September 11, 2007

Mayor Franks called the September meeting to order with Sturtewagen, Gustafson, Curran, Killelea, Fulton and VanKerrebroeck present. Killelea, seconded by Sturtewagen, made a motion to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. Motion carried. Killelea will not be making a presentation at the Illinois Municipal League’s Annual Conference.

VanKerrebroeck, seconded by Fulton, made a motion to pay the monthly bills. Motion carried.

Tim Wise gave the police report showing 3 citations and 11 warnings for the month.

Tracy Diehl gave the Economic Development report. She is working on two grants- the Ethyl Grant and the Hometown Helper Grant. The Farmer’s Market in the village is closed for the year and was deemed by all to be a success and something to continue next summer. The event can be listed in Henry County Happenings for additional advertising.

An account has been opened at the State Bank of Annawan for the concession stand donations. Curran sent out letters asking for donations. The letter may be included in a school newsletter in the future in hopes of more donations. Donations are already coming in and are being gratefully accepted.

The village cell phone plan with Nextel did not work out as planned. The numbers being used now could not be ported to the new phones. So the village is staying with Verizon.

The Ameren IP franchise was discussed. Board members received a letter from Ken Woolcutt explaining franchise renewal schedules for 10 years and 30 years in addition to the one presented at last month’s board meeting (20 years). The agreement was tabled to a later date while board members consider the various options.

Joe Buresh, superintendent of schools, talked with board members about the continued progress for expanding the baseball fields in Howes Park to enable them to be regulation size. The school has agreed to spend $40000.00 toward making the ball diamond regulation size in order to coop with Wethersfield, with home games being played in Annawan. When finished there would be two ball games (junior varsity and varsity) going on at the same time. He showed board members an aerial schematic map of the field that is planned. There are trees in the right field area that will need to be moved or destroyed in order to get 300 feet in right field. The trees were planted as a school project years ago. The parking lot will remain the same. Board members then discussed options for moving the trees. The second row of trees in right field may have to be moved too. So members agreed that if trees are moved then both rows should be taken care of at the same time. Cost of moving the trees was estimated at $65-$85/hour. Killelea said that the next step would be deciding where the trees should go. Several options were discussed. Buresh asked that the village give the school a lifetime lease for a nominal fee. He estimated the total cost of the project to be $60000.00. He said that with that much money going to improve the village baseball facilities that he wasn’t out of line asking for the lease. He asked that the village build a new concession stand within a couple years. Franks wondered if thought had been given to the amount of cars that will need to park with two games going on at the same time. Buresh didn’t think that would be a problem. Franks said that the village needs to put in some blacktop parking and handicapped-access areas, not just because of the new baseball fields, but because the State of Illinois has suggested that for many years. He said the State will eventually demand instead of suggest. Fulton wondered about the insurance coverage. Buresh said that if the school leased the land the school insurance would cover it just like it does any offsite sports event. He also asked that the village maintain the baseball fields. VanKerrebroeck said he thought that it should be the school’s responsibility. The village currently supplies the equipment and employees to maintain the fields. The school pays for materials. Board members thought that continuing this would not be a problem. VanKerrebroeck thought that although this is a minor point it should be left out of the agreement and worked on by the school and village together. Curran said that building a new concession stand was something that should have been done years ago. VanKerrebroeck agreed, but doesn’t think the board should make a commitment based on possible donations rather than having the money in hand first.

Killelea, seconded by Curran made a motion to let the school go ahead with the baseball diamond, move the trees, and lease the land to the school (with maintenance guidelines and time of lease to be established later). The village will commit to building a new concession stand within two years. Motion carried after a voice vote with VanKerrebroeck voting no. Buresh thanks board members for their action.

Curran is going to contact LaFayette Nursery to find out about cost. Killelea is going to talk to Mark Crosby about where the trees should go.

Board members discussed purchasing a filing cabinet for all the maps that are currently in need of filing. More maps will be coming. There is a definite need. Representatives from Shive-Hattery agreed to look at their facility to see if a used filing cabinet would be available. No other action was taken.

VanKerrebroeck, seconded by Gustafson, made a motion to adopt Ordinance No. 298 (An Ordinance Approving Access Agreement with Iowa Interstate Railroad, LTD). Motion carried after a voice vote with Fulton voting no. The Access Agreement is on file at the Village Office. The Easement is needed to build the new intersection at Route 6 and Patriot Way.

Board members then discussed a letter from the Iowa Interstate Railroad concerning Surface and Signal Costs for Patriot Way. Iowa Interstate Railroad will prove labor, materials, and equipment to construct a concrete crossing. The approximate cost to the village is $79,000. The railroads contractor, Balfour Beatty, will provide labor, materials and equipment to install the signal warning device at an approximate cost of $167,000 to the village. The village will arrange for the construction of and pay for any pavement work associated with the crossing reconstruction. All of the figures are estimates. Some of the cost will be paid for by the $2,000,000.00 EDP grant. Some of the cost may be covered by the closing of 2900 E and the railroad crossing at that location. If the construction costs exceed that amount Gene Griffith, of Patriot Renewable Fuels, asked that they be informed and he is confident that they will help with extra costs. Killelea, seconded by Curran, made a motion to accept the railroad’s bid. Motion carried after a voice vote with Fulton voting no.

Representatives from Shive Hattery were present at the board meeting to update board members on construction of Patriot Way and the Lathrop Street extension. Phase 1 for the Lathrop Street Extension has been submitted to IDOT in Dixon. It will then go to Springfield for federal approval. (They expect IDOT to have the documents for 30 days). After approval, construction documents are submitted. Then the bid letting process will occur…hopefully in January of 2008. Land acquisition may slow things down. The land has to be acquired before any construction can begin.

Land acquisition from Dean and Dennis Verbeck and John Hollander was not discussed due to other options needing to be considered.

Gene Griffith updated board members on construction work being done at Patriot Renewable Fuels. Construction is on schedule. The new administrative building is expected to open in October. It is the most visible ethanol plant in the area.

Trick or Treat hours in the village will be from 5:00 to 7:00 on October 31^st.

Due to vandalism to the concession stand and playground equipment in Howes Park it was decided to put up a gate at the entrance and lock the park at 9:00 each night.

It was suggested that the parking lots be blocked off during the winter months.

Franks told board members he took two welders (from Case IH) to the school. They only wanted one of them. So he was going to give the other welder to the village. But it is too big. Franks offered to sell the welder and donate the money if board members would agree to add $600 to that money towards the purchase of a new welder and new equipment needed by Mark Crosby to enable him to do his own work rather than “borrowing” so much from Hatzer and Nordstrom. Sturtewagen, seconded by Curran, made the motion to do so. Motion carried.

Sturtewagen is going to check with various tree removal companies to see if they would agree to a yearly contract with the village for tree removal. A tree in front of Elma Rakestraw’s house needs to be removed.

There being no further business Killelea, seconded by Gustafson, made a motion to adjourn. Motion carried.

Also present at the meeting were Marty DeDecker, Don Sierens, Judd Hulting, and Frances Sierens.

Julie DeSplinter

Village Clerk