Village of Oblong
DRAFT MINUTES
February 4, 2009

DRAFT MINUTES

The Village of Oblong Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, March 4 th, 2009, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.

Members Mayor Randy Rich, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Rick Catt, Trustee Joe Campanella,

Present: Trustee Rick Houdasheldt, Trustee Ken Russell, Trustee Tony Madlem, Trustee Debi Wilson and Treasurer Jan Miller.

Others Police Chief Chad Pusey, Public Works Superintendent Gary Lanter, Keith Waldrop,

Present: Vickie Ferguson (Oblong Gem) and Tom Compton (Daily News).

1. The meeting was called to order at 7 pm by Mayor Rich.

2. The Regular Board Meeting minutes of February 4 th, 2009, were approved with a motion by Rick C. and a second by Debi. All ayes, motion carried.

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

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

5. Randy stated that Gary Lawhead had contacted him to says that he would not be at the meeting tonight. Tony stated that the Condemned Building Committee had met and discussed the issues that were brought up at the last meeting. The feeling of the committee is that since there was a verbal contract with Munson Construction and the work was done, it is not the Village’s place to ask for a reduction in price for demolition. Motion by Rick H., with a second by Joe, to go ahead and pay Munson Construction for the demolition of buildings located at 403 West Illinois Street. All ayes, motion carried.

Tony stated that the committee also discussed that a contract should be written up with the proper guidelines on disposal of the building debris. Upon approval by the Village’s Attorney, the Board will adopt the contract, which will then be use for future demolitions.

6. Tony stated that at the Condemned Building Committee meeting that there was also some discussion on the bringing in of a storage shed for residential use. It is already covered in the code book, so there is no need to make any changes to the code book. In the code book on page 552, it states that there needs to be at least 900 square feet of living and there also needs to be a sticker, which show approval by BOCA before the building is considered a residential. Motion by Joe, with a second by Tony, to deny the request made by Doug Jones to move in a storage building, which is built like a cabin, to live in at the February 4 th, 2009, Board Meeting. All ayes, motion carried.

7. Rick C. stated that Mike Ellis of Mid American Energy out of Iowa had contacted the Village about purchasing electricity from them. Rick mentioned that a couple years back that Mr. Ellis had contacted the Village about the same thing, but back then they could not give the Village any saving on what the Village was already paying. This time, there would be about a 41.6% saving on what the Village is paying for the electricity. Mr. Ellis had sent two proposals to the Finance Committee, so that they could make their recommendation to the full Board. One being for a 13 month contract and the other was a 25 month contract. Rick stated that the Finance Committee had a conference call with Mr. Ellis on February 26 th, and the recommendation from the committee is to go with Mid American Energy for a locked-in price for thirteen (13) months. There was some discussion on this issue. It was discussed about the Franchise agreements with Ameren CIPS. In the agreement, the Village receives 6,000 free therms of gas a year and 6,000 free kilowatt hours of electric a year (Electric Franchise Agreement will expire on September 18 th, 2013 and the Gas Franchise Agreement will expire on September 16 th, 2021). Motion by Rick C., with a second by Rick H., to give the mayor authority to enter in a contract for 13 months with Mid American Energy. All ayes, motion carried. The company only deals with commercial, municipalities and non-profit organizations.

8. Under Mayor’s Comments:

A. Randy stated that the Village had been contacted by the Evangelical United Methodist Church wanting permission to use the 4-way stop on Good Friday, April 10 th, 2009, from 8 am to 12 pm (noon) to pass out pamphlets. The Board granted the request.

B. Randy stated that the Village’s code book is now online for use.

C. Randy stated that the Village had received a “Thank You” card from Gary Lanter on the concrete angel the Village had sent in memory for his grandma’s passing.

D. Randy stated that Gary had received an award from IRWA. Randy read the following:

IRWA Selects Gary Lanter as Runner-up For Annual Award

On Tuesday, February 17, 2009, the Illinois Rural Water Association, the state’s largest rural utility association, selected Gary Lanter as the runner–up for the “Water System Operator of The Year” award at the 27 th Annual Technical Conference in Effingham.

The Illinois Rural Water Association’s “Water System Operator of The Year” award is given to an individual dedicated to the water industry. This person must be a selfless individual who gives back to the industry by furthering the goals and objectives of the operations and maintenance of the water treatment and/or distribution system. “This accurately describes Mr. Lanter,” said Frank Dunmire, Executive Director of the Illinois Rural Water Association. “Gary has shown himself to be truly committed to furthering the professionalism of the Water Treatment and Distribution Industry by helping to insure a safe potable supply of water to the customers of the Oblong community”. Mr. Dunmire continued, “Gary goes above and beyond to make sure their customers have a safe and protected supply of water for today and the future.”

Mr. Lanter works as Public Works Superintendent for the Village of Oblong. Gary and his wife, Gwenda, reside in Oblong, IL. Mr & Mrs Lanter have one son, Braden, a student at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, IN.

The Illinois Rural Water Association is a private, not-for-profit association of small water and wastewater systems, and is dedicated to training and technical assistance to those individuals who work in the water and wastewater industry.

Gary stated that he could not have received this award without the support of past and present Public Works Employees and the support of the past and present Mayors and Trustees.

9. Reports of Committees:

A. Police: Rick H. stated that the committee will be have a meeting on March 17 th, at 8:30 am to discuss budget figures for the new fiscal year. Rick stated that everyone had a copy of the monthly report for February. Rick mentioned that Chad had ILEAS training in Springfield, this past Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Rick stated that the Police Department had received a NCR report, which a crime index report, the overall percent of crimes in the Village was up by 12% (the rate is per 100,000). This report was just for Oblong Police Department.

B. Building and Park: Joe stated that he had nothing to report for this month.

C. Sidewalks and Lights: Debi stated that she had nothing to report for this month.

D. Street and Alley: Tony stated that Gary told him that he had renewed the contract with Concorde, Inc. for the random drug screening for the Village’s Public Works Employees. Gary stated that since he had missed the February Board Meeting he would like to thank everyone who had helped with the snow removal from uptown back in late January. Those he mentioned were Butch Knicely, Cris Harris, Dean Dart (skid loader), Tony Madlem, Oblong Township (loan of dump truck), Jerry Ping, Jeff Munson, Mike Munson and the Public Works Employees. Gary stated that he had received several compliments from area business. Gary stated that the Village normally does not removal snow unless there is a sufficient amount of snow.

E. Water and Sewer: Ken stated that the Village had received the check for the CDAP Emergency Grant of $100,000.00 from the State ($50,000.00 was transferred from General Checking to Water Checking to keep the Water Fund from overdrawing). Ken also mentioned that most of the service hook- ups located on the same side as the main water line relocation project had been completed. Gary stated that Mike told him that there were about 30 more bores and the equipment for the bores would possibly be here next week.

F. Finance: Rick C. thanked Rick H. for initialing the bills and the adjustment to customer accounts in the Public Works Department for February. Rick C. volunteered to initial the bills and the adjustment to customer accounts in the Public Works Department for March. Rick C. stated that the committee will have a meeting some time the last full week of March to go over the budget figures from all department heads for the next fiscal year. Rick mentioned that a business in the Oblong School District has showed an interest in borrowing from the Oblong Revolving Loan Fund. Ladora mentioned that Jan and herself would like to attend the SECICTA meeting which will be held in Effingham on March 12 th. The Board granted the request.

10. Motion by Rick H., with a second by Joe, 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.

11. There was no other items of business this month.

12. Motion by Ken, with a second by Rick C., to adjourn the meeting at 7:39 pm. All ayes, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted

Ladora C. Boyd