Sangamon Sun

Village of Pawnee Board of Trustees met Sept. 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Call to Order:

• President Clarke called the meeting to order to 7:00pm.

Roll Call:

• Village Clerk, Devona Martin called roll

• Trustees in attendance: Brian Whitlow, Phillip Thompson, Patrick Murphy, David Skinner, Troy Squires

• Trustees Absent: none

• Also in attendance: Attorney Don Cravens, Treasurer Kelly Thein, Candy Kramer with the Pawnee Post, Chief Barclay Harris, Steve Haney, Dominic Campo, Jay Smith, Jessica Leach, Rodney Cole

Visitor's Recognition/Comments:

• Jay Smith with Locals appeared before the Board. There is a poker run with jeeps and bikes coming this Saturday afternoon. They'll arrive around 2:15pm and depart around 3:45pm. They would like to block off a portion of the east and north sides of the square. He will get with Chief Harris. Consensus was to allow.

Clerk's Report:

• Minutes of August 9, 2021 were presented for review and approval

Motion made by Trustee Murphy to approve the minutes of August 9, 2021 as presented

Second made by Trustee Thompson

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-yes, Thompson-present, Murphy-yes, Skinner-yes, Squires-present

Motion Carried: (5-0)

• Minutes of August 23, 2021 were presented for review and approval

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve the minutes of August 23, 2021 as presented

Second made by Trustee Squires

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-present, Thompson-yes, Murphy-present, Skinner-yes, Squires yes, Clarke-yes

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Personnel & Finance Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Skinner

• Trustee Skinner presented the bills payable for the week ending September 13, 2021 in the amount of $229,505.88. Just over $90,296 of this was our first natural gas loan installment,

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve the bills payable for the week ending September 13, 2021 in the amount of $229,505.88.

Second made by Trustee Squires

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-yes, Thompson-yes, Murphy-yes, Skinner-yes, Squires-yes

Motion Carried: (5-0)

Gas and Water Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Squires

Trustee Squires advised that for the month of August, they had 8 shut offs.

• Trustee Squires advised that Andy is working on gas upgrades on Henkle Drive. They do have to go across Rt 104, so they are planning to do this on a Saturday morning.

Streets, Alley and Sidewalk Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Whitlow

• Trustee Whitlow advised they have completed the rock and chip overlay and are currently working on patching as needed. Our engineer has been working on the easement for Groom Street to 104.

• Trustee Whitlow advised we have obtained an easement from Russ Wangen. Wangen has agreed to a permanent 10' easement for utilities from Groom St to Rt 104. This will be for storm sewer drain. We will have a 20' easement during construction and 10' permanent for consideration of $1,000

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to pass the Wangen Easement in consideration of $1,000.00.

Second made by Trustee Squires

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-yes, Thompson-yes, Murphy-yes, Skinner-yes, Squires-yes

Motion Carried: (5-0)

• Jessica Leach asked about the easement. Trustee Squires advised that Kuhn Engineering is currently working on the plans and we should have it within the next 2 weeks. She was going to asphalt her drive and asked if she should wait. Trustee Squires advised she should wait. She also asked if Dewey was putting up a fence to close off the drive. President Clarke advised we own 8' of the alley and we are not putting up a fence. Trustee Murphy advised we don't care if they close the alley but we do care in the manner in which they close the alley. We own 8' plus the utility easement. They cannot do it without us signing off on it.

Police Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Bowsher

V Chief Barclay Harris presented his monthly police report.

Motion made by Trustee Squires to approve Chief Barclay Harris's Monthly Police Report

Second made by Trustee Thompson

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-yes, Thompson-yes, Murphy-yes, Skinner-yes, Squires-yes

Motion Carried: (5-0)

Trustee Skinner advised we passed down one of the trucks to the village. Chief Harris has found a '2022 Chevy 5W4 crew cab police truck in the amount $35,980. It is white. There are a few options we can exclude.

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to order the vehicle at a price not to exceed $35,980

Second made by Trustee Murphy

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-yes, Thompson-yes, Murphy-yes, Skinner-yes, Squires-yes

Motion Carried: (5-0)

President Clarke asked if we are going to offload any of the older vehicles. Chief Harris advised that not at this time.

Sewers and Parks: Committee Chair, Trustee Thompson

• Trustee Thompson advised the mulch is down. They are still waiting on the slides. He has found a swing that is for mommy and baby in the amount of $1336.

Motion made by Trustee Thompson to purchase the swing in the amount of $1336

Second made by Trustee Squires

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-yes, Thompson-yes, Murphy-yes, Skinner-yes, Squires-yes

Motion Carried: (5-0)

• Trustee Skinner advised a year or two ago, a guy contacted them about disc golf. Trustee Skinner wanted to if we are still interested. He originally presented a 9 hole layout at a cost of $6,000. The name of the company is 317 Disc. A beginner course can fit on 3-10 acres depending on the terrain. Trustee Thompson said it would take up at least one of the soccer field after we just worked on getting the walk path threw them. Trustee Skinner asked if anyone was interested at all and he could ask about maybe a 3-4 holes. Trustee Thompson mentioned the property at Washington. Consensus was to reach out to him and ask if he could come inspect and give his opinions.

Zoning Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Murphy

• Trustee Murphy wanted to discuss having some different building requirements as we rebuild the square. They started with a template from Sherman but it didn't seem to be a good fit. They came up with some template language with the help of Dominic Campo. Discussed the definition of "downtown" and what that encompasses. He suggests we add 2 paragraphs to our current zoning codes. The 1st paragraph would give the geography and the 2nd paragraph would indicate that plans would need to be submitted to the zoning board for approval. This makes it a case by case basis and gives the zoning board control over what gets built. This would just be an attachment to the already existing ordinance. Dominic Camp advised he would like to see some changes pertaining to the 20' setback requirement from the alley. Steve said you would have to be conscious about the utilities. Dominic believes it would basically be going back to where they were. By current zoning, it would have to be moved 10' forward. Attorney Cravens advised there is a grant about rebuilding downtowns. He suggested we check into this.

• Trustee Murphy advised we still have had zero new build permits. There has been one business rebuild permit.

Bargaining Committee: Committee Chair, President Clarke

• none

Energy: Committee Chair, President Clarke

• none

Infrastructure: Committee Chair, President Clarke

• none

Unfinished Business:

• none

New Business:

• Trustee Skinner advised Otter Lake had Scott Hunt w/ Fehr Graham. He does grant writing and capturing grants. He thinks it is worthwhile for us to talk to him. They work for 10% but if we don't get anything it doesn't cost us anything. Consensus was to reach out him.

Motion to Adjourn:

• Motion made by Trustee Skinner to adjourn

Second made by Trustee Murphy

Roll Call Vote Taken: Whitlow-yes, Thompson-yes, Murphy-yes, Skinner-yes, Squires-yes

Motion Carried: (5-0)

Meeting adjourned at 7:33pm on Monday, September 13, 2021. The next scheduled meeting of the Pawnee Village Board of Trustees is Monday, September 27, 2019 at 7:00pm at the Village Hall.

http://www.pawneeil.net/uploads/2/4/2/7/24273585/bmm_09232021.pdf