Council Minutes and Agenda's

DRAFT MINUTES

August 6, 2003

The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on August 6th, 2003, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.

Members Present: Mayor Keith Waldrop, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Bill Hatch, Trustee Bonnie Finn, Trustee Jack Gallion, Trustee Carole Jones, Trustee Sherry Catt and Trustee Debi Wilson.

Absent: Treasurer Jan Miller.

Others Present: Public Works Superintendent Gary Lanter, Police Chief Chad Pusey, Tom Compton (Daily News), Ruth Adams, Gerald Adams, Kim Shafer, Kevin Weck, Charlotte Cannon (Oblong Gem) and Sgt. Larry Fear.

1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Waldrop.

2. The Regular Meeting minutes of July 2nd and Special Meeting minutes of July 14th and July 22nd were approved with a motion by Bonnie and a second by Bill. All ayes, motion carried.

3. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda this month.

4. There were no delinquent water bill customers at the meeting this month.

5. The Mayor stated that there has been a complaint by Kim Shafer about the animals up on Jerry Adams' property located on West Iowa Street. The Mayor stated that all the trustees had copies of the letter sent to Miss Shafer and Chief Pusey from the Crawford County Health Department. (See Attachment) Keith stated that he, Jack Gallion, Chief Pusey and a gentleman from the stated department of agriculture was up there on Monday. The gentleman from the Department of Agriculture could not find anything wrong pertaining to the state. Mr. Adams stated that there has always been livestock on the property since 1978. Bill asked Keith, who all went onto the property. Keith stated that just the gentleman from Dept. of Ag and the Police Chief. The Chief stated that he could see 4 cows, 3 or 4 pigs and numerous chickens. Bill asked Mr. Adams if there had been any complaints previously. Mr. Adams stated that he was not aware of any complaints previously. Mayor asked the board what they wanted to do. Jack stated that the ordinances needed to be enforced. Bill stated that the board is not singling out any one individual. Motion by Bill, with a second by Debi, to give Mr. Adams 30 days to remove his livestock from inside the village limits. Ayes: Bill, Jack, Carole, Sherry and Debi. Abstain: Bonnie. Motion carried.

6. Motion by Jack, with a second by Bonnie, to adopt Resolution #03-01 "Homecoming Parade Permit". All ayes, motion carried.

7. Motion by Bill, with a second by Carole, to adopt Resolution #03-02 "Halloween Parade Permit". All ayes, motion carried.

8. Motion by Bill, with a second by Debi, to adopt Illinois Municipal League Risk Management Association Intergovernmental Cooperation Contract. All ayes, motion carried.

9. Under Mayor's Comments: a.) Keith stated that the Village needs to have credit cards with a $1,000.00 limit for reserving hotel rooms for conferences and seminars. There was some discussion. Motion by Carole, with a second by Debi, to have a village credit card with a $1,000.00 limit. All ayes, motion carried.

b.) Keith stated that the Village has received a Thank You card from the Oblong Public Library. The card read "The Oblong Public Library would like to thank you for the use of the Community Room at no charge for the Summer Reading Programs. All of the program presenters were very impressed by the facility and the cooperation between the Village and library. Your generosity brought smiles, laughter and fun to over 100 people each week." The card was signed Diana (Sparks) and Judy (Plunkett).

c.) Keith stated that the Village has received a Thank You card from Linda Cravens. The card read "Oblong Village Board Members, Thanks to each and everyone of you for helping me with the news for the Gem. I appreciated all your information during the years. Hope you will continue to aid the new writers." Signed Linda Cravens.

d.)Keith brought up that the Village needs to purchase a piece of land from Mr. & Mrs. Howard Bilyew to build the New Water Booster Station, which is located north of existing Booster Station. If the Village does not purchase this piece of property then the Water Dept. would need to shut the water pumps down for at least 10 days possibly 14 days. A motion to proceed with the purchase of real property from Mr. & Mrs. Howard Bilyew, in benefit to the new water booster station installation was made by Jack, with a second by Bonnie. All ayes, motion carried.

e.) Keith stated that the Finance Committee met on July 31st to look at the bids for the 2 CD's that came due on the 22nd of July. (See attached copy) Motion by Debi, with a second by Carole to leave the 2 CD's with Casey State Bank at a rate of 2% interest. All ayes, motion carried.

f.) Keith stated that the $5,000.00 check for the NPDES permit fee was sent out on July 31st with a protest letter to Illinois EPA. Keith stated that he attend a meeting on Tuesday, August 5th in Mt. Vernon with Robinson Mayor Wally Dean and Hutsonville Mayor Bernie Gray. The Southern Illinois Mayor Association is talking about getting a resolution made up for the municipalities to pass. The general idea for this resolution is to have the state raise either the sales tax or state income tax temporarily for two years to offset the loss of revenue. The next meeting will be September 28 in Carbondale to finish up the wording of the resolution.

g.) Keith stated that the Village had received what the health insurance increase will be on September 1st. The increase is 21%. The board wants to contact some other insurance and get quotes.

h.) Keith told about grass clippings on the Village streets. There was some discussion on this issue. It was finally decided that Keith and Gary would get together and compose a letter to be sent to the residence of Oblong.

i.) Keith stated that South Range Street looks real nice with the new surface down.

10. The treasurer's report was given by the Mayor. The Mayor stated that he would get with Jan and Ladora after all the bills are in to see if there might be a possibility of transferring some money from checking to their respective repos. The Mayor stated that there will be three repos due later on this month. The Board wanted the bids for all three on a six month term and a year term. Finance Committee will then meet on Thursday, August 21st at 5:15 pm to open the bids and then contact the other trustees to let them know what the highest bids is and where it is from.

11. The board took a five minute break at 7:55 pm.

12. Motion by Debi, with a second by Carole, to pay the bills that were on the voucher and any utility bills, bills that will incur a late charge or reimbursements to employees. All ayes, motion carried. Jack stated that he felt that the Village of Palestine is doing a good job about the spraying for the mosquitoes here in town.

13. Reports of Committees:

A. Police: Carole said that everyone had a copy of the monthly police report. Carole stated that Bill Rutan has been a big help in that he has been working for the Village on his days off from Robinson Police Department. Carole stated that the Chief and Part-Time Officer Elise Nave had a meth bust this week. Graduation for the Village's two new full-time officers will be September 18th. Hand on training for Elise Nave will start November 1st. The Chief stated that he had been up to the academy and got status update on Officer Pine and Officer Avery.

B. Buildings and Park: Sherry stated that there have been some trees removed and that Paula has been doing some planting and replacement planting.

C. Sidewalks and Lights: No Report.

D. Street and Alley: The Village opened the bids for the 94 Chevy S10. The Village received three bids. They are as follows:

Johnny Wiseman $1,001.00
Byron Sanders 300.00
Phil Boyd 1,675.00.

Motion by Sherry, with a second by Jack, to reject all bids. All ayes, motion carried.

Motion by Debi, with a second by Carole, to sell the 94 Chevy S10 for $4,000.00 or Best Offer. All ayes, motion carried.

E. Water and Sewer: Bill stated that all the trustees should have received a copy of the minutes of July 9th committee meeting. In this meeting, There was some discussion on issues and compliance & accountability. There were some suggests on how to comply with these issues. The committee suggested to appoint a committee to look into finding a new software and server for the whole Village departments. Motion by Bill, with a second by Sherry, to appoint the Mayor , Debi and Jan to search for new software and a server with Gary being adjunct member. Ayes: Bill, Bonnie, Carole, Sherry and Debi. Abstain: Jack. Motion carried. Motion by Bill, with a second by Carole, to bring all accounts to go thru Jan. All ayes, motion carried.

Carole asked what the Village needs to do about the bird problem.

F. Finance: Everything has already been discussed.

14. Keith asked if there was any other business. No other business needed to be discussed.

15. A motion to adjourn at 8:31 pm was made by Jack, with a second by Bonnie. All ayes, motion carried.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ladora Boyd, Clerk