City of LaSalle City Council met Jan. 24
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL
Present - Mayor Jeff Grove, Aldermen Bacidore, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Crane, Herndon
Absent: Alderman Ptak
Others Present: Deputy Clerk Brent Bader, Superintendent of Public Works Patrick Watson, Finance Director John Duncan, Fire Chief Jerry Janick, City Attorney Jim McPhedran, Treasurer Virginia Kochanowski
Others Present Remotely: Economic Developer Leah Inman
A quorum was present.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Moved by Alderman Demes and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to accept and place on file the Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the City Council held January 10, 2022. Each and every alderman has a copy.
Voice vote, all ayes. Motion carried.
PETITIONS
Moved by Alderman Lavieri and seconded by Alderman Herndon to allow for the representative from Thortons to speak in regards to a request for a possible extension of time related to the Redevelopment Agreement.
Philip Bolduc, representative and direct employee of Thorton’s, addressed the Council. He was here tonight to speak about a possible extension of 1 year for the balance of the rebate on the tax incentives that are out there. Many things have happened for them to be in this place. Thortons was recently required by British Petroleum and COVID has majorly impacted the business drastically. Mr. Bolduc wanted the council to know that Thorton’s is currently in a very good position with acquisitions and growth targets for the next 2 to 3 years with lock-in financing and materials in.
Mr. Bolduc did remind the council that Thortons does own the property and they have done offside work with the State of Illinois. The City has already given out a rebate to Thorton’s of $250,000. With cost and everything Thorton’s will be looking at about a $10 million investment. Mayor is on board with the extension because Throtons’ is already the owner of the property and they have invested in the area. Mayor is also very understanding of the supply chain issues that are happening across the board.
Alderman Lavieri asked whether the fuels will be BP fuels or branded Thorntons. Mr. Bolduc stated that the Thortons gas is British Petroleum gas but just branded Thorntons and will be viewed as a value price.
Mr. Bolduc informed the council that Thortons has over $2 million to date invested in the property, with acquisition of land itself and engineering fees. There will then be a balance of approximately $7.5-$8.5 million in additional investments. There has been 15-20 percent cost increases in all the projects across the board. Mr. Bolduc is asking for an extension from 12-31- 2022 to 12-31-2023 for a substantial completion date. The council will then amend the redevelopment agreement and the next upcoming meeting.
Mr. Bolduc did state that there may be some updates to code compliances with some new building codes. The plan still contains a 2600 sq. ft quick service retail and restaurant. Economic Developer Inman did verify with Mr. Bolduc that one reason for his extension also was due to tank availability. The tanks that are needed are double walled fiberglass tanks. There are only 2 tank suppliers in the industry, one is stating that it will take 12-16 mos. This is due to poly plastic and styrofoam. The tanks are currently the longest lead item. The job was put out for bid but now Mr. Bolduc said that they will be going back out for bid again. Thortons does not have a certain General Contractor that is used for all new site work. Mr. Buldoc stated that they will definitely use and find local subcontractors for this job.
Alderman Bacidore asked if Peru’s forthcoming Kwik-Trip will be an issue for Thortons and if they would change their minds. Mr. Buldoc reassured the council that it will not be an issue and they have had some head to head competition in the Chicago land area, but have had no impact on growth goals. Thorton’s business focus is convenience food and fuel, not a truck stop. Mr. Buldoc stated that the LaSalle site will be similar to Channahon with diesel fueling positions.
Moved by Alderman Herndon and seconded by Alderman Jeppson to approve the extension with Thortons of the completion date on the Redevelopment Agreement of 12/31/2022 to 12/31/2023.
AYE: Aldermen Demes, Bacidore, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane
NAY: None Absent: Alderman Ptak Abstain: None
MOTION CARRIED: 7-0
Mr. Bolduc will be the one that the Council and City will be familiar with through the completion of this project.
Moved by Alderman Crane and seconded by Alderman Herndon to grant the request from Ameren Illinois to break ground at 388 N. 2959th Rd to install gas and electric services.
AYE: Aldermen Demes, Bacidore, Reynolds, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane
NAY: None Absent: Alderman Ptak Abstain: Alderman Lavieri
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0
Moved by Alderman Demes and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to grant the request from the Knights of Columbus Calvert Council No. 792 to hold its annual Tootsie Roll candy sales on September 16-18, 2022, at the intersection of 11th and Bucklin streets and at LaSalle businesses. Each and every alderman has a copy.
Voice vote, all ayes. Motion carried.
Lavieri asked about where this property was actually located on Flying J’s property. Deputy Clerk Bader mentioned how there is currently already a building on the lot and they will be using it to hold employee parking and parking for semis was already available on the Flying J property. Economic Developer Inman spoke in regards to how the building, located in the northwest corner, currently falls within the property of Flying J. They are looking for a variance to reduce the number of sizes of parking spaces. The code was once treated as its own entity, where this is a unique circumstance because there is already parking available.
Moved by Alderman Jeppson and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to send the request to the Zoning Board of Appeals from Kimley-Horn on behalf of Travel Center Realty, LLC for a variance reducing the minimum parking space requirements at 341 Civic Road.
Voice vote, all ayes. Motion carried.
REPORT OF CITY OFFICERS
Moved by Alderman Bacidore and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to approve and accept the Building Inspector’s Report for December 2021 showing total fees collected of $6,744.22 with total value of construction of $1,519,652.00
Voice vote, all ayes. Motion carried.
COMMUNICATIONS
Moved by Alderman Lavieri and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to approve and place on file the Illinois Department of Revenue showing sales tax collected for October 2021 of $93,636.92, Home Rule Sales Tax of $76,613.59, and Non-Home Rule Sales Tax of $3,524.85 for a total of $173,775.36.
Voice vote, all ayes. Motion carried.
STANDING COMMITTEES
Moved by Alderman Lavieri and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to approve the recommendation of the Finance Committee regarding the City’s proposed aerobic digester conversion project.
AYE: Aldermen Demes, Bacidore, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane
NAY: None Absent: Alderman Ptak Abstain: None
MOTION CARRIED: 7-0
SPECIAL COMMITTEES
Moved by Alderman Reynolds and seconded by Alderman Demes to approve the recommendation of the Planning Commission of petition of Tom Ptak and Mark Ptak for approval of Final Plat of the “Ptak Subdivision,” including request for exceptions. Each and every alderman has a copy.
AYE: Aldermen Demes, Bacidore, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane
NAY: None Absent: Alderman Ptak Abstain: None
MOTION CARRIED: 7-0
RETIREMENTS
Police Chief Mike Smudzinski wrote a thank you letter from the LaSalle Police Department thanking Sandy Cruz for all her hard work and dedication in ensuring the safety of the students of LaSalle Schools over the last 18 years.
Moved by Alderman Demes and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to accept the retirement of Crossing Guard Sandy Cruz. Each and every alderman has a copy.
Voice vote, all ayes. Motion is carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Mayor Grove set a date for the next Public Works building meeting for Monday, January 31st at 7pm at the new Public Works building location.
NEW BUSINESS
Alderman Bacidore is concerned with the current 1st and Joliet restaurant project. He is upset with the current owner and all the projects he has going on around the State of Illinois, but not completing his current project in LaSalle.
Mayor Grove and Mrs. Inman met with Nathan Watson of CL Enterprises back on June 26, 2021. He expressed the owners will return with an update in the summer.
ORDINANCES/RESOLUTIONS
Moved by Alderman Reynolds and seconded by Alderman Demes to approve the ordinance approving the Final Plat of the “Ptak Subdivision,” including exceptions and/or variances.
AYE: Aldermen Demes, Bacidore, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane
NAY: None Absent: Alderman Ptak Abstain: None
MOTION CARRIED: 7-0
Attorney McPhedran did state that Alderman Ptak mentioned that if he was in attendance he would not be voting on this matter since he had an interest in the matter.
COMMENTS
Finance Director Duncan spoke in regards to Republic and how they had over 30 complaints on missed pickups just in the last week. The city is doing their best to continue to hold them accountable. They are still currently meeting every Friday and are even discussing complaints a few times a week. Republic continues to state that they are struggling with staffing issues. The problems with Republic have unfortunately been ongoing for years. There have been a lot of points in contract that they are not meeting. The customer service is horrendous. Duncan did ask for all complaints to be fielded to the City Hall and not the customer service. The city has one more year with this waste service.
APPROVAL OF BILLS
Moved by Alderman Lavieri and seconded by Alderman Demes to accept, pay, and place on file bills for January 10, 2021 with Total Submitted: $562,077.15 (Total Payroll $164,785.20, Bills to be paid $192,531.37, Total Bills Paid $204,760.58). Each and every alderman has a copy.
ROLL CALL
AYE: Aldermen Demes, Bacidore, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Crane
NAY: None Absent: Aldermen Ptak, Herndon Abstain: None
MOTION CARRIED: 6-0
Moved by Alderman Reynolds and seconded by Alderman Crane to adjourn the meeting. Voice vote, all ayes. Motion is carried.
ADJOURNED 6:59 pm
https://www.lasalle-il.gov/sites/default/files/agendas-minutes/2022-02/1-24-22_0.pdf
Alerts Sign-up