Macon Reporter

Village of Bethany Board of Trustees met Dec. 8.

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, Mike Jennings, Greg McLain, Raven Allen and Brian Gill. Jeannie Ruppert will be late.

A motion was made by Trustee Doty to approve the minutes from the November 10, 2022, regular meeting, seconded by Trustee McLain. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

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

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

Public – Tanner Abendroth; Insurance Rep for Globe Life, here to present insurance options for the Village Employees. He will meet with Village Manager, Shannon Risley and Treasurer, Jessica Henderson at a later date.

Greg Gustafson Water Improvement Project Update - Water Tower project pay request #2 was approved in October. L&T was asking about this payment. We believe it was lost in the transition of people at RD. 2023 May/June will be the one year inspection. RD was adamant that all three bids for water main, detention tank, and electrical be sent out at the same time. RD has these and specs to approve all at once. Mr. Gustafson also presented a calendar with a picture of our new water tower.

Callahan Property Deannexation - Ordinance #22-815; a motion was made by Trustee Jennings to approve Ordinance #22-815 disconnecting property PIN 04-04-27-201-001 from the Village of Bethany, seconded by Trustee Doty. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

Zoning Ordinances/Code - This will be tabled until further information can be gathered.

1% Certification Raise for Daniel Kidwell, Rob Carlson, Chief Nichols - Daniel and Rob received their gas training certification and Chief Nichols received his Crisis Intervention Training Certification. A motion was made by Trustee Allen to give Daniel Kidwell a 1% raise $25.75 to $26.00; Rob Carlson a 1% raise $23.69 to $23.92; Chris Nichols a 1% raise $29.13 to 29.40, seconded by Trustee Doty. Roll call taken: Doty-yes; Ruppert-absent; Jennings-yes; McLain-yes; Allen-yes; Gill-No, motion carried.

Termination of 1% Certification Raise for Employees - Trustee Gill made a motion to terminate the 1% certification raise for all employees, seconded by Trustee Jennings. Roll call taken: Jennings-yes; McLain-abstain (conflict of interest); Allen-yes; Gill-yes; Doty-no; Ruppert-absent; motion carried.

Trustee Ruppert arrived at 7:46

Annual Tax Levy - Finance Committee met and decided to do the standard 5% increase for the annual tax levy. A motion was made by Trustee McLain to approve Ordinance #22-816, the Annual Tax Levy, seconded by Trustee Allen. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

Yearly Audit - Trustee Gill went over the annual Audit. The recommendations given were down to things that cannot really be addressed due to the size of the Village and number of employees. There were no significant findings. A motion was made by Trustee Gill to approve the Yearly Audit, seconded by Trustee Allen. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

Christmas Lighting Contest - The signups are open now. The previous prizes were 1-$100; 2- $50 and 4-$25; Trustee McLain made a motion to have the contest from now until Dec. 24th lights on dusk till 9pm and prizes same as last year payable as utility credits from the Electric Dept., seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

Updating Village Code Book - Resolution #22-503 will bring our code book more up to date for current needs. Trustee McLain made a motion to approve Resolution #22-503, seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

Employee Christmas Bonuses - This will be discussed in Executive Session. Reports – Manager Shannon Risley, Finance Committee, and Chief Nichols. Correspondence – Christmas cards from the IMEA and IMGA.

Committee Meeting Dates - None

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

Trustee McLain made a motion to enter back into Open Session, seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Voice vote taken, all ayes, motion carried

Trustee McLain made a motion to accept the resignation of Corbin Winans as police officer, accepting his last day as December 21st, seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

Trustee Allen made a motion to give a Christmas bonus of $100 cleared with required payroll deductions, to employees Shannon Risley, Rob Carlson, Hank Taber, Jessica Henderson, Chris Nichols, Kathy Denham, Hope Ruppert, and Daniel Kidwell, seconded by Trustee Doty. Jennings-yes; McLain-abstain (conflict of interest); Allen-yes; Gill-yes; Doty-yes; Ruppert-abstain (conflict of interest); motion carried.

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

https://www.villageofbethany.com/documents/116/MINUTES_12-8-22.pdf