The Village of Oblong Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.

Members Mayor Randy Rich, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Rick Catt, Trustee Joe
Present: Campanella, 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, Tom
Present: Compton (Daily News), Rhonda Morris and Jessi Duzan (Oblong Gem).

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

2. The Regular Board Meeting minutes of March 3rd, 2010, were approved with a motion by Debi and a second by Tony. Ayes: Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. 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. Rhonda Morris
asked if she could have an extension on her water bill. She stated that she had a water leak which caused the bill to be higher than normal and she is trying to get some help. The Board granted her request. She is to talk with Dale if she has not paid her bill by April 14th.

5. Motion by Joe, with a second by Tony, to adopt Ordinance #2010-O-524 “An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territory to the Village of Oblong, Crawford County, Illinois (Goodwin Property). Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

6. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Joe, to adopt Ordinance #2010-O-525 “An
Ordinance Approving Oblong TIF #2 Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Plan and Redevelopment Project”. Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

7. Motion by Rick H., with a second by Debi, to adopt Ordinance #2010-O-526 “An Ordinance Designating the Oblong TIF #2 Tax Increment Financing Redevelop-ment Project Area”. Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

8. Motion by Tony, with a second by Rick H., to adopt Ordinance #2010-O-527 “An Ordinance Adopting Tax Increment Financing.” Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

9. Motion by Joe, with a second by Rick C., to adopt Ordinance #2010-O-528 “ An
Ordinance to Regulate the Operation of Golf Carts Within the Corporate Limits of the Village of Oblong, Illinois”. Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

10. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Debi, to adopt the 2010-2011 Working
Budget. Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

11. Motion by Tony, with a second by Rick H., to adopt Ordinance #2010-O-529
“Appropriation Ordinance”. Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

12. Motion by Joe, with a second by Ken, to adopt Resolution #2010-R-3 “A Resolution for Maintenance of Streets and Highways by Municipality Under the Illinois Highway Code”. Upon roll call ayes: Rick C., Joe, Rick H., Ken, Tony, Debi. There were no nays, motion carried.

13. Randy read a letter from State Senator Dale Righter about the Governor’s plan
to reduce the amount that the municipalities receive from the Income tax. Senator Righter is encouraging the Board of Trustees to let the Governor know their opinion on the reduction of money. The resolution was supported by the Illinois Municipal League. Motion by Tony, with a second by Rick C., Resolution #2010-R-4 “A Resolution Opposing Reduction of Local Government Distributive Fund”. All ayes, motion carried.

14. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Tony, granted the Modular Home Applica-
tion for Troy and Dawn Jacobs. All ayes, motion carried.

15. It was stated that the $500 donation from the Village to the Crawford County
Spay/Neuter Foundation along with the $1500 the foundation had has been used plus $297.50 more to help control the feral cat population in Oblong. There was some discussion on the issue. Rick C. made a motion, Debi seconded, to give the foundation another $500 to continue the work. All ayes, motion carried.

16. Randy made a proclamation that April, 2010, is the National Safe Digging Month.

17. Randy stated that he had received a packet from Illinois Commerce Commission
Transportation Division/Rail Safety Section. Randy read the letter that accompanied the Stipulated Agreement #1495. The Indiana Railroad Company will be installing new crossing material at the South Range Crossing. This will be at no expense to the Village. The Funding will be from the Grade Crossing Protection Fund (GCPF) and the Indiana Railroad Company. Randy stated that the Village will receive a detail of the detour route for approval before the construction will begin. Motion by Ken, with a second by Debi, to execute the Stipulated Agreement #1495. All ayes, motion carried.

18. Randy stated that he had received several complaints on the property located
at 210 West Ohio Street. He stated that the property owner no longer reside there but the property owner is bringing garbage to the property. Randy stated that he had contacted the Crawford County Health Department concerning the condition of the Ronnie Evans’ Property located at 210 West Ohio Street. Randy stated that he had received a letter from the CCHD that the inspection of the property was done and the following conditions were noted: 1. The roof on the house/porch and the soffit on the house have rotted in places which allow openings for animals including rats, skunks, raccoons, bats and feral cats to find harborage. 2. There were windows broken on the west side of the house and an opening to crawlspace or basement which allows harborage for animals. 3. Broken windows on the east side of the house. 4. Screens on front porch rotted and plastic covering screens is torn and rotted. 5. Numerous plastic garbage bags of food and other trash is in front of the garage opening and inside of garage that will attract animals and other pests. 6. Large pile of garbage in yard east of garage.
From these observations, it is the opinion of the CCHD that the house and garage on this property is a potential health and safety concern.
Motion by Joe, with a second by Rick C., to start the condemnation of the property located at 210 West Ohio Street. All ayes, motion carried.
Randy informed Chad to start issuing citation for the trash. Randy also stated that there will be a couple of properties on next month’s agenda that will need to be looked at for possible condemnation proceedings.
Chad stated that he will start issue warnings and then citations next week.

19. Under Mayor’s Comments:
1. Randy stated that the Village had received a letter from MediaCom dated March 19th, 2010, regarding the programming changes and that they are in negotiation with WTHI (Channel 10) for renewal of their retransmission agreement.
2. Randy stated that the Village had received another letter from MediaCom dated April 1st, 2010, regarding some service charge increases. Effective date is May 1st, 2010.
3. Randy stated that the Village had received a letter from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) regarding the Compliance with Audit Requirements for the Emergency Grant the Village received to help with the Route 33 Water/Sewer Relocation Project. The letter states “Based on the information contained in the audit, we have determined that as of the date of this letter, the grantee is in compliance with the audit requirements of the agreement.”
4. Randy asked that the Board consider the possibility of having a dumpster brought in later this summer. There was some discussion on this issue.
5. Randy stated that the Village had received the signage for the SAFE HAVEN designation. It is a law that every hospital, fire station and police station is now a designated safe haven where new born babies can be given up. Randy stated that the newborn can only be left when there is an officer on duty.
6. Randy stated that there has been another application turned in for the Revolving Loan. He stated that the loan committee will be meeting sometime this month to look over the application. The question was asked if this would be enough to finish getting the grant money for the revolving loan fund. Randy stated that it would probably come close.

20. Reports of Committees:
A. Police: Joe read the monthly report for March. Joe stated that there was nothing else to report.

B. Building and Park: Debi stated that Gary is working on new lights for the park. Debi stated that there had been some rule changes and additions made for the Activity Center when it is being rented.

C. Sidewalks and Lights: Rick H. stated that he had nothing to report this month. Randy stated that John Stone will probably call a meeting next week.

D. Street and Alley: Tony stated that he had some Thank You(s) for the spreading of rock in the alleys. Gary stated that the department has finished some repairs to North Range. He stated that the rest of the repairs will be worked on after the spring planting by the farmers. There was some discussion about the Route 33 State Project.

E. Water and Sewer: Ken asked Gary to give an update on the Northeast Water Loop Project. Gary stated that there had been some boring work done and that he and the guys have exposed some of the lines that will be crossed.

F. Finance: Rick C. thanked Rick H. for initialing the bills and adjustment to customer accounts in the Public Works Department for the month of March. Rick C. stated he would volunteer to initial the bills and the adjustment to customer accounts in the Public Works Department for the month of April. Rick suggested having Jan or Ladora set-up a rotation schedule for the trustees to do the initialing of the bills and adjustment to customer accounts in the Public Works Department. This way each trustee will have two months each year. The board was in agreement.

G. Development: Tony stated that a big portion of the development was taken care of earlier in the meeting with the passing of the ordinances. Tony stated that the company proposing the new business has been making some inquiries the past couple of weeks. There was some discussion on the water/sewer lines to the new business. Gary stated that he had taken the plans to the engineers today (4/7/10). Randy stated that he had made contact with the company and until the finalization of the property transaction the Village will not start laying the lines. Tony stated that Connor & Connor has started working on the right-of-ways.

21. Motion by Ken, with a second by Rick H., 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.

22. There was one other item of business this month. There has been some
complaints about a business owner working late into the night and disturbing the neighbors behind him. The problem is that he is running a generator which is noisy. There will be some citations written to the business owner for violation of the noise ordinance. Chad stated that the problem is under control at this time.

23. Motion by Rick H., with a second by Rick C., to adjourn the meeting at 8:37 pm.
All ayes, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted

Ladora C. Boyd