Chambana Sun

City of Hoopeston City Council met April 15

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

I. CALL TO ORDER –Mayor Wise called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm following the pledge of allegiance.

II. ROLL CALL – The following 7 alderpersons were present: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, and Scharlach. Mayor Wise and Clerk Hardcastle were also present. Eric Eves was present on Zoom.

III. AMENDMENT OR APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA – Alderwoman K. Ferrell moved to approve the agenda as presented. Alderman McElhaney seconded the motion. Motion was carried 7-0.

IV. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE PREVIOUS COUNCIL MEETING – Alderman M. Ferrell moved to approve the minutes of the previous council meeting. Alderman Scharlach seconded the motion. Motion was carried 7-0.

V. APPROVAL OF THE PAYMENT OF THE BILLS – Alderman Eyrich moved to approve the payment of the city’s bills. Alderwoman Lawson seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the bills were approved 7-0.

VI. PRESENTATIONS TO THE COUNCIL –

a. Jason Longfellow – Alderman McElhaney advised that Jason was ill and could not attend tonight’s meeting. He will present at a future meeting.

b. Will Mulcahey from Grand Solar gave a brief presentation on their door-to-door solicitation for solar panels from April 22-26. Mr. Mulcahey also asked if the city was interested in converting some of their facilities over to solar power. Mayor Wise referred Mr. Mulcahey to Alderman Porth.

VII. PETITIONS TO THE COUNCIL – None.

VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT

a. Dr. Gerald Miller addressed the council regarding notification about the boil order. He asked if there was another way to inform residents about the boil order. Mayor Wise answered that you can sign up for the Nixel text messages and reviewed other notification methods.

IX. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Alderman M. Ferrell made a motion to go into executive session to discuss personnel. Alderwoman Lawson seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the council went into executive session at 7:15 pm. Alderwoman K. Ferrell moved to come out of executive session. Alderman M. Ferrell seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the council came out of executive session at 7:36 pm.

X. REPORT OF OFFICERS

a. EYRICH

i. MARKET ST WATER MAIN PROJECT – The start date of the project was pushed back to May 1. The contractor is finishing a different project before starting this one. The new projected finish date is around Jun 1, weather permitting.

ii. GROUND STORAGE TANK – The ongoing cleaning of the ground storage tank is about 50% complete. The company doing the work had to pull away on Friday to do another job, but they will be back on site by next Thursday.

iii. VFW MEMORIAL – 2 walls have been finished, and they are waiting for a third wall to be painted to put up the rest of the memorabilia.

iv. RESOLUTION 2025-35 – EMERGENCY REPAIRS TO A LIFT STATION – The lift station located south of First Farmers Bank was damaged by a truck that took out some wires. Due to the nature of the damage and what the lift station does, Alderman Eyrich would like to bypass bids to get it repairs immediately. There were also 2 options regarding the control box. A plastic control box costs $15,000 or a stainless-steel control box for $18,000. The city would be going with a plastic box. Alderman Scharlach asked if this would end up being an insurance claim? Alderman Eyrich answered that we are filing a claim for the damages since the suspect has not been found. Alderman McElhaney asked if it was in service right now? Eyrich answered that it was temporarily patched but requires constant monitoring. Alderman Eyrich moved to approve the resolution. Alderwoman K. Ferrell seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the resolution was approved 7-0.

b. K. FERRELL

i. ELECTRONICS RECYCLING – Alderwoman K. Ferrell reported that this event went very well, and the truck was full. She also reported that she picked up some televisions that were sitting on the side of city roadways. Alderman Eyrich asked who paid for those? K. Ferrell answered that the vendor took those for free.

ii. MCFERREN BUILDING – Alderwoman K. Ferrell praised the new owner of the McFerren building for the ongoing work to the building.

iii. VFW RUMORS – Alderwoman K. Ferrell put to rest some rumors regarding this building, and as far as she knows it has not been sold.

iv. STREET CORNER COLLECTION RESOLUTION – There were some questions regarding this resolution, Alderwoman K. Ferrell tabled this until the next meeting.

c. M. FERRELL

i. Nothing to report.

d. GARRETT –

i. Absent.

e. LAWSON –

i. Nothing to report.

f. MCELHANEY

i. ALLEY CLEAN UP – The Street and Alley department will start alley clean up on May 5. Anyone that does not have access to an alley is asked to put the items at the street edge of their property and call city hall to let them know it needs to be picked up.

g. PORTH

i. ORDINANCE 2025-20 – GROCERY TAX – Alderman Porth advised that this was not a new tax, but replacing what the state currently charges. Alderman Porth moved to approve the ordinance. Alderman Scharlach seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the ordinance was approved 7-0.

ii. ORDINANCE 2025-21 – FY 2025-2026 BUDGET – Alderman Porth reviewed the new budget. There is a slight surplus of $47,000. However, the city is still in negotiations with the police union and waiting for bids on a new health insurance vendor, so those costs are still unknown. Alderman Porth moved to approve the ordinance. Alderwoman K. Ferrell seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth– Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Present: Scharlach – Absent: Garrett) and the ordinance was approved 6-0-1.

h. SCHARLACH

i. NEW FIRE DEPARTMENT OFFICERS – Alderman Scharlach announced that fire chief Joel Bird would be retiring at the end of April after 25 years of service. He went on to announce the new officers for the fire department: Chief Troy Stevens, Assistant Chief Scott Kellerhals, Captain Jared Rayls, Lieutenant Nathan Michael, Secretary Joe Garrett, and Treasurer Josh Miller.

ii. RESOLUTION 2025-36 APPROVING A CONTRACT WITH ARROW AMBULANCE – Alderman Garrett had sent some revisions that were included in the new contract. Alderman Scharlach moved to approve the resolution. Alderman M. Ferrell seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the resolution was approved 7-0.

XI. COMMUNICATIONS TO THE COUNCIL

a. FY 2025-2026 MEETING SCHEDULE – Clerk Hardcastle presented the meeting schedule for the new fiscal year.

XII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS - None

XIII. NEW BUSINESS – None

XIV. MAYOR COMMENTS

a. ORDINANCE 2025-22 – CHANGING TITLE 1 OF THE HOOPESTON CITY ORDINANCES – Alderman McElhaney moved to approve this ordinance. Alderwoman K. Ferrell seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich,  K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the ordinance was approved 7-0.

b. ORDINANCE 2025-23 – CHANGING TITLE 2 OF THE HOOPESTON CITY ORDINANCES – Alderwoman Lawson thanked everyone for their time in revising these ordinances. Alderman M. Ferrell moved to approve the ordinance. Alderman McElhaney seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken (Ayes: Eyrich, K. Ferrell, M. Ferrell, Lawson, McElhaney, Porth, Scharlach – Nays: None – Abstentions: None – Absent: Garrett) and the ordinance was approved 7-0.

c. PLANNING AND ZONING RECOMMENDATION – The Planning and Zoning Commission recommended to the city council that they approve the Hoopeston Square project. This would be a joint project between Downtown Hoopeston Inc. and Dick Doyle. They have asked for 2 years to come up with funding for the project. Alderwoman Lawson noted that there are also 2 businesses that are wanting to build downtown. Mayor Wise advised there would be a public hearing on this held on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, from 6:00pm – 6:30 pm at city hall.

XV. COMMENTS FROM THE ATTORNEY

a. GARRISON LAWSUIT – notice has been sent, and we are waiting on the 30-day period where he can appeal. Once that period has lapsed then it moved to collection.

b. ESSEX BUILDING – A hearing on this issue will be on May 16. Attorney Beckett will be representing the city in this matter.

c. 5th STREET PROPERTY – We are about halfway through the period where interested parties can appeal. Once that period is lapsed, we can get a default judgement.

XVI. ADJOURNMENT – There being no further action to come before the council Alderwoman K. Ferrell moved to adjourn the meeting. Alderman M. Ferrell seconded the motion.

Motion was carried 8-0. Meeting adjourned at 8:06 pm. 

https://cityofhoopeston.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/4-15-25-Meeting-Minutes.pdf