North Egypt News

City of Mt. Vernon City Council met Nov. 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The Mt. Vernon City Council held a Regular City Council Meeting on Monday, November 6, 2023 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chamber at City Hall, 1100 Main Street, Mt. Vernon, Illinois. Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/MtVernonIL.

Mayor John Lewis opened the meeting.

Assistant Pastor Greg Graves with Family Life Church led the Invocation.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

ROLL CALL

Roll call showed present: Council Member Joe Gliosci, Council Member Donte Moore, Council Member Mike Young, and Mayor John Lewis. Absent: Council Member Ray Botch.

PRESENTATION OF JOURNALS

The Journal for the October 16, 2023 Regular City Council Meeting was presented for approval.

Council Member Joe Gliosci motioned to approve the Journal as presented. Seconded by Council Member Donte Moore. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

VISITORS/CITIZENS REQUESTS/ADDRESSES FROM THE AUDIENCE

None.

APPROVAL OF CONSOLIDATED VOUCHERS FOR ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

The Consolidated Vouchers for Accounts Payable were presented to the Council for approval.

Council Member Donte Moore motioned to approve the Consolidated Vouchers for Accounts Payable in the amount of $2,932,375.90. Seconded by Council Member Mike Young. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, November 6, 2023

BIDS AND QUOTES

None.

CITY MANAGER

City Manager Mary Ellen Bechtel requested permission to Seek Bids for the Replacement of the Sanitary Sewer on 11th Street. The City is moving the sewer line that would be under the new parking lot of Central Christian Church. The sewer line is old and will need to be replaced in the near future. The construction of a parking lot has moved this up the priority list to relocate the sewer line into new utility easement. The estimated cost is $160,000.

Council Member Mike Young motioned to grant permission to Seek Bids for the Replacement of the Sanitary Sewer on 11th Street. Seconded by Council Member Donte Moore. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

City Manager Mary Ellen Bechtel requested permission to Seek Requests for Proposals for a Parks and Recreation Market Study and Development of a Master Plan. The City wants to engage a consultant for a market needs study and a parks master plan for development.

Council Member Joe Gliosci motioned to grant permission to Seek Requests for Proposals for a Parks and Recreation Market Study and Development of a Master Plan. Seconded by Council Member Donte Moore. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

City Manager Mary Ellen Bechtel requested permission to Waive Bidding and Award the Contract for Ballfield Grading to Bevis Construction. It is time to do excavation work and restoration of the infields of the four small ballfields and the City wants to regrade and restore the fields before next year’s season. Assistant City Manager Nathan McKenna has been working with Bevis Construction for consultation of what work needs to be done. Bevis will do the regrading and prep work for new soil. The City will be responsible for all trucking, purchasing the soil/mix material, watering, and maintenance of the seeded areas. Staff is requesting to waive the bidding and award the ballfield grading to Bevis Construction at a cost of $15,000.00 per field for a total of $60,000.00. City Council Member Mike Young asked why the City is waiving the bidding and notseeking additional bids. City Manager Bechtel explained that the City wants to get this project done quickly this fall and the City has used Bevis for their expertise on what needs to be done. Mayor Lewis explained that Assistant City Manager McKenna has had numerous meetings with Bevis on this issue and Bevis has not charged the City anything for time spent giving their expert opinion. City Council Member Young stated he did not understand why others were not given an opportunity to bid. City Manager Bechtel stated that the decision is up to the Council.

Council Member Donte Moore motioned to grant permission to Waive Bidding and Award the Contract for Ballfield Grading to Bevis Construction in the amount of $60,000.00. Seconded by Council Member Joe Gliosci. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, and Lewis. Nays: Young. Absent: Botch. Motion is adopted.

City Manager Mary Ellen Bechtel is requesting permission to Seek Quotes for Infield Dirt Mix for Infield Lincoln Park Ballfields. This relates to the previous item on the agenda. This would be for infield dirt mix for the small fields at Lincoln Park.

Council Member Joe Gliosci motioned to grant permission to Seek Quotes for Infield Dirt Mix for Infield Lincoln Park Ballfields. Seconded by Council Member Donte Moore. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

City Manager Mary Ellen Bechtel stated that there are enough of the audited numbers (although the audit is not complete at this time) to look at where the General Corporate Account is now and where it could be projected to go in the future. There is enough information from the auditors (April 30, 2023 final balances) to do a budget review for this year. Council Members received the supporting documents for each fund, except for the water and sewer funds. The City has not received all of the information for the water and sewer funds from the auditors but is expected to have that information soon, and then that will be furnished to the Council when completed. City Manager Bechtel introduced Finance Director Stephanie Bailey to present the 2023-2024 Budget Review. Finance Director Bailey went over the budget and a 5-year projection. City Manager Bechtel and Finance Director Bailey answered inquiries from the Council.

The Council thanked Finance Director Bailey for the report on the finances and budget review.

CITY ATTORNEY

City Attorney David Leggans presented a Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of an Order Form with Placer Labs, Inc. City Manager Mary Ellen Bechtel stated that Placer.AI (Placer Labs, Inc.) is a database that this Agreement will allow the City to access for the market for the City of Mt. Vernon. The City can access traffic counts and dwell time, see trade areas, see where visitors come from and go to and the routes they take. The database can benchmark foot traffic/market share/audiences and other key metrics. Tourism can use this information to identify marketing opportunities and by using this now the City can benchmark its retail market through the reconstruction of Exit 95. This is a one-year contract in the amount of $15,250.00. Access will begin when this Agreement is fully executed.

Council Member Donte Moore motioned to approve the Resolution Authorizing Acceptance of an Order Form with Placer Labs, Inc. Seconded by Council Member Joe Gliosci. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

City Attorney David Leggans presented a Resolution Approving a Leachate Disposal Agreement with CWI. City Manager Mary Ellen Bechtel explained that CWI/Republic owns the garbage transfer station in Mt. Vernon, and they are required to collect and dispose of any liquid runoff of the facility. When it rains, they collect the water, called leachate, hold it in a tank and truck it to a sanitary sewer facility. They have asked if the City would be willing to allow them to discharge this into our sewer collection system. They will still be held to the same IEPA standards and Veolia will also be testing the leachate. Depending on rainfall, the annual quantity will be about 150,000 gallons. In August, 58 million gallons of sewer were processed and in September, 44.58 million gallons were processed. This annual estimate of 150,000 gallons is a small quantity. The City feels it has good safeguards in place to protect our facility. The fee is $.03 cents per gallon with a 3% inflationary cost per calendar year on May 1st each year. This is a five-year agreement.

Council Member Joe Gliosci motioned to approve the Resolution Approving a Leachate Disposal Agreement with CWI. Seconded by Council Member Donte Moore. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

MAYOR

Mayor John Lewis stated that he had attended the Senior Saints Banquet last Saturday and wanted to again congratulate the twelve new Senior Saints that were inducted.

CITY COUNCIL

None.

VISITORS/CITIZENS REQUESTS/ADDRESSES FROM THE AUDIENCE

None.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

At 7:39 p.m., Mayor John Lewis requested an Executive Session under 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5) - The Purchase or Lease of Real Property for the Use of the City.

Council Member Mike Young motioned to go into Executive Session under 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(5) – The Purchase or Lease of Real Property for the Use of the City. Seconded by Council Member Joe Gliosci. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

At 7:46 p.m., Mayor John Lewis reconvened the Regular City Council Meeting. Roll call showed present: Council Member Joe Gliosci, Council Member Donte Moore, Council Member Mike Young, and Mayor John Lewis. Absent: Council Member Ray Botch.

ADJOURNMENT

Council Member Mike Young motioned to adjourn. Seconded by Council Member Donte Moore. Yeas: Gliosci, Moore, Young, and Lewis. Absent: Botch.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:47 p.m.

https://www.mtvernon.com/media/odabeye0/11062023-regular-city-council-meeting.pdf