City Attorney Rick Verticchio updated the council on two nuisance properties.

The Benld City Council on Monday night voted 4-2 to purchase three biometric time clocks to monitor the amount of time employees are “on the clock.” The devices, costing $125 each, will be supplied by Creative Time Solutions of California and will use employee thumbprints to clock in and clock out. The devices will be located at City Hall, the Public Works Department and Police Department and will be used to track time for about seven full-time and four part-time employees.

The action culminated several weeks of debate about the need for time clocks and the type of time clocks the city should purchase. Last month, the council voted 4-2 to purchase time clocks but balked on determining which type of time clock to buy. Ald. Peyton Bernot argued in favor of the cloud-based biometric system, not only because it would be more cost effective but also would prevent “buddy clocking in”—having someone clock in for an employee is not on the job.

[pullquote]My recommendation stands the same as last month[/pullquote]“My recommendation stands the same as last month,” Bernot said Monday night.

Answering a question from Ald. Jim Tilashalski, Bernot said the biometric system will be less expensive than a traditional analog time clock requiring cards for employees to clock in and clock out. For the biometric system, the city will pay 99 cents per month per employee for use of the internet cloud, but it will not be required to buy paper time cards.

Ald. Teressa Tucker expressed concerns about the potential for “tracking” employees. Bernot said, however, that the system could allow employees to clock-in remotely using their smart phone or similar device, in which case it would log the location from which the employee was clocking in. “We won’t be tracking employees,” he said. “That feature can be disabled.”

Brought to a vote on a motion by Tilashalski, seconded by Bernot, the measure was approved 4-2 with Ald. Mickey Robinson and Ald. Jim Kelly voting no. Both Robinson and Kelly also cast dissenting votes a month earlier against the motion to buy time clocks at all.

FEDERAL SEWER GRANT

The council voted to proceed with contracting for engineering and design work, to proceed with acquiring EPA permits for a proposed sewer system improvement project after learning the city is too late to apply for federal grant funds in the current grant cycle. Mike Cavanaugh of the West Central Illinois Planning Commission had previously urged the city to apply for a grant before Aug. 16. Mayor Gloria Sidar, however, reported Monday night the city cannot make the deadline for the current round of grants.

“We don’t have time to pursue this grant this year,” she said. “You have to be shovel ready when you apply. You have to have your engineering design work done and you have to have all your permits, and it takes 90 days to get the permits.”

On a motion by Robinson, seconded by Kelly, the council voted unanimously to have Henry, Meisenheimer and Gende Consulting Engineers begin design work and set priorities regarding portions of the sewer system most in need of improvement, and to secure EPA permits to proceed with the work with an eye toward applying for grant money in the next available grant cycle.

INSURANCE CARRIER FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY

Ald. Bernot, chair of the city’s Finance Committee, reported that the city’s health insurance carrier, Land of Lincoln Health, has filed for bankruptcy protection and will no longer provide health insurance coverage. As a result, he said future premium payments will be made to the Illinois Department of Insurance, which will administer coverage until Sept. 30 at which time the city must select a new provider.

Bernot said the city probably will have only two providers from which to choose—Blue Cross-Blue Shield and Health Alliance.

BODY CAMS

Ald. Mickey Robinson, chair of the Police Committee, reported that body cams for the city’s full-time police officers will be delivered in the next two weeks, and a representative of the supplier will be on hand to train officers in the use of the cams. The city will be paying $36 per month per camera for the units.

NUISANCE PROPERTIES

City Attorney Rick Verticchio confirmed the city is precluded from pursuing a nuisance action against property at 600 Central Avenue for at least two years because the property is subject to a property tax lien. A “tax buyer” reportedly has paid one year’s worth of property taxes to secure the property. By law, the buyer can pay the next two years of taxes after which the company can file for a tax deed to acquire ownership.

By that time table, the property would not be available for purchase until 2017.

“If anyone wants it, they would have to pay that full amount?” Tilashalski asked. Verticchio answered that a buyer would be required to redeem back taxes to acquire the property. “Property taxes are not dismissed as part of a nuisance procedure,” he said.

However, the city could recoup some of what it has invested in cleaning up and securing the property by filing a lien for the amount of money it has spent on the property, Verticchio said.

A similar situation apparently exists with two properties in the 200 block of South Seventh Street formerly owned by the Gima Estate. A potential buyer reportedly has backed away from a deal to buy the abandoned houses and tear them down because of a tax liens on them approaching $6,000.

“He says he can’t make it work,” Verticchio said. “He says that with the cost of tearing them down, plus paying the taxes, it’s not worth it.”

FORFEITURE RULES

Verticchio also distributed a memo at the request of Bernot who had asked about the legality of disposing of two vehicles seized by Benld Police and currently being maintained in storage.

Verticchio said a criminal forfeiture for the vehicles—one car and one truck—can only be pursued by the States Attorney. If the State’s Attorney pursues the forfeiture, Verticchio said, the city will realize only about one-half of the proceeds from the sale of the vehicle.

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An alternative, according to Verticchio, would be for the city to file a civil lien against the vehicles assessing up to $25 per day as a storage fee. That lien would either have to be paid by the owners to recover the vehicles or come from the sale of the vehicles.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Following a five-minute executive session requested by Bernot to discuss personnel, the council voted to set wages for city worker Tim Wargo at $10.50 per hour retroactive to the first day of the last pay period.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the council agreed to start enforcing an ordinance requiring residents to remove trash cans from the street on the evening after trash pick-up. An advisory was included with the last water bills sent to residents and council members agreed to give residents no more than one verbal warning before issuing tickets for violating the ordinance.

Mayor Sidar said many residents are not aware of some city ordinances and suggested using water bills to keep residents abreast of ordinances to which they are subject.

“Right now we have a problem with fences around swimming pools,” she said. “What do you think about doing an ‘ordinance of the month’ (on water bills)?”

In other action, the council unanimously approved a mandated resolution requiring the city to employ only contractors who pay their employees prevailing wages as determined by the State Department of Labor. Those wage levels have not yet been set by the state but will be incorporated into the ordinance when they are announced.

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