The Sidney Village Board met on the above date for the regular monthly meeting. The meeting was opened at 7:00 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. President Jason Arrasmith called the meeting to order. The following trustees were present: Harris, Bickers, Gadeken, Catron, and Laurent. Clerk Fish, Treasurer Reinhart, and Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey were also present. Trustee Schluter was absent from the meeting.
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Bill McLane from the Sidney American Legion spoke to the board members addressing his concerns for the future location of the American Legion. He asked the board if they would consider creating a permanent space or some kind of secure space where they would be able to hang all of their memorabilia and for them to meet in the new village hall building. The board assured him that they will not be forgotten and that something will be worked out. Mr. McLane also reported that Sidney American Legion Post was celebrating it’s 100th anniversary and that they will host an open house on Flag Day, June 14th to celebrate.
Sidney resident Kurt Foster then approached the board stating that he was concerned about the height of a catch basin on North Harrison street and if that could be looked into.
PRESIDENT ARRASMITH’S COMMENTS
President Arrasmith asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the regular sessions of the January 22nd, February 3rd, and February 12th, meetings. Trustee Catron moved that the minutes of the January 22nd, February 3rd, and February 12th, 2020 regular sessions of the Board of Trustees meetings be approved. Trustee Bickers seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote. President Arrasmith then asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the executive sessions of the February 3rd and February 12th meetings. Trustee Catron moved that the minutes of the February 3rd and February 12th executive sessions of the Board of Trustees be approved. Trustee Bickers seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
President Arrasmith then directed Robert Tincher from Hillside Development Group to open the sealed bids for the new village hall building. Mr. Tincher stated that they had received a total of 36 sealed bids. He proceeded to open each one stating who they were from and for what portion of the project they were bidding on. He stated to everyone present that since they had received so many bids that it would take approximately a week to qualify all of the bidders so no amounts were read at this time. Attached is a list of all of the bidders.
Pete Mantell with ESDA then began to discuss the need for updating Sidney’s tornado system. He stated that Champaign, Urbana and Savoy have all switched over to this particular system. With the new system, as soon as the National Weather Service issues a warning, it will automatically activate the tornado sirens to sound. As of now, a person has to receive the warning and activate the sirens themselves. The new system will also have real time updates as to whether or not the sirens are working properly; they will not have to wait on the monthly tests to determine this. Trustee Bickers made a motion to approve the $18,492 to upgrade Sidney’s ESDA Warning System. Trustee Gadeken seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
Matthew White from Illinois American Water then stated that representatives from Illinois American Water will be here before the next Village Board meeting from 4:30-6:30 for any residents to come talk to them about any concerns they have. They will also be here from 7am-7pm on Saturday, April 18th and Sunday, April 19th to also answer any questions from the public and to also change out everyone’s meters. He also stated that mailers with information about the changes and a welcome packet will be mailed to residents in the next two weeks. He was asked if residents would still be able to pay their bills at Longview Bank here in Sidney. Mr. White stated that he had spoken to someone at Longview who had told him that it wouldn’t be possible because residents would have to pay an additional fee; however, Jim Chandler, President of Longview State Bank was present at this meeting and said that he would talk to Mr. White about looking into that.
Longview State Bank President Jim Chandler then spoke to the board members about possible financing options for the Village to fund the new village hall. Trustee Bickers requested that Mr. Chandler put together some financing options with figures for the Board of Trustees to look over. Mr. Chandler said he would email those to Clerk Fish for her to email to the board.
President Arrasmith then stated that a date for Dumpster Days needed to be set. It was then decided to have Dumpster Days on May 2nd from 7-11am at Witt Park. Clerk Fish will work that day to check ID’s to make sure that people are residents of Sidney and to charge for any additional loads.
President Arrasmith then asked for the board to approve vacation days off for Clerk Fish. The board approved May 6th, 7th, and 11th, 2020 for Clerk Fish to take her vacation time.
President Arrasmith then stated that Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey needed to be paid retro-actively for all of the board meetings he has attended since it would be considered overtime. Trustee Laurent made a motion to back pay Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey for the meetings he has attended. Trustee Bickers seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote. The board then decided that for all future board meetings that he is to attend, that he leave work at 1:30pm on those days to compensate for the 2 hours of pay for the board meeting.
ATTORNEY MILLER’S COMMENTS
Attorney Miller did not have any comments.
JARIN WILSEY’S COMMENTS
Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey stated that there was a smashed culvert at 15 Southview Drive that is the resident’s responsibility to repair. Clerk Fish will send them a letter stating that that it needs to be fixed within 60 days. He also requested more shelving be put up at the shed at Witt Park for baseball equipment. He also stated there was a problem with a catch basin at 205 Washington Street and that Ameren Illinois was making progress locating mains.
FINANCE REPORT
The financial reports were read by Trustee Catron. Trustee Catron moved that the bills be paid with the additions of Miller and Hendren for $2050 and Casey’s fuel card for $244.03; Trustee Bickers seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
Trustee Catron then made a motion to approve Ordinance #2020-02 to adopt the Village of Sidney Employee Policy Manual with the additions in 5.6 regarding Health Coverage: “The Village provides an option for health insurance to qualified full time employees only” and in 6.7 After Duty Emergency Call Out/Village Board Meetings: “The Village Maintenance Employee shall attend each regular monthly Village Board meeting working a split shift that day to result in an 8 hour workday unless there is an unexpected emergency” and in 9.1 Separation From Employment: “The Village Board of Trustees, by majority vote, may terminate an employee”. Trustee Gadeken seconded the motion. The motion passed with all ayes on a roll call vote.
STREETS AND ALLEY
Trustee Gadeken reported that he and Trustee Bickers had met with representatives from the Sidney American Legion Post 433 to discuss options for housing them. He also reported that all the signs have almost been repaired or replaced. He will also direct Employee Maintenance Wilsey to start purchasing pallets of salt for the roads in the winter instead of individual bags. Trustee Gadeken will also look into possibly purchasing some sort of speed radar sign to be placed by the Sidney Dairy Barn to reduce traffic speed coming into town. He also stated that the alley by Pleasant Drive had holes in it that needed to be filled with rock; Village Maintenace Employee Wilsey said that he had fixed it already.
WATER/SEWER/UTILITY
Trustee Harris was not able to read the monthly usage reports since we have no one who is licensed to do so. $23,510.62 was received in February. 108 penalty bills were sent. $20,914.14 was billed in February to 535 customers.
Trustee Harris then reported that he will have answers regarding drains at 107 North Harrison and 15 Southview by the next meeting. He also was confused about Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey’s last timesheet. Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey does not have any vacation time to use until his one year anniversary on April 15th, 2020; once that has passed he will have to use any vacation time for any time taken off.
PUBLIC PROPERTY
Trustee Bickers reported that there were no permits issued. He also made a motion to approve the “No donation in memoriam” policy. The motion was seconded by Trustee Harris; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
PARKS AND RECREATION
Trustee Laurent reported that not enough kids had signed up for summer ball and that he is working with other towns to fill the gap. He also reported that the Witt Park sign had been fixed and looks good. He also reported that it will be approximately $1500 to level the new T-ball field. Trustee Catron also stated that Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey will need to learn how to use all the Village’s equipment within six month’s time.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Trustee Schluter was absent.
NEW & OLD BUSINESS
Clerk Fish reported that the time clock software that was purchased would not work for the Village. Clerk Fish stated that she called Dan Moisson to ask his advice and he advised to look at web based software programs. Clerk Fish looked into a few websites and it was determined to be too cost prohibitive to use those. Trustee Catron stated just to purchase wall time clocks.
The board also advised that Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey needed to contact Logan Jones, last year’s summer help, to see if he wanted the position this summer. If not, Clerk Fish will add hiring summer help to next month’s agenda.
Trustee Bickers moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:35pm. Trustee Gadeken seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
__________________________ __________________________
Maggie Fish, Village Clerk Date approved
PUBLIC COMMENTS:
Bill McLane from the Sidney American Legion spoke to the board members addressing his concerns for the future location of the American Legion. He asked the board if they would consider creating a permanent space or some kind of secure space where they would be able to hang all of their memorabilia and for them to meet in the new village hall building. The board assured him that they will not be forgotten and that something will be worked out. Mr. McLane also reported that Sidney American Legion Post was celebrating it’s 100th anniversary and that they will host an open house on Flag Day, June 14th to celebrate.
Sidney resident Kurt Foster then approached the board stating that he was concerned about the height of a catch basin on North Harrison street and if that could be looked into.
PRESIDENT ARRASMITH’S COMMENTS
President Arrasmith asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the regular sessions of the January 22nd, February 3rd, and February 12th, meetings. Trustee Catron moved that the minutes of the January 22nd, February 3rd, and February 12th, 2020 regular sessions of the Board of Trustees meetings be approved. Trustee Bickers seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote. President Arrasmith then asked for a motion to approve the minutes for the executive sessions of the February 3rd and February 12th meetings. Trustee Catron moved that the minutes of the February 3rd and February 12th executive sessions of the Board of Trustees be approved. Trustee Bickers seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
President Arrasmith then directed Robert Tincher from Hillside Development Group to open the sealed bids for the new village hall building. Mr. Tincher stated that they had received a total of 36 sealed bids. He proceeded to open each one stating who they were from and for what portion of the project they were bidding on. He stated to everyone present that since they had received so many bids that it would take approximately a week to qualify all of the bidders so no amounts were read at this time. Attached is a list of all of the bidders.
Pete Mantell with ESDA then began to discuss the need for updating Sidney’s tornado system. He stated that Champaign, Urbana and Savoy have all switched over to this particular system. With the new system, as soon as the National Weather Service issues a warning, it will automatically activate the tornado sirens to sound. As of now, a person has to receive the warning and activate the sirens themselves. The new system will also have real time updates as to whether or not the sirens are working properly; they will not have to wait on the monthly tests to determine this. Trustee Bickers made a motion to approve the $18,492 to upgrade Sidney’s ESDA Warning System. Trustee Gadeken seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
Matthew White from Illinois American Water then stated that representatives from Illinois American Water will be here before the next Village Board meeting from 4:30-6:30 for any residents to come talk to them about any concerns they have. They will also be here from 7am-7pm on Saturday, April 18th and Sunday, April 19th to also answer any questions from the public and to also change out everyone’s meters. He also stated that mailers with information about the changes and a welcome packet will be mailed to residents in the next two weeks. He was asked if residents would still be able to pay their bills at Longview Bank here in Sidney. Mr. White stated that he had spoken to someone at Longview who had told him that it wouldn’t be possible because residents would have to pay an additional fee; however, Jim Chandler, President of Longview State Bank was present at this meeting and said that he would talk to Mr. White about looking into that.
Longview State Bank President Jim Chandler then spoke to the board members about possible financing options for the Village to fund the new village hall. Trustee Bickers requested that Mr. Chandler put together some financing options with figures for the Board of Trustees to look over. Mr. Chandler said he would email those to Clerk Fish for her to email to the board.
President Arrasmith then stated that a date for Dumpster Days needed to be set. It was then decided to have Dumpster Days on May 2nd from 7-11am at Witt Park. Clerk Fish will work that day to check ID’s to make sure that people are residents of Sidney and to charge for any additional loads.
President Arrasmith then asked for the board to approve vacation days off for Clerk Fish. The board approved May 6th, 7th, and 11th, 2020 for Clerk Fish to take her vacation time.
President Arrasmith then stated that Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey needed to be paid retro-actively for all of the board meetings he has attended since it would be considered overtime. Trustee Laurent made a motion to back pay Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey for the meetings he has attended. Trustee Bickers seconded the motion; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote. The board then decided that for all future board meetings that he is to attend, that he leave work at 1:30pm on those days to compensate for the 2 hours of pay for the board meeting.
ATTORNEY MILLER’S COMMENTS
Attorney Miller did not have any comments.
JARIN WILSEY’S COMMENTS
Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey stated that there was a smashed culvert at 15 Southview Drive that is the resident’s responsibility to repair. Clerk Fish will send them a letter stating that that it needs to be fixed within 60 days. He also requested more shelving be put up at the shed at Witt Park for baseball equipment. He also stated there was a problem with a catch basin at 205 Washington Street and that Ameren Illinois was making progress locating mains.
FINANCE REPORT
The financial reports were read by Trustee Catron. Trustee Catron moved that the bills be paid with the additions of Miller and Hendren for $2050 and Casey’s fuel card for $244.03; Trustee Bickers seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
Trustee Catron then made a motion to approve Ordinance #2020-02 to adopt the Village of Sidney Employee Policy Manual with the additions in 5.6 regarding Health Coverage: “The Village provides an option for health insurance to qualified full time employees only” and in 6.7 After Duty Emergency Call Out/Village Board Meetings: “The Village Maintenance Employee shall attend each regular monthly Village Board meeting working a split shift that day to result in an 8 hour workday unless there is an unexpected emergency” and in 9.1 Separation From Employment: “The Village Board of Trustees, by majority vote, may terminate an employee”. Trustee Gadeken seconded the motion. The motion passed with all ayes on a roll call vote.
STREETS AND ALLEY
Trustee Gadeken reported that he and Trustee Bickers had met with representatives from the Sidney American Legion Post 433 to discuss options for housing them. He also reported that all the signs have almost been repaired or replaced. He will also direct Employee Maintenance Wilsey to start purchasing pallets of salt for the roads in the winter instead of individual bags. Trustee Gadeken will also look into possibly purchasing some sort of speed radar sign to be placed by the Sidney Dairy Barn to reduce traffic speed coming into town. He also stated that the alley by Pleasant Drive had holes in it that needed to be filled with rock; Village Maintenace Employee Wilsey said that he had fixed it already.
WATER/SEWER/UTILITY
Trustee Harris was not able to read the monthly usage reports since we have no one who is licensed to do so. $23,510.62 was received in February. 108 penalty bills were sent. $20,914.14 was billed in February to 535 customers.
Trustee Harris then reported that he will have answers regarding drains at 107 North Harrison and 15 Southview by the next meeting. He also was confused about Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey’s last timesheet. Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey does not have any vacation time to use until his one year anniversary on April 15th, 2020; once that has passed he will have to use any vacation time for any time taken off.
PUBLIC PROPERTY
Trustee Bickers reported that there were no permits issued. He also made a motion to approve the “No donation in memoriam” policy. The motion was seconded by Trustee Harris; the motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
PARKS AND RECREATION
Trustee Laurent reported that not enough kids had signed up for summer ball and that he is working with other towns to fill the gap. He also reported that the Witt Park sign had been fixed and looks good. He also reported that it will be approximately $1500 to level the new T-ball field. Trustee Catron also stated that Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey will need to learn how to use all the Village’s equipment within six month’s time.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
Trustee Schluter was absent.
NEW & OLD BUSINESS
Clerk Fish reported that the time clock software that was purchased would not work for the Village. Clerk Fish stated that she called Dan Moisson to ask his advice and he advised to look at web based software programs. Clerk Fish looked into a few websites and it was determined to be too cost prohibitive to use those. Trustee Catron stated just to purchase wall time clocks.
The board also advised that Village Maintenance Employee Wilsey needed to contact Logan Jones, last year’s summer help, to see if he wanted the position this summer. If not, Clerk Fish will add hiring summer help to next month’s agenda.
Trustee Bickers moved that the meeting be adjourned at 9:35pm. Trustee Gadeken seconded the motion. The motion carried with all ayes on a roll call vote.
__________________________ __________________________
Maggie Fish, Village Clerk Date approved
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