City of Highland City Council met Sept. 6.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
Mayor Hemann called the Regular Session to order at 6:55pm. Council members Sloan, Frey, Bellm, were present. Councilman Hipskind was absent. Others in attendance were City Manager Conrad, City Attorney Michael McGinley, Directors Cook, Gillespie, Imming, Kim, and Ohren, Coordinator Hubbard, EMS Chief Wilson, Treasurer Nicolaides, Deputy City Clerk, City Clerk Bellm, 19 citizens and 1 member of the news media.
MINUTES
Councilman Frey made a motion to approve the minutes of the August 15, 2022 Regular Session as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Mayor Hemann opened the public hearing to receive comments regarding consideration whether the City should enter into a proposed Annexation Agreement with the John L. and Elvina Gantner Trust, Blanche Small, Trustee; and, John A. Gantner. Dave Kunkel, with Kunkel Wittenauer Group, stated we are here with the family of John Gantner. They have asked us to work with them on the merger and
future sale of the property, as we have identified it as having commercial potential. We ask it be annexed in; and, eventually, be re-zoned to commercial. Mayor Hemann explained today is just for re-zoning and they would have to request rezoning at a later date. No other comments.
Mayor Hemann opened the public hearing to receive comments regarding consideration whether the City should enter into a proposed Annexation Agreement with MRE Portfolio One, LLC. With no comments brought forth, Mayor Hemann closed the hearing at 7:04pm.
PROCLAMATION
Mayor Hemann read a document proclaiming the week of September 11 through 17, 2022 as Chamber of Commerce Week. Mayor Hemann presented the proclamation to Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Hillary Holzinger.
PUBLIC FORUM
Citizens’ Requests and Comments:
Veterans Day Parade – Special Event Application – Kenny Kapp, Representative, along with Lenny Gall and John Kapp, were present representing Moose Lodge #2479. Lenny Gall requested permission for the Veterans’ Day Parade and ceremony in joint effort with V.F.W. Post #5694 and American Legion Post #439 on Sunday, November 13, 2022. The parade will start at 2:00pm, beginning at the intersection of Olive Street and Main Street, then proceeding west on Main Street to the Square. A brief ceremony will follow the parade at the Square. Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve
Moose Lodge #2479 request to sponsor the Veterans’ Day Parade and use of the Square on Sunday, November 13, 2022 as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Dave Todt, the city collects hotel/motel tax to promote things around the City of Highland. I have a friend that comes in for various events. I know the information on the Street Art Fest is on the Chamber’s website. Now, if want to find info on Art in the Park, you have to look a little more. If you want the Homestead Harvest information, that is more difficult. With all the money you spend to promote tourism, there should be a way to put this all into one place. Mayor Hemann responded, your timing is great, because we have a presentation on an app called Highland Happenings, which will allow people to find those things. Angela Kim is going to tell us about it shortly. Mr. Todt expressed, I get tired of snapping pictures of things in the paper and sending it to him. I realize it is all about manpower and time to put this stuff together.
Requests of Council:
Councilwoman Bellm inquired how are we doing with our trash. City Manager Chris Conrad reported they are doing better on the staffing side of it. We still experience issues when they bring drivers in from other areas to cover Highland. They are not familiar with our contract and missed or fail to pick up recycling and/or yard waste bins. We are not the only Republic serviced community experiencing issues. Republic put out a statement to that effect. Mayor Hemann expressed it will be interesting to see how things go with the holiday week, this week. City Manager Conrad stated Republic suggested people call them directly, if they have an issue; however, they are not satisfied, they can call us. Councilwoman Bellm stated I am concerned about next contract. City Manager Conrad agreed, as am I.
Staff Report:
Angela Kim, Library Director demonstrated the online search ability of the newly digitized documents from microfilm. If you go to the library website, highlandillibrary.org, then go under Genealogy, you will find, digitized yearbooks and local newspapers. She noted, if anyone has a 1930’s book, we are still missing that one. She selected newspapers, as that is what we are here to talk about, tonight. You can do any keyword; however, I like to use the pull-down and chose the “all the words” search options, or “exact phrase”. You can then pick dates to search between for publications with those names within it. Councilwoman Bellm asked how you got this all in there. Director Kim reported we hired a company to do the scans. You can crop and cut out an article or a section of an article. It is a game-changer for people searching for history on their family. We had a gentleman, from California, that comes in to research. He was excited to see it online, because now he can do his research from home. Mayor Hemann stated I am going to Switzerland next month, so it is helping me to prepare with the history of visits between our cities.
City Manager Conrad reported Director Angela Imming is going to show us how to download a new app to our phone that will allow us to received notifications on various things within Highland. Director Imming explained: go to whatever application you use on your phone to find various apps. Search for “Highland Happenings”. You can download the app. With the app, you can pay a bill, request service, or look up events. If you go up to the “hamburger” icon or the three horizontal lines that are stacked. We plan to be pretty chatty with it, so we suggest signing up with an account, which will allow you to control and limit notifications to what you want to see. Councilwoman Sloan asked who will be putting the events on here. Director Imming stated I have been doing a lot the items on there, right now, and it is getting tedious. I will be working with others within the city to push notifications and other things out through it. We are going to be doing an article in the Pioneer Newspaper; city website, Facebook, and then look at partnering with the Highland Chamber of Commerce, as well as putting flyers in with the utility billings, to promote this app. Mayor Hemann asked did you share with them your goal. Director Imming stated my goal is 10,000 people by April. It is not just for citizens, but also those that attend events in Highland. We hope to share a lot of information with the public. City Manager Conrad pointed out that you can get as much or as little information as you want with this app.
NEW BUSINESS
Bill #22-135/RESOLUTION Appropriating Motor Fuel Tax Funds (Supplemental Amount) for the Maintenance of Streets and Highways and Approving the Supplemental Estimate of Maintenance Costs for the 2023 MFT Program – Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #22-135/Resolution #22-09- 2970 appropriating Motor Fuel Tax Funds (Supplemental Amount) for the maintenance of streets and highways and approving the supplemental estimate of maintenance costs for the 2023 MFT Program, in the amount of $760,000 as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Bill #22-136/RESOLUTION Approving an Annexation Agreement with the John L. and Elvina Gantner Trust, Blanche Small, Trustee; and, John A. Gantner – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #22-136/Resolution #22-09-2971 approving an annexation agreement with the John L. and Elvina Gantner Trust, Blanche Small, Trustee; and, John A. Gantner as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Mayor Hemann voted aye. Motion carried.
Bill #22-137/RESOLUTION Approving an Annexation Agreement with MRE Portfolio One, LLC – Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #22-137/Resolution #22-09-2972 approving an annexation agreement with MRE Portfolio One, LLC as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Councilman Frey stated since there was so much about this on Facebook, today, regarding this, I would just like to point out this is just for the annexation of the land. Any use of the land will need to go before Planning & Zoning. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Mayor Hemann voted aye. Motion carried.
Bill #22-138/ORDINANCE Authorizing the Purchase of Real Estate From Aaron Robert Gelly for Future Construction of a Part of the Southern Peripheral Route for City of Highland – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #22-138/Ordinance #3216 authorizing the purchase of real estate from Aaron Robert Gelly for future construction of a part of the southern peripheral route for City of Highland as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. City Manager Conrad reminded the council this is the third of four options for purchase from Mr. Gelly along this roadway. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Bill #22-139/ORDINANCE Authorizing Amendments to Option /contracts Between Grandview Farms Limited Partnership and City, Extending the Maturity Dates to January 4, 2024 – Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #22-139/Ordinance #3217 authorizing amendments to option /contracts between Grandview Farms Limited Partnership and City, extending the maturity dates to January 4, 2024 as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. City Manager Conrad explained this change is just a change in date for budgetary purposes. Nothing else. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Bill #22-140/RESOLUTION Authorizing City to Enter Critical Care Ground Transportation Agreement with Air Methods Corporation – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #22-140/ Resolution #22-09-2973 authorizing city to enter Critical Care Ground Transportation Agreement with Air Methods Corporation as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Councilwoman Bellm inquired this is a continuation of what we have with them right now. City Manager Conrad replied, yes. This is the second renewal. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Bill #22-141/RESOLUTION Waiving the Competitive Bidding Requirement and Approving and Authorizing the Purchase of Software Licenses and Services from Tyler Technologies as a Sole Source Purchase – Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #22-141/Resolution #22-09-2974 waiving the competitive bidding requirement and approving and authorizing the purchase of software licenses and services from Tyler Technologies as a sole source purchase as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Councilwoman Bellm stated while this is sole source purchase, I understand that you searched several other providers. City Manager Conrad reported we are very unique as a community, with all the services we serve almost from cradle to grave, with the exception of natural gas. We have worked with Tyler Technologies in the past, with software in Building & Zoning and the police department. They are the largest municipal software company in the world. They were able to provide us with a lot of options. This is a Tier 1 Platform software. We estimate 24-36 months to do this build-out. It should bring us light-years into the future. We did also consult with our auditors on this selection, since this will utilize the financial aspects of our operations. This software should also provide efficiencies in our operations. Mayor Hemann pointed out you have been looking at this with a team of staff members for more than a year. City Manager Conrad acknowledged it has been a long road. We began the process in 2019; however, COVID delayed us. When talking with our directors, they love the information they can pull from the software to help in making decisions and providing analytics. Mayor Hemann noted software often requires hardware upgrades. Will this require costs in that area? City Manager Conrad replied no. We actually have the hardware needed in place. Mayor Hemann inquired if this will not be cloud based. City Manager Conrad reported only some segments will be cloud based; however, most will be stored on our servers, which saves costs. Councilwoman Bellm asked as we get into this, if we decide we need tweaks in services, will they provide those. City Manager Conrad replied we will be able to get the periodic upgrades, which was another thing staff liked over the current software. They provide services to municipalities and agencies all fifty states in the US. They tailor clients’ software in each state based upon state and federal requirements, and provide upgrades to meet those needs. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Mayor Hemann voted aye. Motion carried.
Approve Transfer of Graves in City Cemetery - Strotheide to Osterwisch – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve the transfer of Grave Spaces #3, 4, 5, and 6, in Lot 7, of Block 16 in Highland City Cemetery from Mr. and Mrs. Laverne Strotheide to Dennis and Diana Osterwisch as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Bill #22-142/ORDINANCE Amending City Code, Chapter 78 – Utilities, Section 78-2, Section78- 48, and Section 78-49 - Councilman Frey made a motion to approve Bill #22-142/Ordinance #3218 amending City Code, Chapter 78 – Utilities, Section 78-2, Section78-48, and Section 78-49 as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Bill #22-143/ORDINANCE Amending Chapter 78, Article VII, Section 78-732, of the Code, Entitled Schedule of FTTP Rates and Charges, Creating New Fees and Fines – Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to approve Bill #22-143/Ordinance #3219 amending Chapter 78, Article VII, Section 78-732, of the Code, entitled Schedule of FTTP Rates and Charges, creating new fees and fines as attached. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
REPORT
Accepting Expenditures Report #1226 for August 13, 2022 through September 2, 2022 – Councilman Frey made a motion to accept Expenditures Report #1226 for August 13, 2022 through September 2, 2022 as attached. Motion seconded by Councilwoman Bellm. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried.
Councilwoman Bellm made a motion to adjourn. Motion seconded by Councilman Frey. Roll Call Vote: Councilmembers Sloan, Frey, and Bellm voted aye, none nay. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:53pm.
https://www.highlandil.gov/City%20Council/Minutes/2022/09-06-2022.pdf
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