Village of Oblong
October 6, 2004
The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on October 6th, 2004, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.
Members Present: Mayor Keith Waldrop, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Bill Hatch, Trustee Bonnie Finn, Trustee Jack Gallion, Trustee Monte Gillaspie, Trustee Sherry Catt, Trustee Debi Wilson and Treasurer Jan Miller.
Others Present: Public Works Superintendent Gary Lanter, Chief Chad Pusey, Tom Compton (Daily News), Brenda L. Gillaspie, Charlotte Cannon (Oblong Gem), Lane Kessler, Velma Kessler, Kevin Harris, Brandy Sechrest, Jim Sechrest, Larry Fear, Shannon Woodard, Sharon Preston and Brandi Kocher.
1. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mayor Waldrop.
2. The Regular Board Meeting minutes of September 1st were approved with a motion by Jack and a second by Sherry. All ayes, motion carried.
3. There were no additions or deletions to the agenda this month.
4. There was one water bill customer at the meeting this month. Brandi Kocher stated that she could pay her water bills on November 5th. The Board granted her request.
5. Sharon Preston stated that the Horseshoe Club had received a check from the estate of Russell McCoy to help take care of the Horseshoe Pits out at the Park. She stated that there were very few members left of the club, so she brought the donation to give to the Village Board to help with the expenses of upkeep on the Horseshoe pits. The check amount was $500.00.
6. Lane Kessler came before the board asking that the board make an ordinance that bans ATVs, off-road motorcycles except when being used for yard work. Chad informed Mr. Kessler that what he was asking for would be infringing on people’s civil rights. The reason for Mr. Kessler’s request is that a neighbor’s family rides their ATVs on the neighbor’s property and it disturbs Mr. Kessler when he is trying to watch TV on a Saturday afternoon or his sleep when he was working shift work. Kevin Harris, Brandy Sechrest and Jim Sechrest (relatives of Mr. Kessler’s neighbor) stated that they ride their ATVs as a family activity, but only on every other Saturday. They stated that they would be willing to work with Mr. Kessler if he would not be asking them to stop every time he heard one ATV start up. The mayor asked if Mr. Kessler thought he could work with the neighbor and family. If this does not work to come back to the board to ask for help to resolve the problem. Mr. Kessler stated that he and his wife were told by Crawford County Dispatch and Officer Avery that there was not an ordinance for nuisance. Chad informed Mr. Kessler that there is an ordinance for nuisance and noise already.
7. Shannon Woodard came before the board to present the final bills on
the Water Tower Project they are as follows:
Caldwell Tank Service $ 133,075.00
David Krick Construction 24,498.37
Mike Munson 16,375.00
Connor & Connor - Design Fee 15,686.48
Connor & Connor - Inspection Fee 9,536.52
Total $199,171.37
Motion by Bonnie, with a second by Sherry, to approve the bills submitted for the Water Tower Project and pay them upon approval from IEPA. All ayes, motion carried.
Shannon stated, in getting all the paper work for the final, that the Water Tower Project paperwork start on October 6th, 1999 and the Village Board is acting on the final bills on October 6th, 2004. Shannon stated that the whole project cost was $731,008.63, and that the maximum amount of the loan was $750,000.00.
Bill asked Shannon about the second phase of the northeast rural water
extension. Shannon stated that he would have an estimate of cost for this
project by next board meeting.
8. Motion by Debi, with a second by Bonnie, to adopt Ordinance #2004-0-474 “An
Ordinance to Amend Chapter One, Administration, Article III - Salaries, Section
1-3-1 Salaries of Village Officials of the Revised Code of Ordinances of the
Village of Oblong, Illinois”. Ayes: Bonnie Finn, Jack Gallion, Monte
Gillaspie, Sherry Catt, Debi Wilson. Nays: Bill Hatch. Motion carried.
9. Motion by Bonnie, with a second by Debi, to adopt Ordinance #2004-0-475 “Tax Levy Ordinance”. All ayes, motion carried.
10. Motion by Jack, with a second by Bill, to set trick or treat night for October 29th from 6 pm to 8 pm and only where there is a porch light on. All ayes, motion carried.
11. After some discuss on livestock in the village limits, there was a motion by Jack, with a second by Debi, to deny the animal permit turned in by Gerald & Ruth Adams to get permission to keep 30-35 chickens in the Village limits. Also, in this motion the Adams have 10 days to remove the chickens from the Village limits and there will be no extensions. Ayes: Bill Hatch, Jack Gallion, Monte Gillaspie, Sherry Catt, Debi Wilson. Abstained: Bonnie Finn. Motion carried.
12. Motion by Sherry, with a second by Bonnie, to accept the bid of $34,053.70 for the black topping of South Adams Street from the High School to almost West Main Street. All ayes, motion carried. The engineer’s estimate cost was for $33,900.00.
13. Under Mayor's Comments: a.) Keith stated that the Crawford County Shrine Club would like to use the 4-way stop here in town to collect donations and pass out papers about the Shriners’ Hospital. Motion by Sherry, with a second by Bill, to grant the Crawford County Shrine Club permission. All ayes, motion carried.
b.) Keith stated that Fall Clean-Up will be October 15 in Oblong.
c.) Keith stated that the rest room at the mini park uptown should be finished by the end of the week.
d.) Keith stated that the pathway around the lake has been sealed and looks nice. Also, that the guys had to do some concrete work where there has been some erosion problems.
e.) Keith stated that the Village had received a thank you note from Lincolnland Ethanol Plant for the ad of Welcome in the newspaper.
f.) Keith stated that the warning system is at Marathon. Monte stated that right now Marathon is on turn around so as soon as they can get to putting the system up for us they will. The new warning system siren will be placed across the road from the northeast corner of the old oil field museum.
14. The treasurer's report was given by Jan. Jan stated she has added a new passbook savings account for the $25 down payment from people interested in being put on the Village’s water. Jan also explained that she is working on getting the interest amount divided out to place in the respective account numbers.
15. Motion by Bonnie, with a second by Jack, to pay the bills that were on the warranty list and any utility bills, bills that will incur a late charge or reimbursements to employees. All ayes, motion carried.
16. Reports of Committees:
A Police: Jack stated that everyone had a copy of the monthly police report. The police have several upcoming training sessions this month. On October 13th, Officer Avery will be attending a training session on Indicators School & Workplace Violence in Mattoon. Also on October 13th, Officer Pine will be attending a training session on Tackle Handgun Scenario in Olney. On October 20th and 21st, the Chief will be attending a training session on Criminal Controls in Mattoon. On October 15th, Homecoming Parade escort.
B. Buildings and Park: Everything has already been discussed earlier.
C. Sidewalks and Lights: Gary stated that he may talk to a contractor about doing the sidewalk project in front of the Rusty Nail Hardware Store. Gary stated that he did not know that the water lines to the old water tower ran under the sidewalk, so they had to dig up the sidewalk and repair it after removing the lines. The South Adams Street Project will be done either before or after Fall Follies.
D. Street and Alley: Gary stated that he and the guys had done some extensive work on the corner of North Wilson and West Illinois streets, trying to solve the problem of having a big puddle of water standing. Gary said he thought that the problem has been solved. Gary stated that he and the guys had also done some work on the drainage ditch in the 300 block North Harrison Street to solve the erosion problem of the drainage ditch banks.
E. Water and Sewer: Debi asked that Shannon explain a possible project where the Village would purchase a water softening system. Shannon stated that EPA does not have a requirement on softening the water. Shannon stated that the system would roughly cost the water customer more money than if the water customer had their own water softening system. Shannon stated he would have an estimate cost proposal for the next month’s meeting. There will probably be a committee meeting later on this month.
F. Finance: Jan stated that Marjorie Blythe from IDOT came and did the Motor Fuel Audit which had not been done since 2001. Marjorie audited Motor Fuel for 2002 and 2003.
17. Under other business this month. a.)Ladora stated that she would be attending MCI Clerk Academy on October 12th - 15th in Springfield, Illinois. b.) Debi asked if any animal permit application had been turned in by kids in 4-H. She was informed that there were no permits turned-in. She stated that maybe the Village should put an ad in the paper that stated that all 4-H animal projects in the Village limits should come in and pick up an application to be filled out and returned to Ladora. Jan suggested that the Village put it in the 4-H newsletter instead of the Daily News because not everyone gets the Daily News. The suggestion was accepted by the Board. c.) Sherry stated that Chuck Baker had talked to her and Gary today about widening the track in front of the grandstand. Gary stated that Chuck asked when was the next board meeting. Gary told him it would be tonight at 7 pm. Chuck stated that he would not be prepared for tonight, so he will probably be at the next meeting to discuss the widening of the track.
18. Motion by Jack, with a second by Bonnie, to adjourn at 8:27 pm. All ayes, motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Ladora Boyd, Clerk