Macon Reporter

Village of Warrensburg Village Board met May 1.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Riley called the meeting to order at the Warrensburg Village Hall on Monday, May 1, 2023 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 Freeman, Trustee Hood, Trustee Netherton & Trustee Oakley. Also present were Chief Wheeler, Atty Jankowicz, DPW Allen & VAC Hundley. Absent was Trustee Hackl.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mayor Riley administered the Oath of Office to Brian Netherton. Mayor Riley took the opportunity to thank Trustee John Oakley for his years of service to the Village of Warrensburg; for his work as chairman of the Finance Committee and for his assistance with the functions in the office. A plaque was presented to him. Trustee Oakley mentioned he has appreciated working with the board for several years and “as a resident, he will be watching”.

Mayor Riley administered the Oath of Office to Pamela Hood.

Mayor Riley updated everyone regarding the fiber optic installation throughout the village. He reported on contacting the company in regards to the damages done to a couple of water lines, which had been hit. They questioned whether the contractor performing the work had taken pictures. We are still working on it.

Mayor Riley mentioned that he and VAC Hundley had sat down with Brandon Rarick from ACTS internet services last Thursday. Brandon mentioned that he knows of 3 other companies who will be installing fiber services besides the company presently working. We cannot control that any differently than what has been done by Conxxus. Rise Services will begin moving their equipment into the area by the sewer plant. We should probably talk further about this, maybe at the next meeting.

Clean-up day will be Saturday, May 13th. Volunteers are needed.

Mayor Riley also updated the board on the property at 128 N Washington. He and VAC Hundley along with Atty Jankowicz, had discussed several options as to how to handle this situation. They then spoke with the facility in Jacksonville where she is staying to see if it would be possible to speak with her and possibly ask her to sign a quit claim deed. They asked that we not do that because of the current condition. We do continue to mow it and a lien will be placed on the property for these expenses. A company from Champaign has paid the taxes this past year and most likely will do so for the next couple of years. We are going to have to decide, maybe at the next meeting, how we would like to move forward. Atty Jankowicz mentioned the other option was initiate a demolition suit and there are costs involved with that.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: None

NEW BUSINESS: VAC Hundley mentioned the contract Nania Energy, who worked on energy rates for us 3 years ago, will be expiring in a couple of months. She reached out to them in regards to this and they have sent us an Authorization for Energy Pricing/Procurement document to be signed. A motion was made by Trustee Freeman, seconded by Trustee Netherton to submit the Authorization for Energy Pricing/Procurement for Nania Energy to begin the process of securing energy rates for the Village accounts. Roll call vote: Trustees Netherton, Freeman, K Hood, Fisher & P Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

ENGINEER: Stephanie Brown with Chastain & Associates mentioned the SRTS work is progressing nicely and should be completed this week, weather permitted. They were able to add a couple small sections due to being under costs and not needing to do some anticipated work.

While discussing this, there was a resident who had parked on the newly completed section, so the police department will continue to monitor this to comply with Village Code, which prohibits parking on a sidewalk.

REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Trustee K. Hood, seconded by Trustee Netherton to approve the minutes of the April 17, 2023 regular meeting. Motion carried.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATIVE CLERK: Trustee Freeman moved and Trustee K. Hood seconded to approve the Balance Sheet, pay the bills and make the appropriate transfers for May 1, 2023. VAC Hundley explained some changes had been made in the Balance Sheet. Reporting of the ARPA funds had to be completed by April 30, 2023, and part of the funds had already been designated for the purchase of the police vehicle. It was suggested by Trustee Oakley to report the remaining funds ($99,997.72) for the water main infrastructure, as Village funds will be needed for this project at some point. While those funds are currently included in the General Fund balance of Illinois Funds, it is being shown as assigned to Water Reserve Infrastructure. The payments for the USDA loans were shown on the balance sheet, which were withdrawn from the account today. There was a question involving the AirGas invoice for the cylinder they said was a loss due to damage. Trustee Hackl had requested it be discussed but since he’s not present, VAC Hundley mentioned the AP invoice for AirGas in the amount of $418.92. Trustee Hackl was going to try to talk with AirGas in regards to the invoice and/or how we were to proceed going forward for their materials. In regards to the invoice from Anderson Ford, it was explained why it was a little higher than originally approved. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees P. Hood, K. Hood, Freeman, Netherton & Fisher. No - none. Motion carried.

VAC Hundley asked to talk with the Board in regards to outstanding ordinance violations. She asked Atty Jankowicz to recall the one mentioned a couple meetings ago, which had been taken to court, but still nothing had been paid and there might not be anything the village can do until she turns 18. This person was issued another citation last week and it’s anticipated it won’t be paid either. If it is unpaid, Atty Jankowicz felt it should also be taken to court.

VAC Hundley continued to mention a resident who was issued 3 citations last summer for animal control violations. These citations were not paid, therefore doubled and were turned over to Midwest Credit for collection. So far, nothing has been remitted to the Village for these citations and last week, another citation for the same code violation was issued. It is likely, they won’t make their payment for this citation. How does the board want to proceed? Should this latest citation also be turned over to Midwest Credit or turn everything over to Atty Jankowicz to begin the process of taking them to court? Trustee Hood asked what would happen if the dogs were caught and taken to Animal Control. Would they have to remit the payment for the Village citations before the animals are released? It was answered, Animal Control would not know about these citations. A motion was made by Trustee K. Hood and seconded by Trustee Netherton to proceed with court proceedings. Chief Wheeler asked if the Village would still be able to enforce the code since the other tickets were over a year old. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Netherton, Fisher, P. Hood, K. Hood, & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

FINANCE: Trustee P. Hood didn’t have anything. Mayor Riley is wanting to talk to all the trustees in regards to changing committees around. He has talked with Pam in regards to chairing the Finance, but needs to get others appointed.

BUILDING: Trustee Netherton reported he had Cindy send out a couple letters.

POLICE: Trustee Fisher didn’t have anything.

Chief Wheeler presented the April monthly report. He has also been cleared from light duty.

SEWER: Trustee Hackl was absent. Mayor Riley asked DPW Allen if anything had been determined about using an alternative product instead of Airgas. Nothing has been determined and we should be good until mid-spring as long as the air lines are not plugged. IRWA is supposed to be here Wednesday, so he will ask him.

STREETS: Trustee Hood didn’t have anything. Mayor Riley asked him about gravel for the oil/chip this summer. The Village is going to get it from the Township. He’s working on the price.

WATER: Trustee Freeman didn’t have anything.

PUBLIC WORKS: DPW Allen reported the pump at the lift station had gone out. Mayor Riley asked about the JULIE locates and if they were for RISE. No, they are still for this fiber company who has been working.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY: Atty Jankowicz reported he didn’t have anything to report other than Mr. Rusty Simpson has paid all the fines and costs from the 2015 and 2021 citations.

OTHER AND/OR OLD BUSINESS: None.

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

The meeting adjourned at 6:10 p.m.

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