Village of Oblong

Minutes for November 3, 2010 Meeting


The Village of Oblong Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2010, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.

Members Mayor Randy Rich, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Joe Campanella,
Present: Trustee Rick Houdasheldt, Trustee Ken Russell, Trustee Tony Madlem, Trustee Debi Wilson and Treasurer Jan Miller.

Absent: Trustee Rick Catt.

Others Police Chief Chad Pusey, Public Works Superintendent Gary Lanter, Tom
Present: Compton (Daily News), Chris Forde (WTYE/WTAY), JJ Aten (Oblong Gem), Nick Hinterscher and Don York (Dino Construction).

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

2. The Regular Board Meeting minutes of October 6th, 2010, were approved with a motion by Joe and a second by Ken. Five (5) 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 there was one bid for each condemned property. For the property located at 402 South Range Street, the bid for tearing down garage, taking all debris to landfill, and hauling in dirt and leveling property is $3,994.00. For the property located at 210 West Ohio Street, the bid for tearing down all buildings and concrete, taking all debris to landfill, and hauling in dirt and leveling is $13,995.00. Motion by Joe, with a second by Ken, to accept both bids from Dino Construction for the cleaning-up of properties located at 402 South Range Street and 210 West Ohio Street. Five (5) ayes, motion carried. Joe asked when Mr. York of Dino Construction would start the demolition. Mr. York said he could start as soon as the utilities are disconnected.

6. Nick Hinterscher came before the Board to ask for an additional hour for Floyd’s and the Village Tap to stay open on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The Board asked Chad if there were any problems last year. He stated that there had been no problems last year. Motion by Debi, with a second by Rick H., to grant the hour extension to both Floyd’s and the Village Tap. Ayes: Joe, Rick H., Tony, Debi. Abstain: Ken. Motion carried.

7. Under Mayor’s Comments:
1. Randy stated that the Village had received a letter from MediaCom, on October 14, 2010, stating that they would be adding two more channels to the HD Broadcast Basic lineup. They are WTWO-HD NBC (Channel 702) and WFXW-HD FOX (Channel 708).

2. Randy stated that the Village had received a letter from MediaCom, on November 1, 2010, stating that they would be increasing their rates on December 1, 2010. The increases are as follows:
Broadcast Basic is $25.95 and will increase to $27.95
Expanded Basic is $37.00 and will increase to $38.00
Total Family Cable is $62.95 and will increase to $65.95.
The letter also stated that customers currently on promotional rates will not receive this rate change until the expiration of their respective promotional period.

3. Randy stated that William Winnings from WTW Salvage would like to get with the trustees about two weeks before the Spring Clean-Up to discuss possibly having a central location for the citizen of Oblong to drop off appliances and scrap metal, so that it would be feasible for his company to come down. Mr. Winnings stated to Randy that the last two times that his company has come in there has been nothing for them to pick up. The Board is willing to meet with Mr. Winnings before the Spring Clean-Up date.

4. Randy stated that the Route 33 Project is coming to completion. Randy stated that the Village would like to give their Thanks to the following people that were involved with the Project: Keiffer Bros. for their professionalism and extra efforts that made it possible for the Fall Follies and Halloween Parade this year; the Oblong Citizens for their patience during the Project; the Public Works Department for their dedication to working with the construction crews; the State Engineers for their professionalism; and Joe Stephenson and Dick Ridlen for stepping up at the last minute to supply a speaker system for Fall Follies.
5. Randy stated that there were some problems with the new sound system. Randy stated that John Provines will be here on Thursday at 4pm to meet with the committee to discuss the problems and what will need to be done to fix the problems. There was some discussion about this issue.

8. Reports of Committees:
A. Police: Joe read the monthly report for October. He stated that there was nothing else to report this month. Chad stated that he had heard back from Representative Roger Eddy. Representative Eddy stated that IDOT is going to do a traffic study around the new Dollar General Store and will let him know by November 15th, if they will reduce the speed limit from 55 MPH to 45 MPH. If not, Mr. Eddy stated to Chad that he will talk with Senator Dale Righter and see what can be done.

B. Building and Park: Debi stated that there was nothing to report this month.

C. Sidewalks and Lights: Rick stated that he had heard several comments on the new street lights and new sidewalks in the downtown area.

D. Street and Alley: Tony stated that there has been some discussion on getting new street signs for along Route 33. Tony stated that it was talked about having the background of the new signs blue with the lettering being gold. Motion by Tony, with a second by Debi, for Gary to go ahead and get a quote on how much it would cost for the new signs and if the price is under $200 a piece then the committee has permission to go ahead and purchase the signs. Five (5) ayes, motion carried. Gary asked for the Board’s permission to look into getting new trash cans for the downtown area, since the Route 33 Project is finished. The Board granted his request.

E. Water and Sewer: Ken stated that the right-of-ways have all been signed and notarized for the new water extensions northeast of town. Ken stated that Gary has already bought some of the pipe and supplies for the new extension project. Gary stated that they might start working on the project next week weather permitting.

Ken asked about the welcome sign from the tourism board. Randy stated that the township fire department had to okay the placement. The sign will be placed between the flag pole and the existing fire department sign. There was some discussion on who would take care of the sign. Gary stated that he felt that Byron could take care of the sign, since he does the sign here at the municipal building.

F. Finance: Randy asked Jan and Ladora if they had anything to bring up. Jan stated that the Village had received a $6,861 check from Illinois Jobs Now! Capital Bill Program to be placed in the Motor Tax Fuel Fund. Randy stated that the committee met to look over the health insurance, Christmas Bonuses and talk about the possibility of being reimbursed from the government for flood damage.

The insurance will be with United Healthcare, which is the parent company of Midwest Security Life Insurance Company. Midwest Security Life Insurance Company plans will no longer be available.

Randy stated that the Christmas Bonuses will be as follows $115 for Full-Time/Permanent employees and $85 for Part-Time employees. Motion by Debi, with a second by Joe, to give the Christmas Bonuses as previously stated. Five (5) ayes, motion carried.

Randy stated that the Village did not have any Flood Damage, so the Village will not be applying for any reimbursement from the government.

G. Development: Tony stated that there was nothing new to report at this time.

9. Motion by Tony, 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. Five (5) ayes, motion carried.

10. There was two other item of business this month.
Rick H. mentioned that there is possibly a problem at the corner of North Taylor Street and East Ohio Street that needs to be addressed.
Ken asked Chad about the dog problem out around the Park. Chad stated that he has not had any more complaints and has not seen the dog in question.

11. Motion by Rick H., with a second by Debi, to adjourn the meeting at 7:37 pm.
Five (5) ayes, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted

 

Ladora C. Boyd