McHenry Times

City of McHenry City Council met Oct. 7

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Roll Call: Mayor Jett opened with the roll call.

Members present Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch, Alderwoman Miller, and Mayor Jett. Others present Attorney McArdle, Administrator Ostrovsky, Director of Community Development Polerecky, Finance Director Lynch, Director of Parks and Recreation Hobson, Director of Economic Development Martin, Chief of Police Birk, City Planner Sheriff-absent, Director of Public Works Wirch, Deputy Clerk Johnson, and City Clerk Ramel.

Pledge of Allegiance: Mayor Jett led the pledge.

Public Comment: None

Consent Agenda: Motion to Approve the following Consent Agenda Items as presented:

A. A Mutual Termination Agreement for the Standstill Agreement between the City of McHenry and Shodeen Group, L.L.C. (Administrator Ostrovsky)

B. Parks & Recreation Facilities & Special Use Permit Requests

C. September 16, 2024, City Council Meeting Minutes

D. Issuance of $1,854,453.21 Checks

Alderman Glab commented about the documents being destroyed and had some concerns meaning communication with the Shodeen development and staff that maybe The Council has not seen. Per Deputy Clerk Johnson, the state of Illinois will set the schedule of the papers that will be destroyed. Alderman Glab questioned if destroying documents that The Council may not know about and Deputy Clerk Johnson also expanded his clarification that most of those documents are things that The Council is aware of, there are yearly limits of time on the papers there are thousands of documents. The larger documents can be seen in the portal for the public to see as well as The Council. These documents are more of a dayto-day communication that occurs.

Alderwoman Bassi, questioned if some of the documents would be the correspondence between staff and Shodeen developers wanting to know if that was true, the memorandum is where she wanted to get more clarification. General correspondence is kept for a year; everything else falls into the category of what that is about, per the State of Illinois Deputy Clerk Johnson. We are asked to follow those guidelines set by the state as also explained by Attorney McArdle.

Administrator Ostrovsky asked the chief, and he confirmed that emails are kept forever as of now, there is potential to change that because of the storage issue but as of now, they are kept yearly for that daily email correspondence.

Alderman Davis stated that we would have to look at the regulations depending on the data type and where it is stored. Depending on these there are government regulations and laws that go along with it.

Alderwoman Miller stated that in her industry they are typically emails held for a year, a binding contract is five, and a non-binding one is three years. Broken down here is the minimum for a year. Adding in some context regarding this topic.

A motion was made by Alderman Santi and seconded by Alderman McClatchey to approve the Consent Agenda Item as presented: Roll Call: Vote:7-ayes: Alderman Santi,

Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch, Alderwoman Miller. 0-nays, 0-abstained. Motion carried.

Individual Action Item Agenda

A. 2025 City Council Meeting Schedule

A motion to pass a Resolution establishing the schedule of meetings of the McHenry City Council for the period January 1, 2025, through December 31, 2025. (Deputy Clerk Johnson)

Alderwoman Miller wanted to know about the first meeting in January and if it was missed.

Per Deputy Clerk Johnson, mostly the first meeting in January is skipped. Alderwoman Bassi wanted to know if they could put it on and then remove it. Also noted by Deputy Clerk Johnson stated that we could meet earlier as well if wanted. Alderwoman Miller wanted to amend her motion to include Monday, Jan 6th to the schedule and add the meetings to start at 6 pm. She commented that there are not many people that attend the meetings at 7 pm and it may be because it is too late.

Alderman Santi stated that he was not comfortable with the 6 pm start time. Dismissed the motion for the second because of the time. Wanted to make sure that people can make the meetings if they would like to as well.

Alderman McClatchey likes the January 6th meeting, can go either way with the time. 

Alderman Koch stated that 6 pm is a little too early and has concerns about the public showing up.

Alderman Davis stated that 6 may be a little tight.

Alderman Glab stated that he has never heard anyone state that 7 pm is too late, and would hate to see that they cannot make a meeting because of that.

A motion was made by Alderwoman Miller and seconded by Alderwoman Bassi to approve Individual Agenda Items with changes in the start time of meetings to 7 pm: Roll Call: Vote: 3-ayes: Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderwoman Miller. 4-nays-Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderman Koch. 0-abstained. Motion denied.

A motion was made by Alderwoman Miller and seconded by Alderman Glab to approve Individual Agenda with the option to add an addendum: Roll Call: Vote: 7-ayes: Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch. 0-nays. 0-abstained. Motion approved.

A motion was made by Alderwoman Miller and seconded by Alderman Santi to approve Individual Agenda Item with the addendum to add the January 6th meeting: Roll Call: Vote: 7-ayes: Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch. 0-nays. 0-abstained. Motion approved.

B. BYOA Liquor License Ordinance

A motion to pass an ordinance Amending Title 4-2-6, Subsection D-5. Class E BYOA License, of the McHenry City Code (Deputy Clerk Johnson)

A motion was made by Alderman Santi and seconded by Alderman McClatchey to approve Individual Agenda Items as presented: Roll Call: Vote: 7-ayes: Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch. 0-nays. 0-abstained. Motion approved.

C. South WWTP Secondary Clarifier Rehabilitation

A motion to accept the bid from DPS Equipment Services, Inc. for an amount of $106,200.00 and a 10% contingency of $10,620.00 for the rebuild of four Secondary Clarifier drive assemblies at the South Wastewater Treatment Plant (Director Wirch)

Alderman Davis wanted to know if this has been used before and confirmed by Chief Birk that yes DPS has been included.

A motion was made by Alderwoman Miller and seconded by Alderman Koch to approve Individual Agenda Items as presented: Roll Call: Vote: 7-ayes: Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch. 0-nays. 0- abstained. Motion approved.

*Clerks note: There was no vote on this item.*

D. Elected Official Compensation

A motion to pass an ordinance Amending Section 1-6-2: City Council, Subsection B. Compensation; and Section 1-7-3, City Clerk, Subsection C: Salary, of the McHenry City Code (Attorney McArdle)

Alderman McClatchey stated that this job is helping people and therefore he is happy where it is at right now and what we are doing is fine right now.

Alderwoman Miller stated that are not in favor of the additional increase and states that every dollar should be counted for. Stated that the clerk could use a little bump if needed.

Alderman Koch thought it would be a nice pat on the back for those to state they are doing a good job and would like it to show appreciation. Alderman Koch stated no for the clerk.

Alderman Glab stated that one of the concerns was that it makes it disenchanting and there could be more competition within the ward. Stated that more than anything else if it is discussed in the future when it becomes an issue when someone wants an increase it will seem like that much of a larger raise and how many years it has been. Alderman Glab stated that the Clerk stays the same.

Alderman Santi has not been here for the money in 20 years and never had a conversation with an elected official because of the money. Alderman Santi would like the clerk to stay the same.

Alderman Davis stated that he can go either way, maybe if there are any more meetings there could be a fee for that, or maybe meet in the middle. The change is minimal. The clerk would be ok with a bump with inflation. 

Alderwoman Bassi wanted to know where the money was coming from and stated that some people were struggling to put food on the table. She was not comfortable with any raises being offered for The Council or Trisha Ramel, City Clerk.

Discussion Item Agenda

Staff Reports

Provided the 1st meeting of each month.

Mayor’s Report

City Council CommentsAlderman Glab with the Shodeen proposal being gone talked about the Jan 6th meeting we could have a Committee of the Whole, good meeting to have an open discussion to see what

The Council gets to see.

Mayor Jett hopes to be working on these properties now and not talking about it in January, he would like to have it before then and would not like to waste any more time.

Alderwoman Miller stated that there has been a year of creating a plan and having approved a final comp plan, spent a lot of time and the vision was not that far off, but needed to be forward thinking.

Alderman McClatchey stated that we live in a great town and would like to say Godspeed FL.

Alderman Santi wanted to know about Light The Night, Director Hobson stated how successful that evening was, commenting that it could not be a more perfect night the atmosphere was great and all the positive comments that were brought to him.

Alderwoman Miller stated that the events for homecoming speak to the commitment to reinventing and thanked several staff members for their hard work.

Also discussed by Attorney McArdle was the approval that The Council had already given to the the termination/cancellation of the purchase agreements however wanted to review the technical language regarding those, which all agreed with, there was no vote on this.

Executive Session:

Executive Session to discuss the performance of specific employees (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1))

A motion was made by Alderman McClatchey seconded by Alderwoman Bassi to adjourn to Executive Session at 8:01 pm to discuss the performance of specific employees (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1))

Mayor Jett reconvened the meeting from the Executive Session at 8:51 p.m. A motion was made by Alderman Koch and seconded by Alderman Bassi to return to an open session. Roll Call: Vote: 7-ayes: Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey,

Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch, Alderwoman Miller. 0-nays, 0-abstained.

Motion carried.

Adjourn: A motion was made by Alderman Santi and seconded by Alderwoman Miller to adjourn the meeting at 8:51 Roll Call: Vote: 7-ayes: Alderman Santi, Alderman Glab, Alderman McClatchey, Alderwoman Bassi, Alderman Davis, Alderman Koch, Alderwoman Miller. 0-nay-, 0-abstained. Motion carried.

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