Harrisburg City Council met Aug. 1.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
The Harrisburg City Council met on August 01, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. in the Council Room of City Hall in Harrisburg, IL.
Mayor John McPeek called the August 01, 2019 meeting to order. Mayor John McPeek presided over the meeting with Commissioners Raymond Gunning, Roger Angelly, Rupert Johnson and Ron Morse present and answering roll call.
Pastor Dan Masters from the First Church of God led the group in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor John McPeek announced to the citizens the following upcoming events:
1. TIF Meeting – August 06, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. in the Council Room
2. National Night Out at Mahoney Park in Eldorado – August 06, 2019 from 6-8 pm.
3. Tourism Meeting - August 07, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at Ponderosa
4. Impact 2019 - August 10, 2019 from 3-11:00 p.m. at the Fairgrounds
5. HHS All-School Reunion - August 10, 2019 from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
6. Summer Bash – August 17, 2019 from 9:00 a.m. to midnight
Treasurer David Cox and Mayor John McPeek have been working on an Opportunity Zone. This is for low-income areas for our town. It will help citizens get their homes cleaned up or possible construction. There will be more details at a later date.
Mayor John McPeek stated there are towns in Southern Illinois that shows a list of taxes, home ruled towns and the advantages of becoming home ruled. We need to consider becoming home ruled for the future of our town.
Mayor John McPeek thanked all departments for their hard work. He appreciates their work to the City of Harrisburg.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the consent agenda.
1. Minutes – July 18, 2019
2. Check Register and Warrant Report – July 2019
3. LaFarge – MFT – Invoice 710922460 - $247.89
4. LaFarge – MFT – Invoice 710944065 - $497.36
5. LaFarge – MFT – Invoice 711045397 - $495.19
6. LaFarge – MFT – Invoice 711025388 - $247.89
7. LaFarge – MFT – Invoice 711033562 - $247.99
8. Pinoy Construction Inc. – Mill Street Extension – Pay Estimate #3 - $14,507.65
9. Siegel’s Uniforms – Invoice 416415 - Council Contingency – New Hire Gear PD - $339.96
10. Ray O’Herron – Invoice 1935772IN – Council Contingency – New Car Equip - $1,447.65
11. Kaitlyn Wilson – Order 13476092 – Council Contingency – New Hire Gear PD - $64.98
Seconded by Commissioner Ron Morse. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Kolby Smithpeters discussed the Food Truck Ordinance. This will allow the City to track any food vendors throughout town. This will not apply to farmers/gardeners selling corn and/or vegetables. There was a discussion regarding the fee and whether a vendor will be charged for additional locations. This ordinance will be modified after a final review has been completed by each Council member. The food trucks will be required to provide a Certificate of Liability along with proof of certification from the Egyptian Health Department. This will allow the City of Harrisburg to keep track of businesses coming into our town. This would possibly require the Fire Chief to inspect the food truck before being allowed to have a permit.
Mayor John McPeek stated they will review and approve Executive Session minutes in Executive Session.
Kolby Smithpeters presented an ordinance for Towing and Impounding Vehicles Involved in a Crime. This consist of the City of Harrisburg charging a towing fee for specified crimes. There will be an Administration Fee of $150. Once this fee is paid to the City of Harrisburg, they will be issued a receipt which will allow the individual to get their car released from the towing company. This money will go into restricted funds for the Police Department.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to pass Ordinance 1782 regarding Towing and Impounding Vehicles Involved in a Crime. Seconded by Commissioner Ron Morse. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes except Commissioner Rupert Johnson voting no. Motion carried.
Kolby Smithpeters presented Council a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police Service, Marion VA Health Care System and the Harrisburg, IL Police Department. This will need to be signed by Chief of Police Michael Riden. This is an update regarding the changing of protocol for a shooting at the VA. The FBI will now be informed. We have concurrent jurisdiction and anything that happens at our Harrisburg Outpatient Clinic that the Harrisburg Police could not deal with will be referred to the VA Police to handle.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to accept the Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Police Service, Marion VA Health Care System and the Harrisburg, IL Police Department. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning discussed amending Ordinance 1449 which will allow a recreational vehicle a temporary permit to park a RV or camper on a piece of their property for 30 days or extended through the Fire Chief’s approval for no longer than 90 days.
Commissioner Roger Angelly asked if these RV’s and campers will hook up to water and sewer at their own property in accordance with this Ordinance. If they do hook up to water and sewer, they will be required to pay a deposit fee. These campers and RV’s have their own water reserve. Commissioner Roger Angelly is wanting to avoid any sewer dumping on our street. Fire Chief John Gunning stated anyone dumping will be fined. IDPH will stay on top of any illegal dumping. Commissioner Ron Morse stated someone pulling up to a family/neighbor during their visit, will be able to use the residence water if needed. The sewer facilities may be used at the visiting family/neighbor.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to accept Ordinance 1783. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning talked about next year’s 4th of July celebration. There will be a committee formed with citizens to fundraise for this event. The citizens would like to utilize the funds for the 4th of July Fireworks to help raise additional money for this celebration. They may have a carnival, games, rides, food vendor, music and possibly a 4th of July parade. They will be donating their time to help with this event. They just want the support of Council. They are asking to utilize the $6000 to help raise additional money. All members of Council support this fundraising event.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning will be discussing Collective Bargaining in Executive Session.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson was approached by Jim Lindsey regarding cutting timber at Harrisburg Lake. Commissioner Rupert Johnson is looking for support from Council to accept bids to cut timber at Harrisburg Lake. This project will consist of taking bids from several businesses and only certain areas will be designated for cutting,
Commissioner Raymond Gunning asked if the bids would come from loggers. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said Jim Lindsey is a broker and we will not accept bids from just one broker. Commissioner Ron Morse asked if we accept the low bidder, will Jim Lindsey profit from this sale. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said that Mr. Lindsey would profit from this project. Mr. Lindsey will obtain the bids and present Council with a proposal, but Commissioner Rupert Johnson stated we would obtain our own outside bids. Citizen Beth Montfort said Council should talk to the Forest Service about helping with this project.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to accept bids for cutting timber at Harrisburg Lake. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to approve the temporary street closure starting at the city block of Mill Street from Locust Street to Poplar Street as a continuation of the HHS All-School Reunion on August 10, 2019 from 7:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson discussed the repealing of Ordinance 1553 regarding recreational vehicles and portable buildings. After reviewing this Ordinance, he believes the poor was targeted. People do not have money to rent a house for $500 per month, whereas a trailer was about $175 a month. In 2008, we did not have a homeless problem but we do now. This is a direct correlation to Ordinance 1553. We are losing people daily and if we can’t help our neighbors, who can we help. These citizens voted for us to help them.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning asked what trailer parks has closed. This Ordinance talks about trailer parks. Commissioner Roger Angelly would like further discussion on this issue. He asked if people could get into the housing. This is better than being homeless. Commissioner Raymond Gunning said there are certain guidelines for living his house. He stated there are organizations to help homeless individuals. We have the 4-C’s and some community organizations to help.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson said people should be allowed to put things on their private property. The Council was voted in to help these people and we are just slamming the door in their face. We are telling them that because you don’t have enough money, you don’t deserve a place to live. Commissioner Raymond Gunning said there has to be restrictions with this Ordinance. We need some type of control in order to maintain property value. Commissioner Roger Angelly asked for this issue to be tabled so it can be looked into further.
Citizen Darlene Borders said the Ordinance changed for the limit on the age of a trailer. She has lived in her house for over 30 years and does not have a problem with a trailer; however, they did not take care of the trailers next to her. Her fear is it will drive down her property value if you don’t have restrictions and regulations. Perhaps we need to look at housing grants which will allow them to get a home or maybe we can help with our current housing or get more housing in Harrisburg. Putting someone in a camper is asking for a multitude of problems. She will be happy to help with the grant process.
Fire Chief John Gunning said a lady wanted to put a 1998 model trailer in Harrisburg. He said some are good, but some will fold when traveling down the highway to its new location. The value of a trailer should be taken into consideration. An older trailer can still be a good trailer and in good shape and maybe we need to expand the age of the trailer but keep our current value.
Mayor John McPeek asked Fire Chief John Gunning to inspect a building on Walnut Street in which a citizen is willing to deed over to us. He and Commissioner Rupert Johnson went and inspected the building and it is solid and sound. It needs to be cleaned out. This would a good homeless shelter. This could be monitored and hold several apartments.
Citizen Robert Wilson stated Habitat for Humanity is a great organization that puts a family in a home. They started out with 30 people involved, but now there are only about four people working on these houses. This is a program that has a lot of money. If we get the community involved, this will help get housing in Harrisburg. Barnes Lumber and Harrisburg Supply has been a huge supporter of this program.
There are a lot of homeless people. People are sleeping in tents during the summer and find abandoned homes in the winter. Part of the homeless problem is that we do not have anyone proactive enough to help these people and some of these people have mental health issues. There are people that don’t want to have a traditional place to live. It would be great for everyone to have a roof over their head, food to eat and proper nutrition.
The challenges are not all because we have a trailer ordinance. Some trailer parks are not any better than an abandoned home. Some trailers are not livable so there is a lot of work to be done. If this repeal happens, you will reduce the Equalized Assess Value of a lot of homes. This could really drop the EAV and people cannot sell their home because they have a 30 year old trailer next to them. The tax assessor knows they can’t truly assess those properties for what they would be worth if they didn’t have dilapidated trailers beside them. There is no easy answer and all options need to be explored.
Citizen Beth Montfort stated there are a lot of options that the City does not utilize for the homeless issue. We need to look at a lot of options. We could rehab houses and obtain grants for that process. There are grants through the school districts for homeless people. There is a lot of money in mental health which may help some of our citizens. There are a lot of options and maybe we can get some groups together to address this situation.
Commissioner Roger Angelly said it would be great if the school district would get back into their building trades program. This program could help rehab or build homes.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson stated he would like to table Repealing Ordinance 1553 for further discussion, and he was pleased with the open discussion regarding this topic.
Citizen Michelle Edwards approached Council with concern about the City ditch in the 621 S. Capital area. The ditch is eroding causing the corner of her daughter’s garage to have damage. It has cracked her garage floor and patio due to lack of support. Commissioner Roger Angelly said he will address this issue by replacing the retaining wall. He is hoping that he can start on this project in the next couple of weeks. He explained that his department has been short- handed and the weather has not cooperated. A new retaining wall will be built along this ditch along with back fill.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to go into Executive Session to review and approve Executive Session Minutes from February 02, 2019 to June 20, 2019 and Collective Bargaining. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Adjourn: 6:44 p.m.
Reconvened: 7:33 p.m.
Mayor John McPeek presided over the reconvened meeting with Commissioner Raymond Gunning, Roger Angelly, Rupert Johnson and Ron Morse present and answering roll call.
Mayor John McPeek stated there was nothing to act on in regards to Collective Bargaining.
Mayor John McPeek said Council reviewed and approved the Executive Session Minutes from February 07, 2019 to June 20, 2019 and those will remained closed.
Commissioner Ron Morse made the motion to adjourn: Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Adjourn: 7:38 p.m.
https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/3acc7b_8e7f62c3c71d46cdb5872ad3f5146056.pdf
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