Chambana Sun

The Thomasboro Village Board of Trustees met June 6 to discuss the clean up of a property on Park Street.

Here are the meeting's minutes, as provided by the village:

Thomasboro Village Board of Trustees Regular Board Meeting June 6, 2016

Thomasboro Village Hall 101 W. Main Street, Thomasboro, Illinois

A Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Thomasboro was held on Monday, June 6, 2016, President Brad Morris presiding. President Morris called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

Roll Call The Village Clerk called the roll, finding the following members physically present: Village President Brad Morris; and Trustees Jeff Robertson, Anthony Grilo, Kyle Henegar, Anna Martin, and Mickey Wilson. Trustee Dustin Rhodes was absent.

Other Village officials present: Keith Willis, Chief of Police; Leon Albers, Treasurer; Tyler Martin, Public Works Superintendent; Rosanna Walton, Office Manager; Laurel Zook, ESDA Coordinator; and Jeremy Reale, Village Clerk.

Pledge of Allegiance Following roll call, the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

Discussion/Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting Trustee Grilo moved to approve the minutes of the May 2, 2016 regular meeting, as prepared. Trustee Robertson seconded the motion. Motion carried, all present voting “aye”.

Presentation of Bills Following review and discussion of the monthly bills, Trustee Grilo moved to approve the payment of the bills listed and the regular bills yet to be received. Trustee Wilson seconded the motion.

The Village Clerk called the roll:

YEAS: Robertson, Grilo, Henegar, Martin, and Wilson – 5 NAYS: None – 0 ABSENT: Rhodes – 1 Motion carried by roll call vote of 5 to 0, with 1 member absent.

Committee Reports

Police & Safety: Chair Martin presented the monthly activity reports. Chief Willis followed up on the status of the Park Street property discussed at the previous meeting. He reported that the property had been cleaned up substantially; however, there were still structural issues with the house that would need to be addressed. At this point, the property owner was trying to raise the necessary funds to fix the roof and make other required repairs to the house. Chief Willis noted that the department must have a written complaint on file in order to proceed with any legal action against the homeowner. Once the complaint process was initiated, Village ordinances required an inspection of the property with a list of deficiencies that must be corrected by a specified date. President Morris reported that he had discussed with the attorney the status of the two nuisance properties at 501 W. Frederick and 702 W. Morris. A court hearing would be held in two weeks and, assuming the Village’s action to claim the deeds in uncontested, the Village should expect to receive the deeds to the properties at that time so demolition and remediation could commence.

Personnel: No report.

Building Permit & Liquor License: No report.

Health, Sanitation & Public Relations: Chair Grilo reported that the dumpsters had been filled by 9:00am on the date of the community cleanup. The Village had collected over $400.00 in freewill donations for that project, along with roughly $52.00 in proceeds from scrap metal recycling.

Waterworks & Sewer: No report.

Streets & Alleys: Mr. Martin reported that he was interested in resurfacing asphalt in the 400 block of West Main Street; however, in order to utilize Motor Fuel Tax funds for the project, it would need to go through engineering design and a formal bid process. Based on preliminary figures, he estimated that the total project cost would come in around $30,000.00. Trustee Grilo suggested that the project should also include drainage improvements in the Shurbet Street area.

Trustee Grilo moved to approve soliciting bids for the resurfacing of Main Street and Shurbet- area drainage improvements. Trustee Wilson seconded the motion. Motion carried, all present voting “aye”.

Civil Defense & Parks: Trustee Martin reported that siren testing would take place tomorrow.

Old Business

(A) Contribution to Champaign County RPC for electronic recycling program

Trustee Wilson moved to approve the annual contribution in the amount of $201.00, as requested. Trustee Grilo seconded the motion.

The Village Clerk called the roll:

YEAS: Robertson, Grilo, Henegar, Martin, and Wilson – 5 NAYS: None – 0 ABSENT: Rhodes – 1 Motion carried by roll call vote of 5 to 0, with 1 member absent.

(B) Proposals for single-hauler refuse collection services

Trustee Grilo reviewed the two proposals received during the RFP process for a single hauler to provide refuse collection and recycling services for all residential customers in the Village. Area Disposal Service Inc. had submitted a base bid of $13.39/unit for trash, recycling and semi-annual community cleanup services, with lower alternate bids to accommodate less expansive recycling programs. The first alternate of $12.99/unit would allow for an opt-in for recycling services, where a second alternate of $12.25/unit would provide for recycling drop-off at a centralized location only. The base rate offered by Republic Services would be $14.05/unit for the trash, recycling and community cleanup services specified in the RFP.

The Board discussed at length some environmental concerns raised by the Campaign to Protect the Mahomet Aquifer, including those outlined in a letter from Claudia Lennhoff on behalf of the group. Area Disposal owns the Clinton Landfill, which sits directly above the aquifer and is the primary source of drinking water for a large section of Central Illinois. Concerns over past attempts by Area Disposal to obtain permission to deposit certain toxic chemical wastes (such as MGPs and PCBs) had prompted the group to plead to Village officials to consider alternative waste haulers that would not adversely impact the aquifer. Eric Shangraw, representing Area Disposal, addressed the Board to discuss the previous request to accept PCBs at Clinton. He noted that Area had withdrawn that request to the EPA and had further entered into an agreement with local government bodies whereby no further such requests would be submitted to the EPA and the contractor would pay $1 million to Dewitt County. Representatives from Shaffer Sanitary Company were also in attendance at the meeting to discuss the possibility of offering services to Thomasboro on a Village-wide basis. As a relatively new local start- up company, Shaffer would not be able to offer each household a 96-gallon toter for trash collection; however, they were confident they could service the community for $8.00/unit monthly if residents provided their own containers. As Shaffer had not responded to the initial RFP, Mr. Reale informed the Board that it would only have the option to reject all proposals and then initiate a new RFP process to allow additional contractors to be considered. Following discussion, the consensus of the Board was to table this item until the July meeting to allow for additional time to study the options available.

New Business

(A) Ordinance No. 597, Annual Appropriations Ordinance

Trustee Grilo moved to approve Ordinance No. 597. Trustee Wilson seconded the motion.

The Village Clerk called the roll:

YEAS: Robertson, Grilo, Henegar, Martin, and Wilson – 5 NAYS: None – 0 ABSENT: Rhodes – 1 Motion carried by roll call vote of 5 to 0, with 1 member absent.

(B) Contract for annual audit services

Trustee Grilo moved to approve an agreement with Bray, Drake, Liles & Richardson for the annual audit. Trustee Henegar seconded the motion.

The Village Clerk called the roll:

YEAS: Robertson, Grilo, Henegar, Martin, and Wilson – 5 NAYS: None – 0 ABSENT: Rhodes – 1 Motion carried by roll call vote of 5 to 0, with 1 member absent.

(C) Appointment of Plat Committee

President Morris announced the appointment of Trustees Grilo, Robertson, and Henegar to serve on the Plat Committee, as required by the Subdivision Ordinance. This group would conduct a public hearing on a variance request filed by the Thomasboro Fire Protection District on Tuesday, July 5 at 6:30pm.

Comments and Questions from the Audience A resident inquired if the Village would be able to get the State to mow back the overgrown areas along Route 45. Mr. Martin responded that Village personnel had been trying to keep areas mowed as much as possible to improve visibility; however, they were only able to address the sections little by little. Chief Willis added that he had a contact with the Illinois Department of Transportation that he could call to follow up on this.

Jim Richardson complimented all involved with the Street Dance celebration.

Steve Martin asked if there would be a fuel surcharge associated with the single-hauler contract for trash collection. It was clarified that there would be no surcharge, as all costs would be figured into the monthly rate. It was also noted that if the Village entered into a contract with a single hauler there would be no opportunity for residents to opt-out and select another hauler.

There was considerable discussion on the community cleanup and the need to better police those hauling items to the dumpsters, as they had been completely filled by 9:00am at the most recent cleanup. Mr. Martin noted that Area Disposal would agree to have dumpsters delivered and picked up on the same day of the next cleanup, instead of leaving them set unattended for the weekend. This would reduce the opportunities for individuals – particularly those from outside of town – to drop trash off at the unsecured dumpsters.

Treasurers Report There were no comments regarding the Treasurer’s Report.

Executive Session Trustee Grilo moved to enter into Executive Session pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) 1, to consider the employment, compensation or performance of Village employees. Trustee Robertson seconded the motion.

The Village Clerk called the roll:

YEAS: Robertson, Grilo, Henegar, Martin, and Wilson – 5 NAYS: None – 0 ABSENT: Rhodes Motion carried by roll call vote of 5 to 0, with 1 member absent.

The Board entered into Executive Session at 8:22pm and reconvened at 9:16pm. President Morris then announced a brief recess. The meeting resumed at 9:22pm.

Trustee Wilson moved to authorize the following salary adjustments for part-time police department personnel: Mike Martinez - $15.50/hr; Jeff Metzler and Ryan Umberger - $15.25/hr; and Kendra Ward - $11.25/hr. Trustee Martin seconded the motion.

The Village Clerk called the roll:

YEAS: Henegar, Martin, and Wilson – 3 NAYS: Robertson – 1 ABSENT: Rhodes – 1 ABSTAIN: Grilo – 1 Motion carried by roll call vote of 3 to 1, with 1 abstention and 1 member absent.

Adjournment There being no further business to come before the Board, Trustee Grilo moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Robertson seconded the motion. Motion carried viva voce vote.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:24pm.

Respectfully submitted,

_____________________________ Jeremy A. Reale, Village Clerk

The undersigned Village Clerk of the Village of Thomasboro, Illinois, does hereby certify that the foregoing minutes are a true and correct copy of the approved minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees held June 6, 2016, as the same appears on the records of the Village now in my custody and keeping.

________________________________ Village Clerk