Chambana Sun

Village of Rossville Police, Health & Safety Committee met Sept. 27.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

A quorum was established as Chairman Black and Trustees Gammon and Cornell were physically present at the committee meeting held at the Rossville Municipal Building, located at 120 East Attica Street in Rossville, Illinois. Guests present were Clerk White and Chief Greene.

Chairman Black called the meeting to order at 5:08 p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to review/approve past minutes, outstanding ordinance violations, August review of Police actions, vehicle status for auction, replacement of Officer Wimmer, Letter to MTU 13, Ride-along policy, follow up on RAID Log (rummage sales at 102 N. Chicago, grants the state is providing, ordinance for B1 building styles and standards, ordinance for change to B1 Zone allowing single family residence, residential solar array and renewable energy ordinance), status on 214 E. Attica-Sept 5 to resolve, 2 carriers…1 received, 1 on its way, FTO class…send 2 people available in MTU-12 Sept 11-14 status, body camera storage quote from AXON and review resident complaint.

Motion was made by Gammon, seconded by Cornell to dispense with the reading of the minutes dated August 14, 2023, and approve them as presented. Vote: Black, yes; Gammon, yes; Cornell, yes.

Outstanding ordinance violations: Chief Greene reviewed 15 ordinance violations for the month. All violations have been fixed except 214 E. Attica, which are being fined per day.

Trustee Black reported a political sign has been placed on the Village easement by the road around 110 Henderson. The sign needs to be placed on the homeowner’s property. Chief Greene will speak to the homeowners.

Chief Greene reviewed the police actions for the month. Trustee Black asked Chief Greene if she had the data in a spreadsheet. If so, Trustee Black could make a bar graph from the data.

Vehicle Status for Auction – Trustee Black will present a resolution at the next board meeting to authorize the sale of the KIA to a dealership.

Due to Officer Wimmer submitting her resignation, both R-A Grade School and BHRA are searching for an SRO (School Resource Officer). Clerk White has not placed an ad in the newspaper or online yet. Chief Greene reported 2 candidates are being interviewed for the BHRA position by the BHRA School Board and 2 candidates are being interviewed for the R-A Grade School position by the R-A School Board. All candidates are requesting health insurance but want to work only during the school year. The Village Board of Trustees will research if it is possible to offer health insurance only throughout the school year and not during school recess months.

Letter to MTU 13 – Chief Greene emailed a letter to MTU 13 regarding action taken against Officer Wimmer, by the Village Board, about her behavior at a training class.

Ride-A-Long Policy – Discussion continued regarding police ride-a-long policies. Trustee Gammon called Mayor Queen who reportedly said “NO RIDERS”. There are to be no riders in the cars except for police officers unless personally approved by the mayor. A written request was submitted for a resident to ride-a-long with

Officer Finley while Chief Greene was on vacation. The written request was laid on Mayor Queen’s desk. The request was not signed since Mayor Queen was also on vacation. Chief Greene stated she informed officers that there was to be no riders in squad vehicles unless the mayor approved them. Trustees Black and Gammon reminded Chief Greene that there are to be NO RIDE-A-LONGS unless the ride-a-long is a police officer or a request is signed and authorized by Mayor Queen.

RAID Log:

Grant Opportunity-Police grants come out in the Spring. The grant writers were given a list of items to watch for grants pertaining to these topics in priority order: 

1-Force Main for the Sewer

1-Replacement of Storm Sewers

1-Repair, Clean and Paint Water Tower

1-Finish Chip and Seal Streets Attica Street

1-Redo Gilbert Street Chip and Seal Gutter

1-Replace Gilbert Street Curbing

1-Replace 25 Fire Hydrants

2-Revitalize Downtown Buildings

2-Redo South Chicago Street Parking Lot

2-Update Additional Power/Boulevard Lighting

3-Alley way maintenance and repair

3-Complete ideas on pond area

3-Police flock cameras

3-Body cameras, cameras for cars and storage

Chief Greene spoke to the head of the SRO department at ILEAS. Village officers can fill in at the school as long as that is not their fulltime position until we hire an SRO. The school will pay for the overtime spent at the school.

Renewable Energy Ordinance-An ordinance is being prepared by Andy Mudd. The proposed ordinance does not allow solar farms within 1.5 miles of the Village limits unless a resolution is passed by the Village Board. Trustee Black emailed Andy Mudd to prepare ASAP as the solar farm company have been surveying. A special board meeting will be scheduled upon receipt of the ordinance.

Body camera storage – The storage is approximately $3,000 per year but that does not include Fleet. The Village would have to buy Fleet cameras and outfit every squad with them. Chief Greene suggested applying for a grant for the body cameras and storage. Chief Greene will obtain a quote for body cameras, Fleet cameras and storage for data.

Resident Complaint – A resident filed 2 complaints: 1) against Chief Greene for not filing an informational report and 2) against Superintendent Lusk for a comment that was made when Superintendent Lusk picked up the resident’s sign that was placed in the grassy area of a Village easement. The resident said he felt threatened by Superintendent Lusk and contacted Chief Greene, who responded. The resident asked for an informational report. Chief Greene stated she would consider preparing an informational report. If a report was written, it could only be retrieved if a FOIA request was filed. A FOIA request was received but no report was written as the response to the FOIA request indicated. Trustee Black suggested adding a section to ask how the complainant would like the situation resolved. Trustee Black will stop by the complainant’s residence to see what they suggest can be done.

Trustee Gammon asked how Officer Soderstrom is doing. Chief Greene reported Officer Soderstrom will be advancing to Phase 2 with Officer Finley as an FTO (Field Training Officer). Officer Soderstrom will be doing the next 2 phases with Officer McMilleon then to Chief Greene for Shadow Phase.

Trustee Gammon suggested looking at next year’s schedule to include officers being scheduled for major holidays and being paid overtime rate of pay to work those holidays.

Motion was made by Black, seconded by Gammon to adjourn the meeting. Vote: Cornell, yes; Black, yes; Gammon, yes. The meeting was adjourned at 6:04 p.m.

https://villageofrossville.org/documents/218/P__H_S_Mtg_9-27-2023.pdf