Macon Reporter

Village of Bethany Board of Trustees met Oct. 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The regular board meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Jonathan Book, President. The following Trustees were present; Dave Doty, Jeannie Ruppert, Zakary England, Greg McLain, Raven Allen, and Brian Gill.

Public Meeting Regarding the Exchange of 40’ x 30’ Parcel of Real Estate - This is one of the legal requirements to swap public land. No one was in attendance for or against this agreement. Trustee McLain made a motion to approve Ordinance #24-845 for the exchange of a parcel of real estate, seconded by Trustee England. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

A motion was made by Trustee Doty to approve the minutes from the September 12, 2024, regular meeting, seconded by Trustee McLain. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

A motion was made by Trustee Doty to approve the Special Meeting minutes from September 26, 2024, seconded by Trustee McLain. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

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

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

Public – None

Andrea Doty Special Use Permit - We did not receive an application. There are zoning code violations in play here. In addition to a special use permit she would also need a variance as well. The Board would like Attorney Patrick Sullivan to send her a letter stating the violations and what actions need to be taken.

Greg Gustafson Water Improvement Project Updates - SNC construction has finished installing water mains, most services to homes are in, boring is finished and some street patching needs completed at all locations. The list sent to them by the Village has been completed. Pay request #4 has been delayed in the amount of $299,910.43 and pay request #5 in the amount of $117,303.27 has been submitted and Mr. Gustafson recommends to release these. The Contractor is working at a new rapid pace. He would make a recommendation to change order #1 to add to the contract 30 days to account for a notice to proceed that was issued in December. That the contractor had complained about not being able to start in December. More so it is to allow the contractor to complete the hydrant replacements. They will work very closely with a subcontractor in replacing these hydrants. He would recommend the change order be approved. They are completing landscaping along the road ways. He would like to encourage people to not park in these areas. A motion was made by Trustee McLain to approve pay request #4 from SNC in the amount of $299,910.43, seconded by Trustee Doty. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried. A motion was made by Trustee Doty to approve pay request #5 from SNC in the amount of $117,303.27, seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried. A motion was made by Trustee McLain to approve a pay request for Berns Clancy in the amount of $40,036.14, seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried. A motion was made by Trustee Doty to approve the change order #1 to extend the contract for 30 days with A&R, seconded by Trustee McLain. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried. Work with Commercial Electric will be back late next week to work on wells #6 and #7. They will require the power to be off for the entire day. After this they will move into town and work on the control panel at the water plant. Work with A&R services on the detention tank. They are about to weld parts where the tank will be installed. They expect to be finished with this project the second week of November. If we are going to reuse the current detention tank foundation we will need to revamp the current contract with A&R and remove the demolition of this. The new water meters have not shipped yet and are expected to arrive sometime in November.

Possible Employment of New Utility Employee - this will be discussed in closed session

TIF Agreement with BFPD - The TIF Committee met to discuss a request from Bethany Fire Protection Dist. to help with repairs to the brush truck. The box on the truck needs to be repaired and upgraded. The truck also needs some additional electrical repairs as well. This box would be able to be put on another chassis. The TIF Committee motioned to approve an agreement in the amount of $55,000. A motion was made by Trustee McLain to approve an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Bethany Fire Protection District in the amount of $55,000, seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

Tree Cutting Service - Village Manager Shannon Risley has been trying to get bids on services to come and trim around power lines. We have several trees that our bucket truck will not reach. He did get a quote from RML Utility Solutions for $14,000 per week for a three-man crew with a foreman. He is asking permission to have them come in and help take care of these trees. There is money for this in the Electric Dept. fund to cover this cost. The Ordinance for putting out bids can be overruled by a ⅔ vote of the Village Board or if it is declared an emergency. A motion was made by Trustee Allen to waive contemplative bidding for line clearance tree trimming with RML Utility Solutions, seconded by Trustee Doty. Roll call taken: Ruppert-yes; England-yes McLain-No; Allen-yes; Doty-yes; motion carried.

Reports – Village Manager Shannon Risley, TIF Committee,

Correspondence – None

Committee Meeting Dates – None

A motion was made by Trustee Allen to enter into Executive Session to discuss personnel, seconded by Trustee Doty. Roll call taken, all ayes, motion carried.

A motion to return to Open Session was made by Trustee McLain , seconded by Trustee Ruppert. Voice vote taken, all ayes, motion carried.

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

https://www.villageofbethany.com/documents/116/MINUTES_10-10-2024.pdf