Carbondale Reporter

City of Genoa City Council met Jan. 4.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

City Clerk Braheny called the meeting of the City Council to order at 7:03 p.m. Roll call was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Hughes were present. Alderman Cravatta and Holcomb were absent. Quorum present.

City Clerk Braheny asked for a motion to have Mayor Brust join the meeting via phone. Motion made by Alderman Pulley to have Mayor Brust join meeting by phone seconded by Alderman Freund. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

Mayor Brust asked Alderman Pulley to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

Guest Speakers – Recognition of the Kishwaukee Valley Historical Society. Mayor Brust read a proclamation to the Kishwaukee Valley Historical Society and Alderman Pulley presented it to them. Rob Brown from Kishwaukee Valley Historical Society thanked the council for the recognition and informed anyone that would like to come visit the Historical Society even if it’s not during the normal hours of Wednesdays from 1-5pm and every other Sunday to reach out and he would be happy to meet at the Historical Society.

Motion made by Alderman Pulley to accept the minutes of the December 21, 2022 City Council meeting, seconded by Alderman Hughes. No further discussion. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Alderman Winter to approve payment of the account’s payables for December 31, 2022, seconded by Alderman Hughes. Alderman Hughes asked about line item 6 rental, Finance Director Tures stated that is for the water cooler that is in the kitchen at City Hall. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Hughes voted yes. Motion carried.

ITEMS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN ATTENDANCE – None

OLD BUSINESS - None

FUTURE ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION: None

NEW BUSINESS:

APPROVE AN AMENDMENT TO THE PERSONNEL POLICY REGARDING PROMOTIONS: Motion made by Alderman Stage for approval of an amendment to the personnel policy regarding promotions, seconded by Alderman Winter. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Hughes voted yes.

CLOSED SESSION: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to go to Closed Session for the purpose of approving the minutes of the previous closed session and for the purpose of discussing the sale of public property, seconded by Alderman Pulley. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Hughes voted yes. Motion carried

RECONVENE REGULAR SESSION: Motion made by Alderman Wesner to reconvene regular session, seconded by Alderman Winter. Roll call vote was taken. Aldermen Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter and Hughes voted yes. Motion carried.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

Finance Report – Treasurer & Finance Director, Jan Tures stated that currently they are working on the 5 year capital plan they have all the reports in from Public Works and Police Department, they are putting those together then they will be reviewing them with the city administrator and the mayor then back with the department heads. The department heads currently have the regular budget documents that will be due in a couple of weeks then they will start that process. Working with the finance committee on the investment policy and fund balance policy so that should be coming up later this month or in February. Got the new paperwork for the new account completed and this morning they transferred the money into the new account this morning on the new account that was approved at the last meeting.

Public Works – Public Works Director, Janice Melton stated that the big snow event that we were supposed to get was no so big it was just the cold weather that gave public works a challenge. Tonight, we are expected to get a half inch so there will be someone out salting tonight. Christmas decorations are coming down. Janice is adding a few specifications to the construction specs to tighten up some things for erosion control blanket and actually specifying what seed matrix to use.

Police Department – Chief Smith stated that the safety act was talked about on 12/28 and the judge in Kankakee basically found part of it unconstitutional so our DeKalb County States Attorney stated that for us it’s business as normal. There are a lot of changes in training that the police department has to do which is part of this act. Originally it was just those counties that were on the lawsuit but the Illinois Supreme Court said no it’s everyone. On 12/30 early morning on Redwood area and Hawthorn area there were a bunch of cars that were entered they were all unlocked; several items were taken usually its just loose change however people leave all kinds of stuff in their cars, keys were left in a car so they took that car, they took a gun; they were driving around in a white SUV, that SUV was stolen out of Hampshire that vehicle was recovered in Rockford later that day. The plates from our vehicle were recovered in Rockford that day, the vehicle that was stole from Genoa was recovered in Kane County, they used the Genoa vehicle in Geneva, St. Charles and a bunch of other areas. They used the debit cards in Wal-Mart in Rockford so there is video of that, it’s a process.

Administrative Report – City Administrator, Alyssa Seguss stated that she has nothing to report at this time.

Committee, Boards and Commission Reports (WTC, EDC, PC, PC, PP, TB, DBC AND FAC) – City Administrator Seguss stated that the Waste Water Treatment Committee will meet again mid-January and planning on looking at the sewer capital plan. EDC is going to meet with Rochelle’s economic development corporation next week to talk about some of the efforts that they have had, their organization has been running for over 20 years and they have been seeing really great returns on their investments that they have made in the past so they are going to give an explanation and maybe some strategies to our EDC. Planning commission was cancelled for January but anticipating a meeting in February for a commercial building but it is still pending the application and required submittals. Police and Fire Commission do their own thing and they are quarterly and no new information there and Tree Board is getting back together soon.

Mayor’s Report – Mayor Brust stated that next meeting planning to have 1 or more of our DeKalb County Representatives attend and provide an introduction for the new alderman and answer any questions that we might have. If anyone would like to have any questions answered please prepare them ahead of time. Alderman Winter is expecting her first baby.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – None

Motion to adjourn the meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Wesner, seconded by Alderman Pulley. Voice vote was taken. All voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:02 p.m.

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