Village of Oblong
July 6, 2005
The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on July 6th, 2005, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.
Members Present: Mayor Randy Rich, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Rick Catt, Trustee Bonnie Finn, Trustee Rick Houdasheldt, Trustee Ken Russell, Trustee Sherry Catt, Trustee Debi Wilson and Treasurer Jan Miller.
Others Present: Public Works Superintendent Gary Lanter, Police Chief Chad Pusey, Tom Compton (Daily News), Vivienne Ackman, John Larrabee, Juanita Schlosser, Jim Closson (IML/Risk Management Loss Control Representative), Cassie Scott, Debra Barnbrook and Charlotte Cannon (Oblong Gem).
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Rich.
2. The Regular Board Meeting minutes of June 1st, 2005, Special Board Meeting Minutes of June 9th, 2005, and June 20th, 2005, were approved with a motion by Bonnie and a second by Rick H. All ayes, motion carried.
3. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda this month.
4. There was one water bill customer at the meeting this month. Debra Barnbrook stated that she could pay her late water bill on July 8th. The Board granted the extension.
5. Vivienne Ackman and Juanita Schlosser came to the meeting about donating a piano which has now been sold. They wanted to know the feeling of the board about having a piano for people to use when they rent the activity center. Charlotte Cannon stated that she had a keyboard that she is willing to donate for this purpose.
6. Jim Closson from IML Risk Management came before the board to give a brief overview of the insurance coverage for the municipality. IML Risk Management was started in 1981. There are over 750 municipalities with IML Risk Management. He gave the trustees an agenda of the topics he was going to speak on. Jim stated that the Village has been with the company since 1990. Jim stated that if there is a accident that the person needs to come to Ladora to fill out the necessary reports.
7. Randy asked if anyone had any comments on the Village Handbook. Rick C. stated that he had only found one thing that needed to be changed in the wording on page 12. The change needed to be monthly instead of quarterly. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Sherry, to adopt the Village handbook with the change in wording. All ayes, motion carried.
8. Randy stated that the last disc of the Village Board Minutes was not done right and that he will look into correcting the problem. One of the things that needs to be addressed is that the disc should be formatted for read only.
9. Motion by Bonnie, with a second by Ken, to adopt Resolution #05-3 “A Resolution for Maintenance of Streets and Highways By Municipality Under the Illinois Highway Code”. All ayes, motion carried.
10. Under Mayor's Comments: 1.) Randy stated that the Village legally owns the land and leased it to the Oilfield Museum Board. The Oilfield Museum buildings have been put on the Village insurance with the museum reimbursing the Village for the premium. The Board was in agreement with this plan of action. It was suggested that there be a detailed list of contents with values listed in each building. The list will need to be given to the clerk and treasurer. John thanked Gary and the guys for there help in moving some of the oilfield museum items out to the new location. Gary stated that what is left will need bigger equipment than what the Village has, but he and the guys are willing to help when the museum has the right equipment.
2.) Randy stated that he had a letter from Robinson-Palestine Water Commission stating that there is going to be a 10% increase overall in the water rate. Randy stated that the Water/Sewer Committee will need to meet and discuss what the Village should do about the increase.
3.) Randy stated that the Village had received a bill from LOCIS for the time that their representative was here restructuring the software the way the Finance Committee felt it should have been in the first place. The feeling of the Board was to send a letter to LOCIS stating why the Village does not feel they should pay this bill.
4.) Randy gave an update on the condemned properties. The property at 402 South Range Street will be ready for demolition in 30 days. The property at 405 South Garfield Street is still in the waiting period.
5.) Randy stated that there had been some questions about how long a camper can stay out at the campgrounds consecutively. Randy stated that there is no limit on the length of time, as long as the camper is paying the camping fee.
6.) Randy mentioned that the Illinois Municipal League Conference in Chicago is September 22nd thru 25th. Randy stated that if any one of the trustees would like to go they need to let Ladora know by Friday, August 12th, so that she can get the reservations sent in.
7.) Randy mentioned that there had been some complaint about kids riding their bikes on the sidewalks in the business area uptown. Chad stated that he has talked with some of the kids about riding closer to the street.
8.) Randy stated that he had received a mortgage revenue bonds release form from Strohm Oil Company. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Ken, to sign the release form since Strohm Oil has paid off the revenue bonds. All ayes, motion carried.
9.) Randy mentioned that he had contacted everyone about the sponsoring a hole in memory of Jack Fancil at the FOP golf outing on June 25th. The Village did sponsor a hole. Randy stated that the family of Jack Fancil wants to thank the Village for the sponsorship. Chad informed the Board that as of next year the outing will be called the Jack Fancil Memorial FOP golf outing.
10.) Randy stated that he had received a letter from Rick Rinke asking about possible getting a liquor license so they can sale wine and beer in the Oblong IGA. Randy felt that before the Village made a decision that there should be a meeting where the community could come and state their opinion and ask questions. The Village would also like to have Mr. Rinke at this meeting, so that he could explain his reason for this request and answer some of the questions asked by those attending this meeting. Randy asked Rick Catt if he would touch base with Mr. Rinke.
11.) Sherry asked how the trash pick-up went last week. There were some problems but they have been resolved. Jamax will be refunding customers that have a balance owed them.
11. The treasurer's report was given by Jan. Jan explained the change on the report.
12. A motion by Sherry, with a second by Debi, to pay the bills that were on the warranty list and any utility bills, bills that will incur a late charge or reimbursements to employees. All ayes, motion carried.
13. Reports of Committees:
A Police: Rick H. stated that the department has some training coming up this month. One of the training sessions is on hostage negotiations which the Chief will be attending at Carbondale. The monthly report shows that the service calls were down some from last month.
B. Buildings and Park: Sherry stated that looking at Gary’s reports there is a lot of items getting done by Public Works. Sherry asked if the shuffle board court was salvageable or not. Gary stated that the concrete is not salvageable.
C. Sidewalks and Lights: Gary stated that there was a few more sidewalk repairs that have been done. Debi stated that there has been a couple of requests about getting a street light put up. Randy felt that there should be a committee meeting to check out the places.
D. Street and Alley: No Report at this time.
E. Water and Sewer: Ken stated that Shannon Woodard had been working on the Phase II Water Extension and will need to make estimate revisions . To help keep the water pressure up the Village would need something like a water holding tank. Gary is still waiting on the permit for the south of town water project. Gary stated that he had received the operating permit for the work done up by Myrl Littlejohn’s place (601 North Harrison Street) for the tie end from the TIF area.
F. Finance: Rick C. stated that the committee had a meeting with Brian Bradbury on the preliminary findings of the audit. Rick C. stated that the committee recommends to have Brian Bradbury come back over in a couple of months to make sure that the software program is doing what it is suppose to. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Debi, to have Brian come over in a couple of months to check the LOCIS system. All ayes, motion carried. Rick asked if any one of the Trustees had a suggestion for a policy on hiring of the summer help to jot it down and give it to the Finance Committee. Rick stated that Jan would like to attend the treasurers’ conference coming up at the first part of next month. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Rick H., to allow Jan to attend the IMTA Conference on August 1st and 2nd in Chicago. All ayes, motion carried.
14. Under other business:
a.) Tom Compton mentioned that the Crawford County Tourist Board will be advertising on WTHI for some upcoming events in the county. A couple of the events that they will be mentioning is the Antique Tractor and Engine Show in August and the Metal Meet around October 18th-26th. The metal meet is hoping to have some clubs maybe sponsor a meal. Bonnie stated that the Lake Committee will be having a soup bean supper on the Saturday of that week. There’s a possibility of next year having two (2) Metal Meets.
15. Motion by Sherry, with a second by Ken, to adjourn at 8:26 pm. All ayes, motion carried.
Respectfully submitted
Ladora C. Boyd