The Village of Oblong Board of Trustees met in regular session on Wednesday, April 10th, 2013, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.

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

Absent: Trustee Debi Wilson.

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

The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Rich.
Randy asked that everyone stand and face the flag. Then he led the group in the pledge of allegiance to the American Flag. Randy stated that before we sit down, he would like to have a moment of silence to remember Trustee Rick Houdasheldt. After the moment of silence, Randy stated that he had written down a few things that he would like to say. “The Village as a whole, not to mention the Village Board, has lost a great friend and leader. Rick Houdasheldt ‘Hardy’ will be missed by all wither he touched you personally indirectly or directly, may ‘Hardy’ rest in peace.”

2. The Regular Board Meeting minutes of March 6th, 2013 were approved with a motion by Rick C. and a second by Joe. Four (4) 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. Tony stated that he had talked with John Stone, from Connor & Connor. Tony stated that there will be a bid letting on April 23rd, at 10 am. Ken mentioned that there are still a few construction easements that need to be signed. Randy stated that the construction easement is just for the project, when the project is completed the easements will return back to the property owners.

6. Randy wanted to thank everyone for their hard work on getting their budget figures together and to the Finance Committee. Randy stated that the total amount of the working budget is $1,480,827.12. Motion by Ken, with a second by Tony, to approve the working budget. Roll call vote: Rick C.-aye, Joe-aye, Ken-aye, Tony-aye. Motion carried.

7. Randy mentioned that the total amount of the Appropriation Ordinance is $2,002,705.00. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Joe, to adopt Ordinance #2013-O-550 “Appropriation Ordinance”. Roll call vote: Rick C.-aye, Joe-aye, Ken-aye, Tony-aye. Motion carried.

8. Randy mentioned that the total amount for the MFT resolution is $45,000.00.
Motion by Tony, with a second by Ken, to adopt Resolution #2013-R-1 “A Resolution for Maintenance of Streets/Highways by Municipality under the Illinois Highway Code”. Four (4) ayes, motion carried.

9. Tony stated that he had talked with Brad Harmon about the drive-up window.
Tony said that they want to have an awning over the window, so that they can put a light over the window, it would stand out about a foot from the building. There was some discussion about making the alley a one-way from east to west. Randy stated that he would contact the Village attorney to see what he suggests.

10. Rick C. stated that the wording change to the Employee Guidelines was to add under the Insurance heading a choice for employees with the Village insurance to have the choice to change from the Village insurance to Medicare, when they become of Medicare age. He stated that the bank has done this and that it is a saving.

Motion by Rick C., with a second by Joe, to add the following wording to the Employees’ Guidelines: “When a Full-time/Permanent Employee reaches Medicare age, the Village will reimburse for their Medicare, Medicare Supplement and Prescription Drug Card; if the employee chooses to drop the Village’s Health Insurance as long as the reimbursement is less than the previous cost.” Four (4) ayes, motion carried.

11. Mayor’s Comments:

Randy read the following “Every three minutes, an underground utility line is hit because of failure to call 8-1-1 before digging nationwide. Before putting a shovel in the ground this spring. JULIE, Inc. (JULIE) reminds do-it-yourselfers in Illinois to call 8-1-1 before starting any type of landscape and home improvement projects. To support this initiative, the Governor of Illinois signed a proclamation observing the month of April as Safe Digging Month. Digging without knowing the approximate location of underground utilities can cause serious injuries, service disruptions and repair costs if a line is damaged. Even simple landscaping projects like planting a tree or shrub to more complex projects like installing a deck or fence require a call to JULIE because you never know what’s buried below the ground. Illinois state law requires all homeowners and contractors to call 8-1-1 prior to digging regardless of the size or depth of the project. This is a free service, so there is no reason to take a chance or make an assumption about the location of these critical underground utility lines.

With that being said, as Mayor of Oblong, I would like to proclaim April as Safe Digging Month in the Village of Oblong in an effort to promote safe digging in our community.

Randy stated that the Village has received a letter from MediaCom (March 29, 2013) stating that on or about May 1, 2013, there will be some rate adjustments. They will now be charging $1.93/month for LOCAL BROADCAST STATION SURCHARGE; increasing FAMILY CABLE to $72.95/month; and increasing NEW FAMILY RATE to $74.88/month. Randy stated that in the letter, MediaCom has had an overall programming costs increase of over 12% in the past year. Randy also mentioned that MediaCom has started a petition asking President Obama for help.

Randy stated that if the Village does not received any other bids for the Village electric accounts by April 26. Randy stated that he talked with the current electric supplier and they stated that they could not match what the company who are the supplier for the Village residents’ rate. The Village will go with Homefield Energy.

Randy stated that the Village had received a Thank You card from Jan/Charles Miller for the Birdhouse Planter sent in memory of her grandmom (Mildred York) passing.

Randy stated that the Village had received a Thank You card from Kim Sanders (Byron’s wife) for the stepping stone sent in memory of her grandmother’s passing.

Randy stated that he had received a letter from Steve Bruner about the Ameren electric franchise agreement which expires on September 18, 2013, with the letter is a copy of the current agreement and a copy of the new agreement. Randy said that the folder will be in the clerk/treasurer’s office for review by the trustees. Then the Ordinance (agreement) will be on next month’s agenda to be voted on.

Randy mentioned that he had received an invite to the Open House & Ribbon Cutting of the new addition at the Lawrence/Crawford Association for Exceptional Citizens’ workshop on Friday, April 12, from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm located at 905 West Mulberry Street, Robinson, IL. He stated that he would be out of town and unable to attend, but if any of the trustees would like to attend they could.

12. Reports of Committees:

Police: Joe read the monthly report for March, 2013. Joe stated that the Committee met last month to go over the budget figures. Joe mentioned that Chad had received a bid from Robinson Ford for a new squad. The bid was not close to what the state bid amount is. Joe stated that there were no training for this month.

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

Sidewalks and Lights: Gary stated that there was nothing to report this month.

Street and Alley: Tony stated that he had nothing else to mention except what was previously discuss about North Range Street Project.

Water and Sewer: Ken stated that there was nothing to report for this month.

Finance: Randy stated that the committee met to go over the entire budget for FY 2014. Rick, also, wanted to thank the department heads, Jan and Ladora for their work on budget figures.

G. Development: Tony stated that he had met with the engineers for the Crawford Memorial Hospital Clinic Project out at the TIF (located on the West side of the Village).

13. Motion by Ken, with a second by Tony, 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. Four (4) ayes, motion carried.

14. There was one other item of business this month. JJ Aten asked when the Spring Clean-Up would be? Randy stated that Spring Clean-Up would be April 25th with Republic.

15. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Tony, to adjourn the meeting at 7:29 pm.
Four (4) ayes, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted

Ladora C. Boyd