August 8, 2013 City Council Meeting Minutes
CALL TO ORDER
The regular meeting of the Hickory Hills City Council was called to order by Mayor Mike Howley on Thursday, August 8, 2013, at 7:34 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Mayor Mike Howley led the Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
Upon roll call, the following were present:
- Mayor, M. Howley
Aldermen, D. Ferrero
B. Fonte
T. McAvoy (7:49 p.m.)
M. McHugh
J. Stachnik
J. Szeszycki
B. Waight
S. Zimmerman - City Clerk, D. Catizone
- City Treasurer, D. Schramm
- City Attorney, J. Cainkar
- City Engineer, T. Lang
- Police Cheif, A. Vodicka
- Public Works Director, L. Boettcher
- Building Commissioner, J. Moirano
There being a quorum present, the meeting was called to order.
OPEN TO PUBLIC
Alderman Stachnik moved to open the meeting to the public. Alderman Ferrero second. Roll call: Aldermen Fonte, Ferrero, McAvoy, Stachnik, Szeszycki, Waight, Zimmerman aye. So approved.
No one spoke during this portion of the meeting.
CLOSE TO PUBLIC
Alderman Szeszycki moved to close the meeting to the public. Alderman Ferrero second. Roll call: Aldermen Fonte, Ferrero, McAvoy, Stachnik, Szeszycki, Waight, Zimmerman aye. So approved.
JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS
Alderman Szeszycki moved to approve the minutes of the regularly scheduled meeting of July 25, 2013 as printed subject to deletions or corrections. Alderman Waight second. Roll call: Aldermen Ferrero, Fonte, McAvoy, McHugh, Stachnik, Szeszycki, Waight aye. Alderman Zimmerman pass. So approved.
REPORTS OF CITY OFFICIALS
MAYOR
Mayor Howley reported the City of Hickory Hills will be hosting the Southwest Council of Mayors on Monday, September 30th.
Mayor Howley acknowledged and thanked Clerk Catizone for her efforts on the recent water damage at City Hall. He also thanked Building Commissioner John Moirano and the Public Works staff for all their hard work.
CITY CLERK
Clerk Catizone reported the Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak will hold a property tax appeal seminar that is offered to Palos Township taxpayers seeking to appeal their 2013 property tax assessments. This seminar will be held on August 19th at 6:30 p.m. at Kaptur Administrative Center located at 8999 W. 123rd Street in Palos Park.
Clerk Catizone announced the Illinois Municipal League will hold its 100th annual conference on October 17th-19th at the Hilton Chicago Hotel. Registration materials have been placed in Aldermen mailboxes.
Clerk Catizone noted the Clerk’s Office has just completed paperwork with the State of Illinois Comptroller’s Office to participate in the Debt Recovery Program.
Clerk Catizone informed the Council that Chris Doherty from the Clerk’s Office is having a medical procedure and will be out of the office. We all wish her the best. She also noted she has hired a second part time person to cover the office.
Lastly, Clerk Catizone thanked the Public Works Department and Building Commissioner John Moirano for their assistance with the recent water damage at City Hall.
CITY TREASURER
Treasurer Schramm requested to have an open discussion on the draft Family Medical Leave Policy that was distributed to the Council. He also noted the Council has received a copy of the insert that would be placed in the employee handbook. He noted that the City has always been under the FMLA policy since 1993 but there was never a written policy. He noted there would be additional meetings with department heads to review this policy. Treasurer Schramm reviewed the eligibility for employees. He stated an employee must exhaust all sick and vacation or any other time on the books while taking FMLA. The employer has an option to force an unpaid leave or exhaust what time they have before granting FMLA. We, as a City, have taken the option to exhaust their accrued benefits. FMLA can run concurrently with worker’s compensation or a disability. The employee is allowed 12 weeks within a calendar year. Treasurer Schramm is presenting Section 3.15 to the employee handbook. It reads The City of Hickory Hills is a covered employer under the Family Medical and Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA). Alderman Szeszycki moved to approve this FMLA policy. Alderman McHugh second. Roll Call: Aldermen Ferrero, Fonte, McAvoy, McHugh, Stachnik, Waight, Zimmerman aye. So approved. It was noted that a copy of this policy will be given to current and future employees.
CITY ATTORNEY
No report submitted.
CITY ENGINEER
No report submitted.
COMMUNICATIONS
BILLS PAYABLE
Alderman Szeszycki moved to approve the bills payable for the first half of August, 2013 in the amount of $429,765.74. Alderman Ferrero second. Roll call: Aldermen Ferrero, Fonte, McAvoy, McHugh, Stachnik, Szeszycki, Waight, Zimmerman aye. So approved.
STANDING COMMITTEES
Szeszycki/Finance
No report submitted
Stachnik/Public Safety
No report submitted.
Chief Vodicka noted on Tuesday at the Court Hearings, the property nuisance ordinance is being addressed.
Chief Vodicka reported National Night Out was held on Tuesday night and it was very well attended.
Zimmerman/PublicWorks
No report submitted.
McHugh/Bldg./Facilities
Alderman McHugh thanked Commissioner Moirano and Clerk Catizone for their assistance with the water leak at City Hall. He also noted that the upstairs bathrooms at City Hall are being remodeled.
Commissioner Moirano reported the water damage at City Hall was caused by an automatic flusher that malfunctioned. He also noted floor drains will be installed in both bathrooms upstairs.
Waight/Laws & Ordinances
Alderman Waight presented two business certificate
applications. 1) Flying High Gymastics located at 7711-7713 W. 99th Street. This is a gymnastics training facility. 2) Premiere Motorsports located at 7750 W. 99th Street. This is an online dealer for used motor vehicles. After some discussion, the fire department inspector will look into this facility. This license is approved contingent on the fire department approval. No other objections were noted.
Fonte/ Health & Environmental Control
No report submitted.
Ferrero/Community Affairs/Youth Advisory
No report submitted.
McAvoy/Chamber Business Development
Alderman McAvoy reported he has distributed the bingo
tent results at the Street Fair. It was again a record year.
Alderman McAvoy introduced for discussion the matter of a premium liquor license. This license would be for banquet halls only and allow them to remain open until 3:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday evenings. He noted he has given the Council a memo regarding this amendment to the liquor license. This discussion was to have a consensus of the Council as to move forward and direct the attorney to prepare this amendment. Alderman McAvoy stated this would be on a trial basis until January 2015. It can be revoked at any time and would just apply to the 6 banquet halls. It was also noted it would be optional for the later liquor license. Alderman McAvoy reported he has gone over the numbers of police calls and they are not that frequent or serious. After some discussion it was the consensus of the Council to move forward with this and direct the attorney to draft this classification. It was noted the ordinance should only include the banquet halls.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Mayor Howley reported Pepe’s owners have bought the
property at which they are located.
NEW BUSINESS
None.
ADJOURNMENT
Alderman Ferrero moved to adjourn the meeting until the next scheduled or specially called meeting. Alderman Waight second. Roll Call: Aldermen Ferrero, Fonte, McAvoy, McHugh, Stachnik, Szeszycki, Waight, Zimmerman aye. So approved.
Meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.