Macon Reporter

Village of Warrensburg Village Board met Oct. 2.

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, October 2, 2023 at 5:35 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 P. Hood& Trustee Netherton. Also present were Chief Wheeler, DPW Allen, Atty Jankowicz & VAC Hundley. Trustees K. Hood arrived around 6:15 p.m.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS: Mayor Riley didn’t have any comments at this time.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mr. Hawkins asked how many letters had been received from the public regarding the water main replacement project.

NEW BUSINESS: Phil Riddle, representing the zoning committee, was present to inform the board of the recommendation of the zoning board regarding the property at 158 – 168 E Main St. The property is currently zoned VR-3 (residential) and the buyer is asking for it to be rezoned VB-2 (business). The buyer intends to use the property as a museum and that is not currently allowed in the special uses of VR-3.

Atty Jankowicz suggests that rather than change the zoning and creating what is known as “spot” zoning, the Village Board could amend the special uses of VR-3 and add museums. Another potential issue which could arise in the future if the actual property is re-zoned to VB-2, should the museum cease to exist or the property is sold, the list of other businesses which could be brought to the Village may not be suitable for the area. The church, Mr. Jones and the neighbor to the North were all agreeable to changing the special uses for the property. In addition, should the property be sold at some point, the special use for that property would be terminated.

A motion was made by Trustee Freeman, seconded by Trustee Hackl to amend the VR zoning to include museums as a special use and to approve the application of Lyle Jones and Promise Land Ministries & recommendation of the zoning board to place a museum at that location as a special use. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Fisher, P. Hood, Hackl, Netherton & Freeman. No – none. Motion carried.

Chad Lucas & Amanda Rizzo from Sikich were in attendance to present the 2023 audit results. They had reviewed the documents in detail with Cindy & Pam Hood last week so tonight will be an overview. There are a couple of new things in the audit this year that he wants to point out. One has to do with the TIF funds. Due to the accumulation of funds over $100,000.00, state statutes require a compliance audit be conducted. They also segregated out the funds which were used for assistance funds (both the fire assistance, which should have been segregated last year and the family assistance this year). These are technically custodial funds. Some of the reports in the audit are required by the bond ordinance and the USDA.

The findings/comments in this year’s audit are pretty much the same as before. One is the segregation of duties. The other comment has to do with the ARPA funds. The submitted report indicated the funds had been obligated & expended; however, they have not. Some of the remaining ARPA funds have been committed to the water main replacement project, which is allowable for the funds. Cindy is going to talk with the agency and see about amending the report to only show these funds as obligated. The other portion of the ARPA funds in question has to do with the purchase of the police vehicle in 2022. While the ARPA funds to allow for the purchase of vehicles, they do not allow for payment of debt services. The board had talked about this at length when the vehicle was purchased and how the interest earned on leaving the funds invested was more than the interest on the loan. However, this does not comply with the regulations of the ARPA funding. It may be prudent for the board to decide to just expend the funds and payoff the loan. However, Cindy is going to check with the agency and see if this allowable since it is now a debt payment rather than an expenditure for a new vehicle purchase.

Chad Lucas continued to cover the remaining 2 documents included with the audit.

Trustee Fisher moved & Trustee Netherton seconded to approve the 2023 Audit Report. Roll call vote: Trustees P. Hood, Freeman, Netherton, Fisher & Hackl. No – none. Motion carried.

ENGINEER: Stephanie Brown from Chastain & Assoc was in attendance. She didn’t have anything for the board and asked if the board had anything for her. Mayor Riley mentioned he had asked for a meeting with the IEPA and would keep her nformed.

REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Trustee Fisher, seconded by Trustee Netherton to approve the minutes of the September 18, 2023 regular meeting. Motion carried.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATIVE CLERK: Trustee Freeman moved and Trustee P. Hood seconded to approve the Balance Sheet, pay the bills and make the appropriate transfers for October 2, 2023. There wasn’t too much to explain. Even the Accounts Payable report was fairly self-explanatory. She did not include the Direct Energy billing as there still seemed to be some crossover with Ameren. As of 4:00 pm, they hadn’t contacted us & since this report needed to be completed, it will just be held until next meeting. (Trustee K. Hood just arrived for the meeting) Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood, Freeman & Netherton. No – none. Motion carried.

VAC Hundley wanted to speak on the audit report. She had asked Chad Lucas during their phone conversation what exactly was needed for their comment in regards to an Accounting & Policy Manual. She does have procedures for the majority of her duties and has sent them to Sikich for their review and they thought these would help clarify this comment.

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

BUILDING: Trustee Netherton didn’t have anything.

POLICE: Trustee Fisher didn’t have anything.

Chief Wheeler presented his monthly report for September. Chief mentioned the body cams are in and should be in service after training this Thursday.

SEWER: Trustee Hackl had been talking with Aquafix about what is being injected into the lagoons. We might be able to use a different material which wouldn’t be as hazardous. They are still investigating the pros and cons. Mayor Riley asked how it would be cost wise and it should be less expensive.

Trustee Freeman asked if anything further had been discussed about the Decatur Sanitary District to which Trustee Hackl stated no. Trustee Hackl mentioned we are going to have to update this system regardless. Trustee Freeman questioned why we would need to update if we are going to tie into their system. Trustee Hackl stated we are going to have to be able to get our materials pumped into their system at some point. DPW Allen mentioned bearings were going out on one pump.

Mayor Riley mentioned we had received a letter from IEPA regarding failure on some of our monthly tests. He has responded to them asking for a meeting and letting them know the Village is working on a 5 – 10-year plan. He also let them know we are not an entity that has unlimited resources and would appreciate their assistance.

STREETS: Trustee K. Hood reported the lights were done in the street maintenance shed. Hutchins is supposed to begin the sidewalk work later this week.

WATER: Trustee Freeman stated the lights were also done in the water plant. The water committee had met to discuss the water tower spot painting proposals. A motion was made by Trustee Freeman and seconded by Trustee P. Hood to award the contract to KLM to paint 6 – 9 locations which has rusted for a cost not to exceed $9,880.00. Since it wasn’t an emergency, Atty Jankowicz stated it shouldn’t be discussed further since it wasn’t on the agenda. A motion was made by Trustee Freeman, seconded by Trustee P. Hood to table any further action until the meeting on October 16, 2023. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Fisher, P. Hood, Hackl, K. Hood, Freeman & Netherton. No – none. Motion carried.

PUBLIC WORKS: DPW Allen stated we are getting the water mains replaced but after that he would like to update the filter media & softening beads and there are probably rust spots inside the tank that would need to be repaired.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY: Atty Jankowicz explained why he didn’t feel the board should vote on the repainting of the water tower and why items to be voted on should be on the agenda 48 hours prior to the meeting in order to keep the public informed.

He is still working on the Rise Broadband agreement. The latest proposal didn’t specify anything about free internet services for the Village. Instead, it talked about renting 100 sq ft outside the Village Hall for $500.00 a month with a 20-year contract. However, while that sounds like a good proposal, it would put us in the same position as the space for the tower at the sewer plant. It becomes income and changes the property from tax exempt to paying real estate taxes. He wouldn’t personally recommend the adoption of this agreement.

A motion was made by Trustee Freeman, seconded by Trustee K. Hood to reject the proposed Rise Broadband agreement. Roll call vote: Yes – Trustees Hackl, P. Hood, Fisher, Netherton, Freeman & K. Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

OTHER AND/OR OLD BUSINESS: Mayor Riley mentioned there is a fundraiser for the Corn Festival this weekend. It is a golf cart fun run and is this Saturday.

Mayor Riley mentioned he will be moving October 20 to Chatham and will need to resign his position as Village President/Mayor effective October 16. It’s been a difficult decision but with the way different opportunities have fallen into place, he feels it’s the right decision, even though he had fully intended to complete his term. He went on to explain what the next steps will be for the board of trustees in a closed session on October 16.

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

The meeting adjourned at 6:52 p.m.

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