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07/15/10: Minutes - June 9, 2010 - Regular Monthly Meeting
The Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees met in regular monthly session
Wednesday, June 9, 2010 at the Hillcrest Village Hall. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. answering the roll call was
Trustees Jim Mecklenburg, Rich Elliott, Randall Salsbury, Jim McMullin, Trevor
Unger and Vicki Stewart. President Hicks was absent due to a conflict with his
place of employment.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg called for a motion to
approve the minutes of the May 12, 2010 regular monthly meeting. The minutes of
the May 12, 2010 regular monthly meeting were approved upon a motion made by
Trustee Stewart; Trustee Elliott seconded the motion. Vote as follows:
Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, McMullin – yes, Unger – yes
and Stewart – yes. The motion passed unanimously.
President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg gave the treasurer’s report, as of April 30, 2010 the general fund
had a balance of $167,141.58; motor fuel tax fund had a balance of $128,387.16
and the water fund had a balance of $57,395.24. A motion to approve the
treasurer’s report was made by Trustee Elliott; Trustee Salsbury seconded the
motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes,
McMullin – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes. The motion passed
unanimously.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg gave the treasurer’s report,
as of May 31, 2010 the general fund had a balance of $161,423.67; motor fuel tax
fund had a balance of $130,909.04 and the water fund had a balance of
$60,212.92. A motion to approve the treasurer’s report was made by Trustee
Elliott; Trustee Salsbury seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg –
yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, McMullin – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart –
yes. The motion passed unanimously.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg
presented the Board of Trustees with the claim sheet. A motion to approve the
bills as submitted was made by Trustee Elliott; Trustee Unger seconded the
motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes,
McMullin – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes. The motion passed
unanimously.
DEPARTMENT UPDATES
FINANCE: Trustee Mecklenburg stated
that he has continued to work on the budget for fiscal year 2010 – 2011 and he
provided the Trustees with charts that reflect the Village’s revenue he asked
the Board of Trustees to review the charts and be prepared to discuss them at
next Wednesday’s budget meeting. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that this
is a budget workshop and no decisions will be made; we are drawing close to the
end of this fiscal year and we should be ready to pass the budget for fiscal
year 2010 – 2011 by the end of this month. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated
that the Village’s revenue streams are all declining; the Village is not having
any trouble paying their bills but, if this continues there may be trouble down
the line. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that the Board still needs to cut
another $30,000 out of the budget and this may require some hard decisions on
our part; please be prepared.
WATER: Trustee Elliott reported there was
no new business to report.
HEALTH & WELFARE: Trustee Salsbury
reported there was no new business to report.
ORDINANCES: Trustee
McMullin reported that he was working on three ordinances.
STREETS:
Trustee Unger reported the maintenance department is preparing to patch potholes
in the streets. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg asked how the potholes are
repaired. Trustee Unger stated that the potholes are filled with cold patch and
then compacted.
BUILDINGS & GROUNDS: Trustee Stewart reported there
was no new business to report.
POLICE DEPARTMENT: No report was
available.
BUILDING DEPARTMENT: No report was available.
ATTORNEY
COMMENTS: Attorney Shane Temple absent due to illness.
VISITORS:
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg introduced State Representative, Robert Pritchard
who spoke to the Board of Trustees and all in attendance. Mr. Pritchard stated
that he attempts to get around to all of the municipalities and townships at
least once every two year cycle just to let local government officials know that
he is accessible and to share a little bit of literature. Mr. Pritchard stated
the booklet that he passed out is a list of government contacts from the federal
level all the way down to the court system this is a valuable resource and it
also contains the National and the State constitutions as well.
Mr.
Pritchard stated he wanted to give the Board of Trustees an update on a couple
of things last year was the first time the State pasted a capital budget in ten
years and in that budget he and Senator Burzynski were able to insert some money
for every community and in visiting with President Hicks we wanted to try and
get some funding for the sewer system and $100,000 has been earmarked for that
project. Mr. Pritchard stated that he wanted the Board of Trustees to know that
there have been problems with the capital budget funding as monies become
available the State is starting to release funding for certain projects. Mr.
Pritchard stated the first bit of good news is that those projects aren’t going
to evaporate with the ending of this fiscal year there is an ongoing resolutions
so those projects will be honored as soon as the funding becomes available. Mr.
Pritchard stated the other thing that he wanted to share is that the Illinois
Municipal League has done an excellent job of informing all of the communities
what the Governor proposed in his state of the State address and later in his
budget address that he felt the State was short on revenue and he was looking
for all available places to take revenue and one of those ideas that he
identified was reducing the amount of income tax distribution to local
municipalities and townships; roughly a thirty percent reduction. Mr. Pritchard
stated that he thinks that is absolutely insane policy because the Village has
its own problems and doesn’t need to be impacted by the States financial
problems and how you operate your community. Mr. Pritchard stated that money was
set up when the income tax was established and it is an ongoing policy that he
feels needs to be honored. Mr. Pritchard stated that the Governors’ proposal to
reduce the income tax distribution to local municipalities and townships was
defeated and we feel that we have won one of the skirmishes but, until we get
through this budgeting cycle and the emergency powers that the Governor has
until January 9, 2011 we are not sure what he might do or what power he may feel
that he has been given; that is something that the legislature is going to have
to be vigilant about. Mr. Pritchard stated he will continue to fight because
municipalities and townships have their own issues and the Village does not need
less revenue sharing that was part of an agreement that was made over forty
years ago when the income tax was originally imposed.
Mr. Pritchard
stated the big item in this cycle is the State budget as has been true to form
the for the past five to seven years the budget has not been debated there are
finance committees that are suppose to go through the agencies that report to
them on a line by line basis and look at the results that has not taken place
since Governor Blagojevich took office back in 2002. Mr. Pritchard stated that
there is a proposal to reactivate those committees and the responsibilities that
they used to have so; looking forward he is hopeful that kind of initiative will
move forward in a bipartisan fashion in a way that will allow the committees to
look for fraud and inefficiencies can be improved but; also to do it in a
forward looking basis.
Mr. Pritchard stated that Governor Blagojevich was
not passing the budget until sometime after the start of the fiscal year so; we
have been looking for ways to improve the process and in this bill we have been
able to say that the Governor and the economic outlook committees should develop
three years budgets projecting out revenues and expenses so; that would be an
indication to all State agencies as well as those who depend on State funding
what is projected for revenues and expenses so they can get some idea of what
their futures might be.
Mr. Pritchard stated the budget for 2011 is very
similar to the budget for 2010, the legislature ignored the constitutional
mandate that it is suppose to allocate funding on a program by program and an
agency by agency basis and we just gave the agencies a lump sum of money and we
told the Governor that he is suppose to allocate those funds in addition there
is over two billion dollars in discretionary money that the Governor has so;
that if there are cuts in programs he can add some money back into those
programs to offset some of those impacts just as he did last year. Mr. Pritchard
stated clearly the State continues to follow a fiscal policy that is
irresponsible we are spending more dollars than we have revenue and over the
last ten years or so one of the ways we have been able to keep money flowing is
to delay payment of bills it started first with doctors and hospitals, this year
it expanded to our schools, our community colleges and our universities so
anyone who gets paid by the State is having to wait nine months for payment and
in the 2011 budget anyone who supplies services or products to the State will
have to wait up to a full year to get paid; that is totally irresponsible. Mr.
Pritchard stated that he is part of a coalition that tried to put forth ideas
that would save money, improve efficiencies and set different priorities,
unfortunately the speaker of the House wouldn’t even let those bills be debated
let alone be voted on.
Mr. Pritchard stated one of the things that gives
us hopes is that in November’s election the people will elect a Governor that is
committed to balancing the budget, to not spending more dollars than we have as
anticipated revenue and to start paying down some of these bills that have not
been paid.
Mr. Pritchard stated the other big thing that needs to be
addressed is the pension system for State employees; teachers, university
employees that are a part of the State system we have not been making those
payments almost since day one and as a result there is an almost eighty billion
dollar liability out there that is supposed to be paid; people are anticipating
benefits and there is no money in the bank to pay out. Mr. Pritchard stated that
the legislature came up with a plan in 1995 to catch up but, four times since
then we have delayed, restructured, we have done things but, we have not been
paying the amount of money we need to pay. Mr. Pritchard stated this year the
plan is to borrow approximately four billion dollars to start making those
payments and of course there is no revenue source to pay for that bonding so,
this is an indication of the real fiscal mismanagement and poor policies that we
have in the State that have gotten us in this situation and as a result we are
not able to pay our municipalities in a timely fashion. Mr. Pritchard stated he
believes that the sales tax is being distributed in a timely fashion but, I
don’t believe that the income tax is being distributed in a timely fashion so,
the legislature is having impact on everyone and I apologize for that but, I
want you to understand that I am trying to work with bipartisan, bicameral
meaning both houses, to come up with a better plan if we can get those ideas
debated. Mr. Pritchard stated that is why it is so important that we get good
people elected this November, people that will be committed to trying to solve
this fiscal problem and the balance of payments that we have and get our State
back on the right track. Mr. Pritchard stated that he would entertain questions
from the Board of Trustees.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated
Representative Pritchard here is one thing that I would like to add the Board is
very much aware of the money situation that is in front of us and in front of
you, please take back to Springfield that the way to get things done in the
State is not to mandate them to us the smaller communities without any funding
because while five or ten thousand dollars doesn’t mean anything to Springfield
it means the world to us. Mr. Pritchard stated yes, I know. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated if something costs the Village five thousand dollars in labor
that takes the one person we have in a one person office or the one person we
have in a one person maintenance shop if the job take three weeks they can’t do
anything else that needs to be done so, mandating things without funding doesn’t
help us at all; it just takes more of our time and resources away from the
things that we are capable of doing. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated when
the Village has to deal with an unfunded mandate that means that we have to
delay other projects that were slated to be taken care of. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated if you have a ten person office and an additional job
requires two hours a week that is manageable however; when you have a one person
office and an additional job requires two hours a week it really throws a monkey
wrench in the works.
Mr. Pritchard stated one of the areas that he knows
that we have impacted you is this freedom of information act that has been huge
on small agencies whether it is a community or a township according to the
Attorney General supposedly that is your first and primary purpose is to respond
to the freedom of information act request. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated
that if the Village responded to that as our first and primary duty we would not
be able to get anything else done. Mr. Pritchard stated the freedom of
information act is one thing and cemeteries is another one that has made a big
impact due to Oak Ridge in Chicago that is requiring cemeteries to do certain
reporting, certification and ethics training but, it is as you have said
unfunded mandates that small agencies and volunteer organization just can’t put
up with. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated they break our backs, it really
does. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated you mentioned the freedom of
information act so, I will speak on that too it is not that the Village does not
want to provide the information it is just that it takes so much time that other
things can’t be done and then that become an issue too. Mr. Pritchard stated and
the Village has to fill these requests without any compensation for copies and
we are finding that a lot of groups are using it for commercial purposes not so
much in our communities but, more so at the County level. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated the smaller the community is the more it hurts; I just wanted
to share that concern with you. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg thanked
Representative Pritchard for his time. Representative Pritchard thanked the
Board of Trustees for their time and encouraged them to call him with their
concerns.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the next visitor on the
agenda is Dennis Orlikowski. Mr. Dennis Orlikowski 207 Roy Avenue introduced
himself to the Board of Trustees and stated that he wanted to address the
condition of the roads in the Hicks/Kennedy subdivision. Mr. Orlikowski stated
that some of the Trustees are aware of the situation and some of the Trustees
are not as Trustee Unger stated Village maintenance personnel will be filling
potholes with cold patch which they have done for a number of years now and that
is just a band aid; the residents are getting fed up with the condition of the
roads our taxes keep going up and we continue to live with the roads in this
condition we would like for the Board to address this problem and we would like
to see some action taken to correct this situation. Mr. Orlikowski stated that
the roads need to be corrected the final lift of asphalt was never laid why I
don’t know and I don’t even want to hear about it I just want the roads fixed
properly.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg asked Trustee Unger to address
the issue. Trustee Unger stated that he would be consulting with Baxter &
Woodman Consulting Engineers to work up an estimate to see what needs to be done
to correct the situation and what the costs will be. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg suggested that Trustee Unger look into using motor fuel tax funds to
help with the costs however; he cautioned Trustee Unger not to use too much
motor fuel tax money due to the fact that the Village has no idea how when
revenue from the State will come in. Trustee Salsbury stated that the Roy Avenue
is four inches below the level of the yards in the area and asked Trustee Unger
how far he was going to lift the street up. Trustee Unger stated the road didn’t
need to be repaired; it just needs to be patched and have another lift of
asphalt. Trustee Salsbury stated that until the ditches are cut deeper and the
road is raised it will not make any difference because there is nowhere for the
water to go. Trustee Unger stated that those ditches never fill up they always
flow. Clerk Adams suggested that Trustee Unger work with Steve Naber of Baxter
& Woodman Consulting Engineers concerning this issue. Trustee Stewart asked
if Roy Avenue was the only street that was being considered. Trustee Unger
stated Roy Avenue and Elliott Drive. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated as
Trustee over Finance and as President Pro Tem he wants to remind everyone that
all of the Village’s revenue streams are drying up, we can and we should start
planning to take care of this issue it would be nice if we could start these
repairs tomorrow however; we simply do not have the funds for that now and we
don’t know when the economy is going to turn around. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated that part of the $100,000 that Representative Pritchard spoke
about can be used for this project. Clerk Adams stated that the $100,000 has
been earmarked for the Village’s sewer project and approximately $25,000 has
been earmarked for transportation however; the Village does not know when that
money will become available. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated at this time
the Village has to make repairs with cold patch because it is very expensive to
repair an entire road; we will have to continue to patch our streets until the
economy turns around. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg invited members of the
community to share any ideas that they may have on how the Village can increase
revenues.
Mr. Ron Arne, 212 Windover Park Drive addressed the Board of
Trustees concerning the condition of the streets and stated water doesn’t
properly drain off the streets and that creates potholes; if the ditches were
deeper that would help resolve the issue because using cold patch isn’t good
enough. Mr. Arne commended President Pro Tem Mecklenburg for telling
Representative Pritchard that unfunded mandates are hurting the
community.
Mr. Jason Fore, 421 Linda Avenue addressed the Board of
Trustees concerning the condition of the streets and stated that the grade, the
elevation and the pitch of the road needs to be changed in order for them to
drain properly. Mr. Fore stated that having semi-truck traffic on Village
streets was not helping the matter either these streets were not designed for
trucks weighing over sixteen thousand pounds. Mr. Fore stated that he spoke to
Representative Pritchard and the money that has been earmarked for sewer has not
been finalized and that can be changed to be used to fix the roads. Mr. Fore
stated that the weight limit signs for the streets were taken down over two
years ago and they need to be replaced.
OLD BUSINESS
President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated the first item under old business is Chapter 70, Traffic
& Vehicle Article II: Stopping, Standing & Parking in the Hillcrest Code
of Ordinances. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that the Board of Trustees
received a copy of this ordinance at the last board meeting however; some
changes have been made in order to clarify the definition of commercial
vehicles. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg called for a motion. Trustee Salsbury
made a motion to pass Chapter 70, Traffic & Vehicle Article II: Stopping,
Standing & Parking in the Hillcrest Code of Ordinances; Trustee McMullin
seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury
– yes, McMullin – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – no. The motion
carried.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the second item under old
business is the Amendment to Chapter 70, Article II Entitled Operation of
Vehicles in the Hillcrest Code of Ordinances. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg
stated the basis of this ordinance is to allow a truck to leave the truck route
long enough to make a delivery and then return to the truck route. President Pro
Tem Mecklenburg called for a motion. Trustee McMullin made a motion to approve
the Amendment to Chapter 70, Article II Entitled Operation of Vehicles in the
Hillcrest Code of Ordinances; Trustee Unger seconded the motion. Vote as
follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, McMullin – yes, Unger
– yes and Stewart – no. The motion carried.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg
stated the third item under old business is the Amendment to Chapter 14, Article
II Entitled Animals in the Hillcrest Code of Ordinances. President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg stated that Attorney Temple was incorporating some last minute
changes to the ordinance and asked that we only discuss the ordinance at this
time. After a brief discussion Trustee Salsbury made a motion to table the
Amendment to Chapter 14, Article II Entitled Animals in the Hillcrest Code of
Ordinances; Trustee Elliott seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg –
yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, McMullin – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart –
yes. The motion passed unanimously.
NEW BUSINESS
President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg called for a motion to enter into executive session for the purpose
of discussing personnel, pending litigation and to review executive session
minutes. Trustee Unger made a motion to enter into executive session to discuss
personnel and pending litigation and to review executive session minutes;
Trustee McMullin seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes,
Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes. The motion passed
unanimously. The Board of Trustees entered into executive session 7:46
p.m.
President Pro Tem Mecklenburg called for a motion to return to open
session. Trustee Unger made a motion to return to open session; Trustee McMullin
seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury
– yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes. The motion passed unanimously. The Board
of Trustees returned to open session at 8:32 p.m. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg
stated the action being taken is to approve the minutes of the May 12, 2010
executive session. Trustee Stewart made a motion to approve minutes of the May
12, 2010 executive session; Trustee Unger seconded the motion. Vote as follows:
Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, Unger – yes and Stewart – yes.
The motion passed unanimously. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated the
executive session minutes will not be released to the public for viewing due to
the fact that the discussion revolves around pending litigation.
PUBLIC
COMMENT
Ms. Terri Gregory, 208 Roy Avenue stated that the Board of Trustees
had passed an ordinance not allowing semi-parking on residential lots and wanted
to know why that particular ordinance was being singled out when there were
numerous ordinances that were not being enforced. Ms. Gregory stated that is not
fair when the cement trucks are leaving the truck route and using the
intersection of River Road and Roy Avenue. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated
it is difficult to catch all the individuals that unknowingly go off the truck
route, they simply are not familiar with our community and unfortunately GPS’s
are not always correct. Ms. Gregory stated that she understands that people get
lost, she is talking about the cement trucks that continue to use Roy Avenue and
the Board has passed an ordinance that prevents her husband from bringing his
truck home and he has been doing this for eleven years. Ms. Gregory stated that
the cement trucks have been using Roy Avenue for over four years but, we can’t.
Ms. Gregory stated how fair is that, it looks like discrimination to me. Ms.
Gregory stated that it has been said that a semi parked on a residential lot is
an eye sore that depresses the property values; well what is that business doing
to my property. Ms. Gregory stated cement trucks are parked on Roy Avenue and
left running and she has to listen to that all day.
Trustee McMullin
stated that the property that Ms. Gregory is referring to was zoned commercial
before she purchased her home and she should have known that at that time. Ms.
Gregory stated that when she purchased her home she was never told that a cement
plant was going to be built or we would have never purchased the home. Ms.
Gregory also stated that her husband was told that he could park his semi in the
driveway otherwise we would not have purchased the home. Ms. Gregory stated that
her husband was not home every day with his semi but, she had to put up with the
cement plant every day and it was destroying her peace of mind. Ms. Gregory told
Trustee McMullin to move to Roy Avenue and put up with the cement trucks and the
noise like she does.
Ron Arne, 212 Windover Park Drive stated in regards
to the ordinance that was pasted this evening how is a person suppose to know
what the fines are. President Pro Tem Mecklenburg stated that once an ordinance
passes it is posted within seven days of passage; before it is passed it is not
available to the public because too many things are subject to change. Clerk
Adams stated that she would post the ordinance tomorrow morning. Mr. Arne also
expressed his concern over the ordinance that was passed concerning semi-trucks
and commercial vehicles.
Jason Fore, 421 Linda Avenue stated he had
already expressed his concern over the roads not being posted for the 16,000
pound weight limit and asked when those signs could be reposted. President Pro
Tem Mecklenburg stated that he was not even sure that the Village has signs to
post. Mr. Fore addressed Trustee McMullin and stated I know that you got
frustrated and so, did Ms. Gregory but, this is a quality of life issue this is
not about your personnel beliefs, you are on that Board to represent the
residents of this Village as a whole. There was a brief discussion concerning
the truck route and Mr. Fore concluded by saying that everyone needed to be
working together to solve some of these issues.
President Pro Tem
Mecklenburg thanked everyone for their comments and called for a motion to
adjourn. There being no further business to transact a motion to adjourn was
made by Trustee Elliott; Trustee McMullin seconded the motion. Vote as follows:
Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Salsbury – yes, McMullin – yes, Unger – yes
and Stewart – yes. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:42
p.m. The next regular monthly meeting will be held July 14, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at
the Hillcrest Village Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa J.
Adams,
Village Clerk
Posted: 7/15/2010 |
Updated: 7/15/2010