The Eureka City Council convened in regular session at the City Building on March 16, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. Mayor Scott Punke called the meeting to order and led The Pledge of Allegiance and then directed the City Clerk to call the roll. Present were Aldermen Meares, Hinthorne, Prather, Waters, V. Punke, Kupfer, Zeltwanger, and Hinnen. Also in attendance were Lynn Hinnen, Treasurer; Marilyn Walter, City Clerk; Jim Lehman, Director of Public Works; and Anne Sandvik, City Administrator.

Moved by Hinnen, second by Kupfer, to approve the minutes of the March 2, 2009, regular meeting of the City Council. Passed on roll call vote with Hinnen, Kupfer, Meares, Hinthorne, Prather, Waters, V. Punke, and Zeltwanger all voting Aye.

The Mayor asked for public comments on any action to be taken on Agenda items. There were none.

Moved by Waters, second by Meares, to approve and pay the bills for expenses of the City’s obligation in the amount of $31,217.55. Passed on roll call vote with Waters, Meares, Zeltwanger, Hinnen, Hinthorne, Prather, V. Punke, and Kupfer all voting Aye.

Moved by Meares, second by Hinthorne, to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented for the month ending February 28, 2009. Passed on roll call vote with Waters, V. Punke, Kupfer, Prather, Hinnen, Meares, and Hinthorne all voting Aye.

Brandon Bressner addressed the Council concerning his connection to the City water system. He has presented  this information to the Enterprise Committee at their last two meetings. He could hire legal counsel but he does not want to do that. He and his wife followed the steps they were told to follow. Their property is outside of the city limits but were allowed to connect in August. They were told that he needed to annex when their neighbors do. The first week of September they were hooked up to City Water after meeting all of the requirements. They paid a bit over $5,000 to have this done. A mistake was made and they are hooked up and billed every month for City water for the last six months at double the resident rate. They had to remove part of their porch to hook up and several feet of their yard and the neighbor’s yard had to be torn up. After four months of being connected, they have been told they must disconnect due to a mistake made by the City. He asked the Council to reconsider the decision of the Enterprise Committee.

Hinnen responded thanking Bressner for returning to the Council. He stated that we have ordinances that say persons outside of the City cannot be connected to City water. The Mayor apologized to Bressner and his wife and stated there was some miscommunication and that some outside properties have in the past been allowed to hook up to City water.  The Enterprise Committee made this decision. He believes that the City is responsible for reimbursing the Bressners for the money spent. Bressner doesn’t agree that reimbursing him would settle the problem. He doesn’t feel it sets a precedence.  Waters noted that the residents on Highview have had to pay substantially to annex and to hook to water and probably sewer later on.

Moved by Waters, second by V. Punke, to approve the Maintenance Committee’s recommendation to enter into an agreement with the State of Illinois Central Management Services Joint Purchasing Program to purchase road salt for FY 2009-2010. Passed on roll call vote with Waters, V. Punke, Meares, Hinthorne, Prather, Kupfer, Zeltwanger, and Hinnen all voting Aye.

Moved by Hinnen, second by Meares, to approve the Park Committee’s recommendation to purchase a Carrier 70,000 BTU gas furnace for the Park Pavilion at a cost of $1,525 from Heinold Heating and Air Conditioning. Passed on roll call vote with Hinnen, Meares, Hinthorne, Prather, Waters, V. Punke, Kupfer, and Zeltwanger all voting Aye.

Moved by Hinnen, second by Meares, to approve the recommendation from the Park Committee to enter into an agreement with Melrose Pyrotechnics, Inc. in the amount of $13,000 for the fireworks display on the Fourth of July. Price did go up by $2,000 due to expenses of getting the fireworks from Japan. Passed on roll call vote with Hinnen, Meares, Hinthorne, Prather, Waters, V. Punke, Kupfer, and Zeltwanger all voting Aye.

Moved by Waters, second by V. Punke, to approve the recommendation from the Budget Committee to approve Budget Ordinance 09-02—an ordinance budgeting for all corporate purposes for the City of Eureka, Woodford County, Illinois for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2009, and ending April 30, 2010—with all expenditures totaling $3,154,784.00. Passed on roll call vote with Waters, V. Punke, Meares, Hinthorne, Prather, Kupfer, Zeltwanger, and Hinnen all voting Aye.

Committee Reports:

Chairman Waters of the Budget Committee: Waters thanked everyone for getting the budget done. After being posted at City Hall for ten days, the budget will be filed with the County Clerk.

Chairman Meares of the Administration and Personnel Committee: The next meeting will be Tuesday, March 31, at 6 p.m.

Chairman Hinnen of the Enterprise Committee:  No report

Chairman Waters of the Maintenance Committee:  The next meeting will be Wednesday, April 1, at 4:30 p.m.

Chairman V. Punke of the Public Safety Committee: No report

Chairman Hinnen of the Park and Recreation Committee: A last public meeting for the pool will be at 7 p.m. tomorrow evening at the Middle School.

Chairman Kupfer of the Economic Development Committee:  No report

Chairman Mayor Punke of the Liquor Committee: No report

Chairperson Hinthorne of the Communications Committee: A “store” to sell merchandise for the Sesquicenntenial opens this weekend at the IGA and will be open every Friday and Saturday until July 4. The Friday hours are 3-7 p.m. and the Saturday hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Volunteers are needed.  A list will be posted at the IGA where people can sign up.

New Business: None

Public Comments or Questions: None

There being no further business to come before the Council the meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

____________________________

Marilyn Walter, City Clerk