Carbondale Reporter

City of Genoa City Council met May 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Mayor Brust called the special meeting of the City Council to order at 6:00pm followed by roll call. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, and Roca were present. Alderman Wesner, Stage, Winter, and Braheny were absent. A quorum was present with Mayor Brust also voting.

The city council along with Mel Henricksen and Alli Hoebing from NIU finished the strategic planning workshop that was started on May 9, 2023. This included discussing the short- and long-term goals that were formed at the previous workshop and additional goals that the council formed based on these discussions.

Mayor Brust led the pledge of allegiance.

GUEST SPEAKERS – None

Motion made by Alderman Pulley to accept the minutes from the May 3, 2023, City Council meeting and the May 9, 2023, Special City Council meeting, seconded by Alderman Freund. No further discussion. Voice vote was taken, all voted yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Alderman Hughes to approve payment of the accounts payable for May 15, 2023, seconded by Alderman Pulley. No further discussion. Roll call vote was taken. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

ITEMS FROM INDIVIDUALS IN ATTENDANCE – None

OLD BUSINESS – None

FUTURE ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION – None

NEW BUSINESS:

PRESENTATION BY CUSTOM ALUMINUM PRODUCTS

Reid Bloomfield of Custom Aluminum Products presented the council with an informative slideshow that included various aspects of the company’s growth over the past 15 years and plans for future growth. This presentation was in direct correlation with the following ordinance that would help Custom Aluminum to expand their base of operations. After going through multiple options for expansion they ultimately decided the old Greenlee building would be best for the needs of both Custom Aluminum and the City of Genoa. From an investment standpoint,

Reid discussed how it will overall be a $1.6 million project on Custom Aluminum’s end. As for the city, a 67% tax abatement over 3 years from each of the taxing bodies would total approximately $150,000 to which Custom Aluminum believes is a win-win situation that allows them to grow and expand all while creating up to 20 more jobs for Genoa. Mayor Brust thanked Reid for such a detailed presentation and assured him that he has his support for the project moving forward.

APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN ECONOMIC INCENTIVE AGREEMENT AND IMPLEMENTING THE PROVISIONS OF AN ADOPTED ECONOMIC INCENTIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF GENOA AND 702 W MAIN, LLC

Motion made by Alderman Pulley to approve of the ordinance above, seconded by Alderman Roca. Mayor Brust then explained a little more about the 3-year tax abatement and confirmed that it does not mean the City of Genoa will be taking a $150,000 loss but rather a portion of that at around 8%. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE A DOWNTOWN FAÇADE IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM GRANT AGREEMENT WITH STORMWAG PROPERTIES, LLC, NOT TO EXCEED $30,000

Motion made by Alderman Pulley to approve of the previously stated façade improvement program grant seconded by Alderman Roca. Mayor Brust then invited the owner of the building, Mark Carlson, to speak on the project. Mark showed the council visuals of the improvements that will be made, developed with JDK services. Alderman Pulley asked if this façade grant was included in the budget to which City Administrator Alyssa Seguss explained that this was already included and there will still be funding available even after this. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 8, CHAPTER 1 AND 6 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF GENOA, DEKALB COUNTY, ILLINOIS

Mayor Brust explained that this is something they normally want the whole council to be present for and left it up to the present members to make a motion to discuss the item, table it for a future meeting, or approve it if they feel comfortable in doing so. Alderman Pulley made a motion to table the item for a future meeting, seconded by Alderman Roca. City Administrator Alyssa Seguss then asked if there were any items in the agenda regarding the topic that could be better explained or discussed in preparation for the next meeting. Alderman Roca wanted clarification on the bullet point that says – “Adds language that clarifies that unpaid bills by a previous owner are due from a new owner before water service can be reinstated.” Seguss stated that yes, it does mean that the new owner must pay the previous owners bill but explained that what typically happens during a closing on a property is that your attorney will reach out to the city to find out if the property has any outstanding bills and all of that will be wrapped up into closing costs. She also proposed that if anyone else has any ideas of how to better resolve the issue they are open to other options. Jan Tures, Finance Director, and Kelly Cahill, City Attorney, also assured the council that the new owner should be aware of the bill if their attorney is properly doing their job and this new language would only be put in place to protect the city in rare situations. Alderman Roca asked how much the city is losing per year because of unpaid bills from previous owners to which Jan Tures said it could be around $1,000 or more. Mayor Brust proposed watching for the next six months to see how many new owners get stuck with a bill left by previous owners without any prior knowledge and then revisit that aspect of the agenda item, Jan Tures agreed. Alderman Pulley asked why the rates are going up for water and sewer and Seguss explained that a third party came out to do a study and explained that the rates need to increase to cover the costs and it should be done incrementally. There is a memo that describes this more in depth. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AN ORDINANCE APPROVING A SPECIAL USE PERMIT FOR A 3-UNIT MULTI-FAMILY USE AT THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT THE CORNER OF FIRST STREET AND ADAMS STREET, COMMONLY KNOWN AS 601 A&B WEST FIRST STREET AND 205 ADAMS STREET

Alderman Pulley made a motion to approve the special use permit, seconded by Alderman Hughes. Alyssa Seguss informed the council that the planning commission held a public hearing to discuss this topic on May 11th. She went on to explain that it is a unique property in the sense that there are three different houses on one parcel. The property predates the cities Unified Development Ordinance which means it’s non-conforming to our current zoning ordinance creating difficulties when trying to sell. During the public hearing there were no concerns from the public and the planning commission recommended unanimous approval. Seguss also told the council that it has been rentals for about twenty years and if sold it will most likely continue to be rental properties. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTION OF AN ECONOMIC INCENTIVE AGREEMENT AND IMPLEMENTING THE PROVISIONS OF ADOPTED ECONOMIC INCENTIVE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF GENOA AND MALCOUR DEVELOPMENT LLC

Alderman Pulley made a motion to approve the above ordinance, seconded by Alderman Hughes. Alyssa Seguss described the building plans that were provided by the business saying there would be three bays and it would look very similar to the existing buildings. She also stated that they plan to increase their number of employees to about 16 which is five new positions with the expansion. The estimated total for the construction project is about $450,000. They requested a five-year tax abatement at 67% which is estimated at about $5,000 of the cities revenue. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE A QUOTE FOR MANHOLE LINING FROM ADVANCED REHABILITATION TECHNOLOGY, NOT TO EXCEED $11,250

Alderman Pulley made a motion to approve the quote for the manhole lining stated above, seconded by Alderman Roca. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE A QUOTE FOR NETWORK CABLING AND UPGRADES AT CITY HALL BY FOREST CITY COMMUNICATIONS, NOT TO EXCEED $14,000

Alderman Hughes made a motion to approve of the quote above, seconded by Alderman Roca. Finance Director Jan Tures gave the council a bit of insight on how necessary this is and described the mess of cables that currently exists. Alyssa Seguss mentioned how they’ve also had issues getting employees offices set up due to the confusion with the cables. Additionally, it was flagged in the third-party IT audit as an area that needs to be upgraded. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE THE FINANCE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE AN EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AGREEMENT AND THE PURCHASE OF TWO COPY MACHINES FROM MARCO TECHNOLOGIES, LLC, NOT TO EXCEED $8,210

Alderman Pulley made a motion to approve the agreement and purchase described above, seconded by Alderman Freund. Jan Tures informed the council that one copy machine will be going into city hall and the other will be going into the police department. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE A QUOTE FROM C.E.S. FOR PREPARATION AND SUBMITTAL OF A SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL GRANT APPLICATION, NOT TO EXCEED $6,000

Alderman Pulley made a motion to approve of a quote from C.E.S. for the preparation and submittal of a Safe Routes to School grant application, seconded by Alderman Freund. Alderman Pulley expressed how big of an impact this will have on his ward specifically and the community of Genoa as a whole. No further discussion. Alderman Pulley, Freund, Hughes, Roca and Mayor Brust voted yes. Motion carried.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS

FINANCE

Finance Director Jan Tures said that the preliminary audit work for the department was completed on May 16th with Sikich and they are on track for the next step in the auditing process. She also explained that once a year they are required to give the council a statement of net assets for the police department pension and a copy of that is included in the meeting packet. Along with that is an update of where we are in terms of different funds as there have been new policies made and transfers between several accounts. Any questions regarding this can be directed to Jan. She assured the council that all the balances of funds are where they are supposed to be, and they will continue to watch them monthly.

PUBLIC WORKS

Deputy Public Works Director Joe Flury announced that 25 more trees were planted May 17th making the grand total of trees planted in the past three weeks 180. They’ve been planted near the Riverbend subdivision following the path that goes through the prairie. They’re also planning on planting 25 more in the fall. Alderman Hughes asked if the public works department will be maintaining and watering the new trees and Flury said that they just hired someone part time whose main duty will be watering all the newly planted trees. He also explained that due to the grant they received to plant the trees they must maintain them properly. Mayor Brust announced that Arbor Day is coming up on Friday and Flury said they will be meeting at 12pm in Riverbend.

POLICE DEPARTMENT

Deputy Chief Greg Edwards presented the council with a bulletin report and went over a couple of the bigger things that happened recently. They’ve had a couple of DUI’s recently, one involving a crash into a tree near Carroll Park. Another accident happened in which the driver went off the road and hit a tree along with a parked vehicle, but this was due to a medical reason and the driver unfortunately passed away a couple days later. Along with the accidents, they arrested a sex offender that was outside of GES after school one day and there was a situation involving kids shooting air soft guns at other vehicles. The PD recently sent out 17 letters for tall weeds but they’re hoping most will be taken care of within the next couple of weeks. The department also put an advertisement out with hopes of testing again and potentially getting at least one new hire in January.

ADMINISTRATIVE

City Administrator Alyssa Seguss said that she’s reached out to two businesses, Trackside and Genoa Gaming, that had received façade grants in the fall but have yet to start working on improvements. Trackside is doing a lot of work inside the building at the moment and Genoa Gaming has been working with their contractor to get improvements started soon. The planning commission is set to meet again in June to go over an amendment for the IBEW training facility. They had originally planned to build an administrative building on the corner of Forest View and Sycamore but are instead going to flop sides and build it towards the other intersection Walnut and Sycamore, the building will also be slightly taller than what was originally planned. The new building will be used to store equipment and hold training sessions during colder weather. The plan for commercial storage for recreational vehicles will also be heard at the June planning commission meeting. Seguss mentioned that along with the letters the PD sent out for tall weeds there have also been citations issued to residents that need property maintenance done, such as painting. There are 16 property maintenance cases on the docket for June. It was also announced that the End of Session Wrap Up featuring State Representative Tony McCombie and State Representative Jeff Keicher will also be at city hall on May 30th at 5pm to go over what has been accomplished in Springfield this year.

MAYOR

Mayor Brust announced that the lease has been signed on the old Corner Grill building and a new restaurant, Main Street Bar & Grill, will be moving in soon. He also said that residents should be receiving another survey regarding the downtown beautification project in order to reach all of Genoa’s residents and get additional feedback. Alderman Hughes asked if there was any kind of timeline for the underground work included in the beautification project and Brust explained that they plan to start after the car show in August and be done by September/October.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

City administrator Alyssa Seguss shared the survey results for the downtown beautification project to show that despite what may be seen on Facebook, the residents of Genoa do support the project and are excited for the changes it brings.

Motion to adjourn the meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Pulley, seconded by Alderman Freund. Voice vote was taken, all voted yes. Motion was carried. Meeting adjourned at 8:10pm.

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