Macon Reporter

Village of Warrensburg Village Board met July 5.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Riley called the meeting to order at the Warrensburg Village Hall at 5:30 p.m.

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited.

ROLL CALL: Present: Mayor Riley, Trustee Fisher, Trustee Freeman, Trustee Hood, & Trustee Oakley. Also present were Chief Wheeler, Atty Jankowicz, DPW Allen & VAC Hundley. Trustees Hackl & Netherton were absent.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Demolition has started on the apartment building on Southland Dr. It just began today and about ¼ of the building is down.

The Corn Festival begins on July 21 and they are still looking for volunteers for a couple areas. Contact any committee member or go to the festival website.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Harold Hawkins asked for an update regarding the fiber optic boring under Route 121. He asked about their permission to go under the railroad. The question was asked as to what is wrong with Frontier internet services.

NEW BUSINESS: Nothing.

REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Trustee Freeman and seconded by Trustee Hood to approve the minutes of the June 6, 2022 regular meeting. Motion carried with Trustee Freeman abstaining.

ENGINEER: Matt Foster from Chastain & Assoc was in attendance and had documents with him showing a Supplement to the SRTS Contract. The estimated cost to reduce the project plan would be $13,900.00. A motion was made by Trustee Freeman, seconded by Trustee Hood to approve the Supplemental Agreement. Trustee Hood confirmed what the total cost estimate covered. Matt explained the $13,900 was the engineering costs to restructure the plan which will be submitted to IDOT for rebidding. Mayor Riley asked if we would be ok with timeframes in order to have it done next spring. Matt explained IDOT likes to see the plans at least 6 months prior to bid letting, which would be in March. That means these plans need to be completed by October at the latest. Trustee Freeman asked if this would be last the Village should have to spend since this will reduce the scope of the project to get it under the $200,000 grant amount. Matt confirmed that it should based on projected costs. Trustee Oakley asked about the letters that were mentioned in the minutes and if we had received any feedback from IDOT. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Oakley, Hood, Freeman & Fisher. No – none. Motion carried.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY: Atty Jankowicz thanked the board for allowing him to move up on the agenda as he has another meeting to attend. He presented Ordinance #776 which is the Annual Appropriation Ordinance. He mentioned there is a $5 difference in what Trustee Oakley had submitted to him from the Ordinance. Trustee Oakley moved and Trustee Freeman seconded to approve Ordinance #776. Mayor Riley asked if this allowed the Village to spend more than was in the budget. Atty Jankowicz stated a governmental body is limited by law to not expend on line items more than it has appropriated. Trustee Oakley further explained this allows the Village to spend additional funds above the budget if revenue allows it. Chief Wheeler asked about the Drug/Alcohol appropriation which showed $500 and the actual account balance at this time is $1,939.27. Shouldn’t it be changed to reflect what could be spent from the account? Trustee Freeman moved to amend Ordinance #776 to change the Drug & Alcohol Supplies/Commodities line to $2,000 and the contingency line to $300., making the total appropriation $1,804,557.00. Trustee Oakley seconded it. Roll call vote on the amendment: Yes – Trustees Fisher, Oakley, Hood & Freeman. No – none. Roll call vote on the Ordinance as amended: Yes – Trustees Freeman, Hood, Fisher & Oakley. No – none. The Ordinance as amended is adopted.

As a follow-up to the question asked of him at the last meeting, he had checked on the ownership and taxes for 128 N Washington. There doesn’t appear to be a mortgage and the 1st installment of this years’ taxes have not been paid. The address for mailing is to the N. Washington address. There also doesn’t appear to be any liens against the property other than the one for the Village.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATIVE CLERK: Trustee Oakley moved and Trustee Hood seconded to approve the Balance Sheet, pay the bills and make the appropriate transfers for July 5, 2022. VAC Hundley reported there wasn’t anything unusual on this report or the accounts payable report, other than the expenditures for the Corn Festival. There will need to be a draw on the IL Funds for Police Protection account. Trustee Freeman asked why expenditures were showing under Rebuild IL rather than MFT and it was explained we are just using those grant funds before drawing down MFT IL Funds. Mayor Riley asked what the fuel costs were from Morgan Distributing and they are currently $4.96 per gallon.

Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Hood, Fisher, Oakley, & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

FINANCE: Trustee Oakley stated he understood there had been some discussion at the previous meeting regarding Frontier phone lines and asked if there was anything further this evening. He asked DPW Allen if he had anything and he responded we should be able to go off their internet services. He also stated he didn’t think we needed phone lines at the water plant. There was a “dialer” at the old water plant but he hadn’t gone forward with hooking the other system up since it was too expensive to have the plant hooked in with the alarm system. He did have a proposal but he hasn’t done anything with it. Trustee Oakley asked if they needed the phone line. He said it wasn’t necessary as the other system could be ran through the internet. Trustee Oakley asked about the sewer plant. DPW Allen knew the internet had been connected but wasn’t sure about the phone service. He stated it was outdated and there was some capability there but wasn’t sure what the system needed. Mayor Riley asked if the phone line was used there for anything. He mentioned the new system could be ran off their phones and Mayor Riley mentioned that is probably through the internet. Mayor Riley asked again if the phone line could be discontinued at the sewer plant. DPW mentioned he would have to look and see what type of dialing system they have. He mentioned a high level alarm at the sewer plant and a low level at the water plant. Trustee Oakley asked what the status was for ACTS internet at the plants and was told both were set up and in service. Trustee Oakley asked for confirmation on the phone lines as quickly as possible so that we can discontinue the services with Frontier. We want to do everything at one time. Mayor Riley asked what the costs were for phone lines at each of those facilities. Trustee Oakley had a previous bill and stated between the water & sewer plants, the bill is around $300 a month.

Chief Wheeler did mention that he does need his services.

BUILDING: Trustee Netherton was absent.

POLICE: Trustee Fisher didn’t have anything.

Chief Wheeler presented his monthly report. Mayor Riley asked about a couple of items on the report.

Trustee Oakley asked if the issues with the teens were any better. Chief Wheeler stated it was some better but one of the issues on the report did involve some of the same group. Mayor Riley mentioned there was a comment made on Facebook regarding burning of items other than yard waste and asked if the department had been contacted.

SEWER: Trustee Hackl was absent. DPW Allen mentioned they had drained the lagoons and replaced or repaired the airline going into the lagoon and cleaned the filters. Some lines still need to be replaced as they are old.

The transfer switch on the generator is obsolete and a new one will need to be ordered. Mayor Riley asked if approval was needed. Trustee Hackl has all the information.

Terry mentioned he thought the mower was now working.

STREETS: Trustee Hood had gotten with Kenny but needed to talk with Terry in regards to obtaining bids for sidewalk work. No date has been set yet for oil & chip. Rock is here and just waiting on Dunn Co.

WATER: Trustee Freeman is going to have a water committee meeting in regards to the old water tower on Thursday, July 14 at 5:30 p.m.

PUBLIC WORKS: DPW Allen reported they’ve been patching few roads and put down some chip today on a few of the roads where the oil was showing.

OTHER AND/OR OLD BUSINESS: Mr. Hawkins asked about Trustee Freeman making the motion and approving the minutes for the last meeting when he was absent. So the minutes will reflect that he abstained.

Trustee Hood moved and Trustee Freeman seconded to adjourn. Motion carried.

The meeting adjourned at 6:26 p.m.

https://warrensburgil.com/meeting-info/