[0:01] [music]

[0:24] [music]

[0:52] I was kind of >> call this bring the city council meeting

[0:57] to order.

[1:00] » Father in heaven, we commit this meeting to you. Come and reveal your will in

[1:05] every aspect of our life and ministry. As we discuss the affairs of this city's

[1:10] business, we ask for your will to be done. Show us your purposes. Enlighten

[1:16] us that we may know how you want us to accomplish our task. We desire your

[1:20] glory and blessings in all we do. direct our thoughts, words, decisions, and

[1:26] actions toward the right path and help us stay on track. Let your will be done

[1:31] as we plan to make decisions. Amen. >> And amen.

[1:35] » I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the

[1:41] republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

[1:47] justice for all. >> [clears throat]

[1:55] » Doug Brown here. >> Megan Bryant

[1:57] » here. >> Larry Bud

[1:58] » here. >> Steve Dennis

[2:00] » here. >> Steve Dorinez.

[2:02] » Kathy Driscoll >> here.

[2:03] » Jim Olive >> here.

[2:04] » All alderman are present. Motion to approve the ominous vote designation.

[2:10] » Motion Bman Bryant. Second. >> Second.

[2:13] » Alderman Olive. Questions or comments? Roll call.

[2:17] » Megan Bryant. >> Yes.

[2:18] » Larry Bud. >> Yes. Steve Dennis,

[2:20] » yes. >> Steve Dorchess, yes.

[2:22] » Kathy Driscoll, >> yes.

[2:23] » Jim Olive, >> yes.

[2:24] » Doug Brown, >> yes.

[2:25] » Motion carries, seven to zero. Minutes of the regular meeting held December 15,

[2:30] 2025. Minutes of the water committee meeting

[2:34] held December 18th, 2025. Motion to approve the minutes.

[2:39] » Alderman Bryant, second. >> Second.

[2:42] » Alman Brown. Questions or comments? Roll call.

[2:45] » Larry Bud, >> yes.

[2:47] » Steve Dennis, >> yes. Steve Doraness. Yes.

[2:49] » Kathy Driscoll. >> Yes.

[2:51] » Jim Olive. >> Yes.

[2:52] » Doug Brown. >> Yes.

[2:53] » Megan Bryant. >> Yes.

[2:54] » Motion carries seven to zero. >> Motion recommended the city council to

[2:59] accept the resignation letter from Alderman Chris Scaled. Motion.

[3:04] » So move with a comment >> by Alderman Georgees. Second.

[3:09] » Second. >> Alderman Bud comment. Alderman Georgees.

[3:13] I recommend that with Rocky's U recommendation that he gets that

[3:17] notorized before he when he submits the letter

[3:24] effective. Mr. Mayor, >> effective once he gets it notorized,

[3:27] » right? >> In Mr. Mayor, can I speak?

[3:30] » Yes. >> Yeah. In accordance with the email I

[3:32] sent today, your motion should be uh accepting the uh resignation of Alderman

[3:38] Chris Sculetti retroactive to December 15, 2025

[3:43] upon receipt of Chris Skoletti's notorized signed resignation writing.

[3:50] » All right, that's your motion, Mr. Dionz.

[3:53] » Yes. >> And second,

[3:55] » yes. >> Roll call.

[3:57] » Steve Dennis? >> Yes.

[3:58] » Steve Dorches? Yes. >> Kathy Driscoll? Yes.

[4:01] » Jim Olive. >> Yes.

[4:02] » Doug Brown. >> Yes.

[4:03] » Megan Bryant. >> No.

[4:04] » Larry Bud. >> Yes.

[4:06] » Motion carries. Six to one. Motion recommended the city city council to

[4:11] approve the low bid of $10,000 for the city owned property at 305 East Papa

[4:16] Street. >> Motion. Alderman Bryant. Second.

[4:20] » Second. >> Alderman Driscoll.

[4:22] Questions or comments? >> Mr. Mayor, you vote on this particular

[4:27] uh motion and it does meet the statuto requirements. The appraisal was $9,200.

[4:32] The contract bid proposals 10,000. You'll note in the contract that the

[4:37] buyer are also required to pay all the closing costs, the publication cost,

[4:42] title policy, and so forth. So once this gets approved, we'll line up with the

[4:47] title policy and set a closing date that has to occur within 30 days of today.

[4:52] » It should be the high bid, not the low bid. Correct.

[4:55] Yeah, the 10,000. So, yeah, obviously a motion second. Roll call.

[5:01] » Steve Dorchz, yes. >> Kathy Driscoll,

[5:04] » yes. >> Jim Olive,

[5:05] » yes. >> Doug Brown,

[5:06] » yes. >> Megan Bryant,

[5:07] » yes. >> Larry Bud,

[5:08] » yes. >> Steve Dennis,

[5:10] » yes. >> Mayor Barry votes yes. Motion carries

[5:13] eight to zero. >> Motion recommended the city council to

[5:16] approve the engagement letter with Hart, Southworth, and Witzman.

[5:21] Motion

[5:26] move. >> Pardon

[5:29] motion.

[5:34] [snorts] >> Second.

[5:36] » Motion by Alderman Brown. Second by Alderman Bryant. Questions or comments?

[5:42] » Comment mayor if you like. >> Roll call.

[5:45] » I have spoken to uh Ben of DNA Associates and also Jim Morris. Uh, I

[5:51] have worked with Mike Southworth on many occasions concerning his uh, uh,

[5:55] services as bond counsel. They asked me if I was okay with him, and I'm okay

[5:59] with that. Um, I asked him, I should have got an email to ask him what his

[6:05] um, he's going to be charging on the base of $350 an hour, but it's going to

[6:09] be as a transaction fee that he according to his email today, it should

[6:13] not exceed $15,000 for the anticipated $18 million project.

[6:19] Okay, [clears throat] >> there's a motion in a second. Roll call.

[6:23] » Kathy Driscoll, >> yes.

[6:24] » Jim Olive, >> yes.

[6:26] » Doug Brown, >> yes.

[6:27] » Megan Bryant, [clears throat] >> yes.

[6:28] » Larry Bud, >> yes.

[6:30] » Steve Dennis, >> yes.

[6:31] » Steve Dorinez. >> Motion carries seven to zero. Motion

[6:36] recommended the city council to approve the non-bargaining pay increase of 4% to

[6:41] reflect the ASME union contract beginning January 1st, 2026.

[6:47] » Motion with a comment. There's a motion by Alderman Bryant. Second.

[6:52] » Second. >> Alderman Bud. Questions or comment?

[6:55] Comment. Alderman Bryant. >> I um think due to prior conversation

[6:59] that we'd like to amend that to 4% or $3,000, whichever is less.

[7:05] » Okay. There's amended motion 4% or $3,000, whichever is less. Is there a

[7:12] second? A >> second. Alman Bud,

[7:15] » questions. Any other questions or comments?

[7:19] Roll call. >> Jim Olive,

[7:20] » yes. >> Doug Brown,

[7:22] » yes. >> Megan Bryant,

[7:23] » yes. >> Larry Bud,

[7:24] » yes. >> Steve Dennis,

[7:26] » yes. >> Steve Dorchanz,

[7:27] » Kathy Driscoll, >> yes.

[7:29] » Motion carry seven to zero. Committee reports, discussions, andor motions to

[7:34] approve, adopt, andor deny, andor table, andor amend, and or refer to an

[7:40] appropriate committee in whole or in part the matters regarding following

[7:43] subject matters discussed at the committee level. Water, Mr. George Sess.

[7:49] » Thank you. Uh motion recommended city council to approve the water rate

[7:53] increase beginning January 1, 2026 and to direct the city attorney to amend the

[7:58] current ordinance to reflect these changes. Make that formal motion.

[8:02] » Motion alderman Dorenez. Second. >> Alderman Driscoll. Questions or

[8:07] comments? >> I have a question. Why aren't we putting

[8:09] in what the increase is going to be? Cuz nowhere in this motion does it say

[8:14] what that increase is. It came out of committee as I believe

[8:20] increase correct. >> Was that what came out of committee?

[8:24] » Well, the initial the initial increase is is greater than that. Um but it's the

[8:30] that's the annual increases >> 4% annual increase

[8:33] » beginning in 2027 >> on top of the initial increase.

[8:38] » So this year will be 4% then next year will be another 4%.

[8:41] » No, this year's this year's approximately 16%.

[8:45] on January January 1st. That's proposing.

[8:49] » That's not the way I understood it that night at the meeting.

[8:54] » So, >> there's a motion in a second.

[8:59] Any other questions or comments?

[9:04] Roll call. >> Doug Brown?

[9:08] » Yes. >> Megan Bryant?

[9:10] » Yes. >> Larry Bud,

[9:12] » no. Steve Dennis,

[9:14] » yes. >> Steve Dorchanz,

[9:16] » yes. >> Kathy Driscoll,

[9:18] » no. >> Jim Olive,

[9:21] » no. >> I don't know what you said.

[9:25] » I said yes. >> You said yes. So, the motion carries 4

[9:28] to three.

[9:32] » City attorney updates. >> Just two quick matters. Number one, on

[9:36] the Illinois Valley Paving Company, the closing documents, they've been revised.

[9:39] I think Jim Morris is working on getting those documents signed and getting back

[9:43] to us. Hopefully by the next meeting we'll have those for your review and

[9:47] approval. Secondly, uh I sent you out a copy of my supplemental city attorney

[9:53] opinion letter regarding the pending audit that's still not completed. I'm a

[9:59] little concerned about that. I mean, you got an email from your city clerk today

[10:03] when we received another warning from the state. We now have an extended

[10:07] deadline until I I guess what the 18th of this month that they have to have

[10:13] this audit in. I don't know why it was due on October 30th of last year. There

[10:19] are severe penalties, interest and so forth that can be assessed by the state.

[10:23] They can also uh uh put a stop payment order on any future grants from us. So I

[10:29] think this is something very serious that you should talk to your accountants

[10:33] about and make sure that the audit does get completed for your approval and

[10:38] submittal prior to the that that date. So um that would have to be at the next

[10:43] council meeting obviously. So my recommendation mayor is that you get a

[10:47] hold of the accountants and get them to get this done for you.

[10:50] » And I think Crystal's on top of that. So we'll wait to hear from her.

[10:55] » Thank you Crystal. >> That's it.

[10:59] Rocky, from a contractual standpoint, you know, I don't remember what the

[11:03] contract says, but do we have any is there are there any teeth in that in the

[11:08] contract? [clears throat] >> Well, as you may recall, I my suggested

[11:14] revisions were never made and I think it's been a while since I looked at the

[11:18] contract, but I think you're going you're limited as to what uh you can

[11:23] kick back on them. I think it's limited to what the amount that you paid them.

[11:26] I'll have to check that for sure. But but certainly it is an issue and I think

[11:31] that uh if you consider gone going next year, you need to get that contract

[11:36] revised and get some more teeth into it. Uh because having this kind of a delay

[11:41] and having these threats from the state is not good for the city.

[11:46] » Thank you.

[11:50] » Mayor report. Hope everyone had a happy new year. Now it's time to get back to

[11:55] work. 2026. Our goals will be to get West Main Cross done, get safe routes to

[12:01] school completed, and to begin the renovation of our downtown square. I'm

[12:06] very optimistic that the industrial park will see activity in the near future.

[12:12] Thank you. Motion to approve or ratify payment of

[12:17] bills of $143,724.

[12:22] Motion following. Bud second. Okay. >> Alman Bryant, questions or comments?

[12:27] Comment. Alderman Bud? >> Nope. I went through them today and

[12:30] » Good. All right. >> I had two that I questioned and I got

[12:33] the answers. >> Roll call.

[12:35] » Megan Bryant? >> Yes.

[12:37] » Larry Bud? >> Yes.

[12:38] » Steve Dennis? >> Yes.

[12:40] » Steve Dorinez? >> Yes.

[12:41] » Kathy Driscoll? >> Yes.

[12:42] » Jim Olive? >> Yes.

[12:44] » Doug Brown? >> Yes.

[12:45] » Motion carries seven to zero. First subp paragraph G of 5ilcs

[12:51] 120 slice 2.06. This portion of the city council meeting

[12:55] is reserved for any person wishing to address the council on any relevant

[13:00] subject matters concerning the city. The Illinois opens Meeting Act 5 ILCS1201C

[13:07] manage no action shall be taken on subject matters not list on the agenda

[13:11] but the council may direct staff to address the topic or refer the subject

[13:15] matter to a future council andor committee meeting. If anyone wish to

[13:20] address the council, please provide your name and address. Limit your comments or

[13:24] presentation to three minutes and avoid repetitious comments. Anyone like to

[13:28] address the council? Cody, >> I'd like to say something.

[13:33] » I'm supposed to stand up. Uh whenever I came back to assistant chief, there was

[13:38] a there was a issue of pay and it was said in the thing that we would no

[13:45] longer let superintendent percentages drop below where they had made up to.

[13:50] And with this $3,000 thing, my percentages and other people's are going

[13:55] to drop drastically again. And it I don't know what the deal is. We have no

[14:00] problem spending money on other things. It seems like we do not like to spend

[14:04] money on our people. Um, it makes it to where you bring the percentage down and

[14:09] then everybody wants to leave and then we wonder why people want to leave over

[14:13] and over and over again whenever you continuously say the work you've done is

[14:19] great but we're going to take your percentage down. My work my quality of

[14:24] work doesn't go down yet you keep taking my percentage down year after year. From

[14:29] when I stepped up, it was 124%. And now after this, it's going to be down to

[14:34] about 114ish percent. So it just keeps dropping and

[14:40] it'll drop again. And that's not even including longevity of what the union

[14:43] gets. I'm just including base pay only, but it just keeps happening over. We

[14:48] continue this vicious cycle over and over and over again. We never fix these

[14:52] problems and we just keep taking everybody's pay down. And I'm like, "Oh,

[14:56] I wonder why people keep leaving the city of Taylorville."

[14:59] I, for one, I'm sick and tired of always getting toyed with and just thrown under

[15:05] the rug. We're supposed to have uh evaluations. I haven't seen any

[15:09] evaluations, but how would anybody even be able to evaluate me on what I do

[15:13] anyway? Nobody could. So, I would say I don't

[15:18] understand why the $3,000 that total is not going to change anything in the city

[15:24] budget between what it was supposed to be and what it would have be if it's the

[15:29] lesser of the two. It makes no sense to me. Can someone please explain that to

[15:33] me?

[15:38] » If I may, I will say it's it's a $700 difference is about what it is, Cody.

[15:44] And you would the 124 to 114 is not true. It probably if you're

[15:50] » No, I'm saying from when I started back as assistant chief, it was 124. I'm down

[15:54] at 117 right now. >> Well, the way we got it now and and this

[15:57] is the sheet that I was provided uh your pay goes from $93,64

[16:04] to $96,64. And with a 4% increase, it would have

[16:10] went to96,786.

[16:14] So it's $722. >> Why is it okay? Why does it have to come

[16:18] out of my pocket when that's nothing compared to the city budget? Nothing.

[16:23] » $50,000 on a lawn mower, but we can't give $700 to a superintendent.

[16:28] » Well, I think we we the we decided that we got to try to cut corners now. And by

[16:34] » Why don't you try to make money instead of cut money? We've got an ambulance

[16:37] sitting over there doing nothing. We've got a a city a lake department that can

[16:41] make money. We got an airport that can make money. Why aren't we trying to do

[16:44] that? Why is it always have to come from the employees?

[16:53] » Thank you. Anyone else like to speak? >> Mr. Mayor, I got a followup comment if I

[16:59] can make. >> Okay.

[17:01] » I looked at the calendar here and going back on this audit situation. The

[17:04] deadline is January 18th. Your next council meeting is not till the 19th. So

[17:09] unless Crystal can get a hold of the state and ask them for another

[17:12] extension, you're you're probably going to be faced with calling a special

[17:16] meeting before the January 18th to approve the audit and get it submitted,

[17:21] assuming that your accountants will get the job done.

[17:24] Okay. Okay. Thank you. All right. Anyone else?

[17:29] » Motion for adjournment. Some >> by Alderman Bryant. Second. Second.

[17:34] Alderman Brown questions earned roll call or all in favor of a journ I

[17:42] » we are journ 717

City of Taylorville Council Meeting 01-05-2026

Transcript