Chambana Sun

Village of Bismarck Board of Trustees Met Nov. 17.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

1. At 6:31 p.m. in the Village office located at 106 E. Holloway, Bismarck, Illinois, President Brown opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.

2. Roll call was taken by the Clerk. Board members present were Trustees Jane Cress (virtual), Terry Light, Kris Kizer, Mary Potter, Sheila Switzer, Karel Volpert, President Mike Brown, Treasurer Adam Muehl and Clerk Brandye Kizer. A quorum was established.

3. Approval of agenda for November 17, 2020 was made on a motion by Karel Volpert, and seconded by Trustee Sheila Switzer. The motion passed by acclamation.

4. Public Comments/Questions: None

Village of Henning Mayor Mr. Troy Wolfe was in the audience this evening. He discussed that the Village of Henning may be interested in the Christmas C7 bulbs and light fixtures if the Village of Bismarck was thinking of getting rid of them. He also informed that the Village of Henning has been able to hire a police officer to patrol their Village and they have funds to pay for this service. Mayor Wolfe wanted to let the Village of Bismarck know that if they were interested in pursuing a joint agreement for patrol services, the Village of Henning would be open for discussion, if they would like to collaborate in the future on police patrol. The patrol officer is currently patrolling between 50-70 hours a month. The Village of Bismarck has had discussions on the need to increase police patrol, especially with enforcement of ordinances. This is something the Bismarck Village Board would like to discuss further next month and asked that the item be placed on the agenda.

5. President’s Comments: President Brown welcomed everyone to the Village Meeting. President Brown stated it has been a busy month. He discussed that the Village had a tree fall down across Chicago Ave. President Brown, Eric Nesbitt and Sam Claypool cleaned it up within an hour and half. Trustee Terry Light thanked Sam for his help and assistance.

6. Trustee Karel Volpert asked about a section on the minutes for the October 14th, 2020 meeting that in section 6 there was a statement about COVID-19. That statement needs to be removed. Approval of the Minutes for Special Board Meeting held on October 14, 2020, was made on a motion by Trustee Karel Volpert and seconded by Trustee Sheila Switzer. Motion passed by acclamation.

Trustee Karel Volpert stated that she had spoken to Mr. Doug Toole at the Health Department and with the increase in Covid cases in the county, he was busy and was unable to make it to the Village meeting on October 20th, 2020 as he had planned. Approval of the Minutes for Regular Board Meeting held on October 20, 2020, was made on a motion by Trustee Terry Light and seconded by Trustee Mary Potter. Motion passed by acclamation.

7. Treasurer Adam Muehl presented Treasurer’s report. Treasurer Adam Muehl stated that the bills for this month are all usual bills. He had received a bill from Trigard signs for the Village Banners in the amount of $480.00. The majority of the bills paid out this month are for regular and recurring bills. Treasurer Adam Muehl reported that the Post office box annual fee was paid for $56.00.

Treasurer Adam Muehl reported that the transfer for $8,150.33 has been posted as of November 2, 2020. The November transfer needed will be $10,766.05.

Trustee Terry Light made a motion to approve treasurer’s report and bills, with a second by Trustee Kris Kizer, to approve the Treasurer’s Report and pay the bills as presented. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

Treasurer Adam Muehl reported that the account balances as of 11/17/2020 are as follows: New General Fund is $142,266.14; Old General Fund $19,016.38; Motor Fuel Fund $22,009.63 and TIF $45,165.41.

Treasurer Adam Muehl discussed that he needs approval to transfer $10,766.05 from Old General Fund to the New General Fund. Trustee Kris Kizer made a motion to approve, with a second by Trustee Sheila Switzer, to approve the transfer of funds as presented. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

8. Correspondence: None

9. Reports of committees and assignments

a. Public Works

i. President Brown discussed having basins cleaned in the Village. President Brown stated that Troy Drennan came in and they went through 19 basins. Four basins were clean and the rest cleaned out. There was an issue found with a basin on Chicago and Holloway, drain-pipe that is going to the Northeast side has shifted, so water is going through, but if any leaves or brush gets in there, it will clog the drainage. President Brown stated they went through all the basins from the old candy shop to Illinois and back to Chicago. If there were basins that were clear, they did not do anything with them. There was a basin that had huge rocks that plugged the basin up. Trustee Karel Volpert inquired how much it was costing to clean basins out, and President Brown stated that it was $250.00 an hour and he thought it took them about 4 hours. He has not received the bill as of yet but is estimating it is under the approved $1500.00.

Trustee Sheila Switzer asked how many more need to be done and President Brown stated that they will be looking at that now that these basins have been cleaned. Trustee Karel

Volpert wanted clarification that the allotted $1500 was a one-time agreed upon amount or if it was monthly. Clerk Brandye Kizer clarified that President Brown was approved to spend

$1500 one time and he will have to come back to the Board for additional approval.

ii. President Brown stated Sam Claypool is here to discuss his quotes for improvements. Sam Claypool discussed that his quote is for grading and applying grass seed for the alley off of South St. Sam Claypool gave a quote for a total of $630.00 with $500.00 in labor for his services and $130.00 of it for grass seed and straw that will be billed to the village for the alley repair. President Brown stated that the funds would be from MFT funds.

Trustee Kris Kizer made a motion to approve up to $630.00 for alley repair, with a second by Trustee Sheila Switzer. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

iii. Sam Claypool discussed the pot holes on Charlesworth and he discussed that after his review, he noticed there is a curb that is busted up and the school busses keep running it over because of the tight fit. He stated for the price of fixing a pothole he can cut out the pothole plus fix the other 3 or 4 other potholes in that area. Sam Claypool stated that the area is getting more traffic with the new route for the buses and cars for school pickup. He would recommend taking out the curb and filling it in and this would help the busses and cars from rutting out the corner, which will continue to need to be fixed, if left alone. He stated to fix that whole area it would be $272.00 for BAM and $600.00 for him to remove the curb, plus any additional fees that may be added on for additional materials or increase in pricing due to

COVID. Total quote is for $950.00. President Brown stated that the funds would be from MFT funds.

Trustee Mary Potter made a motion to approve up to $950.00 for Charlesworth potholes and curb repairs, with a second by Trustee Karel Volpert. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

iv. President Brown discussed the sidewalk in front of the office that needs to be repaired. Sam Claypool discussed that for a short load of concrete he would be paying for the concrete whether it was used or not, so he was interested in seeing if the Village had any other concrete work that they would like to have done for cost savings. Sam Claypool gave a quote of $200 for sidewalk repair. President Brown stated that the funds would be from MFT funds.

Trustee Kris Kizer made a motion to approve up to $200.00 for sidewalk repairs outside of the Village office, with a second by Trustee Terry Light. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

b. Budget and Finance

i. Clerk Brandye Kizer had changed the password for the Comptroller website and that information has been given to Mr. Ed Ryan so that he can submit the Village’s Annual Financial Report. Treasurer Adam Muehl has been in contact with Mr. Ryan to ensure that he has everything he needs.

c. Health and Safety

i. New Ordinance Complaints- None

Trustee Kris Kizer stated he seen that the dumpster in the alley off of South St has been removed.

d. Ordinance

i. President Brown discussed the Storm Water Special Service Area Ordinance- President Brown and Clerk Brandye Kizer changed some of the terminology in the ordinance from “tax” to “fee” based on special meeting discussion, Trustee Karel Volpert had a question about the statement offering an incentive. President Brown stated that the Village reserves the right to offer an incentive if a resident would do something to curb rain water drainage, such as rain water barrels. The Village would discuss what incentives and what residents would need to do to get the incentive at a later time, if they so choose. The Village Board agreed that they liked this terminology better and that they would like it to be sent to Attorney Steve Miller for approval and to see if he would like any changes to be made. Clerk Brandye Kizer will send the changes to Attorney Steve Miller and copy President Brown.

e. Keep Bismarck Beautiful (KBB)-

i. Trustee Karel Volpert and Trustee Sheila Switzer discussed the six newly purchased Banners to be placed on the poles in town. Trustee Jane Cress got a good deal at Hall of Fame in Danville and came in at $480 of their $500 budget. President Brown and Maintenance Dan Wright will get them put up shortly after Thanksgiving. Trustee Mary Potter suggested to put them on the poles where there are lights so the lights will shine on them. They will be placed on the poles from the Hardware store to the old church. The KBB committee would like to look at adding more money to the budget for next year to purchase more banners.

ii. Christmas Bulbs and fixtures: The lights in the maintenance shed are not able to be used as the light fixture’s strings were cut off. The fixtures are so expensive to fix or replace. Discussion as to what the Village would like to do with the fixtures and bulbs. There is no use for the bulbs for the Village at this time and the Village Board does not see a use for them in the future. It was agreed upon by the Board to donate the bulbs to the Village of Henning.

Trustee Terry Light made a motion to donate the C7 bulbs to the Village of Henning, with a second by Trustee Mary Potter. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

Christmas Fixtures: President Brown stated that they put up about 28 fixtures last year, but there were so many that were not in good condition once they took them back down. Trustee Jane Cress discussed that there are several not suitable to be given away because they are so badly damaged. President Brown is not sure how many are out in the shed at this time. Discussed could possibly scrap them but you wouldn't get much for them. Trustee Mary

Potter made a motion to donate the fixtures to the Village of Henning, with a second by

Trustee Kris Kizer. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

iii. Trustee Karel Volpert discussed the Christmas for the Keep Bismarck Beautiful Holiday Trim and Lighting Contest. Judges have been decided and they have dates set for judging. Winners will be announced at the December Board Meeting. Greenery will be up after Thanksgiving.

f. Tax Increment Financing (TIF)

i. Ed Ryan has submitted the Village TIF audit and no concerns were noted.

g. Municipal Projects (Roads, Drainage, other improvements):

i. MFT

a. MFT Funds from Rebuild Illinois- no updates at this time.

h. Permits

i. Trustee Mary Potter inquired about whether the Leigh’s on Center put in a permit for their chicken coop. President Brown stated that they did not need one if they didn’t pour a concrete pad. It was mentioned that the pad looks like it was put on a poured concrete pad. President Brown stated he would look into that, as he was informed it was not going to be placed on a concrete pad.

10. Old Business

i. President Brown discussed the burn they were able to do with the collaboration of the Bismarck Fire Department and Ribbe. Ribbe will allow the Village of Bismarck Board to do some controlled burns 2x a year as long as they are able to follow protocols and only burn allowed items. The Village Board had Eric Johnson from the fire department with them during the burn. President Brown stated it was a successful burn.

ii. The Halloween Parade was a success. President Brown and the Board was happy with the turnout and the participation.

11. New Business

i. President Brown asked about the Christmas Parade. Trustee Jane Cress discussed it is set for December 6th at 2pm. President Brown is concerned with who is policing the vehicles being allowed. He would like to make sure they know that only street legal vehicles are allowed. The board asked if they needed anything for the parade. Trustee Jane Cress and Trustee Sheila Switzer were unsure what they needed. The Board discussed donating money for candy.

Trustee Karel Volpert made a motion to donate $100 to the Bismarck Blessings, with a second by Trustee Kris Kizer. The motion passed by roll call vote.

Jane Cress- Yea	Terry Light- Yea	Kris Kizer-Yea
Mary Potter- Yea	Karel Volpert- Yea	Sheila Switzer-Yea

ii. Clerk Brandye Kizer discussed conversations with Jared W at the State of Illinois in regards to the CURE certification. He stated that the Village could be reimbursed for police patrol services. Clerk Brandye Kizer will complete paperwork and see about reimbursement once certification is completed.

iii. A resident has approached President Brown regarding doing community service for probation. President Brown wanted to know the thoughts of the board on this matter. It was discussed that the resident would need to be with someone at all times. The Village Board felt that they wouldn’t have enough projects or supervision to allow the 300 hours needed. They felt that the resident may benefit from approaching another business or program to get their hours. This was the recommendation given to President Brown to relay to the resident at this time.

12. Date and Time of Next Meeting – The next regular meeting of the Bismarck Village Board will be held at the Village Office in Bismarck, Illinois, at 6:30 p.m. on December 15, 2020. Bills to be considered for payment and items for the agenda are to be submitted by December 8, 2020 to Village Clerk and Village Treasurer.

13. Adjournment – With no further business to come before the Board at this time, upon motion by Trustee Terry Light, with a second by Trustee Kris Kizer, the meeting was adjourned at 8:08 p.m. The motion passed by acclamation.

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