Sangamon Sun

Village of Divernon Board of Trustees met March 27. 

Here is the minutes as provided by the board:

The regular meeting of the Village of Divernon Board of Trustees was held on Wednesday, March 27, 2019 at the Divernon Village Hall. Village President Jim Copelin called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. After the Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance, Melissa Layton called roll: Jim Copelin “Here”, Craig Busch “Here”, Wayne Jones “Here”, Melissa Layton “Here”, Larry Baer “Here”, Derek Hedges “Here”, Dianne Brenning “Here”. Also in attendance were Superintendent Jeremy Rhodes, Police Chief Jason Martin and Officer Carson Becker. Rod Molnar was absent.

A motion was made by Baer and seconded by Hedges to approve the corrected minutes of March 13, 2019. The motion passed 6-0.

Brenning presented the Village bills with a motion that they be approved after adding the following invoices: South County Publications $37.50, Youth Group Easter Egg Hunt $50.00 and American Legion Bronze Star $75.00. Baer seconded and the motion carried 6-0.

Visitors:

Part time Officers Zach Pearce and Ben Schoonover were sworn in by Mayor Copelin. They will begin at the part time academy soon.

Jon Hopkins, owner of the Corner Bar addressed the Board about concerns he had with the Zoning Ordinance. When he initially came to the meeting to obtain his liquor license he was told he didn’t need a building permit as he was only making cosmetic repairs. He was later given a stop work order due to a complaint about the work being done. He was later given a permit by Zoning Administrator Jeremy Rhodes. He had work done by a licensed plumber and electrician. He is now being asked for additional blueprints and work to be done by the Village’s architect, Evan Lloyd. He feels what is being asked for is excessive and the requirements make it hard for new businesses to start in Divernon. Mr. Hopkins stated it’s far easier to get a building permit in Springfield than it is in Divernon. According to Mr. Hopkins, Springfield doesn't require anything more than a sketch of the project when applying for a permit. Hedges requested Rhodes follow up with Springfield to get an understanding of their process. Board members thought that the original process had been simplified. Rhodes stated that the Zoning Board of Appeals would like to make some changes to make the process easier. Copelin reported that the Village Attorney is looking into making changes and suggestions.

Brittany Catlin of Maddy’s Tavern supplied the Board with copies of liability insurance for their upcoming “Bike Night”. A motion was made by Hedges and seconded by Jones to approve a Special Event Liquor License to Maddy’s for the event. The motion carried 6-0. A motion was made by Baer to close First Street in front of the bar and allow parking on Kenney and Dodds Streets. Hedges seconded and the motion passed 6-0.

Supervisor Reports:

Public Works:

Benton and Associates have made their annual inspection of the Village streets and will be sending a plan for this year’s maintenance program. There was a lengthy discussion concerning picking up of yard waste. Consideration was given to cutting back on the number of times each month that yard waste would be collected. No action was taken. Rhodes would like to purchase a truck with a dump bed. He has a bid of $35,718.00. The item will be put on the agenda for the next meeting. The roof on the shop will be replaced with a metal roof at a cost of $4502.00.

Police:

Chief Martin reported that he had received the resignation of Officer Bill Price. Price would like to continue to work on a part time basis. Martin has one application for full time officer that he will look into. There was a discussion concerning a local dog attack on a resident and her dog. Citations were issued. Martin will look at whether the ordinance concerning attacks of dogs on other dogs should be updated. He had no update on the old IGA property.

Committee Reports:

Zoning, TIF, Building Permits:

A TIF proposal was received from the Corner Bar. Molnar sent the proposal to the TIF attorney. She responded with her recommendations. Additional information will be requested from the attorney because there is some discrepancy between what was recommended for previous TIF projects and this one. The Board wants to ensure they are being fair and consistent with the property owners. The item will be added to next meeting’s agenda..

Public Utilities, Water, Sewer and Gas:

Jones presented the budget billing report compiled by Office Manager Heather Rideout. A discussion was held concerning recommendations for getting accounts in arrears paid up to date. Letters were sent out today to customers advising them to bring accounts into balance. Copelin said the budget billing is much improved from last year at this time.

Finance, Personnel, GIS:

Rideout will update the Personnel Code with changes recommended by the Village Attorney and the new manual will be forwarded to the Board.

Public Safety, Health and Safety:

Martin will begin looking at properties that need to be cleaned up. Layton gave updates on the village wide garage sale and clean-up day. She is verifying the prices charged for dropping off items for the clean-up. She is working with BLH computers to see if they would set up an electronic recycling station.

Public Works, Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks:

Nothing to report.

Village Communication/Building Grounds and Lights, Parks:

Jann Belford will be collecting property taxes at the Village Hall again this year. She will set up in the Police office this year. The part time office manager position was added to the website. One application has been received so far. The old gas station on South Henrietta will have barricades put at the entrance like the ones on North Henrietta.

Old Business:

The Board asked for an accounting of how much water was lost due to water breaks this winter. Treasurer Christine Nichols will supply the report by tomorrow.

New Business:

A couple has inquired about purchasing the building that formerly housed Patsy’s Restaurant. They hope to have this completed by May 22, 2019. They plan to have both a restaurant and convenience store in the building. A food truck will be setting up on the property of the car wash on Henrietta Street. The itinerant food vendors on public property ordinance requires a permit for food trucks setting up and selling their products on public streets within the Village limits. Because the Car Wash is a commercially zoned, private property, a permit is not required by the Village ordinance. The food truck will have to be in compliance with any State and County Health Regulations.

A motion was made by Hedges to go into executive session at 8:06 p.m. to discuss personnel issues. The motion was seconded by Busch.

The Board returned to regular session at 8:27 p.m.

No further action was taken.

Motion by Hedges to adjourn at 8:28 p.m.

https://divernonil.com/assets/uploads/sites/219/2019/04/Minutes-3-27-2019.pdf