City of Oglesby City Council met Aug. 7.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
A regular meeting of the Oglesby City Council was held on Monday, August 7, 2023. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 pm by Mayor Jason Curran.
PRESENT: Mayor Jason Curran, Commissioners Richard Baldridge, Terry Eutis, Gregory McDermott, Tony Stefanelli, City Clerk Becky Clinard and Attorney Pat Barry.
There was no public comment on agenda items.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY Eutis, SECONDED by Baldridge to approve the minutes from the July 26, 2023, meeting. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran. NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY Eutis, SECONDED by Baldridge to approve the minutes from the July 26, 2023, meeting. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran. NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
A MOTION WAS MADE BY Stefanelli, SECONDED by Baldridge to approve the bills presented for payment in the amount of $123,976.36. AYES: Baldridge, Eus, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran. NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
BILLS PRESENTED FOR TOTAL -$123,976.36 Air One Equipment Inc., $1,309.07; Altorfer Industries, Inc, $200.39; Ameren Illinois-7419559858, $27.59; Ameren Ip-01159-82892, $744.31; American Express, $2,093.09; Barnes, Jack, $900.00, Bound Tree Medical LLC, $170.94; Budach, Wesley, $900.00; Budach, Wesley, -$925.00; Budach, Wesley, $600.00; Buttlels, Aubrey, $92.20; Cal Mfg. Inc., $1,275.66; Chamlin & Associates Inc, $123,706.00; Clegg-Perkins Electric, $1,911.25; Comcast Business-14942, $131.90; Compass Minerals, $23,336.55; Connecting Point, $2,782.25; Conway Shield, $62.50; Core & Main, $2,265.00; Curran, Jason, $86.46; De Lage Landen Financial Services, $345.27; Dinges Fire Company, $1,357.00; Discmania, Inc, $12,470.00; Dresbach Distributing, $107.70; Duttlinger, Evan, $900.00; Emergency Medical Products Inc, $152.68; First Impression, $1,287.65; Fletcher-Reinhardt Co, $6,168.00; Fletcher-Reinhardt Service Co, -$6,168.00; Galetti, Zoey, $50.00; Gonzalez Jr, Victor H, $900.00; Gordon Electric Supply, $550.62; Halm's Auto Parts, $676.65; Hawkins, Inc, $2,637.23; Holloway's Portable Restrooms, $900.00; Hopkins & Associates, $1,000.00; Il Department Of Innovation And Tech, $330.70; Il Fiber Resources Group, Nfp, $3,300.00; Il Public Risk Fund, $5,748.00; Il Valley Fence & Pool, $8,550.00; Impact Networking Llc, $570.00; Imua, $500.00; Iv Net, Llp, $30.00; John Senica Jr., $437.94; John's Service & Sales, $756.99; Johns, Cole, $162.66; Kendrick Pest Control Inc., $260.00; King, Vicky, $71.67; Kittilson's Garage, $3,648.94; Knoblauch Advertising, -$1,071.64; Knoblauch Advertising, $413.07; Kotar, Debra, $350.00; Lasalle Office Supply, $428.98; Margis, Michael, $900.00; Mautino Distributing Co Inc, $15.50; Mcs Advertising, $255.00; Menards, $366.28; Mertel Gravel Co, $250.00; Midwest Mailing & Shipping, $387.34; Mississippi Valley Pump, Inc, $800.00; Mtco, $161.87; Nuftul, Scott, $900.00; Oscepinski, Randy, $900.00; Pantoja, Abraham, $98.64; Petersen, Paul, $900.00; Republic Services -- Allied Waste, $31,635.60; Rescue Direct, Inc, $647.98; Rivara, Michael, $900.00; Samolitis, Amber, $50.00; Spradling, Mary, $50.00; Springfield Electric Supply, $1,423.62; Standard Insurance-Life, $652.73; Staples Credit Plan, $323.40; Strange, Nichol, $50.00; T.E.S.T Inc., $211.03; Town & County Services, $336.50; United States Postal Service, $868.26; Universal Utility Supply, $5,745.00; Valle, Brett, $900.00; Verizon, $24.44; Wright Excavating, $6,750.00
A MOTION WAS MADE BY Stefanelli, SECONDED by Baldridge to approve the August 4, 2023, payroll of $126,111.04. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran. NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
The Council then discussed the various solicitor’s permits up for approval. Permits from two solar companies, a salesman of educational products and SURF internet providers were presented to the council. The council discussed whether they could deny the requests, noting that they didn’t believe that residents wanted people knocking on their doors. They agreed to approve the SURF internet representative, saying that they believed that because the city had a franchise agreement with the company, they should be able to go door to door.
A MOTION WAS MADE by Eutis, SECONDED by McDermott to approve the solicitor’s permit for SURF Internet and to table the other requests until the next meeting. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran. NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
The discussion then turned to who should have control over the city attorney. Curran read a prepared statement, saying that before he opened the floor for discussion, he wanted to be able to speak without the opportunity for the other council members to close the discussion, which is what he felt happened last meeting. He denied that he was trying to keep commissioner members from being able to seek legal advice, but instead, wanted to prevent having ordinances drafted and presented for approval without his knowledge, or without the public having a chance to express their opinion or concerns. He addressed his recent social media post, saying that there are some commissioners who were upset with his posts. Curran said that he had informed the commissioners before posting, and he pointed out that not one person had claimed that the information he had presented was not factual, only that it was being made public. Curran said he ran on a platform of transparency and he would “refuse to stand by and be a spectator of people taking actions …. That some people don’t want the public to know about.”
Commissioner Stefanelli told the council that he had said everything he needed to say on the issue at the last meeting. “I look forward to an up or down vote here.” Baldridge took exception to the comments that suggested the commissioner members were trying to hide something. “That’s disrespectful.”
A MOTION WAS MADE by Stefanelli, SECONDED by Baldridge to approve Ordinance No. 1230-080723, which amends Chapter 2.03 of the Oglesby Municipal Code to revise who has control over the city attorney. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli. NAYS: Curran MOTION CARRIED.
A MOTION WAS MADE by Eutis, SECONDED by Stefanelli to approve the road closure request from Bulldogs Bar to close a portion of the street adjacent to their building for an event. AYES: Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran ABSTAIN: Baldridge MOTION CARRIED.
A MOTION WAS MADE by Stefanelli, SECONDED by McDermott to place on file the recommendation from the Plan Commission re: the Lemrise street vacation request. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
Attorney Barry told the council that the Plan Commission recommended the denial of the Lemrise street vacation request because doing so would “landlock” two parcels.
A MOTION WAS MADE by McDermott, SECONDED by Stefanelli to deny the street vacation request from Adam Lemrise after Barry told the council that the Plan Commission recommended the denial of the Lemrise street vacation request because doing so would “landlock” two parcels. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
Commissioner Eutis then told the council about the police department’s need for an administrative assistant. He said that Anna Johnson, who recently retired, also performed dispatcher duties but that the need for that service no longer existed. He proposed an ordinance that would create the position within the department at a wage of $19 for the first 3 months; $20 per hour for the remainder of the first year and $22/hour at the one-year mark. Benefits would be consistent with those of the FOP. Eutis said that his plan was to hire Lori Ambrose, who had been filling in part-time.
A MOTION WAS MADE by Eutis, SECONDED by McDermott, to have Attorney Barry draft an ordinance for the hiring of Lori Ambrose with the salary and benefits as described before. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
Eutis then explained the need to allow additional employees to become IMRF eligible to address industry wide staffing issues. Eutis said several employees were encroaching on the 1000-hour annual limit and if those employees were not allowed to work more than 1000 hours, the ambulance would not be adequately staffed at times. In July, Director Cathie Edens put in 194 hours over a two-week period – a situation Eutis called “not safe” and said could not continue. Eutis explained that, in addition to staffing shortages, the ambulance crew recently lost four employees who decided not to go through the testing required by the change in protocols (IVCH vs. OSF). Eutis told the council that “we owe it to them (the ambulance staff) to take it seriously.” It was pointed out that the Ambulance Board was charged with making recommendations to the council, so Barry suggested getting the ambulance board together next week to consider the proposal. In the meantime, the council instructed Barry to begin drafting the ordinance so it could be presented at the next board meeting for approval.
A MOTION WAS MADE by Eutis, SECONDED by Stefanelli, to have Attorney Barry draft an ordinance that would allow for adding three more IMRF-eligible employees to the ambulance staff. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran NAYS: None MOTION CARRIED.
There was some discussion on whether the council should continue holding working meetings. Curran felt the meetings were beneficial, but others on the council disagreed. Stefanelli said he felt the council was “perfectly capable” of doing things in regular meetings, while Eutis said he felt the working meetings should be “the exception and not the rule.” McDermott agreed with Stefanelli.
NEW BUSINESS:
Eutis said that there’d had been a lot of discussion about who can add items to the agenda between the commissioners and mayor. He said he felt that the parties were interpreting Robert’s Rules of Order differently. Eutis then asked that an excerpt from the FAQs page on the official Robert’s Rules of Order website addressing the question of who can place items on an agenda be placed on record. Eutis read from the paper, noting that in response to the question of how to an item on the agenda for meeting the response said “it is wrong to assume. As many do, that the president “sets the agenda.” It is common for the president to prepare a proposed agenda, but that becomes binding only if it is adopted by the full assembly.” Eutis said he didn’t think it didn’t apply to the council, and didn’t think it was fair that the mayor was the only one able to add items to the agenda.
Stefanelli said he agreed, saying he didn’t believe “one man should not be the gatekeeper to the agenda … that is Open Government and Transparency 101.” Curran responded that that was why he added the New Business section to the agenda. He asked his fellow council members if anything anyone ever requested had been excluded from the agenda – noting that there had been some changes in the wording to make it less political. Curran said he felt an obligation to the pubic to ensure there is an opportunity for discussion. Stefanelli said he felt the council had an obligation to take action on things and didn’t see a reason to drag things out over two or three meetings. “There’s no reason to start dragging things out,” Stefanelli said.
Curran pointed to the noise ordinance, saying that there were members of the council who wanted to approve changes to the noise ordinance the same night the subject was brought up without allowing an opportunity for the public to speak on the change. Curran again pointed out that, except for a wording change, everything that the other members have asked to be on the agenda, has been on the agenda.
Stefanelli said he did not believe that “endless discussion” was “conducive to getting things done and is a disservice to the residents.” Curran again reiterated that he felt it important that residents are given the opportunity to speak out about changes that might affect them. Baldridge said that he felt that that was addressed by requiring that an agenda be posted 48 hours in advance of a meeting.
Curran said that he had no idea what an item listed as “Discuss and possibly approve action on revising the City of Oglesby Municipal Code 2.03 (Council) and ordinance 1220-050123” was about. Stefanelli disputed that, asking that an email from him to Mayor Curran be entered into the record. The email, was written in response to an earlier email from the mayor to the commissioners that told them that they would need to get his approval before talking to any of the city’s attorneys.”
Discussion continued until A MOTION WAS MADE BY Eutis, SECONDED by Stefanelli to have the attorney draft an ordinance that would allow any council member to add items to the agenda. McDermott asked for clarification on the wording of agenda items. Eutis said that he felt that “we’re all adults.” “It’s about getting our items on the agenda, not the exact language.” Curran then asked again if any council member has had an item not added to the agenda. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli. ABSTAIN: Curran. MOTION CARRIED.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Greg Stein worried that the council would be passing ordinances written by the commissioners – Eutis assured him that ordinances would be written by Attorney Barry. Stein also asked about the ambulance staffing problems.
Brandy Day offered the council a “gentle reminder” that sometimes the audio on the Facebook Live feeds is nonexistent. She also took Mayor Curran to task about his recent Facebook post. Day said she felt it was really one-sided and felt that those discussions should be held in the meeting format.
COMMISSIONER UPDATES
Tony Stefanelli, Commissioner of Finance
- Hoping for reports soon on Summer Fun Fest
- Will be moving council to a paperless meeting packet in near future to save money and time in the clerk’s office.
- Reminded residents about the First Responder Night on August 8.
- Read a thank you from Bev Sons and family to the ambulance staff who answered the call when her husband passed. He then personally recognized each person on the call: Ambulance Director Cathie Edens, Dusty Shan, Kelly Shan, Tim Ploch and Kendra Arjes. Police Officers Wes Budach and Scott Nuftul.
- Announced that he would be seeking bids for the Clark St. sewer separation project. Jim Clinard, of Chamlin and Associates, said that the bid packets would be available next week.
- Thanked his electric department employees for their hard work and long hours required to restore power to the west side of Oglesby after a lightning strike.
- Told the council that after the recent incident, it become even more evident that a fourth employee was needed to bring his department to full staff. He announced the hiring of Austin Ocsenpinski.
- Announced the dog run is open.
- Updated the council on the disk golf course. The equipment has been ordered and should arrive soon. Baldridge says the course is beautiful and he has no doubt it is going to bring people to town.
MAYOR’S REPORT
- Talked about the Eats in the Streets, which is August 19.
- Emails for city officials should be ready in the next few days
A MOTION WAS MADE by Eutis, SECONDED by Stefanelli to adjourn at 8:07 p.m. AYES: Baldridge, Eutis, McDermott, Stefanelli, Curran.
MEETING ADJOURNED.
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