Hillsboro City Council Meeting
January 11, 2005
Mayor Baran called the
meeting to order at 7:00 PM.
Roll call was taken and those
present were Mayor Baran and Commissioners Trost, Richmond, McCammack and Hill.
Minutes of the previous
meeting were approved.
Commissioner Hill reported the skate park fund is now at $7,570.53
thanks to recent donations. Hill next reported she is looking for a new pool
manager for this coming year and lifeguards could begin applying now for employment
this summer. Commissioner Hill reported
that the Firemen’s Club has been cleaned and is ready for rental. Brush is being cleared from the dams and
silt basin with help from the Vandalia Correctional facility and City
employees. The Christmas decorations
have been taken down and the new budget will allow for more new ones. Maintenance Superintendent Blankenship has
been working on the CD building and plans for more restrooms in the park. Commissioner Hill announced she would be
attending a Kaskaskia water shed meeting in the near future and will be having
some organizational meetings.
Commissioner Richmond reported the year-end totals in the Police
Department. For the year 2004 there
were 152 accidents reported (48 on private property), 108 warrants served, 2
homicides with both suspects in custody, 52 battery cases, 43 drug arrests, 43
alcohol arrests, 782 traffic citations issued, 314 city ordinance citations,
217 non traffic arrests and 478 written warnings issued. Commissioner Richmond also asked the City
for permission to hold a night handgun qualification on January 17th
of this year. (The Council gave its
approval)
Reporting for the Fire
Department Commissioner Richmond gave the following totals for the year
2004. There were 21 false alarms, 4
carbon monoxide calls, 9 grass and rubbish call, 7 mutual aid calls, 1 rescue
call, 10 gas leak and power line calls, 29 structure fires, and 4 vehicle fires
for a total of 85 calls. The estimated
value of property loss was $302,800.00 and the department had 1672 hours of
training. Commissioner Richmond
informed the Council of the deterioration of the sign on the Fire Department
and asked that approval for its replacement be placed on the next agenda. Richmond presented Commissioner McCammack
with a list of hydrants that were in need of replacement or repair.
Commissioner Richmond
reported for the Zoning officer there were 63 past abatements that are now in
compliance, there have been 14 new nuisance abatements filed and there has been
one building permit issued. Richmond
next informed the Council of the condition of the former Radar Lumber property
and stated a nuisance abatement would soon be sent out. The abatement would have the traditional 15
days to comply and if not the City Attorney was instructed to begin demolition
proceedings.
Commissioner Trost reported on the status of the 23 Revolving Fund Loans
the City has made. Two loans have been
paid off this year, 3 are in bankruptcy, 10 are current, Clayton is 5 months
behind and the rest are a few payments behind but paying regularly. Trost next reported on a recent audit of the
past FEMA grant the Fire Department received where everything was found to be
in order.
Commissioner McCammack reported
totals for the Waste Water treatment plant as treating 484,000,000 gallons of
sewage and 100,000 gallons of storm water.
The Water Plant pumped 4,078,725 gallons with an average of 1.3 million
gallons per day. The total pumpage was
a 7% increase over last year. McCammack
was pleased to mention with all the recent heavy rains we have had very few
drainage problems thanks to the ongoing work West and East of town.
Commissioner Hill commented
on how well and quickly the Street Department cleaned the roads after the
recent snowfall.
Mayor Baran gave a brief
review of this past year’s accomplishments by the Council. Those being the completion of the new water
tower and demolition of the old, renovations at Central Park Pool, the purchase
of 2 new fire trucks, and a new meeting room in the firehouse. The Police Department now has tasers for all
the officers and 4 new vehicles. There
was also the annexation of Graham Correctional facility, which increases our
population by nearly 2000. The Council
received long term recommendations from the Planning Commission of which some
of the suggestions have been completed and others are in the implementation
stage. Mayor Baran also commented on
the realignment of some supervisory personnel and the general work force, which
should make operations more efficient.
City Treasurer McCoy asked
the Council for approval to pay this month bills.
Motion was made by
Commissioner Trost and seconded by
Commissioner Richmond to approve the payment of bills in the amount of
$173,932.24. Motion carried 5-0.
City Engineer Hunt informed
the Council he should have the closeout documents for this past years 2004 MFT
program completed by next week.
There was a brief discussion
concerning the alteration of some of the Zoning rules to possibly expedite the
permitting process. It was decided to
have a meeting on January 18th at 7:00 pm with the Zoning Board to
discuss these possibilities.
Motion was made by
Commissioner Richmond and seconded by
Commissioner Hill to network the Fire Department and Police Department Computers
at a cost of $1300.00. Motion carried
5-0.
Motion was made by
Commissioner Richmond and seconded by
Commissioner Trost to instruct Hurst and Rosche Engineers to prepare this
year’s 2005 MFT program. Motion carried
5-0.
Mayor Baran informed the Council
of recent legislation governing the use of emergency lights for volunteer
firemen and had Attorney Jarman prepare an ordinance complying with the recent
change.
Motion was made by
Commissioner Richmond and seconded by
Commissioner Hill to adopt Ordinance 1406 addressing the use of emergency
response lighting by the Volunteer Firemen.
Motion carried 5-0.
Mayor Baran recommended the
Council the appointment of Shawn Allen to the Auxiliary Police Department.
Motion was made by
Commissioner Richmond and seconded by
Commissioner Hill to appoint Shawn Allen to the Auxiliary Police
Department. Motion carried 5-0.
Commissioner Hill next
addressed the Council and audience concerning hunting on City owned property
around the Lakes. We have hunting on
City property, which leads to questions.
Is it legal, will our insurance company back it up. The insurance company needs to be aware of
the situation and give their opinion.
Then there is the issue if hunting is allowed, who should be allowed to
hunt. Commissioner Hill discussed the
Wolford lease of City property of which he was to plant hay and give a
percentage of the proceeds to the City.
Commissioner Hill was not familiar with the contract, but did feel Mr.
Wolford was employing the best management practices to help protect the
watershed. Commissioner Hill stated if
hunting is allowed we should know who is hunting and where.
Don Cranfill stated he is not
comfortable with hunting being allowed in the City owned woods adjacent to the
campground. Mr. Cranfill was concerned
with deer slugs from City property coming into his hunting reserve.
Gary Huber from Nokomis had
some questions for the Council. Number
one will there be a limit to how close you can hunt to City property, will
there be hunting allowed on lake lots, how would one access the City property
and how the boundaries would be determined?
Glen Caulk, who owns 34 acres
in the Irving arm, was concerned if there would be a liability problem with
duck hunting. Caulk was also concerned
with locating the City boundaries around the lake and also admitted there is no
simple solution to the situation.
Don Cranfill addressed the
Wolford contract stating that he was contacted by Wolford to plant and cut the
hay, but due to weather problems the hay was ruined. Mr. Cranfill stated that he informed Wolford that the harvesting
of hay on the property would not be feasible and should be planted in milo and
sunflower. Mr. Cranfill supplied the
seed for the planting.
Commissioner Richmond stated
the original contract called for the City to receive a percentage of any
harvesting it was not to be made into a game preserve.
Commissioner McCammack again
stated Mr. Wolford has not honored the contract.
Commissioner Richmond was
concerned over who would enforce the rules if hunting were allowed on City
property. Commissioner McCammack felt
John Booher should be the enforcer.
Commissioner Richmond stated “no way” he has too many other duties to
do.
It was finally decided to
keep researching the problem, as hunting season for this year is drawing to a
close and form a suitable answer to the situation.
Upcoming agenda items:
Replacement of the sign at
the Fire Department, roof repairs at the Fire Department and cost to construct
a secure an area in the Fire station for dispatchers.
The hunting on City property
and the Wolford agreement would be addressed at the February 8th
meeting.
Motion to adjourn was made
at 8:12 pm by Commissioner Trost and
seconded by Commissioner Richmond.
Motion carried 5-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Dave Booher, City Clerk