Illinois Valley Times

City of LaSalle Finance Committee met Oct. 30.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Chairman Ptak Called the Meeting to order at 6:00 pm

ROLL CALL 

Present: Chairman Ptak, Aldermen Bacidore, Thompson, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane

Absent: NONE

Others Present: Deputy Clerk Brent Bader, Finance Director John Duncan, Economic Development Director Curt Bedei, City Engineer Brian Brown, City Building Inspector Andy Bacidore, Fire Chief Jerry Janick, City Treasurer Virginia Kochanowski

A quorum was present. 

Moved by Alderman Reynolds and seconded by Alderman Thompson to approve the minutes from October 16, 2023.

Voice vote, all ayes. Motion carried.

Moved by Alderman Lavieri and seconded by Alderman Thompson to approve the recommendation regarding a request from Michael Turk of Turk Furniture for a Redevelopment Incentive Program grant totaling $12,500 for the Second Street side of premises located at 212 Joliet Street.

ROLL CALL 

AYE: Chairman Ptak, Aldermen Bacidore, Thompson, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane

NAY: None Absent: None Abstain: None

MOTION CARRIED: 8-0 

Moved by Alderman Thompson and seconded by Alderman Reynolds to approve the recommendation regarding a request from Michael Turk of Turk Furniture for a Redevelopment Incentive Program grant totaling $12,500 for the Joliet Street Side of premises located at 212 Joliet Street.

Since this is a corner lot, they qualify for two RIP grants.

ROLL CALL 

AYE: Chairman Ptak, Aldermen Bacidore, Thompson, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane

NAY: None Absent: None Abstain: None

MOTION CARRIED: 8-0 

Kevin Fay, City’s Water Department Foreman, was available tonight to speak to council in regards to a request to purchase iHydrant Infrastructure. The City is looking to install 12 iHydrants around the city of La Salle. Fay gave a breakdown of costs for each of the hydrants. 1 - $3,300, 6 - $17,820, 12 - $31,320. The iHydrants allow the city to be able to monitor pressure and temperature in the City’s lines. The salesman advised that the City of La Salle would need 12 hydrants based on the size of the city. These twelve would be spread out throughout the city. This would also not be replacing the physical hydrant but the guts of twelve of the hydrants. There is also a $300/year fee on each hydrant to cover the dashboard app that the program comes with. The program would also be beneficial to the city because if a drop in pressure is alerted, the program can pinpoint a pump that may not be kicking on. This allows the city to fix some leaks quickly and effectively.

Alderman Thompson asked who would be in charge of maintaining the product and if it was under warranty. Fay did mention that there is an undetermined battery life based on how many signals a hydrant may send out. Fay did not have a battery replacement cost price but will look into that. The city has over 400 hydrants. City Engineer Brian Brown did mention that the 12 hydrants would be spread out within the three different pressure zones throughout the city. The company that Fay bid out with would be in charge of the installation along with City workers assisting if needed. This would benefit some of the old hydrants in town by replacing them with new stainless-steel guts.

The City does provide water out to Rockwell and having one hydrant out there would possibly help out when water breaks occur. There has been a lot of breaks out there and a lot of loss of water recently. This new program would get a quicker read to determine low pressure and address the situation.

The City would be able to set the parameters of too high and too low and the City and foreman would receive alerts when any problems arose. City Engineer Brown stated that there is an advantage for the City to be able to know the static pressures. The City will be able to problem solve with the pump station or any leaks.

Finance Director Duncan stated that this particular project was not appropriated for but there is enough room in the maintenance area of the water department.

Alderman Crane did question if some full hydrants will need to be replaced instead of just replacing some of the guts. Kevin Fay did agree that there would be at least ten hydrants would need a full replacement at some point soon.

Fay was unable to determine when installation would occur. Fay did mention that Joliet was also replacing theirs with the iHydrants.

Resident Dawn Hicks did ask what would happen if the technology did fail. All this program does is monitor the temperature and water pressure. This program does not control the water flow. The hydrant will still work as a fire hydrant if there was a technology failure.

Moved by Alderman Crane and seconded by Alderman Jeppson to approve the purchase and installation of 12 iHydrants infrastructure and program for $31,320.

ROLL CALL 

AYE: Chairman Ptak, Aldermen Bacidore, Thompson, Reynolds, Lavieri, Jeppson, Herndon, Crane

NAY: None Absent: None Abstain: None

MOTION CARRIED: 8-0 

Finance Director John Duncan mentioned that when he shared a proposal for the next tax levy. He stated that it did not need to be passed until the second meeting in December. The biggest items that Duncan wanted all to look at were the fire and police pension. Both of the pension amounts represent 65% of the tax levy. He mentioned that the fire pension is 86% funded. He stated that the recommended annual contribution to the fire pension is $97,791.00, but the city is levied $115,000 this year. The city has exceeded the recommended contribution because they are trying to get to the 90-95% funded rate. Duncan continued on to discuss the recommended levy amount of $2 million, a little higher than last year's amount that was levied at $1.8 million. The police pension is currently 44% funded. The city contributed $300,000 back in 2006 for many years, then $500,000 around 2009, $700,000 in 2013 and now they are looking to contribute $2 million for the year. The goal is to be 90% funded in the police pension by 2040. The city is on the right path to do so. Duncan stated that the assets of the police e pension are $11.5 million and $26.4 million in liabilities. The fire pension assets are $3.3 million and liabilities are $3.6 million. Duncan also mentioned how there would not be a truth and taxation hearing because the city is under a 5% increase. He also stated how the city is not levying any bonds. This is not on the council agenda to act on tonight. He just wanted committee members to review and discuss any questions before they need to be voted on before the second meeting in December.

OLD BUSINESS 

Alderman Lavieri asked about how many meters the city purchased for $129,000 from Ferguson Water Meters. Finance Director Duncan confirmed that the city purchased 1,000.

There were no more questions or comments from the public. 

Moved by Alderman Reynolds and seconded by Alderman Thompson to adjourn the meeting.

Voice vote, all ayes. Motion carried.

Chairman Ptak adjourned the meeting at 6:23pm                    

https://www.lasalle-il.gov/sites/default/files/agendas-minutes/2023-11/10-30-23.pdf