Village of Wauconda Village Board met November 21.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
1.Call To Order
Mayor Knight called the Regular Village Board Meeting to order in the Village Hall at 7:00 pm.
2.Pledge Of Allegiance
The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mayor Knight.
3.Roll Call
Upon roll call by Clerk Falk-Novak, the following Trustees were present: Trustees Starkey, Arnswald, Howe, Schlick, Morino
Absent: Trustee Black
Quorum Present
Also present: Kevin Timony (Village Administrator), Brad Fink (Director of Public Works), Bill Rickert (Village Engineer), Ed McKee (Finance Director), Chris Miller (Director of Building, Planning, and Zoning), Police Chief Wermes and Rudy Magna (Village Attorney)
4. Public Comment
No public comment.
5. Approval Of Agenda
(Last Ordinance No. was 2017-O-31) (Last Resolution No. was 2017-R-18)
Motion to Approve the Agenda made by Trustee Morino, second Trustee Schlick.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
6. Motion To Approve Consideration Of Consentagenda By Omnibus Vote
Motion to approve consideration of Consent Agenda by Omnibus Vote made by Trustee Schlick, second Trustee Howe.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
7. Consent Agenda
A. Approval of the Bills for Payment from November 1, 2017 through November 14, 2017 in the Amount of $1,697, 170.52 (Pgs. 3-27)
B. Minutes of the November 7, 2017 Regular Village Board Meeting (Pgs. 28-35)
C. Consideration for Approval of the Final Pay Request No. 1 for the Sutton Circle Road Improvements Project and Resolution Approving Final Balancing Change Order No. 1 (Resolution No. 2017-R-19) (Pgs. 36-38)
D. Consideration for Approval of the Final Pay Request No. 1 for the 2017 MFT Road Improvements Project and Resolution Approving Final Balancing Change Order No. 1 (Resolution No. 2017-R-20) (Pgs. 39-53)
E. Resolution Declaring Certain Personal Property of the Village of Wauconda to be Surplus Property (Resolution No. 2017-R-21) (Pgs. 54-57)
8. Motion To Approve Items A Through E On The Consent Agenda
Motion to Approve Items A through E on the Consent Agenda made by Trustee Howe, second Trustee Arnswald.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
9. Old Business
A. (Presentation) Comprehensive Annual Financial Report / Audit for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2017 (documents previously distributed)
Ed McKee: Introduced Sean Hickey with Lauterbach and Amen who will review the Financial Report and also introduced Tom Lyons, also with Lauterbach and Amen, who will be sworn in as the new Finance Director/Treasurer replacing Ed at the next Village meeting.
Sean Hickey: Some high points of the report –
•Independent Auditors Report reflected that the Village of Wauconda received an unmodified opinion which means it’s a “clean' opinion which is the best opinion you can receive for your financial statements.
•End result of fiscal year - there was a decrease in fund balance which means our revenues fell short of our expenditures. He also pointed out that our reserve balance still has a $3.2 million fund reserve.
•Management Letter - there is a new Government Accounting Standard that will need to be implemented by the Village by April 2019. This standard is requiring Governmental entities to put a number on the long-term liability of what it costs to provide postemployment benefits to your employees and will be required to be reported on.
B. (Action) Consideration of Acceptance of the Proposal Dated November 10, 2017 from Eder, Casella & Co. to Perform an Annual Audit of the Village of Wauconda for the 2018, 2019, and 2020 Fiscal Years (Pgs. 58-61)
Ed McKee: The accounting firm of Lauterbach and Amen has performed audits of the Village's financial statements for several years. Because the Village hired them to staff the Finance Director position effective October 1, 2017, a different firm must be selected to avoid conflict of interest. A request for proposal for audit services was sent to four firms that have extensive municipal experience and have a good reputation in the field. Invitations to submit proposals were sent to Baker Tilly Virchow Krause LLP, Crowe Horwath LLP, Eder Casella & Co and Sikich LLP. Two proposals were received back from Eder Casella & Co and Sikich LLP. Staff is recommending the firm Eder Casella & Co. to be selected based on their strong municipal experience and fair pricing.
Motion to approve Proposal Dated November 10, 2017 from Eder, Casella & Co. to Perform an Annual Audit of the Village of Wauconda for the 2018, 2019, and 2020 Fiscal Years made by Trustee Arnswald, second Trustee Starkey.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
C. Review of the Police Pension Municipal Compliance Report for the Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2017 (Pgs. 62-116)
Ed McKee: The tax levy for next year is $994,801. On a market value basis, we went from about 53% funded to about 58% funded which is primarily a function of a good investment year this last year. About 40% comes from the value of what the police officers are projected to earn next year. The Remaining 60% is kind of like paying the interest on your mortgage. There was an expected return of 7.0% in the pension fund and the actual came in at 9.2%. This is how we were able to reduce our unfunded level a little bit. The previous year was only.8% which was not a good investment year which is now why we are playing catch up.
D. (Action) Consideration and Approval of the Annual Property Tax Levy Ordinance of the Village of Wauconda for 2017 (collected in 2018) in the amount of $3,711,274 (Pgs. 117-132) (Ordinance No. 2017-O-32) (Resolution No. 2017-R-22)
Ed McKee: The proposed property tax levy for 2017 is a 2.1% or a $75,339.00 increase. 100% of those dollars are going towards the state-mandated pension cost. It was clarified that this 2.1% increase is only an increase of the Village portion of the property tax bill and not the total bill.
Motion to approve the Annual Property Tax Levy Ordinance of the Village of Wauconda for 2017 (collected in 2018) in the amount of $3,711,274 made by Trustee Starkey, second Trustee Morino.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
E. (Action) Consideration and Approval of Ordinances Abating Taxes Levied for the 2017 Tax Year (Collectable in 2018) for Debt Service on the Following Items:
1)Abatement of $173,212.50 Tax Levied to Pay Debt Service on $1.745 Million Alternate GO Refunding Bonds - Series 2014A (Full Abatement): (Ordinance No. 2017-0-33)
(Pgs. 133-136)
2) Abatement of $335,550.00 Tax Levied to Pay Debt Service on $3.465 Million Alternate GO Refunding Bonds - Series 2014B (Full Abatement); (Ordinance No. 2017-0-34)
(Pgs. 137-139)
3) Abatement of $104,460.00 Tax Levied to Pay Debt Service on $2.0 Million Alternate GO Bonds - Series 2011 (Full Abatement); (Ordinance No. 2017-O-35)
(Pgs. 140-141)
4) Abatement of $231,970.48 of SSA #1 Special Tax Bonds - Series 2015 Refunding Bonds (Partial Abatement) (Ordinance No. 2017-O-36)
(Pgs. 142-165)
Ed McKee: The Village has issued debt for various obligations and some of them we anticipated abating the taxes. This gets us the lowest interest rate and is the cheapest way to borrow. We are proposing these abatements to be consistent with the original intent when the bonds were issued. These abatements are consistent with what was done last year.
Motion to approve Ordinances Abating Taxes Levied for the 2017 Tax Year (Collectable in 2018) for Debt Service on Items 1-4 made by Trustee Morino, second Trustee Schlick.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
(Action) Consideration for Approval of an Ordinance Amending Title 1 - General Provisions, Title III - Administration, Title V - Public Works, Title XI - Business Regulations, Title XIII - General Offenses, and Title XV - Land Usage of the Village Code of the Village of Wauconda, Illinois (Ordinance No. 2017-0-37) (Pgs. 166-225)
Motion to approve an Ordinance Amending Title 1 - General Provisions, Title III - Administration, Title V - Public Works, Title XI - Business Regulations, Title XIII – General Offenses, and Title XV - Land Usage of the Village Code of the Village of Wauconda, Illinois made by Trustee Schlick, second Trustee Howe.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
10. New Business
A. (Action) An Ordinance Granting a Conditional Use Permit to Allow Automobile and Truck Sales, New and Used, for Property Located at 950 North Rand Road, Unit 204 (Pgs. 226-232) (Ordinance No. 2017-0-38)
Chris Miller: The Village Plan Commission/Zoning Board of Appeals held a public hearing on the referenced zoning case involving Mark Ahumada doing business as Mark's Cars request for a Conditional Use Permit. The hearing was held on November 1, 2017. The PC/ZBA voted 6-0 to recommend to the Village Board to grant Mr. Ahumada's CUP request to open a Car Dealership which includes no outside marketing or display of vehicles.
Motion to approve an Ordinance Granting Conditional Use Permit to Allow Automobile and Truck Sales, New and Used, for Property Located at 950 North Rand Road, Unit 204 made Trustee Howe, second Trustee Arnswald.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
B. (Action) Storm Water Master Plan Proposal-Triangle TIF Area (Pgs. 233-237)
Chris Miller: In 2013 the Village established a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District. In establishing the District, the Village approved a Redevelopment Plan which provides for “Master Planning” and “Storm Water Management”. Presently the Village Engineer, RHMG has provided the Village with a proposal for Storm Water Master Plan services within the TIF District. Staff recommends the Village Board accept the RHMG proposal and authorize the spending of not-to-exceed $21,450 of the TIF funds for this purpose. Trustee Starkey asked Bill the time frame for completion of this plan and he responded he is looking at around 90100 days for completion.
Motion to approve Storm Water Master Plan Proposal-Triangle TIF Area made Trustee Arnswald, second Trustee Starkey.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
11. Mayor's Report
The Mayor welcomed Administrator Timony and stated we are glad you are here and we look forward to working with you. He thanked Brad Fink again for stepping up and wearing two hats and stated it was appreciated. Thank you to Ed McKee for all you have done. You will be missed. Thank you to the Wauconda Police Department as they have had a very busy couple of weeks and we appreciate all your work. At our next Village meeting, the Mayor will be recognizing a local business who has been in Wauconda for 25 years under our new Business Recognition program. Tomorrow the Village Board will be "throwing the switch' to light Main Street for the holidays and he hopes everyone can be there. Thank you to Public Works for all their work on Main Street. We appreciate it. He also wished everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving.
12. Committee Reports & Trustee Comments
Trustee Starkey
Trustee Starkey welcomed Mark's Cars to Wauconda and wished them a long and fruitful endeavor here. She, several other committee members and staff attended an Economic Boot Camp by Lake County Partners to learn of some suggestions for Economic Development from experts in the field. She also attended the Lake County Opioid Initiative meeting in Waukegan and learned of many of their outreach programs. There is a program called "A Way Out" where substance abuse services are available 24/7 across Lake County and she is looking to see how Wauconda Police Department can be a participating department. Also, the Text-A-Tip Program received 10,000 texts over the course of the last 60 days from people needing support or in a crisis situation. The ZBA/Plan Commission has a meeting on Wednesday, December 6th (a) 7 PM at the Village Hall. Thank you to our outgoing Finance Director, Ed McKee for his hard work. She welcomed the new associates from Lauterbach & Amen. She wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving and hopes to see everyone at the Wauconda Turkey Trot. Thank you to the Public Works and Police Departments for their help in this event. The proceeds benefit the Wauconda/Island Lake Food Pantry.
Trustee Arnswald
He welcomed Village Administrator Timony and also welcomed Sean and Tom as well. He thanked Ed McKee for his work for the Village. He also wanted to congratulate the Wauconda High School Theatrical Department. He attended their recent “All Shook Up' performance and said kudos to all the kids, actors, stagehands, lighting crew, sound and orchestra. They all did a great job. He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Trustee Black
Not present
Trustee Howe
He thanked Ed for doing what was nearly impossible by giving them all information that was easy to understand pretty clearly every month. Thank you to Public Works for getting Main Street ready for the “light switch'. The next job for the License and Admin team will be to select a new codifier to get a better user interface for look up and modifications. Also, the next big job for License and Admin will be to review and rewrite the Employee Guide Book. It was discovered that the existing guide has close to 200 pages compared to the private sector employee guidebook at around 30 pages. He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Trustee Schlick
He welcomed Mark's Cars and stated it seems every meeting we are welcoming a new business to Wauconda which speaks volumes to the type of business-friendly community we want to be. He addressed Bill and stated he is looking forward to the stormwater plan and getting something moving on the TIF. He also thanked Ed for his work and how he made the reporting easy to comprehend. He also attended the Economic Boot Camp which was very informative and there were a lot of positives. He mentioned we have the Turkey Trot coming up along with the Holiday Walk on December 2". He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
Trustee Morino
He addressed Ed and said it has been a pleasure to work with him and that it has been easy to understand his information. He is a numbers guy but this made it a whole lot easier. He told Tom that he is looking forward to working with him and also welcomed Administrator Timony aboard. He wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
13. Executive Session
A. Closed Session to consider the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity. 5 ILCS 120/2(c)
Motion to move into Executive Session made by Trustee Starkey, second Trustee Morino at 7:41 pm. (No action to be taken)
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
14. Return To Session
Motion to reconvene from Executive Session at 8:35PM.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
15. Adjournment
Motion to adjourn made by Trustee Starkey, second Trustee Arnswald.
Ayes 5 Nays 0
Motion Declared Carried
Adjourn Time 8:35 pm
http://wauconda-il.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_11212017-371
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