Grundy Reporter

City of Coal Village Board met Jan. 22.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 22, 2020, Mayor Terry Halliday called to order the regular meeting of the Coal City Village Board in the boardroom of the Village Hall. Roll call-Trustees Dave Togliatti, Ross Bradley, Dan Greggain, Dave Spesia, Tim Bradley and Sarah Beach. Also in attendance were attorney Mark Heinle, Sgt. Chris Harseim, Matt Fritz, village administrator and Ryan Hansen from Chamlin Engineering.

All present recited the pledge of Allegiance.

The minutes of the December 11, 2019 meeting were presented. T. Bradley moved to approve the minutes as presented, second by Spesia. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Bradley, Greggain, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Motion carried.

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

There was no Public Comment.

Kevin Lindeman from NCICG (North Central Illinois Council of Government) gave a presentation on the award of the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) to the Village of Coal City. The Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Development (DCEO) will award the Village the sum of $500,000 in funds to be utilized on households for improvements and rehabilitation homes. Those qualifying homes could receive as much as $50,000 per home. The area and location of those homes were distinguished in a mapped area distributed by Mr. Lindeman. Discussion included:

• Approximately 10 homes will benefit from the grant

• Qualifiers-low to moderate income with priorities on disabled, elderly, and low income families 

• $15,000 to be paid by the Village and $5,000 contributed by the Community Foundation of Grundy County

• Letters to be sent to the residents in the designated area of the grant opportunity in spring of 2020

• A committee will review the applications and select the homes

• Completion of the project will be 24 months following the execution of the grant application signing

• A Public Meeting will be scheduled for late summer

• 1st order of business is an Environmental Review of the Area

• House will be assessed for construction costs

• Contractors will bid the repairs

• Projected start of construction is spring 2021 The Board is excited about this opportunity for the residents and thanked NCICG for their assistance in obtaining this grant.

Resolution 20-01, amendments to the employee handbook regarding a drug and alcohol policy was presented to the Board by attorney Heinle. Since the legalization of recreational cannabis on January 1, 2020 in Illinois, the Village's Employee Handbook should coincide and be consistent with the state laws. The Board discussed:

• Licensed CDL drivers are randomly tested and that fact will not change

• Police Officers are also randomly drug tested by the Collective Bargaining Agreement

• No employee can possess, buy, sell, or use cannabis products at work or work under the influence

• Mandatory post-accident testing

• Suspected impairment can cause a drug test to occur

• Cannabis remains in the system longer than alcohol Questions from the Board arose concerning certain points of which attorney Heinle stated he would research and those points included were:

• Random drug testing for all Village employees

• Including a stipulation regarding post-incident drug testing

• Removal of a dollar figure on property damages

• 02 blood alcohol and why not a "0" tolerance 

A Public Health & Safety Committee meeting will be scheduled to further discuss the possible changes to the policy for the handbook. Greggain moved to adopt Resolution 20-01 amending the current Employee Handbook and adopting a new drug and alcohol policy, second by T. Bradley. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Bradley, Greggain, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Motion carried.

A contract to authorize Chamlin Engineering to proceed on the design and bid letting for the replacement of the bridge on the west end of Valerio Road was explained to the Board by Chamlin representative, Ryan Hansen. He stated that the bridge is presently closed and that farm vehicles will need the use of the bridge in the near future. Two culverts will replace the present box culvert. Chamlin will oversee the bidding of the project, insure that the design is approved by the Claypool Drainage District and replace the bridge, guard rail and perform the restoration. This project will be included in the 2020 streets project program for a cost estimated at $100,000. Mayor Halliday asked that the Village obtain written approval from Claypool Drainage District in order to proceed with the project. Spesia moved to authorize Chamlin Engineering to proceed on the design and bidding of project costs to replace the Valerio Road Crossing on second by Togliatti. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Bradley, Greggain, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Motion carried.

Mr. Fritz announced that the Lions Park restrooms have been demolished in preparation of the construction of new handicap accessible washrooms. The Village received a grant in the amount of $96,680, and the total estimated cost of the project is approximately $130,000. Construction is to be completed by June 30, 2020 per the grant requirements. In order to complete the project including design, bidding and construction, the engineering firm of (r)evolution architecture, LLC will oversee the project for the sum of $15,650. (r)evolution architecture, LLC ensures the Village that the ADA washroom project will be completed per the DCEO grant requirements. The Board inquired if our Village engineers, Chamlin Engineering, were interested in overseeing this project and if it is within their scope of capabilities. Ryan Hansen from Chamlin Engineering states that they have constructed washrooms in the past and would like to submit a proposal. T. Bradley moved to table the topic until the next Board meeting, second by R. Bradley. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Bradley, Greggain, Spesia, Bradley and Beach, Nays; none. Motion carried.

Mr. Fritz presented a request for payment #3 to IDOT for the South Broadway Reconstruction project in the amount of $135,547.58. The proceeds will be paid out to D Construction. Spesia moved to authorize Payment #3 for the South' Broadway Reconstruction to IDOT to reimburse construction proceeds paid out to D Construction for $135,547.58, second by Greggain. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Bradley, Greggain, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Motion carried.

Trustee Beach announced that the Galentine Event sponsored by the Coaler Business Alliance is scheduled for February 13th from 4pm-8pm with participants from Coal City, Diamond, Carbon Hill and Braidwood. The Park Board are finalizing the full season of events schedule and will announce the events soon. The ice rink in Lions Park is open to the public,

Mayor Halliday stated that in the Strategic Planning, one of the recommendations was an increase in park events, and he thanked Trustee Beach and the committee with accomplishing that.

Trustee T. Bradley said that the new Senator Joyce was in the area and that he had met with Mayor Halliday and Matt Fritz.

Trustee Spesia reported that the street light poles will be delivered March 6th and they will be installed on the east side of South Broadway first. The next construction meeting is Tuesday, January 28th at 9 a.m. in the Village Hall.

Trustee Greggain reported on the Public Health & Safety Committee meeting. Discussion included:

• Additional officer to the police force

• One officer is presently out on an injury

• One officer is still in training 

• A time slot is reserved at the Police Academy in August 2020 for training of a new officer 

• Chief Best will submit a report to the Board regarding the hiring of a new officer

Trustee Togliatti reported that the Coal City Planning and Zoning Board are reviewing solar energy and code review pertaining to solar energy.

Ryan Hansen announced that the North Broadway design Phase 1 is being completed and the preliminary design will be presented at the next meeting along with a right-of-way easement from the school district. When complete, the plans will be submitted to IDOT for approval.

Sgt. Harseim discussed the incident review distributed to the Board. He gave an update concerning the recent robbery at the Verizon store and the use of new technology for the investigation. Today is the first anniversary for Officer Nick Mazzone.

T. Bradley moved to adjourn into executive session to discuss personnel per ILCS 5 120/2(c)(1) and approval of executive session minutes per ILCS 5 120/(2)(21), second by Spesia. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Bradley, Greggain, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Motion carried at 8:10 p.m.

Following executive session, T. Bradley moved to adjourn the meeting, second by Spesia. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Bradley, Greggain, Spesia, Bradley and Beach. Nays; none. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 8:28 p.m.

https://coalcity-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/01-22-2020-VB-Minutes.pdf