Grundy Reporter

Coal City Village Board of Trustees met April 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, 2019, Mayor Terry Halliday called to order the meeting of the Coal City Village Board in the boardroom of the Village Hall. Roll call Trustees Neal Nelson, Ross Bradley, David Spesia, Tim Bradley and Sarah Beach. Absent; Dan Greggain. Also in attendance were Matt Fritz, village administrator, Police Chief Tom Best, Ryan Hansen from Chamlin Engineering and attorney Mark Heinle.

All present recited the Pledge of Allegiance.

The minutes of the March 20, 2019 meeting were presented. Spesia moved to approve the minutes as written, second by R. Bradley. Roll call-Ayes; Nelson, Bradley, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Absent; Greggain. Motion carried.

The warrant list was reviewed by the Board. T. Bradley moved to approve the warrant list, second by Nelson. Roll call-Ayes; Nelson, Bradley, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Absent; Greggain. Motion carried.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Jessica Harvey, Village Clerk of Carbon Hill & School Crossing Guard

Ms. Harvey approached the Board regarding a crossing guard pay increase. She indicated that the present salary is $23.76 per hour which was set twelve years ago. She has been a crossing guard since August 2014 with no insurance, paid time off, and no other benefits offered. A salary survey indicates that the local municipalities of the approximate same size as Coal City pays their crossing guards $30 per hour. In addition, she recommended that the crossing guards receive training in CPR and basic First Aid. Chief Best responded that the $30 per hour rate is confirmed in local communities and the larger communities are paying as much as $35 per hour. He recommends that the crossing guards receive the safety training. It was stated that the salary for the crossing guards is split 50/50 between the Village of Coal City and the School District. There are approximately 180 school days and there are five permanent crossing guards and two subs. Mayor Halliday along with Chief Best stated that the FY 20 budget is completed and near approval so raises for the crossing guards will not happen this fiscal year. They could be considered in the next fiscal. Mayor Halliday suggested that Ms. Harvey attend a school board meeting and address this issue to them since they pay one-half of the earnings.

Ordinance 19-12 amending the FY 2019 budget was presented to the Board. Mr. Fritz explained the amended plan with the line item adjustments, along with the explanation of the overages. Nelson moved to adopt Ordinance 19-12 amending the FY19 Budget to allow for necessary expenditures, second by T. Bradley. Roll call-Ayes; Nelson, Bradley, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Absent; Greggain. Motion carried.

Resolution 19-06 dedicating Fredin property for a right-a-way for the Coaler Lift Station Replacement project was reviewed by the Board. Owner/Developer, Jim Fredin, is in agreement to dedicating a right-of-way for the sanitary improvements utilities and the 66 foot easement for the road, when and if the Village chooses to extend Oak Street west of DiPaolo. An Agreement has been prepared for execution. Financing of the project was discussed. R. Bradley moved to adopt Resolution 19-06 dedicating right-of-way for Oak Street west of DiPaolo, second by Spesia. Roll call-Ayes; Nelson, Bradley, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Absent; Greggain. Motion carried.

Mr. Fritz presented the FY2020 new water & sewer rates. The present surcharges for water and sewer will be removed from each bill due to those loans being fully paid, which is the amount of $22.42. In order to charge an amount equal to its regular annual cost, the utility needs to increase by 9.5%. The garbage fee of $21.00 per month will remain the same. The new rates were discussed and reviewed at the joint Water & Sewer Committee and Finance Committee meeting held prior to tonight's meeting. 

The Board agreed to a 9% increase in the water & sewer rates for FY2020. R. Bradley moved to approve the water & sewer rate increase for FY2020 by 9%, eliminating the present surcharges and the garbage rate remaining the same, second by T. Bradley. Roll call-Ayes; Nelson, Bradley, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Absent; Greggain.

Motion carried. Mayor Halliday thanked the residents allowing the surcharges in order for improvement to be made and the expenses incurred, and with the loans being paid, the surcharges will be removed as promised.

Mayor Halliday reported on the "welcome home" event today for the new owners of the Homes for Heroes house at 625 Elizabeth. They received one of the 200 houses in 37 states which have been donated by Chase Banks.

Beach reminded the Board that the Hope Helps fundraiser is Saturday, April 13th at the Berst Center, with the proceeds going for the playground in Lions Park. Also, a new Pod Cast called "Business Casually" has begun with two businesses of Coal City already being highlighted. She encouraged the Board to listen to the program.

T. Bradley congratulated the newly elected officials for Coal City. He reported on the State of Minooka event held today with Mr. Fritz.

Spesia reported on the South Broadway Reconstruction project with Nicor starting soon. CBBEL has issued their first "Constant Contact" e-mail regarding the construction progress on the South Broadway project, with more updates to f

Attorney Heinle reported that he and attorney Dan Bolin conducted a training session for the Coal City Planning and Zoning Board at their April 1st meeting and are planning on doing a second session in May. The Kunes property closing will be scheduled in the near future. A question was presented to the Village wherein a local not-for-profit organization would like to hold a Queen of Hearts raffle and asked what the requirements of the Village were. The Village Code prohibits gambling. The Illinois State Gaming Board regulates gambling and Attorney Heinle described the Illinois Raffles Act. Scenarios for the question presented were discussed and this Board had previously been presented with a proposed ordinance for the raffle issue but tabled the ordinance for several reasons. The Board instructed Attorney Heinle to prepare another ordinance for this issue for review in the near future.

Ryan Hansen reported on the Coaler Lift Station Replacement project and stated that a pre-construction meeting, including NCICG, will be scheduled, along with a meeting with Stott Construction who were awarded the bid for project.

Chief Best reported:

• ILEAS Conference he recently attended

• Camera on top of PD for time lapse progress on S. Broadway reconstruction project 

• Part-time officer, George Shugart, is cutting back on his hours but will be scheduled hours certain, probably every other weekend 

• Officer Mazzone will be coming off training soon The Fire Department are awarding several police officers for life saving efforts, Kevin Jones, Tom Logan, Dave Kasher and George Shugart 

• Thank you to the Coal City Aux Police for their assistance with the Homes for Heroes event yesterday, April 9th

Matt Fritz reported:

• Public Works Dept. has been doing winter clean-up

• Reported on the Channahon State of the Village meeting he attended recently

• April 17th at 4 p.m. will be a Street & Alley Committee meeting

•. April 22nd at the Finance Committee meeting will be the last look at the Budget before approval at the April 24th meeting

T. Bradley moved to adjourn the meeting, second by Beach. Roll call-Ayes; Nelson, Bradley, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Absent; Greggain. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 7:57 p.m.

https://coalcity-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/VB-Minutes-04-10-19.pdf