff’s Department for police services. A police committee meeting was held on January 26, 2021 at which Sheriff Hagen and County Board Chairman Shure were in attendance, along with members of the Onarga Village Board. The county has increased the cost to be paid by the city from what it originally stated, but Onarga refuses to pay any more than $48,500.00. No progress was made at the committee meeting, and discussions are currently at a standstill.

The afternoon of the day of the meeting, an e-mail was received from Midwest Meter advising that the software to do drive-by radio meter reads is no longer supported, and although the city’s current laptop is functioning properly, it is becoming dated. Badger Meter is requesting that all ReadCenter (client-based) software customers move to cloud-based Beacon software. A quote was provided by Midwest Meter for the new software, laptop, licenses, etc., totaling $21,074.00. In addition, annual license fees for Beacon will be assessed. We could keep the current meters and transmitters for now. No motion was made or vote taken regarding this issue.

Alderman Bachman had nothing to discuss.

Alderman Elliott had nothing to discuss.

Alderman Fancher had nothing to discuss.

Alderman Kraft had nothing to discuss.

Alderman McGehee had nothing to discuss.

Alderman Eimen had nothing to discuss.

Moved by McGehee        Seconded by Fancher

to approve the bills as they were presented, and to approve the Balance Sheet, and Profit and Loss Statement dated February 8, 2021 as presented. All aye.

Moved by Eimen              Seconded by Bachman

to adjourn the regular meeting at 8:04 p.m. All aye.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ubAyr2Hb3jvQK3aMbakMI03I3kOyFovZ/edit