Village of Oblong

DRAFT MINUTES

January 3rd, 2007

The Village Board of Trustees met in regular session on January 3rd, 2007, in the Farley Room of the Municipal Building.

Member Present: Mayor Randy Rich, Clerk Ladora Boyd, Trustee Rick Catt, Trustee Bonnie Finn, Trustee Rick Houdasheldt, Trustee Ken Russell, Trustee Sherry Catt, Trustee Debi Wilson and Treasurer Jan Miller.

Others Present: Police Chief Chad Pusey, Public Works Superintendent Gary Lanter, Tom Compton (Daily News), Keith Waldrop, Part-time Patrol Officer Paul Maxwell and Norma Bice.

1. The meeting was called to order at 7 pm by Mayor Rich.

2. The Public Hearing and Regular Board Meeting minutes of December 6th, 2006, were approved with a motion by Sherry and a second by Rick C. All ayes, motion carried.

3. There was one deletion to the agenda this month. Ordinance #2007-O-499 was not ready in time for the Board to look it over; so will postpone voting on this ordinance until the February Board Meeting.

4. There was one water bill customer at the meeting this month. Mrs. Bice asked if it would be alright for her to pay her water bills in payments. She stated that she would be able to pay $150 by Friday, January 5th, 2007. There was discussion on the fact that there is a leak somewhere under the Bice’s house that is causing their bill to be high. Mrs. Bice said that they were willing to have their water shut-off until they get the leak fixed. The Board was willing to work with Mrs. Bice on payment for the rest of her water bill amount.

5. Under Mayor’s Comments :

1. Randy mentioned that he had placed some items in the Trustees mail slots in the Clerk/Treasurer’s office. One of the items was a copy of a letter the Village had received from MediaCom stating that Channel 11 maybe off the air for a while until some issues are resolved between MediaCom and Sinclair Broadcast Group.

2. Randy stated that the Village had received a letter from Ameren CIPS about the electric rate increase. Randy felt that the Finance Committee may want to look into this issue and have a meeting in the future.

3. Randy mentioned that at this time the Village is waiting for a letter from the Secretary of State’s Office and then we will have everything ready to be sent to USDA office for the Revolving Loan Fund.

4. Randy stated that he had also given the Trustees a copy of the Web page bill. This year the cost was the same as last year. Next year it may increase. The bill is on the warranty list to be paid if no objections.

5. Randy mentioned that he had contacted Rick Kelsheimer about the sign that the Crawford County Tourism Board is giving the Village. After realizing the size of the sign, it was decided to have the sign put in storage until after the Route 33 widening was finished and then find a spot to place the sign along Route 33 in the Village limits. Mr. Kelsheimer did not have a problem with this idea.

6. Randy stated that the Village had received a $200 donation from the Oblong Ruritan’s Club for new playground equipment out at the Park. He thanked them for their donation.

6. Reports of Committees:

A. Police: Rick H. stated that the committee had met at 6 pm tonight and went over the year-end reports and discussed some other items. Rick stated that everyone had a copy of the monthly report with a copy of year-end totals. One item discussion during the committee meeting was a TazerCam which is a camera attached to the tazer gun. It will video and audio record when the Tazer is used. This way there could be no question about the incidents when the Tazer is used. The cost of this item is $499.95. The committee felt that this would be a good time to use the $500 donation from Wal*Mart that the Village has already received. Motion by Rick H., with a second by Bonnie, to use the donation from Wal*Mart to purchase the TazerCam. All ayes, motion carried. Chad stated that there will be a training session for ILEAS this month and there is a ILEAS conference in Springfield on March 18th - 20th, the conference will have some cost to it. Motion by Rick H., with a second by Rick C., to pay the cost of the ILEAS conference. All ayes, motion carried. Rick H. stated that the committee is starting to look at the budget for next fiscal.

B. Building and Park: Sherry stated that there was no report at this time.

C. Sidewalks and Lights: Debi stated that there was no report at this time.

D. Street and Alley: Bonnie stated that there was no report at this time.

E. Water and Sewer: Ken stated that we are still waiting on a project with Connor & Connor. Randy stated that the construction permit has been received from EPA.

F. Finance: Rick C. stated that the Investment Policy needs to be approved for this year (this is an annual item that needs approval); there were no changes from last year’s. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Rick H., to accept the Investment Policy as written. All ayes, motion carried. Rick C. stated that there will be a meeting to look at the Ameren letter and also start looking at the budget for next fiscal year. Bonnie volunteered to initial the bills for the month of January.

7. Motion by Debi, with a second by Sherry, 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.

8. Under other business, Gary stated that he wanted to remind the Board that he would be gone to the IRWA Conference on January 10th. Gary also stated that he would like to be able to take four (4) of his employees to a breakfast on January 16th sponsored by JULIE (this is an annual event) in Olney.

9. Motion by Rick C., with a second by Ken, to adjourn at 7:20 pm. All ayes, motion carried.

Respectfully submitted

 

Ladora C. Boyd

 


 

2007 Meeting Dates

January 3
February 7
March 7
April 4
May 2
June 6
July 11
August 1
September 5
October 3
November 7
December 5