Macon Reporter

Village of Warrensburg Village Board met Sept. 6

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Riley called the meeting to order at the Warrensburg Village Hall on Tuesday, September 6, 2022 at 5:30 p.m., reminding everyone the meeting was being recorded.

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited.

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

MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mayor Riley would like to talk about a liquor license situation that has come up. He would entertain a motion to amend section 1150-5(a) which indicates a residency requirement to obtain a license and he would like that to change to Macon County. Trustee Fisher moved and Trustee Netherton seconded to propose that change. Mayor Riley explained the reason for the request. The DaBurg is in the process of selling and the couple purchasing it currently lives in Maroa. In doing some research both in Warrensburg and other communities, about 40% have a residency requirement and the rest do not. Assumption has a requirement of 5 miles and that prompted the suggestion of Macon County. Mayor Riley stated several instances throughout the years where the owner did not live in the Village, therefore out of compliance. He also explained that in the case of a corporation, such as Casey’s, the manager is required to reside in the Village. This has also not been complied with.

Trustee Hackl asked why they couldn’t just be from anywhere and asked Atty Jankowicz. He responded that part of the need is to have someone more local to be responsive to the needs & concerns. Trustee Oakley feels it should be someone fairly local yet agreed restricting it to Warrensburg isn’t the answer. He suggested the option of within a certain number of miles, especially since we are near the county line. Mayor Riley explained a little about the new owners and their plans for the business. Rather than amend the motion, Atty Jankowicz stated the original motion could not be adopted and then a new motion made. Roll call vote: Yes – none. No – Trustees Netherton, Hood, Fisher, Hackl & Oakley. Motion was lost.

A motion was made by Trustee Oakley, seconded by Trustee Hood to amend section 1150-5(a) to adjust the residency requirement to within 30 miles of the Village of Warrensburg. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Hood, Fisher, Hackl, Oakley & Netherton. No – none. Motion carries.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Fred Gordon was in attendance to question why some of the Village Code is not being enforced. He was specifically asking about vehicle registrations being expired or no registration at all and properties not being mowed.

Mayor Riley explained there are several situations that have been addressed and taken care of. It isn’t normally in the timeframe residents would like to see because there are processes that have to be followed. Trustee Oakley asked what the process was for handling the abandoned or inoperable vehicles. A letter is sent from the Village Clerk prior to a citation from the police department. Chief Wheeler was asked if citations were being issued and if not, the reason. Chief Wheeler explained some of the exemptions.

NEW BUSINESS: Chad Lucas from Sikich was in attendance to present and discuss the FY22 audit. Audit materials had already been presented to each of the board members. Chad thanked Trustee Oakley and VAC Hundley for their assistance in providing the necessary documents and information in order to complete the audit. Chad Lucas explained several sections of the audit and reiterated the audit was done in compliance with Government Auditing Standards Board. Per USDA requirement, no issues were found in relation to compliance during the audit procedures. Trustee Oakley confirmed the “outcome of audit – the significant deficiencies of material weakness are from an original audit several years ago”. It is still recommended the Village adopt a formal accounting and policy manual as well as a debt policy.

REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Trustee Fisher and seconded by Trustee Hood to approve the minutes of the August 15, 2022 regular meeting. Motion carried.

ENGINEER: Stephanie Brown from Chastain & Assoc was in attendance.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATIVE CLERK: Trustee Hood moved and Trustee Netherton seconded to approve the Balance Sheet, pay the bills and make the appropriate transfers for September 6, 2022. Monies will be transferred from the Wind Tower funds to SRTS in order to pay the invoice from Chastain & Associates for Phase III of the project. VAC Hundley explained a couple items listed on the AP report. Trustee Oakley asked about the invoice to Altorfer for the 3 generator’s maintenance. He would ask for further explanation prior to remitting this payment. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Oakley, Hood, Netherton, Fisher & Hackl. No -none. Motion carried.

FINANCE: Trustee Oakley didn’t have anything for action. He did report the new firewall has been installed and there is now segregation between the Village Hall and Police Department.

BUILDING: Trustee Netherton didn’t have anything at this time. Trustee Oakley asked about 125 S Powers, who at one time had cleaned up the property as requested, now has less than half of a vehicle in the yard plus a motor home. Trustee Fisher mentioned 235 W Warren appeared to have several bags of trash stacked behind their hedge.

POLICE: Trustee Fisher mentioned there had been a police committee meeting to discuss financing the police vehicle. Clear Talk will be removing the equipment off the older Tahoe and it will be shipped to the dealership. He had visited Buena Vista National Bank and the interest rate will be 3.49% for a 5-year loan. The bank will need a copy of this audit and the names of those who will be signing for the loan. Mayor Riley stated it does need to be 2 persons on the finance committee to sign the note. The vehicle is currently scheduled to be delivered to the dealer on the 8th. It should be the first part of October when all the equipment is installed.

Chief Wheeler presented the monthly report for August.

SEWER: Trustee Hackl stated the blower motor at the sewer plant has been fixed.

STREETS: Trustee Hood didn’t have anything. Trustee Fisher reported on some street lights. He had been working with Ameren to have a new light installed on S. Washington and, in the process, he discovered some of the lights in the Illini Park were being billed to the Village. He has talked with the Illini Park District, who checked their bill, and they were not being billed. They were willing to have the billing corrected. The installation of a new light will be included on the next agenda. Trustee Oakley asked Trustee Hood if DPW Allen had reached out to the concrete companies to confirm their work was comparable. Trustee Hood said he had not heard anything.

WATER: Trustee Freeman was absent. Mayor Riley stated he noticed the tires on the water truck were going to need replaced soon.

PUBLIC WORKS: DPW Allen was not in attendance. Mayor Riley had asked DPW Allen to give a report at each meeting of work that is being done in the Village. Mayor Riley said he knew of one ditch where the new homes are being built that needed to be addressed for drainage, as well as one on Illinois. Trustee Hackl mentioned he knew of another ditch on Henson that isn’t draining properly. Public Works needs to look at the property and see if they need a ditch and culvert.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY: Atty Jankowicz suggested that after the board members have had a chance to read & review the audit, at the next meeting it should be on the agenda to receive and file the audit. An intergovernmental agreement was prepared for his review in regards to the sharing of and payment of the Topcon Rotating Laser. Trustee Oakley moved and Trustee Netherton seconded to approve the agreement with Illini Township. Trustee Oakley questioned the split of the property for each agency’s asset list. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Netherton, Fisher, Hackl, Oakley & Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

OTHER AND/OR OLD BUSINESS: Nothing.

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

The meeting adjourned at 7:20 p.m.

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