Macon Reporter

Village of Warrensburg Village Board met June 20.

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, June 20, 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 Hackl, Trustee K. Hood, & Trustee P. Hood. Also present were Chief Wheeler, DPW Allen, Atty Jankowicz & VAC Hundley. Trustee Netherton was absent.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mayor Riley welcomed all in attendance to the meeting. He gave an update on the fiber installations. The company currently working is RISE Fiber. Conxxus has come back into town to run the fiber through the sheathing. He mentioned the pricing as noticed on Facebook and via mailings.

He mentioned he received today, a resolution and agreement from Moran Economic in regards to 121 Coffee Run. It needs to be reviewed and formatted by our attorney prior to being presented to the board for approval. That should happen on July 3. He also received an application from The Perfect Pair, which will be sent to Moran for review.

Mayor Riley mentioned that since Cindy lost her Mother on Mother’s Day, it was the consensus of the board to plant a tree in her yard in memory of her mother but it’s not conducive now to plant a tree. Hopefully, that can be taken care of this fall.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mr. Hawkins asked who was going to serve as Mayor Pro-tem and Mayor Riley stated one has not been appointed yet. He is working on it. Mr. Hawkins also asked what the curfew was and if there was a problem with it. Chief Wheeler stated there is a curfew and it is enforced when necessary. Mayor Riley asked him what those curfew hours were. 15 and under have a curfew of 10:00 p.m. daily; 15 – 17 have a curfew of 11:00 p.m., Sunday thru Thursday and 12:00 midnight, Friday & Saturday.

Jeannie Mayfield, who lives at 248 E Hamilton, was in attendance. She thanked the Mayor for the curfew explanation and stated she has video of kids in her neighborhood all the time and knows Chief can’t always be available. She asked again to have something done about the people burning things other than yard waste. She has video of someone on N. Main St who, for 3 days, were burning green grass and wood chips. She asked why citations weren’t issued. She stated there is a stink of burning garbage at all times.

Trustee Hackl responded the Village Code states “no unattended fire after dark” and he knows at least one was unattended and he called the apartment owner.

Dana Daugherty-Dennis of 147 N Lincoln asked if anything had been found or drafted for her to complete to request the vacation of alley(s). VAC Hundley asked if she could answer this question and stated she had not been able to find anything in the Village files after the last meeting before going on vacation and since returning, the office has been very busy. She was able to locate some templates other cities have used but has not had a chance to draft it into something usable for Warrensburg. Dana stated she wondered if the Village had a point of contact for the church. She has contacted the realtor but has not heard back from them. She would like to work something out ahead of the sale. Trustee Hood mentioned he knew the Batchelder’s were involved and Trustee Hackl mentioned she needs to talk with Cloyd Thomas. He asked for her phone number and he will pass it along to Mr. Thomas.

NEW BUSINESS: There was none.

ENGINEER: Luke Kirby with Chastain & Associates presented a SRTS Amendment, which shows the original division of costs. It indicates the request for additional federal funds to cover the costs and removes the Village’s obligation of $6,921.50 unless the construction engineering costs go over $45,000.00, which are no where near that amount. A motion was made by Trustee Freeman, seconded by Trustee K. Hood to approve the SRTS amendment. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Fisher, P. Hood, Hackl, Freeman & K. Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

The MFT bids for oil & chip will be opened on June 27 and will be available to be awarded at the next board meeting, July 3.

REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Trustee K. Hood, seconded by Trustee Freeman to approve the minutes of the June 5, 2023 regular meeting. These should have been received via email last week for review. 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 June20, 2023. VAC Hundley mentioned there will be a transfer from the IL Funds to General & Police Protection. She mentioned the bills weren’t anything unusual other than the invoice for Birkey’s. Trustee Hackl asked if bids were obtained to repair the backhoe. It was mentioned there were provisions in the policy for specialized products and Trustee Hackl asked why the valve wasn’t considered “specialized”? If 3 quotes needed to be obtained for it, why aren’t the same procedures followed for everything? Mayor Riley asked why we transfer from IL Funds to the Police checking account and it was explained the monies that go into that particular IL Funds account are for Sales Tax; Income Tax; Use Tax, etc. That’s where the State of IL deposits them and the Village has the discretion as to where those taxes are used. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Freeman, K. Hood, Fisher, & P. Hood. No – Trustee Hackl. Motion carried.

FINANCE: Trustee P. Hood didn’t have anything.

BUILDING: Trustee Netherton was absent. Mayor Riley mentioned one of the persons who had received a letter regarding their property has repaired the front porch and even added a balcony. Looks very nice.

VAC Hundley mentioned the home on S. Durfee, just south of the park, has received numerous letters in regards to the state of their property and they called to let the Village know they may have the house sold. They are trying to determine who has paid the taxes for the prior year. Trustee Hood mentioned the home on E Main with a damaged garage. The garage is down and the current renters have nicely stacked the concrete blocks into a retaining wall. Trustee Fisher asked about the home at 235 W Warren. No letter has been sent recently to him.

POLICE: Trustee Fisher moved & Trustee Freeman seconded to go into closed session at the end of the meeting to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of an employee pursuant to 5ILCS 120/2 (c)(1). Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees K. Hood, Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

Chief Wheeler didn’t have anything.

SEWER: Trustee Hackl deferred to DPW Allen regarding a couple brackets which are holding electrical stuff that needs welding at the lift station at the sewer plant. There are 2 different ways it can be repaired: to keep it under $500, just weld something onto it. The other way would be $1,100 or $1,200 and then have an electrician come in and take care of the panel. It was suggested to put the L brackets on it.

We are still waiting on the parts to repair the valve.

STREETS: Trustee Hood mentioned he had obtained a written proposal from Illini Township for the CA-16 for the oil/chip project. It will be $21.00 a ton for whatever is used.

WATER: Trustee Freeman didn’t have anything. He is having Terry look at macros and pipe fittings to make sure we have items on hand. No prices for anything yet.

Trustee K. Hood asked what was being done regarding the older water tower and Trustee Freeman mentioned we were going to let it go until it began having issues, at which time, it will be taken out of service.

PUBLIC WORKS: DPW Allen didn’t have anything.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY: Atty Jankowicz presented the FY24 Appropriation Ordinance #787. The one thing that is slightly different from the budget is the TIF section. Since the budget was prepared prior to any requests for TIF funding, there wasn’t much shown in the budget for expenditures. If the board would look at page 4, the appropriation was listed at $97,000.00. He’s not saying that the board is agreeing to pay out those funds, that’s just the maximum that could be spent without having to amend the ordinance. The total found on page 5 is $1,649,680.00. A motion was made by Trustee Freeman, seconded by Trustee K. Hood to approve Ordinance #787, FY24 Appropriation. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood, K. Hood, & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

The questions for the Rise Fiber agreement have been forwarded to Rise management.

Atty Jankowicz stated that in the past, the Village has some negotiations with Illini Township with the PPRT tax. When the State of IL stopped sending those funds directly to the municipalities, the Village set up an arrangement with the Township to reimburse the Village for a portion of those funds. The State of IL has sent a letter to one of his municipal clients stating they were going to recalculate how they were going to do the PPRT.

OTHER AND/OR OLD BUSINESS: Mayor Riley wanted to talk about the burn ordinance. He asked Chief Wheeler what needed to be done and confirmed that anything that grows in your yard can be burned. Chief agreed and stated the code also mentions recreational burning or bonfires. Chief stated he did talk with the subject who was burning the wood chips and they put it out. But everyone knows they do smolder and rekindle. He suggested they contact the Village about removing the remaining chips when they are done with them.

He stated he and his department don’t automatically issue a citation but if it is a constant problem, they do issue a citation. The officers have discretion.

Mayor Riley asked if communities ever put anything on the ballot that would allow the citizens to vote on a burn ban.

Trustee P. Hood understands where the citizens are coming from on the burning and that nothing is being done. She asked Chief Wheeler if written warnings are issued and if there is a procedure they follow for verbal, written then a citation issued. Atty Jankowicz asked if a written response could be given to the citizen to let her know her concerns are being addressed.

Mr. Hawkins asked what a TIF district was. Mayor Riley explained when it was formed and how it is funded.

The board moved into closed session at 6:32 p.m.

The board reconvened into open session at 7:06 p.m.

A motion was made by Trustee Fisher, seconded by Trustee Hackl to hire a new full-time police officer with the salary & benefits as discussed and increase the Chief of Police compensation as discussed. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood, K. Hood & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

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

The meeting adjourned at 7:09 p.m.

The next meeting will be on Monday, July 3, 2023.

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