Danville officials propose adding four city positions

Sep. 29—DANVILLE — Prior to budget discussions soon starting at Danville City Council committee and council meetings, city officials are bringing proposals to aldermen to add four new city positions.

The Danville City Council's Public Services Committee on Tuesday recommended authorizing a budget amendment to the fiscal year 2022-2023 police department budget to create a new police department position.

According to the resolution, "the Danville Police Department has a need to address anticipated additional regulatory requirements due to the State of Illinois HB3653, also known as the Safe-T Act, as well as address an ever-increasing demand in FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests."

"The department would like to add a full-time position and eliminate the part-time position of Sexual Offender Registration Coordinator who ensures compliance of those who must register under the Sexual Offender Registration Act (SORA) and Murderer and Violent Offender Against Youth Registration Act (MAVORA). The duties would be consolidated and be performed by a newly created full-time position of the Administration Specialist and Compliance Coordinator within the Danville Police Department."

The new Administration Specialist and Compliance Coordinator would perform duties to ensure compliance of SORA and MAVORA as well as assist in overflow FOIA requests and anticipated administrative responsibilities created by the SAFE-T Act. The police department requests additional money for salaries and benefits for this position. The salary range would be $35,094 minimum, $44,991 mid-point and $54,641 maximum.

The part-time position was 18 hours a week. The new position would be 40 hours a week, according to Danville Police Chief Chris Yates.

Yates said there remains a lot of questions about the SAFE-T Act, but the department will continue to protect the safety of citizens. The Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity-Today Act, known as the SAFE-T Act abolishes cash bail beginning Jan. 1, 2023, reforms police training, certification and use-of-force standards, expands detainee rights and requires body cameras at all departments by 2025.

Funds for the Danville Police Department budget amendment will come from the city's general fund reserve.

The full city council will act on this and the other new positions and budget amendments next week.

The three other new positions city officials had planned to add through the budget process for further discussion but want to add now are two parks positions (full-time Laborer I) and a grant manager in the finance department. The starting Laborer 1 hourly pay rate is $18.

The grant manager salary range would be $40,000 minimum, $50,000 mid-point and $60,000 maximum.

The wage chart changes also include two routine updates with bargaining units, affecting the fire and police departments, according to City Comptroller Ashlyn Massey.

Massey said the additional parks employees are needed to maintain city parks. She said the length of grass in the city's parks has come up and the parks laborers also help with snow removal such as on downtown sidewalks.

A grant manager would help oversee grant funding such as ARPA (American Rescue Plan Act) money, the infrastructure bill and other grants in the future, Massey said.

"They would not take on the grants that currently exist," she said, adding that the grant manager would oversee grants which don't have a city home department like the ARPA money.

The grant manager also would help with training staff on grant regulations and policies, and keep track of timelines and help the city be audit and grant reporting ready, Massey said.

Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. said the city had about 14 parks and public property employees at one time. Now there are five. The laborers also help with city building maintenance, in which the city has gotten behind with, Williams said.

The parks employees also during the winter months help fix park equipment indoors and repair buildings and do other work.

"I think it's important we have that," he said.

For grants management, he too said the city has a ton of additional grants that are coming through. He reminded aldermen that the city almost lost about $300,000 because grants paperwork was not submitted in a timely manner by the city in the past.

The city also has already hired a new senior planner at a salary of $65,000. A Planner I position would be unfunded.

Massey said a three-year budget presentation will be at the Oct. 18 city council meeting.

In other business, the committee:

* Recommended authorizing a $500,000 loan payment on a sewer and solid waste loan to Danville Mass Transit. In Aug. 2017, with a state budget impasse, Danville Mass Transit needed a loan due to cash flow issues in not receiving state reimbursement payments during construction of the new transfer zone building. DMT is 80 percent funded by state grants, Massey said. The city used enterprise funds to pay off the bank loan and repayment to the enterprise funds didn't occur. This is resolving that, which could help with a sewer Vactor truck or something else, Massey said.

* Recommended authorizing a $10,000 budget amendment to fiscal year 2022-2023, general city budget, due to public safety pre-employment and training costs due to increased hirings. Funds come from the city's general fund reserves.

* Recommended applying for a $30,000 Illinois State Fire Marshal Small Equipment grant for auto extrication lifting airbags and stabilization struts. The fire department had seven building fires in August, with most calls, medical calls. The department is down in personnel with about five injured firefighters. They have started the new hire testing process again. The eligibility list established in July 2021 is down to two people to be offered a job, but Fire Chief Don McMasters said he's heard at least one person may decline the job. At the start of the last testing process, there were about 29 applicants. McMasters said 19 showed up for the physical agility test. After the written exam and interviews, the list had 13 people. The list lost more possible candidates due to a couple background situations, people being hired elsewhere and declining jobs and other issues. McMasters said they will do more media advertising for the next firefighter eligibility list. They currently have one empty slot to hire and another one possibly at the end of November. This next testing cycle also will be the first time the city has had a residency requirement of now 45 miles from the city in effect for hiring.

* Heard the city still has some United Way COVID-19 funding available for residents who lost income from the coronavirus pandemic.

* Recommended amending the information technology division budget by $33,500, with funding coming from the city's general fund reserves, for security upgrade management to its computer and information systems.

* Heard that the legal department will restart the search for an assistant corporation counsel, and search for one to two new hearing officers. At least one hearing officer will be retiring and moving out of the area at the end of the year. Corp. Counsel James Simon also reported the city is moving forward with its new code enforcement and compliance system. The city has selected Citizenserve community development software, but data migration has not started. It likely won't be up and running until next summer, Simon said, adding that there will be a citizen access portal. The city will run both systems simultaneously until everything moves over. The city has already seen 1,300 code enforcement cases this year and likely will see around 1,700 by the end of the year, Simon said.

* Heard there will be about 150-170 people attending a Gao Grotto convention this weekend in Danville.