Macon Reporter

City of Sullivan Council met Nov. 26.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

1. The City Council ofthe City of Sullivan, Illinois, met in regular session on Monday, November 26, 2018, at 7: 00 p.m. at the Elizabeth Titus Memorial Library, 2 West Water Street, Sullivan. The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ann Short. A roll call was taken.

Commissioner Mike Mossman present

Commissioner Mike Kirk present

Commissioner Grant Wade present

Commissioner Jerry Risley present

Mayor Ann Short present

2. Mayor Short asked if there were any comments from the public in attendance, and there were none.

3. Mayor Short read the items on the consent agenda:

Approval of minutes of the previous regular meeting held November 13, 2018

Approval of claims report

It was requested that the claims list be pulled and voted on separately. A motion was made by Commissioner Wade and seconded by Commissioner Mossman to approve the claims for TIF IV. Upon a roll call being taken, the results were as follows:

Commissioner Mike Mossman yea

Commissioner Mike Kirk abstain

Commissioner Grant Wade yea

Commissioner Jerry Risley yea

Mayor Ann Short yea

and the motion was declared carried.

4. A motion was made by Commissioner Kirk and seconded by

Commissioner Wade to approve the remaining items on the claims list and the rest of the items on the consent agenda. Upon a roll call being taken, the results were as follows:

Commissioner Mike Mossman yea

Commissioner Mike Kirk yea

Commissioner Grant Wade yea

Commissioner Jerry Risley yea

Mayor Ann Short yea

and the motion was declared carried.

5. Commissioner Mossman reported that the Park Department has been working diligently putting up Christmas lights and helping the Electric Department on the Square.

6. Commissioner Kirk wished to recognize the group from the cancer walk that had an awards banquet for recognizing what they have done for our community.

He also reported that the electric line has been put back together and buried that was behind the houses of South Worth and Madison Streets. There was also work done over the long holiday for an arrester that needed repaired near the hotel on South Route 32.

7. Mayor Short reported that the SCED task force met in September to discuss the City' s role and the SCED role in community development. The task force has been listening to ideas from the Spark group, and it is suggested that the SCED task force meet again to move forward. Mayor Short would like to call a meeting of that task force on December 6th at 4: 30 at the SCED board room, and needs a Commissioner to fill in for Commissioner Kirk. Commissioner Risley volunteered to serve on the task force.

8. City Administrator Dan Flannell reported the following:

The water line at Burdick Estates passed testing. First electric transformer has been installed for the first three lots. Sewer line testing should begin within a week.

New water cooling tank at Electric Plant has been installed and is operational Outstanding storm water detention issues for Green Garden Estates has been resolved. Building permit ready to be issued, and early spring start date anticipated

Street Department did excellent job addressing the recent snowfall

QNS did admirable job addressing recent attempt to hack City. Will be wise to

consider budgeting even more for computer security in future

More research has been done regarding random drug testing of employees. Important to note that legalization of marijuana is on horizon, and how would the City handle positive tests with a legal substance? Progressive discipline or immediate dismissal?

Currently not possible to tell if marijuana in system has impact on performance or impairment. What happens with the State in the future will surely impact the City' s decision

9. Mary Hughes of Dove was present to request a donation for Santa' s Workshop. She explained that Santa arrives this Saturday at the Legion. Over 850 fliers have been distributed to the schools. This is a big event that grows every year. She is requesting a donation to help with costs of fliers and ornaments. Commissioner Kirk asked if this would be a legal donation as compared to other organizations asking for money. Mr. Flannell said that this would bring in people to the community that otherwise would not be here, and it serves all of Moultrie County and is not limited to this area. This should be enough to justify the expenditure. A motion was made by Commissioner Kirk and seconded by Commissioner Risley to donate $500 to Dove for Santa' s Workshop. Upon a roll call being taken, the results were as follows:

Commissioner Mike Mossman yea

Commissioner Mike Kirk yea

Commissioner Grant Wade yea

Commissioner Jerry Risley yea

Mayor Ann Short yea

and the motion was declared carried.

10. Planning and Zoning Administrator Karen Cody explained that a hearing was held to rezone part of 1111 W. Jackson Street from B-1to 1-1. A towing and Planning and Zoning Administrator Karen Cody explained that a hearing recovery business is expected to be started on the property by Greg Hostetler. Mr. Hostetler explained that he owns the business in Mt. Zion and wants to put a towing facility at a new building at 1111 W. Jackson Street. A fence is to be erected and cars should be secured behind the fence. He also explained that there should be no more than

10 vehicles there at one time, and most should only sit for about 48 hours, depending on the insurance agency. The wrecker truck won' t normally be parked at the facility because it is usually at the driver' s house. A motion was made by Commissioner Mossman and seconded by Commissioner Risley to approve_the recommendation of the Planning Commission to rezone part of 1111 W. Jackson Street (PIN 08-08-02-301- 014) from B- 1 to I- 1. Upon a roll call being taken, the results were as follows:

Commissioner Mike Mossman yea

Commissioner Mike Kirk yea

Commissioner Grant Wade yea

Commissioner Jerry Risley yea

E Mayor Ann Short yea

and the motion was declared carried.

11. A point was brought up that the members of the Zoning Board of Appeals get paid $20 per meeting, but the members of the Planning Commission are not paid. Mr. Flannell asked if the Council would want to consider changing that policy, and Mayor Short said that the item should be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

12. members the discretion to waive the employee residency requirements for critical

Mr. Flannell brought forth discussion regarding giving the Council

He stated that the Council could make it so that they would need a vote from the Council to hire outside of the residency line, or that they could each decide for their own departments if they wanted to allow an employee to be hired.

Commissioner Kirk explained that he was in opposition of the idea because if a new police chief were to be hired and somebody from Decatur was offered the job, would we allow them to live in Decatur? For an electric position, the time we need them the most is when the weather is bad and they may not be able to make it to work in an appropriate amount of time. Most Council members agreed that it would be nice if employees could be found that want to be part of the community and live in Sullivan.

Commissioner Wade stated that he does not see this problem going away. It could become harder trying to get qualified people to move to town. He would hate to lose people who are close when they don' t live exactly within the five mile radius. It was agreed by the Council that getting a succession plan in place is the ideal way to move forward, but there is no schooling for working on electric generators. Mr. Flannell stated that he would work on a proposed ordinance and that the Council could shut it down and not vote forthe ordinance should they so choose.

13. Mr. Flannell explained that he continued research regarding possible zoning restrictions for first floor residential use in the Central Business District. He explained that there could be no changes to the current residences, and they would be grandfathered in. The owners could also sell those properties and have it grandfathered to the next owners as long as there wasn' t a gap of at least 1 year without the residential use.

It was explained that the thinking behind not allowing residences would be that the intent of the Central Business District is for commercial use. If all of those buildings were turned into residences, there would be no downtown and no businesses. Mr. Flannell has no doubt that there could be some impact on the value of the properties by adopting a restriction. He suspects it may enhance the value of the Woodworth and Slaughterproperties.Healsostatedthatitisnotuncommontofindrestrictionssuchas this in other communities with a square based business district. Each municipality has restrictions worded in different ways. It was explained that if the City were to move forward with wanting zoning restrictions, every owner must be notified and there would be hearings required.

Ms. Woodworth explained that a lot of buildings on the Square need a lot of love. They started a business and spent a lot of money getting the building fixed, but there wasn' t enough support to keep the business open. She also noted that they have kept the building up, pay utilities and taxes, and don' t let the building become dilapidated.

Mayor Short stated that the Council is not prepared to take any action, but she appreciates the good discussions on this topic. There are no plans to move forward with zoning restrictions at this time.

14. The offer and contract for the sale of 112 W Harrison Street will be placed on the agenda for the next meeting.

15. Ordinance 18- 19— An Ordinance for Levy & Assessment of Taxes for the Fiscal Year Beginning May 1, 2018, and ending April 30, 2019, for the City of Sullivan, was presented for the second reading. The proposed tax levy that will have an overall decrease of 2.97%. The ordinance will be passed at the meeting on December 10, 2018.

16. Ordinance 18-20—An Ordinance Abating the Taxes Heretofore Levied for the Year 20189 to Pay Debt Service on Taxable General Obligation Bonds (Alternate Revenue Source), Series 2010 of the City of Sullivan, was presented fort he second reading. This ordinance will also be passed at the meeting on December 10, 2018.

17. City Clerk Monte Johnson gave an update on the AMI project. The server for the new meter reading system will be installed tomorrow, and meters and communication devices have been ordered. Once ready, the plan is to have all equipment and meters installed as quickly as possible.

18. A motion was made by Commissioner Risley and seconded by Commissioner Wade that the meeting be adjourned. Upon roll call being taken, the results were as follows:

Commissioner Mike Mossman yea

Commissioner Mike Kirk yea

Commissioner Grant Wade yea

Commissioner Jerry Risley yea

Mayor Ann Short yea

and the motion was declared carried and the meeting was adjourned at 8: 21 p.m.

http://www.sullivanil.us/document_center/Minutes/November%2026,%202018.pdf