Grundy Reporter

City of Highland City Council met Nov. 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Mayor Hemann called the Regular Session to order at 6:30pm at the Highland Area Senior Center. Council members Sloan, Frey, Bellm, and Napper were present. Others in attendance were City Manager Conrad, City Attorney Mike McGinley, Directors Cook, Gillespie, and Ohren, Lt. Feeney, Treasurer Nicolaides, Deputy City Clerk Hediger, City Clerk Bellm, and 4 citizens.

MINUTES

Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 6, 2023 Regular Session as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

PUBLIC FORUM

Citizens’ Requests and Comments:

Highland Masonic Lodge 583 – Masonic Sausage Supper - Special Event Application – Ted Klaus, Representative, requested partial street closure for one block of 9th St., from Walnut Street to Pestalozzi Street, on Sunday, February 11, 2024, from 9:00am-4:00pm to assist with traffic flow for their annual sausage supper. He stated we are requesting one set of barricades, which they will put up and take down on day of the event. Councilman Frey made a motion to approve the Masonic Sausage Supper street closure on Sunday, February 11 2024, as attached. Motion seconded by

David Todd stated I am assuming the water rate increase is not going to do anything to fund the Silver Lake Improvements. Are you planning to look at doing a referendum on the ballot, this next year, to get funding for some of the much-needed improvements to the lake? City Manager Chris Conrad responded, at this point, we are not doing anything that large. We are planning to do more projects with Heartland Conservatory to work with adjoining landowners. We need to stop the intruding, before we can fix the issues within the lake. We have put a minimum of $100,000 per year to address those things first. Some of it is cost shared project with landowners. As far as big bond issue, we would not look at that until erosion issues are under control. Mr. Todd asked when that time would be. City Manager Conrad responded we did increase the funding from $40,000 - $50,000 per year to $100,000 to speed up that timeline. Mr. Todd stated I see the projects going on; however, a larger push needs to be to address the issues sooner than later.

Requests of Council:

Councilwoman Sloan expressed the event at The Olde Wicks Factory went really well this year. I worked the event with the chief for a little while in the morning. Councilwoman Bellm added it was a busy weekend for police and fire all over Highland with different events. They were everywhere. .

Staff Reports:

City Manager Conrad stated he did not have an update on nuisance complaints, as Mike was out on some vacation time.

The spillway project is moving along, and almost complete. The only portion to complete is the walkway, which should be complete the week after Thanksgiving. Then there will be some riprap put down. While the equipment is out there, some minor drugging will be done long old City Lake. The new spillway is as close to print in location as the original spillway.

NEW BUSINESS

Bill #23-115/RESOLUTION Issuing an “A2” Liquor License to John Melosi, Vicki Tift, Brad Eyman, Jacob Melosi, Melissa Miller and Ben Melosi, on Behalf of Old Time Pub, LLC, Pursuant to Chapter 6, of the Code of Ordinances, City of Highland, Entitled Alcoholic Liquor – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #23-115/Resolution #23-11-3061 issuing an “A2” Liquor License to John Melosi, Vicki Tift, Brad Eyman, Jacob Melosi, Melissa Miller and Ben Melosi, on behalf of Old Time Pub, LLC, pursuant to Chapter 6, of the Code of Ordinances, City of Highland, entitled Alcoholic Liquor as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

Bill #23-116/RESOLUTION Approving the Estimated Tax Levy – Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #23-116/Resolution #23-11-3062 approving the estimated tax levy as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

Bill #23-117/RESOLUTION Authorizing the Sole Source Purchase of One Ford F150 Crew Cab 4x4 Police Responder and One Ford Explorer Police Interceptor and Waiving Customary Bidding Procedures – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #23-117/Resolution #23-11-3063 authorizing the sole source purchase of one Ford F150 Crew Cab 4x4 Police Responder and one Ford Explorer Police Interceptor and waiving customary bidding procedures as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Napper. Councilwoman Sloan expressed while want to keep things local, I understand with the car market that this is necessary. Lt. Feeney reported I did reached out to the local dealers. They cannot get anything. Ford is still trying to catch up on orders from last year, and there will not be any 2024 Interceptors made. City Manager Conrad added we are still waiting on the one we ordered last year. Mayor Hemann inquired will crew cab be on the road. City Manager Conrad replied, yes, primarily it will be used for one of the SROs, range use and special assignments. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

Bill #23-118/ORDINANCE Amending the Highland Municipal Code, Chapter 42 – Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions, Article VI – Offenses Against Property, Section 42-133 Trespass to Real Property – Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #23-118/Ordinance #3308 amending the Highland Municipal Code, Chapter 42 – Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions, Article VI – Offenses Against Property, Section 42-133 Trespass to Real Property as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Councilman Napper asked what the catch in this is. City Attorney Mike McGinley explained this is a language clean up. We removed the provision in the ordinance that says ‘other than a residence’ and adding ‘including a residence’. Sometimes when you read through old existing ordinances, you find things that no longer are applicable or no longer make sense as to the way it is written or exists. Now, if some files a complaint on trespassing, we can issue a violation. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

Bill #23-119/RESOLUTION Authorizing Contract with Clinton County, Illinois, for Special Service Area #5 for Ambulance Services – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #23- 119/Resolution #23-11-3064 authorizing contract with Clinton County, Illinois, for Special Service Area #5 for Ambulance Services as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Councilwoman Bellm asked is this St. Rose. City Manager Conrad replied yes, it is. Clinton County has a board meeting tonight. We have assured their board members that if they decide they want to look at a contract with another service, we have agreed to allow them out of the contract, even if it is mid-term. We will budget as if they are not a part of our service. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

Bill #23-120/ORDINANCE Authorizing Second Amendment to Option Contracts Between Grandview Farms Limited Partnership and City of Highland, For Purchase of Right-of-Way For Part of the Southern Peripheral Route – Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #23-120/Ordinance #3309 authorizing second amendment to option contracts between Grandview Farms Limited Partnership and City of Highland, for purchase of right-of-way for part of the southern peripheral route as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Councilwoman Bellm inquired this is cleaning up language. City Manager Conrad explained we made a mistake in the second option where we put in there the cumulative amount of footage, which was 153,000 sq. ft. of property than what we needed. This corrects that and decreases the cost of the purchase contract. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

Bill #23-121/RESOLUTION Approving City of Highland, d/b/a Highland Communications Services, to Obtain Content and Offer a Hispanic Premium Package for $5.00 Per Month – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #23-121/Resolution #23-11-3065 approving City of Highland, d/b/a Highland Communications Services, to obtain content and offer a Hispanic Premium Package for $5.00 per month as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. City Manager Conrad explained that with our previous content aggregator we had to take all or nothing for the different channel package. Our new content aggregator has allowed us to split services off. If there is a channel package that has lower viewership, we can pull that off there. This also allows us to pay for just content that viewers want. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

REPORT

Accepting Expenditures Report #1254 for Nov. 4, 2023 through Nov. 17, 2023 – Councilman Frey made a motion to accept Expenditures Report #1254 for November 4, 2023 through November 17, 2023 as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.

Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to adjourn. Motion seconded by Councilman Napper. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, Bellm and Napper voted aye, none nay. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 6:52pm.

https://www.highlandil.gov/City%20Council/Minutes/2023/11-20-2023.pdf