Chambana Sun

Village of Thomasboro Board of Trustees met August 7.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

A Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Thomasboro was held on Monday, August 7, 2017. President Evans called the meeting to order at 7:00pm.

Roll Call:

The Village Clerk called the roll, finding the following members physically present: Village President W. Tyler Evans and Trustees Anthony Grilo, Kyle Henegar, Anna Martin, Ronda Scott, and Trent Sage. Trustee Dustin Rhodes was absent.

Other Village officials present: Leon Albers, Treasurer; Keith Willis, Chief of Police; Tyler Martin, Public Works Superintendent; Deanne Wattjes, Office Manager; 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 July 3, 2017 regular meeting and the July 17, 2017 special meeting, as prepared. Trustee Henegar 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 Henegar seconded the motion.

The Village Clerk called the roll:

Yeas: Grilo, Henegar, Martin, Scott and Sage – 5

Nays: None – 0

Absent: Rhodes – 1

Motion carried by roll call vote of 5 to 0.

Recognition of Linda Martin for Service to the Community:

Trustee Martin presented a plaque to Linda Martin in acknowledgement of her years of service to Thomasboro as the Village’s volunteer archivist.

Committee Reports:

Police & Safety: Chair Scott discussed the monthly activity reports. The Board then discussed the process for filling the upcoming vacancy in the Chief of Police position. Chair Scott reported that she had contacted the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office to discuss cost figures to have the county handle patrolling in Thomasboro in lieu of continuing to maintain a Village police department. Based upon her conversation with CCSO, it was proposed that the County would offer the Village a contract to provide for 48 hours of coverage per week at a monthly cost of $13,000 to $14,000. Any contract with the County would not provide for the enforcement of Village ordinances. The consensus of the Board was that this would be too costly an option to pursue. President Evans suggested that any applications received for the chief position should first be screened by members of the Police and Personnel Committees before determining which candidates to bring forward for interviews with the full Board. Mr. Reale was directed to place an advertisement soliciting resumes for a full-time Chief of Police, with an application deadline of August 31, 2017. Resumes could be submitted in person during regular office hours, by mail, or electronically by email to Ms. Wattjes.

Personnel: No report.

Building Permit & Liquor License: Mr. Martin reported that he would like to see the Village’s zoning ordinance amended to provide for a minimum setback of 3 feet for fences, in order to accommodate any work that may need to be done in easement areas. An ordinance would be drafted for the Board’s consideration at the September meeting.

Health, Sanitation & Public Relations: Chair Martin reported that the Village had not yet received any requests to purchase advertising space in the quarterly newsletter. President Evans stated he would follow up with local businesses to solicit advertising in order to defray the printing and publication costs of the newsletters.

Waterworks & Sewer: No report.

Streets & Alleys: Chair Grilo reported that the Main Street resurfacing project had been completed. The resurfacing of the intersection of Pearl and Commercial had been added to the project for an additional $1,200. He noted there had been some issues with the pooling of water at the southwest corner of Main and Commercial. The contractor planned to mill out that section and resurface in order to address those issues. President Evans stated that the project engineer had estimated that the lifespan for the resurfacing work on Main Street would be expected to be 10 years without the impact of heavy truck traffic. With continued truck traffic to the grain elevator, he could not guarantee the roadwork for more than 3 to 4 years. Trustee Henegar suggested working with Premier Cooperative to develop a planned truck route to reduce traffic on Main. President Evans expressed a preference for installing signage to designate truck routes and to implement a weight restriction for vehicles on Main Street. Trustee Henegar questioned who would be responsible for enforcing the weight limits if an ordinance was to be adopted.

Civil Defense & Parks: Trustee Scott reported that the new basketball hoops were scheduled to be installed at West Side Park on August 19 at 7:00am. Any individuals interested in helping with the scheduled park improvements were encouraged to be present at that time. She also noted that monthly siren testing would be conducted the following day.

Old Business:

None.

New Business:

Trustee Grilo suggested that the Village should consider establishing permanent dates for the community garage sales and seasonal cleanup days rather than setting dates on an annual basis. Following discussion, the consensus of the Board was that spring garage sales should be held on the first weekend of May each year, with spring cleanup to follow on the second Saturday. Likewise, for the fall dates, the garage sales would be held on the first weekend in October, with cleanup scheduled for the second Saturday of the month.

Trustee Martin reported that the Thomasboro Grade School PTO was seeking volunteers to help work at the Half Century of Progress Show in Rantoul. As the PTO received funding for providing staffing at the event gates, it was important to have as many community members involved as possible. Those interested in helping were directed to contact Shelly Breymeyer at the school as quickly as possible.

President Evans announced that the Thomasboro Improvement Association would be holding a fundraiser event for the Central Avenue crosswalk project on November 4, 2017.

Comments and Questions from the Audience:

Chief Paul Cundiff of the Thomasboro Fire Protection District addressed the Board with concerns about ongoing issues with burning at a property owned by a Village official. When complaints are registered, the fire department responds to ensure that any fire is contained and does not present a danger to neighboring properties. In the most recent incident, he noted that embers from the large fire were observed falling on a neighboring property. He suggested that it would be in the best interests of the Village to tighten its burning restrictions with respect to the size of fires permitted and the type of materials allowed to be burned. He would provide sample ordinance language for the Board to consider at a future meeting.

Steve Martin asked the Board to consider when reviewing police chief applications that a period to establish residency would need to be granted. He also suggested that the Village would need to take into account the grain silos on South Commercial Street when developing any planned truck routes.

Treasurers Report:

There were no comments regarding the Treasurer’s Report.

Adjournment:

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

The meeting was adjourned at 7:50 pm.

http://thomasboro.us/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/8.7.17_Village-Board-Minutes.pdf