February 3, 2025

Call to order at 7:00 pm by President Mat. Members answering roll call, President Mat, Tom Smargiassi, Angie Niehaus, Mike Tichler, Kirk Knoup, Dean Wright, Tim Martens, Jamie Melville, and Cheryl Liebenstein.

The minutes from the January meeting were reviewed and accepted without dissent, by Angie. Second by Tom. Motion Carried.

Tim made a motion to pay all bills as presented, except for the Motorola bill, which needs clarification.  Motion second by Kirk.  Motion carried.

Tim made a motion to approve the treasurer report as presented. Second by Dean. Motion carried.

No transfer of funds needed.

Maintenance Report

No report

Visitor

John Costello was present to speak with the board regarding the walking paths at Mill Pond. John obtained a quote for the Lion’s Club to help install a walking path from Rt 73 to Mill Pond including the circle area. The quote came in at $42,485.00 from Helm. Helm would like to reassess this after the spring thaw, The Lion’s Club and the Village board will need to discuss this and check for any grants which may help cover cost. The Lion’s Club has not committed to this but feel they could contribute with cost and/or labor.

FINANCE/TIF FINANCE

WATER/SEWER

Mike reported there is one home for water shutoff and about five more for notices. He feels we need to follow through quicker on the shutoff notices. The board discussed penalty options for shutoffs. Suggested that instead of a turn on fee the resident would have to pay the remaining balance plus 2 months in advance on water fees. The committee will bring suggestions to the board for the March meeting.

STREETS/ALLEYS/LIGHTS/SIDEWALK

Dean will look at spring street maintenance. He feels there is not much for repair that needs done. Summit street has several potholes that need to be looked at. Dean will get copies of sidewalk ordinances that we can make changes to and use to update our current ordinance.

BUILDINGS/GROUNDS

Rob has a list of tractor mowers. The committee would like to see if any of the dealers will give us a trade in and at what price. We will wait for the final numbers and decide at the March meeting.

The committee would like to close the campground for the winter months. There is too much risk with frozen hydrants and electrical costs continue to rise. Motion was made by Kirk to close the campground to all campers from November 1 to April 1 beginning in 2025. Motion second by Tim.  Motion carried. Cheryl will add a notation to the ordinance book.

CEMETERY

Rob will need to replace the hydrant that froze at the cemetery. Rob noted there are several gravestones that are leaning and there is no family left in the area to address the issue with.  He would like permission to fix these before they completely fall over. Permission granted.

POLICE

Tom reported that the graphics for the squad are in the works. We are still working to get the body camera footage uploaded and stored on the secure cloud. We have the dock which is in the office for now. No video can be viewed from the body cameras.

Continue looking into ordinances for junk storage that can be adapted for a village ordinance.

LIQUOR

Tom made a motion to approve a Special Use Liquor permit for Little John’s Tap for the Fireman’s Dance to be held April 26th. Motion second by Dean.  Motion carried.  

Old Business

President Mat stopped by Toni McCombie’s Meet and Greet at the library. The biggest issue discussed was the elderly being concerned that phone landlines would no longer be an option for them. There was also discussion regarding immigration.

New Business

IDOT will be hosting a Meet and Greet session February 18th.  President Mat and Rob will be attending.

Tim made a motion to donate $100.00 to Pearl city Post Prom.  Motion second by Angie.  Motion carried.

Motion to adjourn at 7:50 by Kirk.  Second by Tom. Motion carried.

Attest: Cheryl Liebenstein, Village Clerk