January 25, 2010
Village President
This was a regularly scheduled meeting of the
I. ROLL CALL AT 7:04 P.M.
Present: 6 – Trustees Carolyn Elmore, Jerry Peterson, Lynn Rudin, Mike DeChaney, Tom Goings (remote attendance), and Jesse Watkins.
Absent: 0
Also Present: Deputy Chief of Police Bob Davies, Attorney Mark McGrath, Village Clerk Austen Wood, Chief of Police Gary Hartzell, Josh Mathis, and Public Works Manager Mike Schopp.
II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
III.
ALLEY VACATION-
The only citizen present for the alley vacation was Josh Mathis.
No objections were made to the alley vacation at
Trustee Elmore moved, seconded by
Trustee Watkins to adopt Ordinance 799, stating “An ordinance vacating the
east-west alley between lots 12 & 19 in Porter’s Addition to the Original town,
now
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Goings, DeChaney, Peterson, Watkins, and Rudin.
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
SUPER MAJORITY VOTE: 1 – President Friend.
There being
seven affirmative votes, the motion carried.
IV. CONSENT AGENDA: The consent agenda consists of approving the previous meeting minutes, recurring disbursements, and reports written by the Public Works Manager and Village Treasurer.
President Friend requested one change to the minutes under the Treasurer’s Report regarding police funds to read: “Eidenmiller explained to the Board that the Village has a CD for police equipment in the amount of $5,000 for emergency use if money is needed to replace the laptops.”, and asked the Village Clerk to make the change.
Trustee Peterson moved, seconded by Trustee DeChaney to approve the change to the minutes and all other consent agenda items. On a roll call, the vote was:
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Peterson, DeChaney, Watkins, Goings, and Rudin
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
There being
six affirmative votes, the motion carried.
V.
REPORTS:
A.
CHIEF OF POLICE REPORT:
Chief of Police Gary Hartzell informed the Board of a new illegal substance
found in the
B.
E.S.D.A. COORDINATOR REPORT:
Deputy Chief of Police Bob Davies
reported on the latest activities in the Police Department.
Purchase Laptop for
2007 Squad Car- Deputy Chief of
Police Bob Davies requested a new laptop for the squad car, and reminded the
Board they will have to purchase at least one more laptop by the end of 2010 to
be compliant with the County’s new system.
Trustee Rudin moved, seconded by Trustee DeChaney to purchase the DS14M
Durabook and adapter in the amount of $1,482.00 from GammaTech Computer
Corporation for the 2007 squad car. On a roll call the vote was:
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Peterson, DeChaney, Watkins, Goings, and Rudin
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
There being six affirmative votes, the motion carried.
C.
VILLAGE TREASURER’S REPORT:
Report on file.
Non-Recurring
Disbursements- Trustee Elmore moved,
seconded by Trustee Rudin to approve the non-recurring disbursements. On a roll
call the vote was:
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Peterson, DeChaney, Watkins, Goings, and Rudin
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
There being six affirmative votes, the motion carried.
Pat McGrath arrived at 7:17 p.m.
Water and Sewer Rates- President Friend reported that the Village earned $26,258.34 in interest in various funds during the 2009 calendar year.
President Friend reported to the Board that he and Village Treasurer Scott Eidenmiller would like the Board to discuss postponing the dollar raise per 1,000 gallons of water used on sewer bills this year. The dollar raise is scheduled to begin in 2010 to raise funds for the sewer slip lining project for the year 2012.
Trustee Goings explained that the cost of the sewer slip lining project was $2 million, and estimated to last 10 years. The rate increases were scheduled to last for five years to raise funds to support the 10 year sanitary sewer rehabilitation plan. Pursuant to the initial revenue estimates, the rate increases were estimated to bring in $1.9 million in revenue for the sewer slip lining project.
The Board decided to continue the raises for the sewer slip lining project for this year pursuant to the prior 10 year plan.
D.
PUBLIC WORKS MANAGER’S REPORT:
Public Works Manager Mike Schopp
reported on the activities in his department. Report on file.
Schopp reported to the Illinois
Department Of Transportation 200 reflective regulatory signs to be replaced in
the Village. This does not include the “No Parking” signs which need to be
replaced by 2012 as well.
The Public Works Department will be
working on sewer smoke testing to identify illegal sump pump connections in
upcoming months. Schopp expects these efforts will help to find sanitary sewer
infiltration.
E.
VILLAGE PRESIDENT’S REPORT:
Hunter’s Safety Class-
President Friend reported that some citizens are interested in attending a
Hunter’s Safety Class, and in the past, the Village has held such class at the
President Friend will provide more information at the next Board meeting
regarding the Hunter’s Safety Class.
President Friend informed the Board that Channel 31 would like to include
Mackinaw in its “Heartland Salutes” broadcast again this year.
F.
VILLAGE TRUSTEE’S REPORT:
Trustee Peterson brought an article on
Wind Energy to the meeting.
Trustee Rudin would like to see an
article in the Buyer’s Guide to describe the importance of the Census count
coming up in April.
G.
VILLAGE ATTORNEY’S REPORT:
F.O.I.A.
Presentation- Attorney Pat McGrath
introduced to the Board the new changes to the Freedom of Information Act and
Open Meetings Act. He has prepared an ordinance to respond to the changes to the
Freedom of Information Act, and a Resolution to respond to the Open Meetings
Act.
The Village is required to disclose more
information, in a shorter response time, and there are more penalties and larger
fines imposed if the request is not addressed correctly. The response time to a
request changed to five days for non-commercial requests. The Village still gets
21 days to respond to commercial requests. The most the Village can charge in
copying fees per page of a request is fifteen cents.
The Village may still withhold personal
information. The Village must inform
the Public Access Counselor at the Attorney General’s Office if denying a
request on certain grounds—either as a preliminary draft or because the record
contains personal information.
Pat McGrath referenced a recent F.O.I.A.
request to illustrate the changes in the law.
McGrath explained to the Board that in a response to a request the
Village has to reference what the requestor asked for, what was withheld, and
why.
The ordinance prepared by Pat McGrath
was suggested by the Illinois Municipal League, McGrath explained that each
F.O.I.A. Officer has to take online training.
Appointment of
F.O.I.A. Officers- Trustee Elmore
moved, seconded by Trustee Peterson to adopt Ordinance 800, “An Ordinance
Setting Forth Provisions for Compliance with the Illinois Freedom of Information
Act”, which appoints the Village Collector as the F.O.I.A. Officer, and the
Village Clerk as the Deputy F.O.I.A. Officer. On a roll call the vote was:
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Peterson, DeChaney, Watkins, Goings, and Rudin
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
There being six affirmative votes, the motion carried.
Appointment of
O.M.A. Officers- Trustee Elmore
moved, seconded by Trustee DeChaney to adopt Resolution 10-01, “A Resolution
Appointing an Open Meetings Act Officer Pursuant to Public Act 096-0542”, which
appoints the Village Clerk as the O.M.A. Officer, and the Village Collector as
the Deputy O.M.A. Officer. On a roll call the vote was:
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Peterson, DeChaney, Watkins, Goings, and Rudin
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
There being six affirmative votes, the motion carried.
Attorney Pat McGrath wanted to commend the Village Office staff for help with the recent F.O.I.A. request, and the Village President for arranging extra personnel to gather the documentation needed to respond to the FOIA request.
VI. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Tom Goings stated he was at a secure location to go into executive session. At 8:05 p.m., Trustee Peterson moved, seconded by Trustee Elmore to go into executive session to discuss pay raises and the threatened litigation which is probable or imminent, to allow Village Attorneys Mark McGrath and Pat McGrath to remain for the executive session, and for Attorney Pat McGrath to serve as special recording secretary and record the minutes for this session only. On a roll call, the vote was:
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Peterson, DeChaney, Watkins, Goings, and Rudin
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
There being six affirmative votes, the motion carried.
VII.
ROLL CALL @ 8:55 P.M. - RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION:
Present: Trustees DeChaney, Elmore, Peterson, Rudin, Goings
(remote attendance), and Watkins.
Also Present: President Friend, Attorney Pat McGrath, Attorney Mark McGrath, Chief of Police Hartzell, Deputy Chief of Police Davies, and Village Clerk Wood.
Trustee Watkins moved, seconded by Trustee Elmore to table discussion regarding pay raises until the February 8, 2010 meeting. On a roll call the vote was:
AYES: 6 - Trustees Elmore, Peterson, DeChaney, Watkins, Goings, and Rudin
NAYS: 0
ABSENT: 0
There being six affirmative votes, the motion carried.
The Board noted the costliness of the new Freedom of Information Act changes.
VIII.
ADJOURNMENT @ 9:00 P.M.:
There being no further business to
come before the Board, Trustee Elmore moved, seconded by Trustee Watkins to
adjourn, motion carried.
I, Austen
Wood, Village Clerk of the
Austen Wood, Village Clerk Posted: ________