07.20.20 MEETING MINUTES - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council Monday, July 20, 2020 Page 7 to determine whether or not citizens or residents were subject to property damage in regard to maintaining their property. This often involved excessive ponding, the need for swales or drainage --areas-that- were blockedup.- Some -of -this -was -the -result --of action -or -inaction -of the-Village- concerning he— illage-concerning development and there was apparently a lot more drainage issue in the early 2000's. At some point in time a score card was created and a point evaluation system was put in place and the Drainage and Infrastructure Committee could make decisions based on whether certain criteria was met. They would meet and vote to determine whether a system should be provided to a resident. They had authority up to $10,000. Beyond $10,000, the Village Council had to approve of those funds. The Village Council also had to fund the Drainage and Infrastructure needs to $25,000 per year although that could also be exceeded by action of the Village Council. And again, this only involved Drainage and Infrastructure. So, the thought had been and this was discussed. months ago originally to create a claims process by which a. resident could file a claim with the Village and there would be a determination. If the claim were subject to, let's say an insurance policy the Village has, it would be paid from that if the claim was recognized. If it was not, maybe there was some immunity involved, it would be in a gray area and the Village might have some moral obligation to help that resident out, depending on what the circumstances were. They might have an issue with the Service Department. They might have an issue with maybe emergency snow removal that damages somebody's property, so since itwas in the middle of a snowstorm, there may very well be immunity, but the Village might want to assist that resident. I have gotten a few questions on it and I just wanted to clarify the way it's established. The claim would come in. As Law Director, I would make the determination if it was appropriate to submit it as a moral claim. Or if it was a legal claim, it could be addressed through insurance. If it was a moral claim and it was less than $1,000, the Mayor could make the decision about paying that resident. Beyond that, it would be submitted to the Commission which would consist of the Law Director or designee, President of Council, Director of Administration and Finance Director. The maximum amount that could be provided would be $25,000. That number was just determined as a cap. The Drainage and Infrastructure Committee was funded up to $25,000 so that was placed as a cap or maximum amount. If it came in and was approved by the Commission, it would then go to the Village Council for approval, modification or rejection. That is the process that is being proposed. By doing that, it would be appropriate to repeal the Drainage and Infrastructure Committee legislation which is 955 and then to introduce a Moral Claims Commission. It seems to be an appropriate measure to still address some of the needs of the Village residents and also provide a procedure that could be put in place and get some objective review and of course no payments will be made unless a full release is provided by the resident that may have been subject to damages. So, I just wanted to raise that now. It will be on the agenda later on, but I can answer questions now or we can wait until the discussion portion of the agenda of those two pieces of legislation. Council President Schutt stated, thank you, Mr. Coyne.