The following trustees were present: Arrasmith, Roberts, Finn, and Schluter. Trustees McCloud and Cokley were absent. Village Clerk Moore, Supervisor of Operations Bennett, Treasurer Reinhart, and Attorney Hendren were also present.
Trustee Finn moved that the minutes of the June 1 Board of Trustees meeting and the June 10 Special Meeting be approved. Trustee Arrasmith seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Kyle Ash of Crop Production Services asked about moving forward with the building project at the plant and asked about the next steps. He said the Attorney Wes Myers said that the site work had been completed. Attorney Hendren said he had last talked to someone about the project in March 2015. He had sent Mr. Myers and Jim Cottrell, attorney for the Pennell family, all the materials from his files on the previous annexation for Crop Production. He has not heard from anyone since that date. CPS needs to make an annexation agreement with the Village, which includes zoning. The last time the company paid all the expenses that the Village incurred. He is waiting for Crop Production and/or the Pennell family to contact the Village to start the process. There will have to be a public hearing. Attorneys Myers and Cottrell can get together and plan the next steps and what documents to submit to the Village: annexation agreement, zoning, and all other aspects.
Jim Rector was present with questions about the tree trimming that took place in the cemetery by the Sidney Township. He had heard that the Village had given their permission. The trustees pointed out that the cemetery is the property of the township, that no one had ever been to a Board meeting about this issue, and no Trustee had been approached or given an opinion. He thanked the Board for this information.
PRESIDENT WHITE'S COMMENTS
No one was present to talk about the progress of Fun Daze. The liquor license paperwork has been done.
President White will be gone July 11-21. He will have his cell phone with him if he needs to be contacted.
There is a problem with junk vehicles again. President White will get together with Trustee Arrasmith to come up with a list of vehicles. The first step is to send letters to the owners.
The Illinois Municipal League is having their convention in Chicago September 17-19. President White would like to go and would like to have another trustee go also.
Trustee Schluter thought he might be able to go. Trustee Finn moved that the Board approve two people to go with the registration fees not to exceed $700. Trustee Roberts seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote. The Board will consider appropriating more money for the the convention in August when more information is available about lodging and travel costs.
President White had been to a luncheon with State Representative Chapin Rose and other local mayors for an update on the legislature. He had also met with Susan Monte, Regional Planning Commission, who would like to come to the August meeting. There is a possibility that there is money for the Township for the building project.
The custodian had resigned, and the Village needs to advertise to fill that position. It was decided to put this on the August meeting agenda but in the meantime look for possible candidates. The pay will be $12 and hour and will probably take four hours per week.
ATTORNEY HENDREN'S COMMENTS:
Attorney Hendren presented the Appropriations Ordinance for 2015-16. After some discussion and changes, Trustee Finn moved that the Board approve Ordinance No. 2015-4, 2015-2016 Appropriation Ordinance of the Village of Sidney, with the amendments as discussed for a total appropriation of $1,182,100.00. Trustee Roberts seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
Attorney Hendren then presented the Golf Cart Ordinance. After discussion about the time needed to implement the Ordinance, Trustee Schluter suggested that the Board wait until August to approve the Ordinance. All agreed, and the Ordinance will be on the August agenda.
Attorney Hendren presented the parking restriction ordinance. Trustee Arrasmith moved that the Board approve Ordinance No. 2015-05, an Ordinance Amending the Revised Code of the Village of Sidney and Revision Parking Restrictions on Certain Village Streets. Trustee Schluter seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
EARL BENNETT'S REPORT
Supervisor Bennett reported that he had been checking with a company to do an annual inspection of the water tower pressure-reducing station. He will have more a report for the August meeting, and this will be put on the agenda.
The oil and chipping of the streets has not been done and will probably not get done until August.
Tiles have been cleaned, and a leak repaired.
Supervisor Bennett will be taking twelve days of vacation in August.
There have been rumors that the water bill are higher this month because of the water tower repair. Supervisor Bennett said the water tower was only down for about a week at the end of May and would not affect the water usage. There were about five more days on this bill because of the way the weekend fell and the meter reader had been sent in for repairs and was returned late. The July bill reflects usage between May 20 and June 20, traditionally a high usage month because of filling swimming pools.
FINANCE REPORT
The financial reports were read by Trustee Finn. After reading them, Trustee Finn moved that the bills be paid with the addition of $1,170 to Royal Bookkeeping. Trustee Arrasmith seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
Trustee Finn had talked to the Longview Bank and had several retirement plan options. He would like the Board to choose one from them. All Trustees agreed that the choice needs to be made now.
STREETS AND ALLEY
Trustee Schluter had talked to the County Highway Department about the crosswalk at James Street crossing Main. It is a possibility because there is a school bus stop there. A county engineer needs to check the sidewalk to see if it meets ADA standards for the next step.
WATER/SEWER/UTILITY
3,118,774 gallons of water were pumped in June with a daily average of 103,959 gallons.
$32,340.59 was received in June with $9,845.12 in sewer planning money. 130 penalty bills were sent.
PUBLIC PROPERTY
One building permit for June: 311 S. David, shed, permit #685, $150.00
Trustee Arrasmith reported on what he had learned about Ameren's tree replacement program. They will pay $150 toward cutting down or putting in a new tree, up to two trees. They have to look at the site and approve the tree. They will pay toward removing a tree if it interferes with its power lines. Trustee Arrasmith had not heard back from any other nurseries.
ESDA's siren is working fine.
PARKS AND RECREATION
Trustee Schluter reported that he had found a stencil kit for $20 so that the Village can stencil in lines for the basketball court.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Trustees Arrasmith and Schluter reported on the joint committee with the Sidney Township on the building project. They were looking at going with a leasing company with a 15-year lease to own. $750,00 was a figure they were using in planning for a 7,000 square foot building. It would be a Morton building with the facade to be decided later on in the process. Another joint committee meeting is set for further planning, and at some point there will be a public meeting.
OLD AND NEW BUSINESS
Nothing presented.
Trustee Arrasmith moved that the meeting be adjourned. Trustee Finn seconded the motion; motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote. Meeting was adjourned at 9:15 p.m.