Sangamon Sun

Village of Divernon Board of Trustees met June 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The regular meeting of the Village of Divernon Board of Trustees was held electronically. Village President Jim Copelin called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Clerk Rod Molnar called roll: Jim Copelin “Here”, Craig Busch “Here”, Melissa Layton “Here”, Wayne Jones “Here”, Gail Hedges “Here”, Tyler Bramley “Here”, Larry Baer “Here”. Also, in attendance were Police Chief Jason Martin and Superintendent Jeremy Rhodes.

A motion was made by Baer and seconded by Jones to approve the minutes of May 27, 2020. The motion passed 6-0.

Baer presented the Village bills with a motion they be approved after adding an invoice from Flowers Inc. for $406.02. Hedges seconded and the motion carried 6-0.

Supervisor Reports: Public Works:

Superintendent Rhodes reported he and his crew have been working on the streets to prepare them for oil and chipping. They have completed the ditch work on 3rd Street getting some help from the Township. Rhodes has been locking the sewer plant after hours and on weekends due to a series of illegal dumping. Until he can get a new camera system in place, he recommends keeping it open only during business hours. A motion was made by Busch to purchase a camera system from Lowes at a cost of $391.39 and a monitor for $199.99. Hedges seconded and the motion carried 6-0. He is continuing to work with SEDAC from the University of Illinois to get ideas on energy savings for the sewage treatment plant. He received a rough estimate from Ruby Electric to install solar panels at the plant for $188,500.00. Ruby estimates the panels would pay for themselves in 15 years and generate $189,702.00 in revenue over 30 years. No action was taken.

Police:

Chief Martin introduced Garrad Straube, a candidate for full time officer. He is originally from Quincy Illinois. He attended Lincoln College and has a degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Illinois Springfield and has gone through the Police Academy. A motion was made by Baer and seconded by Hedges to employ Straube beginning immediately. The motion passed 6-0. The F150 truck has been returned from the dealer after repairs. So far there have been no other issues. Former police officer Ben Schoonover has some questions on the money he owes the Village for training. Martin advised that the police radios were purchased in 2008 and he can no longer get parts or service for them. He may be requesting new radios in the near future. Two young individuals caused some damage on the new playground equipment. Martin has talked with their parents. He is going to talk with Fire Chief Randy Rhodes about possibly having them paint fire hydrants as a community service. The owner of the old grocery store has been doing some mowing. Martin will be in touch with him to let him know the Village would like to see more done very soon in regards to getting the building cleaned repaired and made useful again.

Committee Reports:

Zoning, TIF, Building Permits:

Nothing to report.

Public Utilities, Water, Sewer and Gas:

Nothing to report.

Finance, Personnel, GIS:

Molnar reported he was informed by the Illinois Municipal League Risk Management they offer ethics training to village employees at no cost. He will get them a list of employees and they will start the process. Baer attended a webinar by Good Energy, the consultants in charge of the Village’s electric aggregation program. They will be putting bids out for the new contract soon. The expect prices to go down this year. The Village’s contract with Homefield Energy expires at the end of the year. The next webinar is scheduled for June 11th. There was a discussion on how best to handle the handicapped accessible playground equipment and where to put the new concrete. Copelin, Busch and Rhodes will meet at the park tomorrow.

Public Safety, Health and Safety:

Copelin would like the Board to consider some ideas for community policing. He would like to begin some youth programs such as bike rodeos. He thinks it would be a good time with the addition of the new police officer. He wants the Board to come back to the next meeting with some ideas.

Public Works, Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks:

Busch said he had been asked by Rick Sennings of the Snack Shack about some potholes near his building. Rhodes will take care of it as soon as he gets a new load of patch. Copelin asked Martin to see if any trees were hanging over alleys that would be a problem for emergency vehicles and to notify residents if they need to be cut back.

Village Communication/Building Grounds and Lights, Parks:

Busch gave an update on the block party scheduled for the Village Park on July 18th. United Community Bank has donated $1000.00 to cover the cost of entertainment. Busch is working on the specifics of the events that will take place. Tim Patterson was given the ok to use MacMurray Park the weekend of June 27th for a baseball tournament. Bramley said the bathrooms need cleaned up. Rhodes will see that the water is turned on and Patterson can see the bathrooms are cleaned.

Old Business:

Hedges reported that Toni’s I55 Restaurant did not meet the June 1st deadline for the small business grant, but they would be interested if another round of grants become available. Bids for tree removal will be put on the agenda for the next meeting.

New Business:

The Auburn High School Student Council has offered to build a book box to be erected on the square. They only ask that the Village put it up. The school will be notified to begin the project and let the Village know when it is complete.

Motion by Baer to adjourn at 8:44 p.m.

https://divernonil.com/assets/uploads/sites/219/2020/06/Minutes-6-10-2020.pdf