200 West Fourth Street, P. O. Box 177, Pleasant Plains, Illinois 62677(217)626-1024
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Monday through Friday
October 7, 2013
The Village Board of Pleasant Plains met in regular session on Monday, October 7, 2013, at 7:00 p.m., at the Village Hall. President Jim Verkuilen called the meeting to order and roll was recorded:
Nicholas Bodinepresent Ian Magerlpresent
William Riggins, Jrpresent Duey Blair present
JD Harrisabsent Wayne Heideman present
President Jim Verkuilen declared a quorum present.
Staff Present:Jim Verkuilen, President
Brett Keyes, Treasurer
Carl Draper, Attorney
Judy Reiser, Village Clerk
Dave Stewart, Water Superintendent
Kevin Kesselring, Chief of Police
Visitor(s): Greta Myers, Reggie Benton, Mark Sorrill, Roch Magerl
The agenda was reviewed and approved by aunanimous aye vote.
President Verkuilen asked for additions or corrections to the September 3, 2013, minutes.Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr. asked that Ian Magerl and Nick Bodine’s names be added to the minutes showing they are on the committee for updating the “Personnel Policy Manual”. Trustee Darrell “Duey” Blair made a motion to accept the minutes ascorrected. Trustee Ian Magerl seconded this motion. President Verkuilen declared the motion carried by a unanimous aye vote.
Treasurer’sreport was presented by Brett Keyes, Treasurer.Treasurer Keyes. The board reviewed the Treasurer’s report and summaryof September 30, 2013,Balance Sheet, Statement of Receipts and Disbursements of the General Fund, Receipts and Disbursements of the Special Revenue Fund, Receipts and Disbursements of the Water Fund and the Receipts and Disbursements of the Sewer Fund. It was noted that an $8,000 Illinois Finance Authority loan payment is due in November and $67,000 is due in December for IEPA Infrastructure (sewer) payment. Motion was made by TrusteeWayne Heidemanto accept the Treasurer’s Report andTrustee Ian Magerl seconded the motion.
Ayes: Nick Bodine, Bill Riggins, Jr., Ian Magerl, Darrell “Duey” Blair, Wayne
Heideman
Nays: N/A
Abstain: N/A
Absent: JD Harris
PresidentVerkuilen declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.
The Board reviewed the bills that were presented for payment. Trustee Riggins indicated Steve Dudley had reduced his carrying fees for hauling the mulch for the Village from Beardstown to Pleasant Plains and should be commended for this favor. The other Trustees agreed. Trustee Riggins also questioned the amount of Dave’s insurance premium and felt it should be reduced since he is now 65. CMS will be contacted once again for written confirmation that a premium is not reduced until the employee retires from his current employment and wants to continue coverage. At that time the reduced rate will kick in. Mayor Verkuilen will contact the Department of Insurance to verify this as well.
Trustee Darrell “Duey” Blair made a motion to pay the bills as presented. Motion was seconded by Ian Magerl.
Ayes: Wayne Heideman, Darrell “Duey” Blair, Ian Magerl, Bill Riggins,
Jr., Nick Bodine
Nays: N/A
Abstain: N/A
Absent: JD Harris
President Verkuilen declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.
Police Department: Police Chief Kevin Kesselring reportedit has been pretty quiet. A couple ordinance violations regarding, weeds/tires and loose dogs were written; suspicious vehicle complaints, etc. The Homecoming Parade went without problems and New Berlin Police were here to assist with traffic control. There were complaints of speeders on Cartwright so additional daytime hours were scheduled for Officer Wallace and Chief Kesselring to monitor this area.
The police department is in the process of filling a vacancy. According to the Village Ordinance the Board must vote on any new hires. Chief Kesselring has interviewed a strong candidate for the position however all the results of the background checks have not come in. A motion was made by Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr to give Chief Kesselring the approval to hire the current candidate in question, pending the outcome of the background checks. Trustee Darrell “Duey” Blair seconded this motion. President Verkuilen declared the motion carried by a unanimous aye vote.
A question has been asked about parking east of the bank and in front of “Salvage”. Rules state you cannot park within fifteen feet of a stop sign. Chief Kesselring will check with Greg to see what IDOT regulations are regarding possibly striping this area.
Benton and Associates:
Reggie Benton, of Benton and Associates presented information on water tower designs and price options from $1.075 million to $1.25 million. Mr. Benton stressedone of the most important factors in purchasing a new water tower is choosing the right size tower for our water needs. Recommendations would be for not less than 250,000 gallon. We will need to find out if our customers outside the village can be included in our population/financial requirements for a DECO Grant. As of October 1, 2013, their interest rate was 1.99%. IEPA has the final approval on the funding.
Mr. Benton also recognized the contributions of form Benton and Associates Vice President and engineer, John Calise, who recently passed away. “It’s a new kind of challenge, we’re trying to carry on his legacy,” Benton said of Calise.
The board discussed raising revenue for infrastructure needs by increasing the local sales tax by 1%. Attorney Draper indicated a referendum would need to be presented to the public and receive 50% of the votes on the question posed. In order to get this on the ballot by March an ordinance will need to be adopted next month and sent to the county to be put on the ballot by January. It was suggested a public meeting be scheduled to discuss the tax increase and its purpose.
Water/Sewer Department:Superintendent Dave Stewart advised overall things were going good except a problem at the water plant, i.e.,one of the high service pumps blew a hole. Brodtke was called to pull the pump to inspect and repair it for$2800. They will need to pull the second pump and replace it as well. Everything should be in good shape to face the winter months after these pumps have been replaced. Dave reports we seem to be in better shape now that this time last year.
Water Billing Issues:
Discussed“Non-Sufficient Funds”checks. It was suggested if a check is returned for “NSF” reasons there will not be a returned check fee charged to the customer. However we should present the check back to the bank 3 times if necessary. The bank will in turn be charging the customer their customary fee for each return. An ordinance will need to be adopted to enforce this action.
It was also determined if a business closes for the season and does not pay their final water bill the charges will be deducted from the deposit and the service will be disconnected. Before water service will be restored the final bill plus a $75 reconnect fee will need to be paid. If the account is paid in full then the reconnect fee will only be $10.00.
Streets Department: Greg Miles, Street Superintendent was on vacation and not present. However Trustee Darrell “Duey” Blair, Chairman of the Streets Committee presented Greg’s report. Greg and Neil have been working on the storm sewer project on Cartwright Street. Estimated cost on this project will be approximately $1,300, of which approximately $500 can be charged to MFT. They have also fixed two major tile holes on each side of West Main Street.
The bushes around the historical marker on Grant Street and Rt. 125 have been removed. Suggestions for replacement of the bushes would be to seed in grass or use some type of ornamental grass.
The teeter totter from the park was removed and will be painted and relocated closer to the other playground equipment where mulch will be laid.
Mulch has been donated to the Village by Ed Skinner. Steve Dudley has hauled the mulch at a discounted rate of $100 per load. Approximately 3 loads will be used at the park and the remaining mulch will be used on the east side of town where the redbud trees are growing.
Petersburg Plumbing & Excavating has taken care of the storm sewer problem on Douglas Street. The actual cost of $5,047.18 was much less than their original estimate. Due to the fact we were able to save patch & rock expenses by obtaining grindings at no cost. These reduced the road costs and in turn reduced the MFT costs.
There was discussion of the Village having a brush clean-up day. It was decided if residents
do not have a way to dispose of tree limbs, they could pile their branches along the street and they will be picked up at the convenience of the Street Department. This is for tree limbs only.
Old Business
Curran-Gardner Emergency Water Hook-Up -Discussion in establishing an emergency back-up water connection with Curran-Gardner Water District continue. Jim Mitchell has advised the necessary easements have been obtained except for one. It has been determined that trenching the dried creek is considerably less costly than boring. Hopefully this step can be completed within the next few weeks while the weather is dry. It can then be capped until time allows for the project to be finished.
Roch Magerl, previous trustee, voiced concerns he was having with the Electric Aggregation program and the fluctuation in Ameren’s and FirstEnergy Solution’s rates. Roch suggested the Board let residents know how they can switch back to Ameren being their supplier if they are not happy with FirstEnergy Solution. Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr. also showed FirstEnergy rates over a three month period compared to Ameren rates over the same period. According to Trustee Riggins Ameren rates were substantially lower each month. Mayor Verkuilen advised it is over a twelve month period and we would try to schedule a representative from the aggregation program to come to next month’s meeting.
Just a reminder: If a resident is not satisfied with the Electric Aggregation Program offered by FirstEnergy Solutions they can call 1-888-651-5200 Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. (EST) to opt out of the program at no cost.
Roch also applauded the work Superintendent Greg Miles was doing. Mr. Magerl expressed concern as to how some village staff is being treated by the trustees and if there is a problem it should be dealt with face to face with the employee and not in public.
Water Tower: Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr. brought in some figures towards funding a new water tower. A ¾ % sales tax increase would bring in approximately $36,000 towards a $75,000 a year payment on the purchase of a new $1.25 million water tower. All we would need is an additional $39,000 to apply towards the payment. It is Trustee Riggins’ opinion if we went to 1% there is a possibility, no guarantee, we could build a water tower without raising water rates. He is hopeful an increase in water rates could be postponed for possible upgrades to the water plant in the future. Trustee Riggins also indicates the storm sewers should be paid for in four years which would free up another $15,000 that could be used for other infrastructure like streets, curbing, etc.
Village Hall Roof Project: C.L. Campbell Construction should start replacing the village hall roof mid October.
New Business: Halloween in the Village will be for children twelve and below on Thursday, October 31st,4:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
Adjourn
There being no further business TrusteeDuey Blairmade a motion to adjourn the meeting.Trustee Wayne Heidemanseconded the motion. The motion was passed by voice vote. President Verkuilen declared the meeting adjourned at 9:30 p.m.
Submitted by,Approved by,
______
Judy Reiser, Village ClerkJim Verkuilen, President
Minutes – Village Board – Regular Session –October 7, 2013Page 1