Macon Reporter

City of Maroa City Council met Sept. 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Meeting called to order by Mayor McCullough. Roll call taken by Clerk Walters. All present were Mayor McCullough, Clerk Walters, Administrator Agee, Treasurer Modro-Peters, Attorney Delate, Aldermen Wilkey, West, Grider, Harper and Alderwoman Bogle.

Clerk Walters lead the Pledge of Allegiance.

CITIZEN’S COMMENTS:

Toni Stoutenborough wanted to thank the guys for putting in the rock around the recycle bin. She also wanted to make it know that someone needed to be told he cannot go on private property to get anything for the cleanup coming up for this fall’s pick up. She stated he was caught on her camera and her neighbors saw him moving her patio chairs to get her fire pit. Alderman Wilkey stated that the police should have been contacted then. Alderman West told her she needed to speak to Chief Gaddy or Officer Mahan after the meeting to discuss the matter with them.

Janet Broadhacker stated that she wanted to know what was going on since the last time her and her son was here. She stated that the culvert was still blocked. Ted Agee stated that Chris Doak went and had dug up a 30-foot culvert. Water is flowing through it, but Mike is waiting for us to get rain to see what is going to happen with it to be able to tell anything.

Chris Doak stated their ditch is cleaned out and that Mike does have to wait till for a good rain to see how the rain is going to flow.

Janet Broadhacker stated that her son also sent someone on the council a letter and she is requesting that letter be read. Alderman Harper stated that what she is referencing to is that Matt is out of state working and Matt had sent him an instant message and it’s regarding them having personal issues with the tree going into the property line. Harper stated what it boils down to is a dispute between neighbors. Matt’s neighbor put a limb over in Matt’s yard and Matt was not home and Tyler went over did what he did, and Tyler gets a ticket, but the neighbors didn’t for illegal dumping when this has been an ongoing feud between neighbor which has now been brought to the board. Harper told Matt there is only so much the board can do and now the police are involved in it now.

Chief Gaddy stated that the neighbors had footage of Tyler admitting to him doing it. Chief Gaddy stated that they have enough that the neighbors could be issued a citation also if the board decides to do that or if they would rather drop Tyler’s ticket.

Alderman West makes a motion to throw out the ticket that was giver to Tyler Procarione and Alderman Harper seconded the motion. All was in favor to throw the ticket for littering (illegal dumping) out under ordinance violation and passed.

Alderman West stated to Janet Broadhacker that we will have a discussion with Mike Hoffman and have a meet and greet with him and you with in the next thirty days if that will be ok. Janet agreed to that.

Tyler Procarione wanted to ask Ted Agee if anything has changed within the last three years on the decks because Matt’s neighbor was able to build the same type of deck, he was going to three years ago and he was told he could not do that. Ted Agee stated he would check into that and see what Mike’s reasoning was for that not to go through when Tyler was wanting to do his deck and get back with him.

Patrick Sullivan from the Methodist Church stated that they had four teams come out to play softball and that they will be hosting a pickleball tournament this winter. He stated he will be in touch with us and get us information.

APPROVE MEETING MINUTES:

Alderman Wilkey made a motion to approve the July 19, 2021, meeting minutes and Alderman Grider second the motion. All was in favor to approve the July 19, 2021, meeting minutes. Alderman Wilkey made a motion to approve the August 2, 2021, meeting minutes and alderman Harper second the motion. All was in favor to approve the August 2, 2021, meeting minutes.

OLD BUSINESS:

Jerry Fyke came tonight and stated he has been out there doing work and has removed some trees, but he has had some things come up. He stated it takes time and finances to get rid of the homes. He took one out and has another one to go out in three days. He stated they did start putting skirting on some of the homes that can be salvaged. Mayor asked what disposal fee cost was. Jerry stated $350.00. Jerry stated again it takes a lot of time to get these homes out. Alderman Wilkey stated this has been a ten-year process. The next step is going to be violations. Council decided on Jerry to have four homes gone by October 4, 2021, and a total of eight gone by November 1st.

Newsletter- Alderman West stated he has been contacted by several people in the community wanting to know when the newsletter was going to be brought back out. He thought it was great publication for the residents in Maroa. West made a motion to bring the newsletter back and to be sent out to everyone in the community. Alderman Wilkey asked if we had the personnel to be able to do that. West stated that Crystal (Meier) Walters agreed to do the newsletter. Wilkey seconded the motion. All was in favor. The motion to bring the newsletter back and to be sent out to everyone in the community was passed.

Website- Alderman West said 15 months ago Diane had some proposals on some site and they were too high. But he agrees the site is outdated. He has spoke with Ted and Crystal and the site we have now is hard to update. West stated we need to look at something that is more user friendly and is more up to date to what the people want to look at. West stated that he has looked at some other communities’ websites and likes Bethany’s. He spoke with the host of their website, and she stated that she could put all our ordinances and meetings on the site. She stated that they could do everything to get it up and running and then teach us on how to operate the site. The cost would be $275.00 set up fee and $700.00 a year. Ted Agee stated that we should be careful because he noticed that Bethany’s website was a .com and our site is a .gov site. West stated he did speak to the host about that, and she asked if we owned that domain and West told her yes, we do, and she stated that was perfect that she could handle it. West stated he would get with Ted and Crystal and discuss the website more, that he wanted to just start a discussion with everyone tonight and come up with a proposal hopefully by the next meeting.

418 S. Wood- Allie filling in for Lindsey stated that the property is owned by Lakeview Servicing LLC. That they are not servicing the property right now. Mowing is supposed to be done by Safeguard properties. Lindsey has tried to reach out to them. Neither party have been responsive. Allie stated her recommendation is to move forward on filing a legal complaint against the property management company. A multiple complaint for unsafe conditions, damage, unsafe lands, monetary judgement against them and seek demolition of the property. Upon doing that is a lengthy process but it’s her best recommendation to get the ball rolling.

Alderman Wilkey made a motion to file a former complaint on 418 S Wood Maroa, Il. 61756. Alderman West second the motion. All was in favor.

NEW BUSINESS:

Residential Storm Cleanup- Alderman West stated that one of his neighbors had a tree come down in the last ice storm we had, and it is still there. West stated that his neighbor does mow around it. West stated that talking to Chief Gaddy there is nothing in the ordinance that says they must clean up trees that it is no different than firewood sitting out there. West would like to have the ordinance for cleanup for high weeds and tree debris rewritten for next meeting to be voted on. Ted Agee stated that Mike and mentioned something to him about people burning green grass. Ted asked if the council would like him to add in the ordinance to not burn green grass as well. Everyone’s reply was yes please.

Water Bill- Clerk Walters presented to the council an example of Village of Argenta’s Water Application. Showed them the difference between theirs and ours. Walters showed them that Argenta’s had an affidavit on there’s that they had to sign that held the person accountable and that they also had to give their drivers license number and social security number. Walters told the council that we needed to update ours because we have people closing accounts and we have no way of getting in touch with them and no way for collections to get in touch or work with them. The attorney will check into to see if there would be a liability on the city if we ask for social security number.

Ordinance 2021/09/13/1- 203 E. Washington (Variance)- Tony Caccomo stated that these will be Senior homes. There will be no backing out in a street they will back out into an alley. The Seniors will purchase these homes. There will be about sixteen to eighteen Condos.

Alderman Grider made a motion to approve Ordinance 2021/09/13-1 and Alderwoman Bogle second the motion. All was in favor. The Ordinance 2021/09/13-1 was passed.

Ordinance 2021/09/13/2 -327 N. Maple (Variance)- The original garage was turned into living space. So wanted to attach a garage on and zoning board agreed if the eve or gutter did not cross property line and Ted stated he got a text back and stated that they were going to still be four feet away. Alderman West made the motion to approve the Ordinance 2021/09/13/2 and Alderman Grider second the motion. All was in favor. The Ordinance 2021/09/13/2 was passed.

Ordinance 2021/09/13/3- Speed Limits- 20 mph in school zones already but City wide 30 mph unless a lower speed limit is posted. Alderman West made a motion to approve Ordinance 2021/09/13/3 and Alderwoman Bogle second the motion. Alderman Grider, West and Alderwoman Bogle were all in favor, Alderman Wilkey and Harper were not in favor. The Ordinance 2021/09/13/3 passed.

Ordinance 2021/09/13/4- Utility Vehicles- Some people have been requesting to be able to ride side by side’s and UTV’s in town. Ted did up the ordinance to put in it that 250-133 specific non-conforming vehicles allowed due to operating speed they should be allowed if following the low-speed city restrictions code. Chief Gaddy did state that there is a clause though already that states that construction companies and farmers are exempt and can use them for business purposes only. Alderman West made a motion to decline Ordinance 2021/09/13/4 and Alderman Harper second the motion. Alderman Wilkey, West, Harper and Alderwoman Bogle all stated aye, and Alderman Grider stated nay. The motion to decline Ordinance 2021/09/13/4 was passed.

POLICE REPORT:

Chief Gaddy stated he put the report in everyone’s mailboxes. Alderman West stated your numbers on the report explained to him why the police are here and appreciate them for being here.

ATTORNEYS REPORT:

Allie stated she is filling in for Lindsey while she is out. She has nothing else to add from what she has already spoke about on 418 S. Wood.

ENGINEER REPORT:

Not Present, but Ted Agee stated that the EPA permits have been submitted. The materials are already here and ready for the tie into the school water main, so once the permit comes back, they can get that started. This will help with better water flow.

ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:

Ted Agee stated the Jefferson Street project is complete. It has been up and running for about a week and a half now. Mid Illinois is giving us a quote for fabricating guard rails to protect the generators in case if someone was to go through there it is a stucco building.

The water tower got delayed for a little bit due to high winds and a few rain days. We are looking to start the fill and to do a chlorine test around the 20th. Their final inspection day is the 17th. Once the tower is filled and has chlorine in it must wait 24 hours test and wait another 24 hours and test again, so hopefully around the 23rd the tower will be back in operation.

The meter project Ted stated that we are down to the last hand full of meters maybe five or six. A few of them are larger ones. Mike and Jeff are going to be doing those. It has been tough getting the files imported into the system therefore the billing has been a nightmare. Ted will be contacting Lucas to discuss with him. Next month this should run smoother for water bills.

Alderman Wilkey asked if the punch list has been done. Ted responded yes, except for the paper towel dispenser in the women’s restroom. But he stated if it becomes an issue then we will be able to move it ourselves. Ted also stated that he was having remote sensing going to be installed into the restrooms for the thermostat. The thermostat is in the utility room and bathrooms are not getting the correct adjustments. Also having fresh air ventilation put in also. Remote sensors should be installed sometime in the next week.

Also Ted stated on the meters he said that there was about a handful also that had illegal water connections. Most or all probably did not know about it due to them moving in after and not knowing about it. We have reached out to Thoms Plumbing and having him fix these for us.

COMMITTEE REPORT:

Police- Alderman West stated that we have had police officers leave us and we are accepting applications for a full-time officer and two part time officers. West asked Clerk Walters to get an agenda ready for a meeting for the 20th for personnel at 6:30 p.m. so they could do interviews that evening. West asked to the council if he had their approval to go ahead and hire that evening if needed. The answer was yes.

Park- Alderman West wanted to let the council know they have budgeted for a new net and a door sweep and a bathroom door in the men’s restroom.

West also wanted to present movie night at Spencer Park. Possibly having it one or two nights a month. We would provide the movie and have a Disney movie to bring the kids in. We would ask the local vendors if they would like to come and set up and not charge them. Things we would need would be 33-foot blow up screen, which would like to find a good spot for it and then put concrete eyelets in the ground to connect the screen, projector, and sound system. Budget for these items would be around $1500.00. Also West stated he had been talking to the Methodist Church because they also do movie night, and we would work around their schedule, and you must have a license and we thought we could share the expense with them.

APPROVE BILLS:

Alderman Wilkey made a motion to pay the July/August/September bills and Alderwoman Bogle second the motion. All was in favor. The motion to pay the July/August/September bills was passed.

CLOSED SESSION:

Alderman Grider made a motion to go into closed session and Alderman Wilkey second the motion. All was in favor. The motion to go into closed session was passed.

Back in open session at 9:33 p.m. All present are Mayor McCullough, Clerk Walters, Administrator Agee, Treasurer Modro-Peters, Attorney Delate, Aldermen Wilkey, West, Grider, Harper and Alderwoman Bogle.

Alderman West made a motion for Chief Gaddy to get a $2.00 an hour raise and Alderwoman Bogle second the motion. All was in favor. The motion for Chief Gaddy to get a $2.00 an hour raise was passed.

ADJOURN:

Alderwoman Bogle made a motion to adjourn and Alderman West second the motion. All was in favor. Motion to adjourn was passed.

https://maroaillinois.gov/file/790/9-13-21openSessionCouncil-1.pdf