South Cook News

Village of Alsip Committee Met Feb. 22.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

Mayor Ryan called the meeting to order at 7:30 p. m. Clerk Petzel called the roll with the following in attendance: Trustees Dalzell, Zielinski, Juarez, McLawhorn, Murphy, Nava- Esparza and Mayor Ryan.

MAYOR' S REPORT: Mayor Ryan presented: 1) Presentation by Mike Hackett of Gas N Wash regarding a proposed new development at the southeast corner of 127th & Kostner, Alsip. Lyman Tieman, an attorney from Mokena representing Leonard McEnery, began the discussion. He was accompanied by Mike Hackett, Brian Hertz and Scott Pritchett. They are looking to purchase the property at 127th & Kostner on the southeast quadrant that is currently vacant. The property is being purchased from the Food& Paper Company. Their plan is to create a fueling station for cars and trucks, a convenient store and a car wash. Mr. Pritchett gave a brief overview. There would be a convenient store that usually has two food vendors. One is some type of doughnut place (usually a Dunkin Doughnuts) and the other varies. There would be a drive thru for the doughnut shop, 7 pumps for gasoline, an exterior express car wash with free vacuums, diesel pumps will be on the opposite side in the back of the store with a rear entry for the truck drivers and there will be parking throughout the entire site. The trucks will be directed to enter off Kolin to easily enter by diesel.

Between the locations that are already operating, the few that are in construction and potential locations they have approximately 20 locations. Each location is approximately 4 million to 5 million and sometimes more depending on the size of buildings. Start to finish would be approximately 4- 5 month construction time depending on IDOT. The first year projections would be approximately 1. 7 million in store sales and 2. 3 million in the second year. Gasoline sales projections would be approximately 1. 9 million gallons and 2. 3 million gallons in the second year.

There would be about 30- 40 employees between part-time and full-time. They felt they would do very well in the location even though there are several gas locations and a Dunkin Doughnuts a few blocks away. Their plans have been submitted to IDOT and they will evaluate if there will be a turn only lane given there are only two lanes currently. They are anticipating some intersection widening. Their locations do have packaged liquor sales and video gaming in the convenient store.

CLERK' S REPORT: Clerk Petzel presented: 1) Presentation of the January 2021 IDOT Motor Fuel Tax Allotment in the amount of$ 55, 779. 81. 2) Approval of Minutes of the October 28, 2019 Committee Meeting (previously presented for approval on the October 13, 2020 Committee Meeting Agenda). 3) Approval of Minutes of the November 12, 2019 Committee Meeting (previously presented for approval on the October 26, 2020 Committee Meeting Agenda). 4) Approval of Minutes of the November 25, 2019 Public Hearing (previously presented for approval on the October 26, 2020 Committee Meeting Agenda). 5) Presentation of Minutes of the April 13, 2020 Committee Meeting. 6) Presentation of Minutes of the Apri127, 2020 Committee Meeting. 7) Presentation of Minutes of the May 26, 2020 Committee Meeting. 8) Presentation of Minutes of the February 8, 2021 Committee Meeting.

Trustee Dalzell made a motion to approve items 2, 3 and 4 under the Clerk' s report; seconded by Trustee McLawhorn.

Roll# 1: Trustees voting" aye": Dalzell, Zielinski, Juarez, McLawhorn, Murphy and Nava- Esparza.

Motion carries 6- 0.

PUBLIC FORM: No one came forward.

FINANCE REPORT: Trustee McLawhorn presented: 1) List of payroll and accounts payable. 2) Discussion of the Azavar Contract— Contract providing professional management, government, revenue and tax, and computer consulting services to undertake a Local Government Revenue Compliance Audit, Maximization, and Monitoring Program. Azavar shall review, audit, maximize and regularly monitor any and all sources of customer revenue and related expenses. There is no upfront cost to the village but Azavar will be paid 45% of recovered monies in retro and for new money found for up to 36 months. This is a company that collections will be turned over to. Joyce Tucker led the discussion. There is no charge for the service up front and would be making sure we are collecting all the revenues that we should be. They get 45% of what we recover. Tom Fagan was present from Azavar. They work with many other municipalities and have been doing so for about 15 years. They help municipalities recover all utility revenue, cable franchise fees and Illinois Department of Revenue for Sales Tax. They make sure that there were no miscalculations in any revenue collected. He gave some examples of other municipalities Azavar has helped recover revenue. The main focus for Alsip would be the franchise fees and the Illinois Department of Revenue Sales Tax. Any attorney fees are paid out of the 45% that Azavar would collect from any monies they find. Any recommendations an attorney would make in regards to ordinances do not have to be accepted by the Village. If there is retro money found it is split and is basically a one71 time deal. If an audit is conducted and incorrect addresses are found that amount would be split for the next 36 months. They will provide the Mayor and Ms. Tucker a verification memo with each stream of revenue found. Updates will be given every 90 days. To audit the entire Village would take approximately 12- 18 months. The revenue stream to them would last 36 months past that of whatever they were able to find. They will be able to conduct spot checks after they are completed

76 down the road if needed. They will continue to work with the attorney to have specific language added to the contract in regards to FOIA requests and what propriety information would need to be redacted. 3) Presentation of Cash Balances ending January 31, 2021. Ms. Tucker led the discussion.

This is to understand our cash and where our reserves will go. Anything in the green is general fund money. Since February 1 St the Deerfield Park TIF and the Pulaski Road TIF have been merged into one physical account but will be held separately in our general ledger. Anything related to Police Seizure Funds have been taken out of our hands and will handled by the Police Department.

They will provide a bank statement once a month. There are three accounts that have been merged into one account. Two are two at First Midwest and one was at Illinois Funds which has been moved to First Midwest. There is a variety of money in different places that needs to start being set aside in our general ledger to put it where it should be used and where it should be reserved. We should have 25% of our yearly expenditures put into a reserve account. We should have a capital asset reserve account. We have a total of 57 million and of that 31 million in the general fund and 26 million is reserved money that must be spent in specific areas. Money needs to be put into reserves so in the event of a complete shutdown we could still operate for several months. Money needs to be set aside in capital item reserves far the big expenditures coming up. For example the pumper truck for the fire department or the capital projects at Heritage. A reserve fund policy will be coming. OPEB money needs to be put somewhere safe. This report will be provided every month along with financial statements. There are some things that will be up for discussion like the multiple security deposit accounts for both Heritage complexes and why Pulaski Road TIF money is at multiple banks. 4) Discussion of the Summary of Revenues & Expenses as of January 31, 2021.

The report showed the budgeted amount, the collected amount and what the difference is. We are pretty on target in the general fund for revenues at 75% which is where we are at for the year. A statement and a list of all the revenues received and all the expenditures that occurred each month should be produced by state statute. The Foreign Fire tax checkbook is controlled by the Board of Foreign Fire. It will be kept on the general ledger and if it is controlled by someone on that Board then we should be getting a bank statement every month like with the Police Seizure Funds.

Anytime an employee of the Village controls money that is not tax money it is called a fiduciary fund. They should be kept on the books as totals only. As of January 31st we have received 33 million dollars in revenues and are expected to receive 18 million before the end of the year. We have expenditures of 24 million. Some of the excess is already spoken for in regards to fire and police pension. The general fund shows actual revenue of 14. 5 million and looking at expenditures of 11. 9 million. 5) Discussion of the Over Budget Report as of January 31; 2021. The Planning Commission professional services/ staff expense is over budget. There has been a lot of meetings this year. The Finance Department is over in actuarial fees and in office supplies due to copier leases. Maintenance and grounds for the Village Hall is over by $67. 91. The Fire Department is over due to the repair of vehicles, the purchase of a new vehicle and building & grounds purchases.

The GEMT refund is for the ambulance services from the federal program that was started a few years back. They receive a certain amount of money and then 50% is repaid. The Police Department was over for the purchase of a new vehicle that was unforeseen. Property/ Casualty insurance was also over what was expected to pay out in claims. Road and Bridge had some interest that was not accounted for correctly last year when the budget was done. Transfers also need to be budgeted differently. If the Foreign Fire Tax is a fiduciary account the expenditures do not need to be tracked. The balances for the end of each month will be listed. The TIF District is over due to opportunities that came up. That money will be recouped. The 2017 bond payment was not budgeted for. Public Works is over for professional services and sanitary sewer maintenance.

Heritage I is over for pool expense. There were plans to replace the pool but they were delayed due to COVID and something was paid twice. Heritage II is over by $ 32,000 in maintenance and repairs because of the amount of vacant units that had to be remodeled to be ready for rent. The total amount over in the budget is $723, 000. Budget amendments are usually done annually. There is still about 14 million anticipated to being coming with and anticipated 11 million in expenditures.

We are a couple million ahead. It is important to note that when this budget was done last year it was the beginning of COVID and no one really knew what to expect so the budget was very tight.

There was a good deal of overtime that was not expected due to the events of the past year and some equipment purchases that were not anticipated. With all the uncertainty of COVID we did an incredible job with the budget.

FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT: Trustee Murphy presented: 1) No report. 2) The Fire Chief thanked all the businesses and residents for shoveling out their fire hydrants after both snowfalls.

He encouraged others to do the same. They try to send the firemen out to help with that but there is over 1, 300 hydrants and it would just be impossible. They are trying to develop some programs to encourage residents for next year. He was going to also be reviewing ordinances to make adjustments for apartment buildings and businesses in regards to keeping the hydrants clear. He has had some discussions with the Mayor about parking during snowfall. In some areas it would be impossible to get down the street with how vehicles were parked. They need to have a minimum of 10 feet to get a fire apparatus down the street. The Mayor is working with the Police Chief to evaluate the situation.

POLICE AND TRAFFIC SAFETY REPORT: Trustee Dalzell presented: 1) No report.

PUBLIC WORKS AND BOAT LAUNCH REPORT: Trustee Juarez presented: 1) No report. 2) The Village of Alsip was awarded the Tree City USA award for the 7th year in a row. 3) The Mayor had discussions with the Superintendent about making sure the manhole covers are being cleared off now that the snow is melting to make sure there are not any flooding issues. He encouraged residents to do the same.

SEWER AND WATER: Trustee Nava-Esparza presented: 1) Request for authorization to have Robinson Engineering begin work on design engineering, construction specifications and bid/ contract documents for the installation of a Sodium Hypochlorite Generation System at the South Pump Station. The current design in outdated and not operational. The cost of approximately $ 150, 000 has been included in the budget appropriations.

BUILDING AND HEALTH REPORT: Trustee Zielinski presented: 1) No report.

HUMAN RESOURCES AND INSURANCE: Trustee Murphy presented: 1) No report. 2) The 2" a interviews for the HR Manager will be scheduled this week via ZOOM. The Mayor will be including Trustees Zielinski and Juarez in the invitation per their request. If Trustee Murphy was available the Mayor offered to have a HR Committee Meeting instead. Once the date was determined Trustee Murphy would let the Mayor know if he would be able to attend. Trustee Juarez volunteered to step back to just allow Trustee Zielinski to be present so it could be done via ZOOM and not have to call an in person HR Committee Meeting. There was discussion about making sure there was no violation of the Open Meetings Act. Posting of a meeting or just conducting via ZOOM will be determined based on the amount of participants to be sure to be compliant.

REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Trustee Nava-Esparza presented: 1) The third round of the Payroll Protection Program is available. The last day to apply and receive a loan is March 31, 2021. This is available to the business and non-profit communities. The Southland Development Authority might be able to assist businesses and non- profits if they need it. They have a website and a Facebook page with contact information.

VILLAGE PROPERTIES: Trustee McLawhorn presented: 1) No report.

ORDINANCE AND LEGISLATION: Trustee Zielinski presented: 1) No report.

PLANNING & ZONING AND LICENSES: Trustee Juarez presented: 1) Presentation of a list of licenses dated February 8, 2021 through February 19, 2021.

PRESENTATIONS, PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS: 1) Trustee Nava-Esparza questioned if cell phone communication was a violation of the Open Meetings Act because Trustee Zielinski' s phone was vibrating and he was looking at it. After discussion between the Mayor and Trustees Zielinski, Nava- Esparza and Murphy it was decided that it is a violation and phones should be stowed away during a meeting. If viewing an email pertaining to business during a meeting on your phone the Board should be notified that is what you are doing or it can be sent to someone in the Clerk' s Office and it can be printed. 2) Trustee McLawhorn informed on the passing of Bob Olson from the Library Board. Thoughts and prayers to the Olson Family and the Library Board.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS: There was none.

NEW BUSINESS: There was none.

ADJOURNMENT: Motion by Trustee McLawhorn to adjourn and; seconded by Trustee Juarez.

All in favor; none opposed. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 9: 02pm

https://villageofalsip.org/wp/download/02%20February%202021/February%2022%20Committee%20Meeting/2021%2002-22%20Committee%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf