Sangamon Sun

Village of Chatham Village Board met Dec. 22.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

A. Call to Order

1. Moment of Silence

2. Pledge of Allegiance

3. Roll Call

Present: Trustee Gerger, Trustee Chiaro, Trustee Detmers, Trustee Mau, and Trustee Scherschel, Trustee Mann, and Village President Kimsey

Others Present: Village Manager McCarthy, Police Chief Foli, Village Attorney Greg Moredock, Attorney Jason Brokaw, and Clerk Dahlkamp

4. Public Announcements: If you have a Public announcement you must email it to (publiccomments@chathamil.net) at least 30 minutes before the beginning of the scheduled meeting.

Santa- Thanked the board for their service.

Village President Kimsey- CFO Dierking passed her exam and receieved certification as a Public Finance Officer. President Kimsey thanked Officer Tarter and the police department for keeping policies updated.

5. Public Comments Agenda Topics: If you have a Public Comments on Agenda Topics you must email it to (publiccomments@chathamil.net) at least 30 minutes before the beginning of the scheduled meeting.

Keith Chew- Ameren deal inquiries. Is this the best price? Is this a good financial move for the village?

Keith Osburn- Inquiries and concerns regarding the Ameren deal.

Bonnie Bileck- 1. Letter of intent- what does each board member think about this? 2. 11 million dollars? Will this be used for the citizens or are the funds for this money already allocated?

B. Consent Agenda

1. Regular Village Board Meeting Minutes from Tuesday, December 8th, 2020.

2. Warrants Resolution 48-20

Trustee Mau moved seconded by Trustee Gerger to put the consent agenda on the table for action. Trustee Scherschel inquired about mileage reimbursement for village employees. Is this a new procedure? Trustee Detmers inquired about the Guardian Tracking expense- Chief Foli informed the board this is an annual police expense. The consent agenda passed 6 yes, 0 no, and 0 absent as follows: Trustee Gerger yes, Mau yes, Mann yes, Chiaro yes, Scherschel yes, and Detmers yes.

C. Old Business

There was NO old business this evening.

D. New Business

1. A RESOLUTION APPROVING AND AUTHORIZING THE VILLAGE TO ENTER INTO A LETTER OF INTENT RELATED TO THE SALE OF VILLAGE PROPERTY

Trustee Mau moved, seconded by Trustee Chiaro to put the resolution on the table for action. Attorney Brokaw explained the Letter of Intent to the board. A long discussion ensued, and each trustee was able to ask questions. Trustee Scherschel and Detmers asked if the agreement was to be turned down, can Ameren still come back and negotiate a new price? Trustee Detmers- Can discussions continue without a letter of intent? What can we learn as a board with passing this now versus not passing this LOI now? Trustee Gerger- Can we only discuss what is in the letter of intent? Trustee Mann- Is the LOI just to explore options between IMEA and Ameren/Chatham? This is not personal towards village electrical employees, and would like to explore the LOI options. Trustee Chiaro- Can we table this conversation to gain more access or not? Trustee Mau- There are underlying questions people want access to. Trustee Scherschel- In the due dilligence section of the LOI, there is no clear figure on the rates. Citizens need more info, and this needs to be more transparent. Cannot vote yes wtihout more transparency than what is currently available. Trustee Gerger- Will not be voting yes, needs more transparency. Trustee Detmers- Cannot make this decision with very little questions answered. Still no answers to the penalties with leaving IMEA. Loyalty of staff, community, and timeliness- the decision is clear. Village President Kimsey- We need to move to next steps to gather more facts. It is non-binding/non-contractual. The potential buyer is willing to establish answers by taking this avenue. This is worthy of a good board to take time to learn facts. Trustee Gerger- 90 days is a short amount of time to make an 11 million dollar deal. Attorney Brokaw- 90 days the LOI terminantes. You will not be locked into a deal whent the 90 days expires. The resolution DID NOT PASS as follows: 2 yes, 4 no, and 0 absent as follows: Trustee Mann yes, Trustee Mau yes, Trustee Chiaro no, Trustee Detmers no, Trustee Gerger no, and Trustee Scherschel no.

2. AN ORDINANCE EXTENDING CERTAIN LIQUOR LICENSES THROUGH MARCH 31, 2021 AND PRORATING LICENSE FEES, Ordinance 20-37

Trustee Scherschel moved, seconded by Trustee Detmers to put the ordinance on the table for action. The ordinance passed 6 yes, 0 no, and 0 absent as follows: Trustee Gerger yes, Mau yes, Mann yes, Chiaro yes, Scherschel yes, and Detmers yes.

3. Public Comments Village Business: If you have a Public Comments on Village Business you must email it to (publiccomments@chathamil.net) at least 30 minutes before the beginning of the scheduled meeting.

There were no public comments on village business.

E. Schedule of Meetings

1. Public Properties and Recreation Municipal Hall 6:00 PM January 11, 2021

2. Village Board 6:00 PM Municipal Hall January 12, 2021

3. Committee of the Whole 6:15 PM Municipal Hall January 12, 2021

4. Planning Commission 6:00 PM Municipal Hall January 21, 2021

5. Village Board 6:00 PM Municipal Hall January 26, 2021

F. Closed Session

Trustee Scherschel moved, seconded by Trustee Mann to move into executive session. This motion passed 6 yes, 0 no, and 0 absent as follows: Trustee Gerger yes, Mau yes, Mann yes, Chiaro yes, Scherschel yes, and Detmers yes. The closed session this evening was under: Collective Negotiating Matter (2)(c)(2).

G. Reconvene Open Session

Trustee Scherschel moved, seconded by Trustee Chiaro to reconvene open session. This motion passed 6 yes, 0 no, and 0 absent as follows: Trustee Gerger yes, Mau yes, Mann yes, Chiaro yes, Scherschel yes, and Detmers yes.

H. Closing

1. Adjournment

Trustee Scherschel moved, seconded by Trustee Gerger to adjourn the meeting. The meeting was adjourned by voice vote.

https://go.boarddocs.com/il/chatham/Board.nsf/Public