Sangamon Sun

Village Board of Pleasant Plains met Aug. 11.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Village Board of Pleasant Plains met for the regular village board meeting at 7:00 p.m. President Craig Held called the meeting to order and roll call was recorded:

Tim Robinson absent                      Mike Huber present

William Riggins, Jr present             Scott Flanigan present

Wayne Heideman present               Mike Long absent

President Craig Held declared a quorum present.

Staff Present: Craig Held, President

Judy Reiser, Village Clerk

Kevin Kesselring, Chief of Police

Jason Dumonceaux, Assistant Public Works

Roll Call

The Pledge of Allegiance

Minutes were reviewed for the regular board meeting of July 14, 2020. A motion to accept the minutes as presented was made by Trustee Scott Flanigan and seconded by Trustee Mike Huber. President Craig Held declared the motion carried by a unanimous aye vote.

Public Recognition: Lori Belden approached the board regarding sewage backup in her basement on June 21, 2020, from a failed pump at the east lift station. Lori states she incurred a plumber’s bill thinking the problem was hers; that bill is $725. The Belden’s have sustained much damage in their basement, the walls, trim, carpet, etc., caused by the sewage, water and mold. Lori contacted ServPro who did some cleaning however left a mess behind for them to take care of. Thus far their bill is $1,600 and they aren’t finished. Her homeowners’ insurance has a $1,000 deductible and feels she should at least be reimbursed for this. Lori has paid the plumber and ServPro bills. The Board reviewed her situation and advised the Village will contact Omni to see if our agreement with them covers insurance for this type of situation; and our insurance IMLRM, to see if our coverage includes resident’s damage due to malfunction of our equipment. Mayor Held asked Lori to bring in all bills incurred including a couple construction estimates.

The alarm company, for OmniSite, GuardDog, was temporarily unavailable due to an issue at the data center that hosts their servers and their alarm did not alert our personnel of the problem.

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer report was reviewed. The Village received the second allocation from the Rebuild Illinois Grant. These funds must be used for a bondable infrastructure project.

This grant is for around $52-53,000 and will be disbursed over a five-year period. Trustee Scott Flanigan advised this has nothing to do with the Rebuild Illinois funds requested for the park. Trustee Scott Flanigan made a motion to accept the treasurer’s report as presented. Trustee Wayne Heideman seconded this motion. 

President Craig Held called for a roll call vote. 

Ayes: Bill Riggins, Jr., Wayne Heideman, Mike Huber, Scott Flanigan 

Nays: N/A

Abstain: N/A

Absent: Tim Robinson, Mike Long

President Held declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.

Payment of the Bills: Bills were reviewed and a motion to accept the bills as presented was made by Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr. Motion was seconded by Trustee Scott Flanigan. 

President Craig Held called for a roll call vote.

Ayes: Scott Flanigan, Mike Huber, Wayne Heideman, Bill Riggins, Jr. 

Nays: N/A

Abstain: N/A

Absent: Mike Long, Tim Robinson

President Held declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.

Public Works Report: In the absence of Water Commissioner Brad Hermes, Assistant Jason Dumonceaux gave the report. Jason states the lost water numbers should be down as they fixed a couple leaks. They had to bore under the road on Hawthorn to repair one of the leaks. After the ground settles, they will patch that area. He states the Street Department has been doing a lot of weed eating and mowing.

Water leak issues were brought before the board via letter from Melinda Ingram and Mary Sylvester. Both had water leaks and were requesting a reduction in their sewer costs since the water did not go in the sewer.

Ingram: A motion was made by Trustee Bill Riggins and seconded by Trustee Scott Flanigan to waive $50.67 from their bill due the sewer charges over and above their average cost. 

President Craig Held called for a roll call vote.

Ayes: Bill Riggins, Jr., Wayne Heideman, Mike Huber, Scott Flanigan 

Nays: N/A

Abstain: N/A

Absent: Tim Robinson, Mike Long

President Held declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.

Sylvester: A motion was made by Trustee Scott Flanigan and seconded by Trustee Mike Huber to waive $49.62 from Mary’s bill due the sewer charges over and above her average cost resulting from a water leak under her house.

President Craig Held called for a roll call vote.

Ayes: Scott Flanigan, Mike Huber, Wayne Heideman, Bill Riggins, Jr. 

Nays: N/A

Abstain: N/A

Absent: Mike Long, Tim Robinson

President Held declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.

Police Report: Police Chief Kevin Kesselring discussed animal control. Renewal of the Sangamon County Animal Control Agreement tabled from last month was re-discussed. We are charged by the animal control at the end of their fiscal year. A few years ago, an agreement was made with animal control that all calls for their services need to be approved by the Pleasant Plains Police Department. It is cost effective to have an agreement for these services with the county rather than the village providing animal control services. According to the county we owe $134.54 from services last year. It was determined on July 27 a village resident took in an opossum to the Sangamon County Animal Control to be euthanized, and another village resident had taken in a stray cat. Chief Kesselring suggested we go ahead and pay the bill and figure out a solution to recoup the village funds.

Animal Control Agreement: Mayor Held has been trying to get in touch with the Director O’Neill of Public Health to ask for a modification of our agreement to include services to be authorized in advance by the village. Breakdown of fees as set by public health are: $65.25 per call out that is only approved in advance by our police department; boarding that would be paid by the owner of the animal $59.26 per night; euthanasia at $31.40 and disposal of the animal $35.87 Trustee Mike Huber made a motion for the village to pay the $134.54 outstanding bill to Sangamon County Public Health for the euthanasian and disposal services they provided in 2019 not authorized by the village, and bill the appropriate residents for reimbursement to the village. Trustee Scott Flanigan seconded this motion.

President Craig Held called for a roll call vote.

Ayes: Bill Riggins, Jr., Wayne Heideman, Mike Huber, Scott Flanigan 

Nays: N/A

Abstain: N/A

Absent: Tim Robinson, Mike Long

President Held declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.

An invoice for $67.27 for reimbursement to the village for animal control services outline above will be sent to the two residents.

Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr. made a motion to enter into another agreement with Sangamon County Public Health for animal control services that began May 1, 2020-April 30, 2021, for services approved in advance by the police department. Trustee Wayne Heideman seconded this motion. 

President Craig Held called for a roll call vote.

Ayes: Scott Flanigan, Mike Huber, Wayne Heideman, Bill Riggins, Jr. Nays: N/A

Abstain: N/A

Absent: Mike Long, Tim Robinson

President Held declared the motion carried by a roll call vote.

Fines and Fee Matrix: According to Attorney Draper any changes made on the fines and/or fees listed on the matrix will take an ordinance it is currently connected to an existing ordinance. Chief Kesselring states it would be ideal if fees were removed from our existing ordinance and incorporated into the matrix so when a fine or fee is changed, we would only have to amend the ordinance for the matrix instead of each existing ordinance pertaining to the updates. If Attorney Carl Draper states this can be done, then we will review all the fees to see which need updated to be incorporated in an amendment. At this time, Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr., states he does not feel it is necessary to spend the additional funds on the changes. Anything not listed on the current matrix that is associated with an ordinance can be added without additional costs.

Chief Kesselring asked about the status of the codification of our ordinance manual. Clerk Reiser stated this project has not been started. It was noted that the funds were allocated in this year’s budget. However due to the pandemic the village has noticed a decrease in sales tax, etc. which records show could be up to a 40% decrease. Trustee Bill Riggins, Jr., being proactive, thought it might be wise to hold off the codification project until closer to the end of the fiscal year in case the allocated $13,000 need to be shifted elsewhere.

Kevin spoke of a “Beautification Committee” that is being formed to assist residents in keeping their property cleared of clutter, weeds, etc. There are many people that do not have the necessary equipment to haul off debris, trim bushes, etc. This is a community project and administered by volunteers. If the family meets their criteria for help, the committee only asks that the resident make a donation to the Pleasant Plains Community Club or the Helping Hands Food Pantry in exchange for their work. The Village is not involved in the operation of this committee. Anyone interested in joining should contact Trena Sabo.

Clerk Report: Report was reviewed. Water loss was a little higher due to three water leaks and hydrant testing last month. Bulk water had an increase due to the construction at the high school.

Clean-Up Day: Will have a clean-up day again this fall. Citywide garage sale is September 19th therefore the clean-up day will be scheduled after that. Charge will be $25. (Clean-up days scheduled September 21 & 22). We will get 3-30-yard dumpsters from Lake Area Disposal Service Inc.

Mayor Held spoke of another community that had Salvation Army set a trailer somewhere in the village so anyone with donations after the citywide garage sale they could load in the trailer

Update on Water Tower: Max sent an update that he just checked with DCO and they starting to review the applications and the IEPA reviewers are working from home and haven’t sent issued review comments for the water tower yet. Covid has everything moving in slow motion.

Sexual Harassment Training: All staff were reminded to complete their sexual harassment training and turn in their certificate of completion if they have not done so already.

Park Update: Trustee Scott Flanigan states they are waiting to hear from thru Representative Mike Murphy’s office for the park. According to the representative’s office they are beginning the disbursement of these solicited funds from the greatest to the lesser applied for amounts.

Announcement:

There being no further business, Trustee Scott Flanigan made a motion to adjourn the meeting. The motion was second by Trustee Wayne Heideman. The motion was passed by voice vote. Mayor Held declared the meeting adjourned by a unanimous aye vote at 8:04 p.m.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1y1PVQmnj0hvqa0y25sMdUaC-54JukWzgJBtr99Yqy4s/edit