Macon Reporter

Here are the minutes provided by the May 6.

Here is the agenda provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: Village President Hackl called the meeting to order at the Warrensburg Village Hall on Monday, May 6, 2024 at 5:30 p.m., reminding everyone the meeting was being recorded.

THE PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE was recited.

ROLL CALL: Present: Village President L. Hackl, Trustees P. Hood, B. Netherton, K. Hood, and D. Fisher. S. Freeman arrived after Roll Call. Also present were Chief Wheeler, Atty Jankowicz, DPW T. Allen & VAC Booth.

MAYOR’S COMMENTS: AVP Hackl read a letter from Illinois State Senator Sally Turner expressing gratitude for hosting her mobile office hours at the Hall.

AVP Hackl discussed the letter that he wrote to Village residents regarding the recent storm and clean-up efforts and read a brief thank you from one of our residents.

Main Street in front of DaBurg Bar & Grill will be closed from 11 AM to 7 PM on Saturday, May 11, 2024 for the Fun Run, the Post Office will still be accessible. There will be a ground breaking for the Stage before the Fun Run Golf Ball Drop at 5 PM. Tickets are being sold now for the Golf Ball Drop. The Village Clean-Up Day and the Special Olympics will also be held on this day.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: Mr. Hawkins questioned when the water pipes will be replaced from the Grant. Stephanie from Chastain Engineering said that the actual amount has not been announced yet. Mr. Hawkins also asked about the recent TIF Ordinances and how the awarded amounts are determined. Attorney Jankowicz answered that it was not a legal question but rather a Board decision based upon fund availability and what would be accomplished by the dollar amount committed as well as the benefit to the Village and community. The amounts will vary depending upon the specifics of each application.

NEW BUSINESS: None

ENGINEER: Stephanie Brown, Chastain Engineering, stated that she will have a plan to discuss at the next meeting and encouraged everyone to attend the Groundbreaking on Saturday, May 11.

REVIEW/APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Trustee Fisher, seconded by Trustee Netherton to approve the minutes of the April 15, 2024 regular meeting. Motion carried.

A motion was made by Trustee Netherton, seconded by Trustee K. Hood to approve the minutes of the April 15, 2024 closed session meeting. Motion carried.

VILLAGE ADMINISTRATIVE CLERK: Trustee Freeman moved and Trustee Netherton seconded to approve the balance sheet, pay the bills and make the appropriate transfers for

May 6, 2024. VAC Booth explained that the USDA Loans for the Water Bond Debt were automatically deducted from that Illinois Funds account and the payroll amount was estimated due to the increase in salaries to be voted upon in the closed session this evening.

Roll Call Vote: Yes – Trustees K. Hood, Freeman, Netherton, Fisher, P. Hood, and Hackl.

No – none. Motion carried.

FINANCE: Trustee P. Hood told the Board that the Budget sheets will be due at an earlier date next year. Trustee P. Hood made a motion to approve the 2025 Budget, seconded by Trustee Freeman.

Roll Call Vote: Yes – Trustee Netherton, Freeman, K. Hood, Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

Trustee P. Hood discussed that there will be a new line entry on our Bills and Transfers sheet that will show the Windfarm Funds. The money will remain in the Illinois Funds General account but this new line item will show the amount received from the Windmill Franchise each year and how it was utilized. She noted the beginning balance will be $32,154.60 (the total amount received in 2021 and 2022), and that it is supposed to be used for the betterment of the community.

Trustee P. Hood recommended that the Board approve the TIF Ordinance 799 for DaBurg for the full amount of $38,865. A question was asked regarding who owned the building and was that separate from the owner of the DaBurg business. Yes, the building is owned by MWAA Inc.

Trustee P. Hood made a motion that the Board approve the Ordinance 799 with MWAA Inc. for the full amount of $38,865.00, seconded by Trustee Netherton.

Roll Call Vote: Yes – Trustees Hackl, P. Hood, Fisher, Netherton, Freeman and K. Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

The TIF application regarding the apartments behind the Dollar General was also discussed. Trustee P. Hood said that they were asking for a large amount of money (almost $200,000) but the Financial Committee would recommend awarding a set amount of $10,000 to that Corporation. Attorney Jankowicz will draft an Ordinance for the next meeting.

John Oakley asked if the Village had a formula to show how the TIF funds have been disbursed and utilized. A discussion followed regarding the annual reports for TIF funding and the use of before and after pictures on our website and other avenues.

A motion was made by Trustee P. Hood to go into Closed Session after Old Business to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of an employee pursuant to 5ILCS 120/2 (c)(1). Seconded by Trustee K. Hood.

Roll Call Vote: Yes – Trustees K. Hood, Freeman, Netherton, Fisher, Hackl and P. Hood. No – none. Motion carried.

BUILDING: Trustee Netherton discussed the 3 bids for pressure washing, painting and repairing the maintenance building behind Village Hall. The Building committee recently met to review each bid and have determined their recommendation. Trustee Netherton made a motion to accept the bid from Mike Costello to clean, repair and paint the maintenance building for the amount of $20,800, seconded by Trustee Freeman. A discussion followed regarding the pending insurance claim for storm damage on the buildings, and if the police building will also be included in this project.

Roll Call Vote: Yes – Trustees Freeman, K. Hood, Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood and Netherton. No – none.

Motion carried.

POLICE: Chief Wheeler presented his monthly report

SEWER: The property at 286 Roosevelt was discussed. The owner would like to connect to the sewer without annexation. Trustee Hackl made a motion that the owner be allowed to connect to the sewer at his expense without annexation by the Village, seconded by Trustee K. Hood. Discussion followed regarding the benefit to the Village, whether other properties would also have to be annexed, and the intended use of said property (business or residential).

Roll Call Vote: No – Trustees Netherton, Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood, K. Hood and Freeman. Yes – none.

Motion failed. Trustee Hackl will invite him to the next meeting to discuss further action.

SEWER: (Cont.) Trustee Hackl stated that the Village has a daily spending allotment of $500, which doesn’t make sense in today’s economy. He would like to discuss raising that amount in the event of an emergency, without the need of Board approval. It was tabled until the next meeting so that each Committee Chairman can review the existing policy for their department.

Trustee Hackl mentioned that a set of Village keys had been lost, so he contacted Atlas Locks for an estimate on replacing the locks on all of the Village buildings. It was determined that this was an emergency situation. Trustee Hackl made a motion to have Atlas Locks re-key all of the buildings in the amount of $757.00, seconded by Trustee Netherton. The work will be done immediately.

Roll Call Vote: Yes – Trustees K. Hood, Fisher, Hackl, P. Hood, Freeman and Netherton.

STREETS: Trustee K. Hood has obtained bids for blacktopping and asphalting some roads and a sidewalk that is buried on Washington Street. He will table those bids until the next meeting so that he can review all of them first.

Trustee K. Hood discussed the need for speed bumps within the Village. He stated that they can cost between $3,000-$6,000 depending upon the material used. A discussion followed regarding where to place the speed bumps, any liability that the Village might have, cities that have successfully implemented the bumps, the need for a traffic survey and the repair and updating of the speed machines that the Village already owns.

WATER: Trustee Freeman stated that the 2 new computers at Village Hall need the Microsoft Office Licenses but he did not think that it was necessary to migrate all of the Village emails, as the previous quote from Decatur Computers suggested. We will purchase 2 licenses that should not exceed $100.

PUBLIC WORKS: DPW Allen discussed the repair of the pump at the Lift Station and the need to have a back-up pump. There was also a discussion regarding the daily maintenance and inspection of the equipment.

VILLAGE ATTORNEY: Attorney Jankowicz briefly discussed the rules and regulations for solar panels and/or solar farms. He said most municipalities do not have many regulations regarding solar energy as it is very costly to develop. The topic arose because AVP Hackl would like to be proactive in foreseeing potential issues.

OTHER AND/OR OLD BUSINESS:

Moved into Closed Session at 7:50 PM.

Reconvened to Open Session at 8:40 PM

Trustee P. Hood made a motion to approve the wage increases as well as the pension increase as discussed in Closed Session, seconded by Trustee Freeman.

Roll Call Vote: No – Trustees Hackl, Fisher Yes – Trustees Netherton, P. Hood, K. Hood, and Freeman. Motion carried.

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

The meeting adjourned at 8:46 PM

The next regular meeting will be on Monday, May 20, 2024 @ 5:30 PM.

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