City of Sandwich Committee of the Whole met May 1.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
Mayor Latham called the meeting to order at 8:11 PM. Roll call was taken:
Present: Mayor Latham, Clerk Ii, Aldermen Arnett, Erickson, Fritsch, Johnson, Kreinbrink, Littlebrant, Robinson & Whitecotton
Quorum established
Also Present: Attorney Gottschalk, City Administrator Penman, Interim Police Chief Bleichner, & EMA Director Ciciora
Mayor Latham: No report
Foster, Buick, Conklin, Lundgren & Gottschalk Law Group: Attorney Gottschalk will be scheduling sexual harassment training for staff in the upcoming weeks.
City Clerk Ii: No report
City Treasurer: The position is vacant after the April 4th election. Council will consider eliminating the position altogether, and if so, the question will be posed on a voter ballot at the next election.
City Administrator Penman: No report
City Department Reports:
EMA Tom Ciciora - No report
Police Chief - No report
Engineering - City Administrator Penman advised updates on identifying projects that was listed on the distributed staff report. Department heads continue to meet every two weeks with Curt Dettmann, Project Manager at EEI (Engineering Enterprises).
Aldermen Reports:
Alderwoman Johnson thanked the street department for removal of dead trees in her ward.
Alderman Kreinbrink announced the passing of retired Deputy Fire Chief, Mike Pruski. Mike joined the Sandwich Fire Department in 1972 and was Fire Science instructor for several decades. Services will be held on Saturday, May 6th.
Alderman Robinson recommended intersections in need of stop signs. Interim Police Chief Bleichner will investigate the intersections.
Alderman Whitecotton was in favor of modifying the current burn ordinance by setting certain hours for burning. Majority of the council was not in favor of banning the burning of leaves, but called for better education, such as do not burn wet leaves and avoid windy days, and supported the recommendation of enforcement and modification of the ordinance.
New Business: Council briefly discussed amending Chapter 54 of the Municipal Code as it relates to solicitors. Currently, the City charges $25/day per solicitor for a maximum of ten days. No solicitation is allowed on Sundays. Clerk Ii had canvassed neighboring communities of equal population finding that Sandwich is the more restrictive. Mention was made of offering “no solicitor” signs to residents that were interested. Attorney Gottschalk is reviewing due process procedures when the City receives complaints about solicitors. This discussion will be continued at the next meeting.
Announcements: Next meeting for the Finance Committee will be on Monday, May 15th, at 6:30 PM. The Regular Council meeting will meeting at 7 PM on the same date immediately followed by the Committee-of-the-Whole meeting.
Audience Comments: Resident, Genelle Inman, spoke on leaf burning requesting the Council to survey the community for their input on the topic. She requested that limiting days or hours of burning if burning is not banned.
Adjournment: There being no further business to come before the Council, motion made by Alderman Robinson and seconded by Alderwoman Johnson to adjourn the Committee-of the-Whole council meeting at 8:39 PM. Motion carried unanimously on voice vote.
http://www.sandwich.il.us/MINUTES/cw050123.pdf
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