Sangamon Sun

Village of Jerome Village Board met December 21.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

Call to Order :

President Lopez called the December 21, 2017 meeting of the Village of Jerome Board of Trustees to order at 7:01 pm.

Pledge of Allegiance:

President Lopez led all those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll Call:

Clerk Wheeland called the rol.

Present:

President:

Mike Lopez

Trustees Brian Hendricks, Shirley Johnson, Dale Lael, Beth Monnat, Jake Tripp

Clerk Linda Wheeland

Attorney Jason Brokaw

Treasurer Steve Roth

Approval of Minutes:

A.November 16, 2017 Executive Session Minutes

A motion was made by Trustee Monnat to approve the Minutes of the November 16, 2017 Executive Session of the Board of Trustees. The motion was seconded by Trustee Hendricks.

Roll Call Vote:

Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee Hendricks, Trustee Tripp, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Monnat

The motion carried.

B. December 7, 2017 Regular Meeting Minutes

A motion was made by Trustee Johnson to approve the Minutes of the December 7, 2017 Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees. The motion was seconded by Trustee Tripp.

Roll Call Vote:

Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee Hendricks, Trustee Tripp, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Monnat

The motion carried.

Approval of Warrant List 18-16 President Lopez noted that Warrant List 18-16 dated December 21, 2017 totaled $27,546,67.

Treasurer Roth added that of this amount S17,980.53 would be paid from the Water Fund and the remaining $9,566.14 would be paid from the General Revenue Fund.

It was noted that a bill for $142 from Friendly Chevrolet was to diagnose problems with the 2012 Caprice. The quote for repairs was considered too high and Chief Estill was able to make the

A motion was made by Trustee Hendricks to approve Warrant List 18-16 dated December 21, 2017 for a total of $27,546.67. The motion was seconded by Trustee Monnat.

Roll Call Vote:

Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee Hendricks, Trustee Tripp, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Monnat

The motion carried.

Visitors Acknowledgement:

President Lopez opened the Visitors Acknowledgement portion of the meeting at 7:08 pm.

There were no visitor comments. This portion of the meeting closed at 7:09 pm.

Reports from Village Departments:

A.Public Health

Trustee Johnson had no report.

B.Public Works

Trustee Tripp reported the following:

•The Public Works staff has been getting the trucks ready for possible snow this weekend. James will take Matt out with him the first time snow removal is needed.

• James is doing a great job. Trustee Tripp has asked him to develop a list of projects to be considered for the FY 2019 Budget.

•The area behind the garage is being cleaned up.

• A lot of inside work is being done this time of year.

C. Public Property

President Lopez reported that the Police Station will be painted this winter. Additionally, the carpet in the squadroom will be cleaned.

D. Building & Zoning

Trustee Lael reported the following:

•Wing Stop Restaurant has opened and is doing a great business. They are packed all day long and have been overwhelmed with the public response.

• More fences are being constructed. Unfortunately some of these are being put up without building permits.

• The frame has gone up for the new home being constructed on Homewood.

E. Public Safety

Trustee Monnat reported that the ad requesting bids on two of the inoperable police vehicles and the motorcycle was in the Illinois Times today. Bids are due January 2. Trustee Lael is Working on disposal of the third inoperable police car.

Chief Estill reported the following Police Department statistics from the month of November:

•175 calls for service including traffic stops and traffic accidents

•106 police reports prepared

•70 traffic citations/warnings issues

•3 cellphone violations

•4 traffic crashes with no injuries

•0 hit and run accidents

•1 Warrant arrest

•30 Vacation Watch Program checks of homes no reports taken for burglary

•2 reports taken for burglary to a motor vehicle

•no home invasions

•51 checks of the municipal building, garage, library, and park

Chief Estill also reported that the aggressive patrol tactics have really been paying off for the Village. While other Departments in our area are still getting hit hard by car burglaries and thieves, the number of thefts in Jerome has gone down. With the Police vehicles being unmarked it is harder for criminals to identify officers on patrol. Most residents are making sure their car doors are locked and are keeping a watchful eye for suspicious persons walking in the late night hours and are reporting suspicious activity to the Police.

F. Water Department

Trustee Hendricks reported the following:

•On Thursday, December 14 there was a water main break at Corbin and Jerome. CWLP repaired the break the next day without the need to shut off the water. No boil order was needed. He expressed gratitude for CWLP's quick response.

•He contacted EPA regarding having James certified to do the water testing currently done by Joe Gragg since at some point Mr. Gragg will retire from this work. The State agreed to provide training for James at the Willage in January.

President Lopez reported that a temporary worker from Express Personnel will be employed in the office for a few weeks to provide support to Debbie until a replacement for Merry is hired. Merry has agreed to run the monthly bills and end-of-month reports through February if needed. James and Matt are being trained on downloading meter readings.

Trustee Monnat asked why a temporary employee is needed. President Lopez responded that he didn't want Debbie to be over-burdened. The Water Clerk position has not yet been advertised due to the holidays. Office hours may be shortened until a replacement is found.

G. Village Treasurer

Treasurer Roth reported the following:

•Checks for the warrants for the December 7th meeting were mailed out right after the meeting and we met payroll for December 15th. Checks will be mailed out following this meeting.

•Currently, with all obligations, before paying the warrants this week, there is approximately $39,716.80 in the General Revenue Funds (GRF) in the Illinois National Bank account. There is approximately $188,264.66 in the Illinois Fund Account.

H. Village Clerk

Clerk Wheeland stated that at the last meeting Board members voted for Tom Kuehne for the Executive Trustee position on the IMRF Board of Trustees. Mr. Kuehne did get elected to the Board.

I.Village Attorney

Attorney Brokaw stated he had no report.

J. Village President

President Lopez reported the following:

•He extended thanks to all who serve the Village as public officials, appointed officials, and employees.

•He noted that 2017 started with a less than rosy picture for the Village. During the budgetary process some tough choices were made including the layoff of Police Chief Kennedy and a Police Officer, as well as the reconfiguration of the Police Department schedule. These decisions have improved the financial position of the Willage with warrants being processed in a timely manner and payroll being met. In addition, during the past two fiscal years $349,000 in road projects have been funded.

•Jerome has experienced a burst of business development on our Wabash Avenue corridor with a new mini-mall constructed and the opening of Wing Stop Restaurant.

•An abandoned home was demolished and a new state-of-the-art digital advertising message board was constructed.

•There is an overall good feeling about Jerome due to many actions by the current Board and previous Boards.

Old Business:

A.Discussion and Adoption of Public Health Ordinance Updates

Trustee Johnson stated that the Public Health ordinance updates presented tonight was one part of the proposed changes. Some pieces need more research and some redundancies need to be removed.

Attorney Brokaw noted that the updates had been reworked several times to remove inconsistencies and irrelevancies and to make adoptions by reference clearer. The recreational fires provisions will be dealt with separately.

Trustee Lael stated that he would like to see International Building Code (IBC) Section 3109, referenced in the section on swimming pools, included in the Ordinance or to have copies available. It would be an inconvenience to the Trustee to have to look this up in the Building Code whenever a resident inquired about the rules for installing a swimming pool.

Attorney Brokaw stated that it is the duty of the person installing a pool to look up the rules in the International Building Code. Including the rules in the Public Health Ordinance would not account for changes to the IBC.

Trustee Johnson added that having copies of Section 3109 would present the same issue.

A motion was made by Trustee Johnson to adopt Ordinance 18-13 amending several Public Health provisions of the Code of the Village of Jerome, Illinois. The motion was seconded by Trustee Monnat.

Roll Call Vote:

Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee Hendricks, Trustee Tripp, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Monnat

The motion carried.

B. Discussion and Approval of Update on Phone Equipment Replacement

President Lopez stated that a proposal for phone service had been received from Comcast. Treasurer Roth said that a proposal had also been received from Bodine Electric and that he had a call in to AT&T requesting a proposal as well. He has talked with Windstream and after our contract with them expires we will go to a month-to-month contract. By converting to monthto-month we have met the requirement to provide 30 days notice to cancel our contract with Windstream.

New Business:

A.Report on 2018 Liquor License and Gaming Permit Renewal Applications Review

President Lopez reported that he had met with the Deputy Liquor Control Commission to review the applications for renewal of liquor licenses and gaming permits. One member of the Commission was unable to attend the meeting but had reviewed the applications the day before. All licenses and permits have been delivered except to Little Saigon. We are still waiting on one document from them.

B. Discussion and Adoption of Ordinance 18-13 Adopting a Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment

Attorney Brokaw explained that the State Legislature had passed a bill in November requiring all local governments to adopt a Sexual Harassment Policy by mid-January. There are some problems with the bill and the legislators will probably address these sometime next year, but in the meantime the Village must adopt a policy. The one presented is similar to what other municipalities are adopting.

A motion was made by Trustee Hendricks to adopt Ordinance 18-13 adopting a policy prohibiting sexual harassment. The motion was seconded by Trustee Monnat.

Roll Call Vote:

Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee Hendricks, Trustee Tripp, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Monnat

The motion Carried.

C. Discussion and Approval of Revised Permit Application for Opening of a Street

Trustee Tripp explained that a permit is required if a road is to be opened up in the Village. The Current application is only one page and is rather vague. James has prepared a new application that is streamlined, itemizes everything that is required to obtain a permit, what must be done to repair the road, and copies of the relevant ordinances. Everything will be in one document.

Attorney Brokaw noted that the required insurance amounts are low and the Board may want to increase these sometime over the next year. He said that the new application was more userfriendly and office-friendly.

A motion was made by Trustee Tripp to approve the revised Application for Opening of a Street. The motion was seconded by Trustee Lael,

Roll Call Vote:

Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee Hendricks, Trustee Tripp, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Monnat

The motion carried.

D. Board Meeting Time Change to 6:30 pm in 2018

President Lopez reminded everyone that the meeting time will change to 6:30 pm at the first meeting in January.

E. Presentation of Corporal Stripes to Officer Maybury and Officer Schroeder

Chief Estil made the following presentations:

Officer Thomas "Bub"Maybury has been with the Jerome Police Department since March of 1997. Bub has proven himself time and time again in the Department as a top notch investigator and with that he has earned the title of Lead investigator with the Jerome Police Department and the rank of Corporal..'

Officer Rodney Schroeder has been with the Jerome Police Department since may of 1999. Rodney has a knack for detail when it comes to crime scene investigation techniques. Rodney doesn't leave any detail out, no matter how small. This work ethic also earns him the title of Corporal for the Jerome Police Department.

Officer Brian Brewer has been with the Department since 2001. Brian has been our evidence officer since he came to the Department and his years of law enforcement experience for a parttime officer shows dedication at its finest and has earned him the title of Senior Part-Time Officer with the rank of Private with the Jerome Police Department.

Executive Session:

The Board did not go into Executive Session.

Adjournment:

A motion was made by Trustee Lael to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Trustee Johnson.

Roll Call Wote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee Hendricks, Trustee Tripp, Trustee Johnson, Trustee Monnat

The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 7:52 pm.

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