Village of Jerome Board of Trustees met March 3

By Kristine Gonzales-Abella

Apr 15, 2022

Village of Jerome Board of Trustees met March 3.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: The President and the Board of Trustees held the regular scheduled meeting at the Jerome Civic Center, 2901 Leonard Street, Jerome, Illinois via Zoom. The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm by President Lopez, followed by Roll call and the Pledge of Allegiance.

ROLL CALL:

The following were present:

Mike Lopez, Village President

Kathy DeHart, Trustee of Public Property & Co Trustee Public Health

Leigh Irons, Trustee of Public Safety

Ralph Irons, Trustee of Water Department

Christina Smith, Co-Trustee of Public Health

Dale Lael, Trustee of Building & Zoning

Phil Raftis, Trustee of Public Works

Also Present:

Lisa Cave, Village Clerk

Jason Brokaw, Attorney, Giffin, Winning, Cohen & Bodewes, P.C.,

Steve Roth, Village Treasurer

President Lopez asked for a moment of silence for the death of a personal friend and supporter to the Village of Jerome, Matthew Mau. Matt was a Trustee with the Village of Chatham for many years and had walked in our 4th of July parades many times, most recently in 2021. President Lopez sends his condolences to Matt’s family.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the February 17, 2022, Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the February 17, 2022, minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the February 17, 2022, Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee Ralph Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES.

APPROVAL TO PAY BILLS: President Lopez asked whether the board had reviewed Warrant List 22-21 dated March 3, 2022, totaling $19,757.38. Treasurer Roth added that of this amount $6,123.95 will be paid from the General Revenue Fund, $12,763.94 will be paid from the Water Fund, $247.00 will be paid from the 1% Fund and $624.49 will be paid from Motor Fuel.

President Lopez asked for a motion to approve Warrant List 22-21 as presented. Motion to Approve the Bills to be Paid as presented by Trustee Lael and 2nd by Trustee Smith.

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

TREASURER REPORTS: Treasurer Roth presented to the Board of Trustees the Financial Status as of March 3, 2022, via email Revenues: We have received no revenue for March as of yet. Funds: Currently there is approximately $810,962.79 in the Illinois Funds GRF account and $114,790.47 in the MFT funds. There is approximately $37,651.57 in the INB GRF account and $198,923.81 in the INB Water account. The other bank account balances are as follows: Law Enforcement - DUI – $270.00; Law Enforcement – Vehicle - $697.43; 1% NHR - $439,515.21; Road & Bridge - $18,991.94; and Police Equipment Fund - $2,893.88, Cannabis Fund - $3,318.55, MFT-Rebuild Illinois fund – $72,757.96, and the American Rescue Plan Fund $108,150.06. The initial Budget meetings went well and will be scheduling follow up meetings in the next few weeks.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

President Lopez opened the Visitors Acknowledgement portion of the meeting at 6:38 pm.

He noted that during the time 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 Cave stated she had received three emails.

On February 18, 2022 at 9:55 am xman_fan wrote: Good morning, my name is Tabith Cordery, my fiance Nate Tripp and I have lived in jerome for over 10 years. I would like to see about speaking or at least adding an issue to the next meeting agenda. The lack of police presence in Jerome is now a huge problem. We understand there is a hiring shortage but this has been going on for a long time. OUR police sit on chatham road, macarthur blvd, and Wabash ave. We rarely ever see any police inside the village. We pay taxes and I do believe we are currently leasing police vehicles but we never see them. We live on Iles and people drive so fast down this street I am terrified my son will get hit while waiting for his bus. They fly right through the stop signs or go around you if you do stop at the stop sign. My brother-in laws house was robbed 4 times over a 5 day period starting at 10am, while we were in Florida, and no one saw anything. The house across from them had an attempted burglary 2 nights before. We called Jerome PD the day we returned, February 5th, and as of february 18th have yet to receive a call back. The intruders returned 4 times that evening trying to enter the home again, the Sheriff's department responded to the residence 5 times that day/night. People used to be scared to even speed in jerome because of our strict police force and now everyone knows we no longer have one. Something needs to change before an innocent child gets injured or even worse. I would appreciate the consideration for this to be placed on the agenda. I believe i will have support from the entire village. Thank you for your time. Tabitha Cordery

On February 18, 2022 at 10:04 am, Tabitha Cordery sent a correction to previous email: I apologize but I need to correct one statement. Jerome Pd did call back about the home that was burglarized, but it was 3 days later. ThNk you for your time.

On February 18, 2022 at 6:55 pm, Tony Wasilewski sent an email to Trustee Raftis who asked me to include the email in the public comment section of tonight’s meeting. The email stated: As I read the village minutes of the last few months and notice that the village is in a much healthier position as far as funding and revenue intake, I would like to make a suggestion on behalf of my fellow neighbors and residents of this wonderful village. It would be much appreciated to see the village bring back some of the services that we used to enjoy in the past. These services include a branch pick-up program and a large item pickup program. The branch program would not necessarily need to be done on a monthly basis as it has been done in the past, but maybe three times a year, spring, summer and fall. Also, the large item pickup would be a great benefit for the residents of the village especially since revenues are projected to match years prior to 2019, which is when the program was ended due to finances. These are just some suggestions that I know the residents of the village, that you serve, would be much appreciated to have back now that the villages finances are in a much better place. The patience of the residents and hard work of the village leaders, to get us back on solid ground financially is much appreciated. Your response and ideas for this village will be patiently waited for from us residents in the Village of Jerome. Thank you. Tony Wasilewski

This portion of the meeting closed at 6:42 pm.

REPORTS:

Trustee Smith stated she had nothing to report.

Trustee Raftis stated he contacted Tony the next day after receiving his email. Trustee Raftis would like to remind residents to keep the leaves and limbs out of the gutters and ditches to allow water to flow.

Trustee DeHart stated she has received one complaint on a resident installing their own parking area. Trustee DeHart stated we are in need of warmer weather to repair the safety hazards on the playground equipment and replenish the pea gravel under the swing set. Trustee DeHart is looking at April 10, 2022 as a date for the Easter Egg Hunt and will have more definite details at the next meeting.

Trustee Lael stated a new home will be built at 1526 Glen. Trustee Lael has not seen the blueprints but the owners have reached out to start the discussion.

Trustee Leigh Irons stated in response to Tabitha’s email, the Village will be voting on hiring new officers tonight, unfortunately we had quite a few retire last year and finding anyone interested in law enforcement has been difficult.

Trustee Ralph Irons stated he had nothing to report.

Village Clerk Cave had nothing to report.

Attorney Brokaw had nothing to report.

President Lopez stated he attended the monthly chiefs meeting with Chief Forsythe and introduced him as the official Chief of Police of the Village of Jerome. Sangamon County has continued to hire officers from the smaller municipalities and each one of those is in the same boat as Jerome. President Lopez stated Chief Forsythe and Trustee Leigh Irons are doing a great job. President Lopez stated that he is still waiting on the E-pay system to be up and running and a date of the limb pickup before he sends out a bulletin. The bulletin will have spring and summer events and we may possibly utilize a post card mailing like the Village sent out last fall.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

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

The Board went into Executive Session at 6:52 pm.

The Board returned from Executive Session at 8:49 pm.

NEW BUSINESS DISCUSSION: President Lopez asked Trustee DeHart to present for discussion and approval of the Leasing of the Jerome Civic Center. Trustee DeHart would like to table this till the next meeting.

President Lopez asked Trustee Raftis to present for discussion and approval of a Date for the Village Limb Pick up. Trustee Raftis would like a tentative date for the first limb pick up starting Monday, April 11th through April 15th, 2022. Limbs can start being placed out for pickup on April 4th, 2022.

Motion to approve a Village Limb Pick up starting April 11th, 2022 through April 15th, 2022 by Trustee Raftis and 2nd by Trustee Ralph Irons.

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

President Lopez asked Trustee Raftis to present for discussion and approval Hiring a Public Works Laborer. Trustee Raftis presented the hiring of Matt Turner full time as a Public Works Laborer at $17.00 per hour.

Motion to approve the hiring of Matt Turner as a full time Public Works Laborer at $17.00 per hour by Trustee Raftis and 2nd by Trustee Smith.