Macon Reporter

Village of Bethany Village Board met Feb. 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The regular board meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by President Jon Book. The following  Trustees were present; Dave Doty, Jeannie Ruppert, Greg McLain, Raven Allen, and Brian Gill.  Mike Jennings was absent.  

A motion was made by Trustee Doty to approve the minutes from the January 13, 2022, regular  meeting, seconded by Trustee Ruppert . Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.  

A motion was made by Trustee Doty to approve the “Statement of Income and Expenses”,  seconded by Trustee Ruppert . Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.  

A motion was made by Trustee Gill to approve the “Banks and Checks Journal”, seconded by  Trustee McLain . Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.  

Public – Cassie Lambdin and Kaytie Orris/Celebration Committee - They brought in their app for  the Celebration liquor license and paid the fee. June 24 & 25 will be the dates for this years’  Celebration. They also came seeking a donation for the fireworks display. Had several  compliments on the show last year. A motion was made by Trustee Allen to approve the  Special Event Liquor License for the Celebration Committee for June 24th - 26th as stated,  seconded by Trustee Doty. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried. A motion was made by  Trustee Allen to donate $1,500 for fireworks to be paid from the Electric Dept., seconded by  Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.  

Curt Robinson - BBQ contest same as last year, same location. Would like to come in at 8 am  and leave at 8 pm. The date would be April 30th. Motion was made by Trustee Allen to  approve the BBQ contest on April 30th with the times tentative on an agreement with the  Diner, seconded by Trustee McLain. Mr. Robinson was approached about taking over the  property at 219 S. St. John St. He has been in the house; it has a good shell and could be fixed.  If he is able to obtain this, he will start on the exterior first. This property is on the abatement  list and is 90 days over the 90 days to get a tear down order. Since this is under current  litigation, this will be further discussed during the Executive Session.  

Greg Gustafson Water Improvement Project Update - RD all contracts and specs are to them  for review. We should resubmit the last 3 versions with their corrections listed this week.  Currently we have 12 sets of plans out for review, 5 for contractors. Mr. Gustafson was made  aware by one of the contractors that out of state contractors are not allowed to bid jobs in  Illinois currently. He and the Village Attorney, Jack Kiley, will check into this. March 15th is bids  opening day. There will need to be a special meeting after this to accept the bids. 

Ordinance Fines/Complaint Policy - Chief Nichols and Mr. Kiley discussed this matter. They  have an agreement on the best way to go here. These changes will be voted on next month.  

Nuisance Ordinances - Mr. Kiley is not sure what the holdup is with these. We might need to  go back to court and talk with the Judge. One has been paid in full. Treasurer Jessica  Henderson is working with Mr. Kiley on these. We have 9 cases with service on 6 of the 9.  

New Phone/Internet Services - The Village did have more internet issues after last month’s  meeting. Treasurer Henderson contacted President Book and was given permission to start the  work on changing companies for internet and phone services. Ms. Henderson presented  figures on what the new services will cost the Village.  

Committee Assignments - President Book has not moved on this as of yet, and it will be  removed from the agenda.  

Water Improvement Fee - This is the fee that will be added to the utility bills to help pay for the  water improvement project for the Village. Trustee Gill, Finance Chair, had a list of current  Village utility customers and started discussion on which customers should have this fee added.  It was also discussed to put this into an ordinance to help with any unpaid bills or other legal  issues that could arise. Start and end dates need to be included in this ordinance.  

Reports – Manager Shannon Risley & Chief Nichols. 

Correspondence – None 

Committee Meetings - None 

Trustee McLain made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss litigation, seconded by  Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.  

With no other business to discuss a motion to adjourn was made by Trustee McLain and  seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Voice vote taken, all ayes, motion carried. Meeting was  adjourned. 

https://www.villageofbethany.com/documents/116/MINUTES_2-10-22.pdf