Sangamon Sun

Village of Divernon Board of Trustees met Sept. 11.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The regular meeting of the Village of Divernon Board of Trustees was held on Wednesday, September 11, 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, Superintendent Jeremy Rhodes and Treasurer Christine Nichols.

A motion was made by Hedges and seconded by Baer to approve the minutes of August 28, 2019. The motion passed 6-0.

A motion was made by Layton and seconded by Busch to approve the executive session minutes of August 28, 2019. The motion passed 6-0.

Baer presented the Village bills with a motion they be approved after recommending the mobile insurance and device protection on the cell phones be discontinued. Hedges seconded and the motion carried 6-0. Hedges had questions regarding the lease agreement with George Alarm, as well as questions regarding purchases for auto parts, tires and shop linens. Rhodes and Copelin were able answer her inquiries.

Visitors:

Chuck Apgar was in attendance but had no business to bring before the Board.

Dave Gathard had questions for the Police Chief regarding the condition of his neighbor’s property. The Chief will look into the problem. Peter Gilbert asked for an extension to pay off his utility bill. He said he could pay $300.00 tonight and will pay another $300.00 on September 18th. A motion was made by Jones and seconded by Layton to accept the agreement. The motion carried 6-0. Jake Rettberg representing both the Otter Lake Water Commission as well as the Divernon Township Library was in attendance. He presented the annual financial report from the water commission and said there were no rate increases planned for this year. He asked if the Village would be interested in taking over the operation of the public restrooms on the square from the library. The Board will discuss. He said the pavilion on the square is dark and needs lights. He said the pavilion was looking bad and asked if there were plans to do anything. Busch said that money had been appropriated in this year’s budget to have work done on the pavilion. Jake also asked if the Board would consider having someone drag the ball field at MacMurray Park to keep it looking nice as everyone coming into town sees it.

Amy Patton of Patton and Associates presented the Village’s annual audit. There was a $36,000.00 increase in the General Fund, the Water Fund had a $28,000.00 decrease including depreciation, the Sewer Fund an $18,000.00 decrease with depreciation and the Gas Fund a $239,000.00 increase. A motion was made by Hedges to accept the audit as presented. Layton seconded and the motion carried 6-0.

Supervisor Reports:

Public Works:

Rhodes reported he is still waiting on parts for the pump for the Third Street sewer lift station. He has begun work on the water main project. Utility Safety and Design will be in town on Friday to update natural gas regulators. The annual natural gas leak survey will be conducted on September 19th and 20th. The Zoning Board of Appeals will hold a hearing on October 8th to deal with a request to rezone property at 389 West Route 104 from commercial to industrial.

Police:

Chief Martin has received some estimates on cleaning up the old IGA property. Roughly it will cost $26,000.00 to clean out the building and another $7500.00 to tear it down. It will cost $1845.00 to have the building checked for asbestos. If found the cost to clean the asbestos runs about $6.00 per foot. At this point the Board is still waiting for written documentation from the Sangamon County Health Department to proceed with the cleanup. A special meeting of the Board along the boards from the Village of Pawnee and the City of Auburn is set for September 17th at 6:00 p.m. in the Jr. High cafeteria. The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the possibility of establishing a joint ordinance court which would handle Village ordinance violations rather than sending them to the States Attorney’s office.

Committee Reports:

Zoning, TIF, Building Permits:

Nothing to report.

Public Utilities, Water, Sewer and Gas:

Nothing to report.

Finance, Personnel, GIS:

Baer reported he met with a representative of American Central Insurance regarding the health insurance program for employees. They expect the Village’s share of the cost to go down slightly this year. The out of pocket costs for employees will increase from $1250.00 to $1500.00. The family plan out of pocket cost will change from $3000.00 to $3750.00. Copelin reported the fraud manual is being reviewed by the Village Attorney. Treasurer Nichols reported two new ACH accounts have been set up at UCB bank. One is for payments for natural gas purchases and the other for TIF payments.

Public Safety, Health and Safety:

Copelin reported he has been in touch with Frontier Communications regarding the leaning pole coming into town and the old replaced poles located in various locations throughout town. A case file was opened and they will take another look at the issue.

Public Works, Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks:

Nothing to report.

Village Communication/Building Grounds and Lights, Parks:

A motion was made by Bramley and seconded by Jones to accept the bid of Americall for the Village’s new phone system. The total cost will be $4227.69 which will include installation, programing and training. The motion passed 6-0. A motion was made by Busch to accept the new lease agreement from George Alarm to create a cellular backup for the alarm system. There is an initial cost of $99.00 and a monthly charge of $15.00. Bramley seconded and motion was approved 6-0. Hedges would like to have the Village’s web address more prominently displayed on the sign in front of the building, and the Mayor would like to have it put on the utility bills.

Old Business: 

None.

New Business: 

None.

Motion by Baer to adjourn at 8:22 p.m.

https://divernonil.com/assets/uploads/sites/219/2019/09/Minutes-9-11-2019.pdf