Sangamon Sun

Village of Jerome Board of Trustees met Jan. 7.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

Call to Order President Lopez called the meeting of the Village of Jerome Board of Trustees to order at 6:30 pm. 

Pledge of Allegiance President Lopez led all those present in the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Roll Call Clerk Wheeland called the roll: Present: President Mike Lopez Trustees Kathy DeHart, Leigh Irons, Ralph frons, Dale Lael, Christina Smith Clerk Linda Wheeland Attorney Jason Brokaw Treasurer Steve Roth 

Trustee Philip Raftis arrived later in the meeting. 

Approval of Minutes 

December 17, 2020 Regular Meeting Minutes 

A motion was made by Trustee L. Irons to approve the Minutes of the December 17, 2020 Regular Meeting of the Board of Trustees. The motion was seconded by Trustee R. Irons. 

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee DeHart, Trustee R. Irons, Trustee Smith, Trustee L. Irons 

The motion carried. 

December 3, 2020 Executive Session Minutes 

A motion was made by Trustee Lael to approve the Minutes of the December 3, 2020 Executive Session of the Board of Trustees. The motion was seconded by Trustee L. Irons. 

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee DeHart, Trustee R. Irons, Trustee Smith, Trustee L. Irons 

The motion carried. 

Approval of Amended Warrant List 21-13 Treasurer Roth explained that a line item on Warrant List 21-13 for payment to the Local Government Health Plan had included a wrong employee and it was posted to a wrong account. 

The warrant list should be amended to correct this discrepancy. 

A motion was made by Trustee Smith to approve an amendment to Warrant List 21-13 dated November 5, 2020 to correct a discrepancy in the account charged for the Local Government Health Plan bill. The motion was seconded by Trustee R. Ironş. 

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee DeHart, Trustee R. Irons, Trustee Smith, Trustee L. Irons 

The motion carried. 

Approval of Warrant List 21-17 

President Lopez stated that Warrant List 21-17 dated January 7, 2021 totaled $27,842.40. Treasurer Roth added that of this amount $12,045.55 will be paid from the General Revenue Fund, $162.60 will be paid from the 1% Fund, and $15,634.25 will be paid from the Water Fund. 

A motion was made by Trustee Lael to approve Warrant List 21-17 dated January 7, 2021 for a total of $27,842.40. The motion was seconded by Trustee DeHart. 

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee De Hart, Trustee R. Irons, Trustee Smith, Trustee L. Irons 

The motion carried. 

Visitors Acknowledgement 

President Lopez opened the Visitors Acknowledgement portion of the meeting at 6:37 pm. 

He noted that during the time period when remote meetings are being held public comments must be submitted in writing to the Clerk by email or by placing them in the deposit slot outside  the office front door by 6:00 p.m. the day of the meeting. 

Clerk Wheeland stated no public comments had been received. This portion of the meeting closed at 6:37 pm. 

Reports from Village Departments 

A. Public Health Trustee L, Irons stated she had no report. 

B. Public Works When Trustee Raftis arrived later in the meeting he stated he had no report. 

C. Public Property Trustee DeHart reported the following: 

The Public Works staff will replace old wiring and pull new wiring to the outside front door light at the library. The garage door opener in the mosquito garage stopped working a couple months ago and a new opener will be purchased. The Public Works staff will do the installation. The Village Board Room is receiving a facelift with paint, upgrading switches and outlets with wiring traced and labeled correctly in the breaker box. Pictures and maps will be re hung and a chair rail will be added on the east wall. Other Village Hall facelifts to be done include cleaning the carpets, painting the lobby and interior doors and seeing what we can do in the restrooms. Public Works staff are also trying to locate LED replacement fixtures for the four office fluorescent ceiling fixtures that have no covers. Christmas decorations at the Village Hall will be coming down at the beginning of next week. Planning is underway to develop a landscape plan and prioritize landscape work needed around the Village Complex and the Park. A notification letter needs to go out to the tree service hired by Comcast to remove tree branches in the easement behind five houses on the north side of lles Avenue and the Village lot. They have not responded to phone calls to get it done. The Library garage roof is leaking. Dave is checking on the extent of the damage and what will be entailed to fix it. Dave wants to remind everyone to please use the work orders, email, or reach out to Dave directly if they have a property issue that needs to be addressed. 

D. Building & Zoning Trustee Lael reported the following: 

On December 22nd Trustee Lael attended a meeting of the Sangamon County Multi Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan Task Force. It was a very good meeting with communities throughout the County in attendance. He resubmitted the five-point plan discussed at the last Board meeting for inclusion in the updated plan. At the top of our list is a backup generator for the Village Complex. He found out that most communities have a backup generator and the price has decreased quite a bit from when the Village first looked into purchasing one. 

Footings were dug today for the new building being constructed next to Asian Market. 

• A permit was issued for a new business going into the Jerome Mini Mall. 

President Lopez asked Trustee Lael if there was any movement on the house on Glenn Avenue damaged by a fallen tree. Trustee Lael said there was nothing going on with the house at this time. 

E. Public Safety Trustee Smith reported the following: 

• Chief Estill had circulated a list of calls in December to the Board members. 

Chief Estill reported the following: 

• The list distributed to the Board included 112 service calls in December. 

• Unlocked vehicles continue to be entered, including several today. Not much has been taken however. 

On New Year's Eve there were several shots-fired calls in the area. Some were just fireworks although a bullet did fall out of the sky and land on a car on Maple Street. Some investigations are ongoing. 

• Trustee DeHart asked what beats 500 and 600 are on the calls for service list. Chief Estill responded that these areas include calls responded to in Springfield. 

F. Water Department Trustee R. Irons reported the following: 

. A water main break on Homewood Avenue occurred on Christmas Day. It was repaired by CWLP the next day. We are still waiting for CWLP to repair two fire hydrants. They have staffing issues because of the virus. We are waiting on parts for fire hydrants on Glenn Avenue and Leonard Street which will be repaired by our Public Works staff. Dave will take the water operator exam on January 12th. An additional repair is needed at Leonard Street and Iles Avenue and lles will need to be closed to traffic during the repair. Dave has reviewed the cross-connection surveys sent out last year and has identified. several residences where backflow prevention valves need to be updated. Letters will be sent to property owners. 

G. Village Treasurer Treasurer Roth reported the following: 

• The Road and Bridge funding was received and increased over last year to $18,526. 

• Since it is early in the month there are no other revenues to report. 

Checks for the December 17th warrants were mailed out right after that meeting. Payroll was met for December 30th Checks will be mailed out following this meeting. . He is wrapping up work to file for funding under the CURE Act. Our request will be for the full amount identified for Jerome. He has already submitted a request for additional funding and has the paperwork ready if any becomes available. If that request is denied he will submit a request to IEMA for FEMA funds available to municipalities. He has already submitted an application to IEMA to be eligible for the FEMA funds and would just have to submit the expenses. That filing deadline is in June. He noted that there is more flexibility through the CURE Act on expense eligibility so he is hoping to get that request approved. 

Attorney Brokaw advised keeping track of any expenses this year as federal legislation extended the deadline for costs incurred to the end of 2021 for CURE funding. DCEO is currently drafting legislation to make a corresponding change in the Local CURE program. 

• The balances of various accounts are approximately as follows: 

> Illinois Funds General Revenue Account - $385,842 

> Motor Fuel Tax Fund - $41,344 

> INB General Revenue Account - $32,796 

> INB Water Account - $266,495 

> 1% Account - $401,691 

> Law Enforcement DUI - $31 

> Law Enforcement Vehicle - $358 → Road & Bridge - $18,526 

> Police Equipment Fund - $40 

> Cannabis Fund - $961 

> MFT Rebuild Illinois - $36,379 

Trustee Raftis joined the meeting at this point. 

H. Village Clerk Clerk Wheeland reported the following: 

The Springfield Sangamon County Regional Planning Commission provided an updated zoning map for the Village. She noted that Attorney Brokaw had explained for adopting the map to President Lopez and Trustee Lael so that can move forward. 

I Village Attorney Attorney Brokaw stated that the only thing he had to report was about the extension of the deadline to apply for Local CURE funding and this had been covered earlier in the meeting. 

J. Village President President Lopez reported the following: 

. The Village is still following COVID-19 protocols and has sufficient supplies on hand. 

• There is a lot of interest in development along Wabash Avenue. 

He will be meeting with Mr. Niemann by phone next week to discuss the status of the former Shop 'n Save property. Clerk Wheeland had facilitated review of the liquor license renewals. All but one license has been handed out. He is working on getting that one delivered. The businesses are hopeful they will survive the pandemic. 

The number of COVID-19 cases in Sangamon County spiked to 112 today from an average of around 60. The Regional Leadership Council will meet at the end of January with financial issues related to COVID-19 on the agenda. He will discuss with the group the possibility of entering into an agreement to do group purchasing to get better prices on materials and supplies. The water operator duties to perform mandatory water testing in the Village are being covered by a CWLP employee. He will continue until Dave is successful in passing the water operator test. He asked Clerk Wheeland if every employee has taken the sexual harassment prevention training. She stated that two employees had not submitted training certificates to her. 

Old Business 

A. Discussion and Approval of Employee Raises This item was addressed after executive session. 

B. Discussion and Approval of Ordinance 21-16 Amending an Ordinance Establishing a  Salary Schedule and the Personnel Policy for the Village of Jerome, Illinois This item was tabled to give Board members more time to review the ordinance. 

New Business 

A. Appointment of Individuals to Village Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning 

Commission President Lopez noted that with more and more development occurring in the Village it is important to have fully staffed Village Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission. He is looking for people who are committed to serving the community and asked the Board for suggestions on residents to appoint. 

Attorney Brokaw noted there are two bodies, the Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Commission. One has six members and the other has seven members. In order to amend the enough members need to be appointed to the Planning Commission to have a quorum. Then other things can be done to provide more efficiency, like implementing protocols for using a hearing officer. The Zoning Board of Appeals handles certain aspects of the zoning process and the process could be set up so they handle requests for rezonings, conditional permitted uses, and variances. These changes would bring the Village more in line with what other communities are doing now. He noted that the Planning Commission would need to convene to recommend that the Village Board of Trustees approve the updated zoning map. 

Executive Session 

A motion was made by Trustee R. Irons to go into Executive Session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of a specific employee or legal counsel for the public body (5 İLCS 120/2(c)(1)) and minutes of meetings lawfully closed under the Open Meetings Act for purposes of approval by the Body (5 ILCS 120/2(c)(21)). Trustee Lael seconded the motion. 

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee DeHart, Trustee R. Irons, Trustee Smith, Trustee L. Irons, Trustee Raftis 

The motion carried. 

The Board went into Executive Session at 7:18 pm. 

The Board returned from Executive Session at 8:29 pm, 

Clerk Wheeland called the roll. Present: President Mike Lopez Trustees Kathy DeHart, Leigh Irons, Ralph Irons, Dale Lael, Philip Raftis, Christina Smith Clerk Linda Wheeland Attorney Jason Brokaw Treasurer Steve Roth 

Discussion and Approval of Employee Raises 

A motion was made by Trustee DeHart to approve a 2% raise effective January 1, 2021 for all employees. The motion was seconded by Trustee R. Irons. 

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee DeHart, Trustee R. Irons, Trustee Smith, Trustee L. Irons, Trustee Raftis 

The motion carried. 

Adjournment 

A motion was made by Trustee R. Irons to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Trustee DeHart. 

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: Trustee Lael, Trustee DeHart, Trustee R. Irons, Trustee Smith, Trustee L. Irons, Trustee Raftis 

The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 8:33 pm. 

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