Sangamon Sun

Village of Divernon Board of Trustees met Aug. 14.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The regular meeting of the Village of Divernon Board of Trustees was held on Wednesday, August 14, 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, Clerk Rod Molnar called roll: Jim Copelin “Here”, Craig Busch “Here”, Wayne Jones “Here”, Melissa Layton “Here”, Larry Baer “Here”, Gail Hedges “Here”, Tyler Bramley “Here”. Also, in attendance were Police Chief Jason Martin and Superintendent Jeremy Rhodes.

A motion was made by Hedges and seconded by Jones to approve the minutes of July 24, 2019. The motion passed 6-0.

Baer presented the Village bills with a motion that they be approved. Hedges seconded and the motion carried 6-0.

Visitors:

Brittany Catlin of Maddy’s Tavern was in attendance. She requested a one-day special events liquor license for use in the Village Square on September 7th for the “All Class Reunion”. A motion was made by Bramley and seconded by Baer to approve the request. The motion passed 6-0. Catlin said she is working on bringing back the Divernon Homecoming next year. She is looking at a date in late September of 2020.

Bree Richardson of the Corner Bar and Grill requested that Dodds Street between First Street and the railroad tracks be closed on September 7th between 1:00 and 5:00 for two “poker runs”. The request was approved.

Julie Patterson recently had her dog picked up and taken to the Sangamon County Animal Shelter. She tried to retrieve the animal on Saturday, but there was confusion between the County’s requirement for the release of the dog and the Village’s procedures. Chief Martin explained that in the future, all aspects of the release will be handled by the County and there will be a $200.00 fine for the release. Patterson also suggested that the Village develop a database matching animals with their owners so that if one is picked up the owner could be notified. Martin will see if a volunteer would be willing to take on the project.

Senator Steve McClure was invited to the meeting as the Village would like to know what funding is available from the Senator’s office in addition to the Capital Bill. McClure said that his office was allocated four million dollars, but it would not be distributed until the details of the Capital Bill were determined. This will be a few months down the line. He recommended that the Village stay in touch with his office about projects.

Sheila Feiple of Heart Technologies recommended that the Village purchase Office 365 for the computer system instead of leasing. She said it would be a significant savings over a few years. She presented an update to the Village’s phone system.

Supervisor Reports:

Public Works:

Jeremy Rhodes reported that he and his crew have completed the new roof on the shop. He is currently working on pouring new sidewalks on Second Street, South Street and in front of the American Legion Hall. He plans to begin striping and painting curbs on the square. He is expecting to receive the new pump for the 3rd Street lift station soon. He will be attending the Illinois Commerce Commission meeting on natural gas safety on August 26th in Marion Illinois. He plans to begin construction on the water line replacement at 2nd and Madison soon. He has received the construction permit. He requested permission to purchase supplies from Illinois Meter at a cost of $11,487.88. A motion was made by Baer and seconded by Layton to approve the purchase. The motion carried 6-0.

Police:

Chief Martin reported that Sangamon County will have an update on the old IGA property after the fair. The county placed a legal notice in the State Journal Register giving the owner 30 days to clean up the property. The Village will place a lien on the property for the cost of the notice. Martin has met with boards of both Pawnee and Auburn concerning creating a joint administrative court to handle ordinance violations. He recommended a joint meeting between the three boards and the Village Attorney to work out the details. He will work on setting the date. He has applied for a grant for a Noptic System which is a thermal imaging device.

Committee Reports:

Zoning, TIF, Building Permits:

Bert Barlow of Divernon Equipment Sales would like the Village to look into amending the TIF agreement that he entered with them. His construction costs were significantly more than he estimated. He supplied the Board with a copy of receipts. Hedges will examine the receipts to see which are TIF eligible. Copelin reported that he, Molnar, Fred Jessup and Mike Murphy recently met with Christopher Swieca of Winterset Bank of Rosemont Illinois. Winterset is the bank that holds the note on the old gas station properties. Swieca said that the bank is in the process of acquiring the property and is anxious to work with the Village to have the properties developed. He was unable to provide the Village with a timetable.

Public Utilities, Water, Sewer and Gas:

Jones reported that the owner of the property at 524 Lincoln left town owing the Village for utilities. The property has been foreclosed upon and now is owned by US Bank. A lien will be placed on the property.

Finance, Personnel, GIS:

Treasurer Christine Nichols supplied the Board with the annual Treasurers Report. A motion was made by Hedges and seconded by Baer to approve the report. The motion carried 6-0.

Public Safety, Health and Safety:

Layton has been looking at the Village ordinances and believes there are laws in place to have several properties cleaned up. Martin believes that new ordinances need to be put into place. Copelin suggested to Martin that the Police Department be more proactive in seeing that problem properties are addressed.

Public Works, Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks:

Busch has spoken with the owner of the Snack Shack. He would like to see diagonal parking on the side of the building on 1st Street. Copelin said that it has been looked into in the past but was determined to be a safety issue. Diagonal parking may be added in front of the building. Rhodes and Copelin will look to see if this is an option. Layton would like to see a Welcome to Divernon sign be placed on the western entrance to the Village. A 4x8 metal sign can be purchased at a cost of $170.00. Another item she would like to see is a fence installed on the eastern entrance to allow clubs and organizations to place their logo’s on.

Village Communication/Building Grounds and Lights, Parks:

A motion was made by Jones and seconded by Busch to purchase Office 365 from Heart Technologies at a cost of $2820.72. The motion passed 6-0. The Board decided not to pursue the phone upgrade system suggested by Heart Technologies. Bramley will get additional quotes on a new phone system. Hedges distributed a draft of the newsletter. She would like to have suggestions for changes by the end of the week and published the next week. The cost of publishing will be $342.18 for black and white, or $412.18 for color.

Old Business: 

None.

New Business: 

None.

A motion was made by Hedges to go into executive session at 9:06 to discuss personnel issues. The Board returned to regular session at 9:43 p.m.

A motion was made by Jones to employ Dianne Brenning as part time office help at $15.00 per hour. Baer seconded and the motion carried 6-0.

Motion by Baer to adjourn at 9:44 p.m.

https://divernonil.com/assets/uploads/sites/219/2019/09/Minutes-8-14-2019.pdf