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August 12,
2008
Regular Meeting
Mayor
Franks called the August meeting to order with Sturtewagen, Gustafson,
Curran, DeRycke, Fulton, and VanKerrebroeck present.
Minutes
VanKerrebroeck, seconded by DeRycke, made a motion to approve the minutes of
the previous meeting. Motion carried.
Monthly Bills
Curran, seconded by DeRycke, made a motion to pay the monthly bills. Motion
carried. Under discussion by board members was the need for a phone in the
concession stand and the community center, especially when everybody has
cell phones. They asked the village clerk to check the monthly charge for
those phones. DeRycke suggested a different anti-virus program so that more
than one computer can be protected for less money.
Police Report
Tim Wise gave the police report showing 8 citations and 7 warnings for the
month. Wise explained the new pick-up and drop-off of students for the
school year. The drop off in the morning will stay the same. Students will
be picked up in front of the school after school. The street in front of the
high school will have only westbound traffic allowed. Observations will be
made and the policy will be set after the first month of school if it is a
successful way. Wise sent letters to three residents concerning unlicensed
cars. Wise had to cancel an appointment with Village Attorney Scott Smith
about the village code concerning unlicensed trailers. Board members told
Wise to have Attorney Smith draw up a letter to be sent to residents with
unlicensed trailers and asked that the letter be approved by the board
before it is sent. Curran thanked Wise for the extra patrolling being done
on Pritchard Street due to cars traveling too fast for safety concerns.
Economic Development
Tracy Diehl gave the Economic Development Report. Judith Gilbert, director
of the Henry County Economic Development Partnership, and Cheryl Carney,
director of Henry County Tourism, have both resigned their positions. Diehl
reported that there are 11,000 hits on the village website and that she
still needs information on houses for rent since there have been some calls
from people planning to relocate to the village. She is working on the TIF
end-of-the-year report. She asked board members if she could contact John
Roegiers, village engineer, for help in completing paperwork for the
$200,000.00 grant for water main extensions over Route 78. She was told to
get John’s help in proceeding. Diehl also reported a new business in
town-Edna Jo’s Hair Studio.
Thank you
Mayor Franks and board members thanked the residents of Annawan for their
help after the July 21st windstorm. Everyone really pulled
together to get the clean-up done in a hurry. The people from IEMA had been
to Annawan to decide on help needed in cleaning up the village because Henry
County was declared a disaster area by the governor of Illinois. When they
arrived there had been so much clean-up accomplished that they thought
Annawan hadn’t been hit by the storm. The village will not receive any money
from the state. They did send IDOT trucks to help with hauling the debris
out by the sewer plant and burning it. That service was free of charge. The
village would have had to hire a chipper otherwise. Franks also reported
that Ameren IP was able to do their job faster and get power restored
because of the town being cleaned up so quickly.
Update from Shive-Hattery
Marti Ahlgren was present at the board meeting to update the board on
progress made for extension of Lathrop Street. Final review comments have
not been received from IDOT, so the deadline date of Aug. 15th
will not be met. The new deadline is Oct. 17th, with a bid
opening of January 16, 2009. Beginning construction is tentatively set for
March of 2009 with a completion date of August, 2009. Board members
discussed the need for changing from 3 lanes to 2 lanes due to inflation
that took place since the first plans were made. No action was taken.
Job Descriptions
Job descriptions for village employees were obtained from Atkinson and
Cambridge for review. A committee of DeRycke, Fulton, and VanKerrebroeck
will look into the job descriptions and report back to the board.
Concession Stand Update
The old concession stand has been torn down. Charlie Farmer and Kevin will
have to go out to the site to finalize plans so that all three baseball
diamonds can be seen from the serving window. No final cost for the building
can be given until after that time.
Retail Sales Report
Franks shared information received from the Henry County Development
Partnership comparing Annawan with the other towns in Henry County from
2000-2007. Annawan saw the highest sales growth in retail sales, 115.2%, in
that time. The next highest was Colona with 68.1%. Atkinson had 42.2%
growth. Board members were pleased with the report.
Ordinance
Curran, seconded by VanKerrebroeck, made a motion to adopt Ordinance No.
309, an ordinance accepting the deed for Patriot Way from Patriot Renewable
Fuels. Motion carried.
New liquor license
A liquor license was granted to Lakhwinder Singh. He is the owner of the
new Shell Station, which was the Mobil Station.
Overtime for Village Employees
Board members asked the village clerk to call Teresa Welch of Blucker, Kneer
and Associates to find out about rules for paying employees overtime wages.
She will report her findings to the board.
New Easement
DeRycke, seconded by Curran, made a motion to grant an egress, ingress, and
utility easement prepared by Howard and Howard Attorneys. The existing
easement on the north side stops where the old bowling alley entrance was.
The new easement extends the old one east, to the east end of the property
owned by the village. Motion carried.
Resident Request
Ethel Thompson told board members about the condition of a tree in front of
her house on 206 S. East Street. The tree is splitting and in danger of
falling either over Route 78 or on her house. She is concerned about the
safety factor. The state says that the tree is not on their property. Fulton
will call IDOT to see about getting the tree taken down. The tree may be on
village property.
Damage from the July Windstorm
Insurance agents have been notified about the damage to the dugouts, the
doors on the bathrooms at Howes Park Shelter House, etc. Also needing to be
checked are the baseball lights at Howes Park, the flags and flagpoles that
were flying on the village street lights at the time of the storm, and the
reseeding of the area north of the railroad tracks that is still covered
with debris and in need of seeding in the fall. Henry County was declared a
disaster area by the state. They will not be giving towns any monies. They
did, however, bring in state trucks to move the debris near the sewer plant
for burning. The street to the sewer plant is now in terrible condition and
in need of repair. The streets are not covered by village insurance.
Several requests have been made to the village for tree removal. The village
will pay to have the hangers and dead branches removed from the tree on
village property at 306 W. Third Street. They will not pay to have the tree
taken down. The hangers on village property at 112 S. State Street will be
removed and paid for by the village. The village offered to take the tree
down in the alley on West South Street before the storm, but the property
owners were satisfied with some branches being trimmed. The tree went down
in the storm and parts of it had to be removed by a crane. Board members
said they would pay whatever the cost would have been for when the tree was
standing. They also advised the property owner to check insurance coverage.
Because of so many tree requests and so much damage to trees on village
property the board wanted residents to know the tree removal policy:
For Trees
on village property:
Property
owners should call the village office for approval prior to any work being
done.
The
village will pay 100% for the trimming of hanging branches only.
The
village will pay 100% for removal of trees that are in danger of falling.
The
village will not pay for tree removal if the reason for removal is that the
property owner wants it down for cosmetic reasons, trimming for shape, etc.
That becomes the responsibility of the property owner.
If a
survey needs to be done to find out if the tree is on village property,
paying for the survey is the property owner’s responsibility.
Village-Wide Garage Sales
The village will not sponsor village-wide garage sales in September. There
are not enough people interested in having a garage sale in the fall of the
year.
Adjourn
There being no further business, Gustafson, seconded by Curran, made a
motion to adjourn. Motion carried.
Julie
DeSplinter
Village Clerk |