City of Oglesby City Council met July 6.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
A Regular Meeting Of The Oglesby City Council Was Held At City Hall. The Meeting Was Called To Order At 7:00 P.M.
Present: Commissioners Argubright, Cullinan, Curran, Lijewski, Mayor Rivara, Attorney Barry And City Clerk Eitutis
A MOTION WAS MADE BY LIJEWSKI, SECONDED BY CURRAN to approve the regular meeting minutes from June 21, 2021. AYES: ARGUBRIGHT. CULLINAN, CURRAN, LIJEWSKI, RIVARA.
Public comments on agenda items only: none
A MOTION WAS MADE BY ARGUBRIGHT, SECONDED BY CURRAN to approve bills as presented for payment. AYES: ARGUBRIGHT, CULLINAN, CURRAN, LIJEWSKI, RIVARA. TOTALS : $ 208,376.32
A MOTION WAS MADE BY ARGUBRIGHT, SECONDED BY CURRAN to approve Ordinance 1167-070621 establishing the salary and benefits of the City Clerk. AYES: ARGUBRIGHT, CULLINAN, CURRAN, LIJEWSKI, RIVARA. Mayor Rivara states the City Clerk will also take over the Economic Developer duties.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY ARGUBRIGHT, SECONDED BY CURRAN to approve adding Assistant Clerk II full time position to the IBEW contract. AYES: ARGUBRIGHT, CULLINAN, LIJEWSKI, CURAN, RIVARA. Mayor Rivara reads an email from the IBEW to the details of the full-time position. Commissioner Curran states it is not his preferred method to have the City Clerk take on the additional responsibility but it is his opinion and his concern is that should it not work out that adding an additional full-time person limits the city’s options. Mayor Rivara feels this is the way to go and there needs to be someone taking on the responsibility and know what’s going on. Commissioner Lijewski states there is enough to get done within the Clerk’s office and doesn’t have a concern will the full-time position itself. Commissioner Lijewski’s question is if Assistant Clerk II would receive the Assistant Clerk’s rate of pay after 20 days. Mayor Rivara says no, it would be if the Clerk II is assigned that position. Commissioner Argubright states the City Clerk could assume the role if necessary. Commissioner Curran recognizes that this is a viable option and feels but feels it doesn’t add more resources to the City Clerk’s office.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY ARGUBRIGHT, SECONDED BY LIJEWSKI to approve setting July 12, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. as the date for the working meeting. AYES: ARGUBRIGHT, CULLINAN, CURRAN, LIJEWSKI, RIVARA.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY ARGUBRIGHT, SECONDED BY LIJEWSKI to approve the request from Holy Family School to hold the Holy Family Shuffle on Saturday, October 2, 2021. AYES: ARGUBRIGHT, CULLINAN, CURRAN, LIJEWSKI, RIVARA.
Old Business: Mayor Rivara states that the previous request from Elizabeth Mettille to vacate the alley near her home cannot be done.
Public Comments: Art Pavinato asks the council if the City has made any decisions in regards to the Reisner Building. Mayor Rivara states they have not due to the fact that there is asbestos and Indian bats in the building. Mayor Rivara asks Mr. Pavinato what his intentions were should he purchase the property? Mr. Pavinato states he would like to see the building come down as he has no interest in the commercial building. Mr. Pavinato states he is 95% certain he would just add additional yard space to his existing property. Mr.Pavinato has also talked to his neighbor to the North of the building about possibly selling him a portion of the lot should he purchase it.
Drew Merriman addresses the council with his complaint about fireworks that have been going off for the past 2 weeks and asks if something can be done about it. Mr. Merriman feels the City is catering to the carnival that comes to town for Oglesby Fun Fest in that we provide them with electric and water. Mr. Merriman said there are other carnival’s around.
Commissioner Curran states the carnival itself does not use city power, the outside vendors do. Mr. Merriman states they are using city water and should be charged for it. Mr. Merriman also believes that the carnival is allowing their “grey water” to run into the ground. Mr. Merriman also feels that the police officers need to get out of their cars to investigate the firework activity, not just ride around.
Commissioner Reports:
Argubright: Fun Fest generated $29,776.00 in 2021. Commissioner Argubright states the 50/50 raffle and donations were down this year and there were no banner sales either. Argubright states he is very happy with the figures. Argubright states the city received a check from the carnival itself for $40,604.00. Drew Merriman states that all carnivals keep 2 sets of books.
Lijewski: reviews the past figures for Summer Fun Fest and notes that there were a few years that were missing from the spreadsheet. There were 16 fire calls and 57 ambulance calls of which 20 were transfers. Lijewski states 995 meals were served for the pork chop dinner; however the figures were not in yet in regards to profit. The Police department had 21 cases, 76 traffic stops and 16 firework calls between July3-4. The officer for the month of June was Evan Duttlinger.
Curran: states there is currently a power outage on Clark Street to which he does not know the exact reason. There is a single phase that is out. Crews are out working on it. Clark Street is the oldest underground electric in the City. The City was previously approved for a 2nd feed into the City, one of the concerns was that no customer would be turned away from the city and gives explanation on the matter of the capacity and the possible savings to the City. There is a leaking fire hydrant at the end of Water Street and will be replaced on July 14, 2021 to those residents located East of Cookie Kingdom. Curran states a code red will go out tomorrow and the day before the interruption. Commissioner Curran discusses a conversation between him and State Representative Lance Yednock in regards to the fire hydrants that need to be replaced. Commissioner Curran states if he is able to use that money for other/additional things he will. Commissioner Curran states residents have questioned him in regards to the streets/alleys that are being repaired. Curran states the two largest alleys in the City have been repaired, they are Cedar Creek Lance and Prospect along with the Dickinson House parking lot. Commissioner Curran states every January officials and department heads evaluate what streets are in need of repair. Commissioner Curran also states that all of the Motor Fuel Tax money was not used therefore; there will be some already for next year. Curran addresses the no parking signs that have placed throughout the city.
Cullinan: none
Mayor’s report: states a great FunFest was had by everyone and thanks the workers, volunteers, residents and North American Midway. Mayor Rivara states the carnival is all computerized and recorded and acknowledges the check that was received and states they have been great to work with. Mayor Rivara states he looked into the matter of the carnival dumping their “grey water” and states it went into the parking lot of the swimming pool and into the sewer from there. The Electric Department was in fact washing their trucks from a previous job. Drew Merriman speaks up from the audience.
Commissioner Curran states that he had one resident send in an email about the parking issue which he will read at the working meeting next week.
A MOTION TO ADJOURN WAS MADE BY ARGUBRIGHT, SECONDED BY LIJEWSKI. AYES: ARGUBRIGHT, CULLINAN, CURRAN, LIJEWSKI, RIVARA.
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