Sangamon Sun

Village of Pawnee Board of Trustees met June 26.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Call to Order:

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

Roll Call:

• Village Clerk, Devona Martin called roll
• Trustees in attendance: Dale Walters, Phillip Thompson, Troy Grant, Patrick Murphy, David Skinner, Brian Whitlow
• Trustees Absent: none
• Also in attendance: Treasurer Brent Wise, Candy Kramer with the Pawnee Post, Jeff Thomas, Chief Barclay Harris, Steve Haney, Kelly Haney

Visitor's Recognition/Comments:

• Jeff Thomas appeared before the Board at President Clarke's request. Jeff advised that through DNR, he has donated radios to the Village. They are $5,000 each. They have also donated to the Springfield Park District, and other municipalities. He has scavenged on to about 80 radios and has donated them out. The radios he has donated to the Village are an old model but it saves the Village a lot of money. He advised that everything you buy from Motorola is out of date after a few years. He doesn't believe the time to buy radios is now. Motorola is coming out with a better model next year. He advised he can also program the radios for us. Every radio has an ID inside. of it and you can't just get onto the system and program them but he can. His director has directed him to help the Village any way they can. He advised that yes, there are dead spots throughout the entire state. The newer radios don't get out any better. It is not the radio. It is the system. They only guarantee 95% coverage. He further advised that officers train with weapons but they don't train on radios. He suggests training and working the radios. No one trains with the radios and there are settings people don't even know about. Jeff also advised radios have drift. Over time, they will drift off their factory specs. He also advised the network will get better. The County is putting up new towers within 8 miles of Pawnee for fire department. We are currently operating off the Hilton in Springfield. His opinion is that now is not the time to buy. He thinks we should hold out a year or so.

Clerk's Report:

• Minutes of June 12, 2023 were presented for review and approval

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve the minutes of June 12, 2023 as presented

Second made by Trustee Murphy

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Personnel & Finance Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Skinner

• Trustee Skinner presented the bills payable for the week ending June 26, 2023 in the amount of $118,445.79
• Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve the bills payable for the week ending June 26, 2023 in the amount of $118,445.79

Second made by Trustee Murphy

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

• Treasurer Brent Wise presented the Monthly Budget Comparison Report for the Month Ending May 31, 2023.

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve Treasurer Brent Wise's Monthly Budget Comparison Report for the Month Ending May 31, 2023

Second made by Trustee Walters

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

• Brent Wise advised he has emailed the budget to everyone. It will be put in the paper this week to have here for viewing and we will vote on it the first meeting in July.
• Treasurer Wise advised Hild Landscaping is getting ready to finish up. Candy Kramer will put a note in the paper.

Gas and Water Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Whitlow

• Trustee Whitlow advised Andy Lee is requesting a replacement locating device. We purchased new one about 1.5yrs ago but we had a backup. We are having problems with the backup. The cost to replace a new locator is $8,659.83. It is the same brand they purchased last year. 

Motion made by Trustee Whitlow to approve replacement of the locator not to exceed $9,000 Second made by Trustee Thompson

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

• Trustee Whitlow advised we sent out 53 red letters

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

• Trustee Grant advised the guys are still working with CTI locating lines and tiles. CTI will be done to 1 crew next week.
• Trustee Grant advised the summer help is working on limb pick up, trimming trees and alley clean up.

Police Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Skinner

• Trustee Skinner advised he had a police committee meeting about a week ago. He wanted everyone to know we support and are behind our police department.
• Chief Barclay Harris presented the monthly police report. Trustee Walters inquired into the progress of the new hires. Chief Harris provided an update.

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve the minutes of June 12, 2023 as presented

Second made by Trustee Murphy

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Sewers and Parks Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Thompson

• Trustee Thompson gave the floor to Steve Haney. Steve advised he spoke with Illinois Paving and they are going to schedule North Park walkway repairs for the week of July 17th.
• Trustee Thompson advised the cost of the Henkle lift station came in cheaper. It was going to cost $12,000 but the entire system did not have to be replaced. The cost was $6,000 instead of $12,000.
• Trustee Thompson advised he has had questions regarding backfilling the mulch at North Park. It is washing away. As soon as we can determine what we want to do with the park as a whole, we'll decide what we want to do.

Zoning Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Murphy

• Trustee Murphy advised he has recently had 2 sit down meetings with Sangamon County regarding the problem properties. It is moving very slow. He advised that recently Sangamon County Zoning has made an agreement with the Laborer's Union to do some take downs. This will save us in the long run. There are 3 that will likely be taken down at some point. The agreement we signed 3 years ago says we are responsible for the knockdown cost.
• Trustee Murphy presented Ordinance 23- 10 - An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territories to the Village of Pawnee, Sangamon County, Illinois. This is the sewer plant.

Motion made by Trustee Murphy to approve Ordinance 23-10-An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territories to the Village of Pawnee, Sangamon County, Illinois

Second made by Trustee Walters

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

• Trustee Murphy presented Ordinance 23-11 - An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territories to the Village of Pawnee, Sangamon County, Illinois. This is where Black Diamond meets Washington Street. It's the property at SE corner of the intersection.

Motion made by Trustee Murphy to approve Ordinance 23-11 - An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territories to the Village of Pawnee, Sangamon County, Illinois

Second made by Trustee Thompson

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Ordinance 23-12 - An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territories to the Village of Pawnee, Sangamon County, Illinois. This is the fenced in area only off Henkle Drive. It encompasses the sewer lift station.

Motion made by Trustee Murphy to approve Ordinance 23-12 - An Ordinance Annexing Certain Territories to the Village of Pawnee, Sangamon County, Illinois

Second made by Trustee Thompson

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Bargaining Committee Report: Committee Chair, President Clarke

• No report

Energy Committee Report: Committee Chair, President Clarke

• No report

Infrastructure Committee Report: Committee Chair, President Clarke

• No report

Unfinished Business:

• None

New Business:

• President Clarke advised the Board that fireworks are July 3 at the Pawnee Assembly of God Church at dusk.
• Trustee Skinner discussed the square and any new buildings the front facade must match even if it is not attached to any other building. The face of the property will go pin to property pin. 
• President Clarke advised we got our first pay request for the water main by the school. We were told we were getting a $1.2M grant. This fell through and now we are only getting $500,000. We still have $250,000 coming. Petersburg Plumbing has requested $464,000 and he thinks we should pay this out of infrastructure. We currently have $530,000 in the fund. We do have $350,000 we can transfer in. Brent did math and by April 30, 2024, we could have $1.1M plus $750,000 in grant money. If we used this, it would leave us without any reserves. The total cost of the project is $1,790,000. This does not include engineering fees so you can expect another 10% for $1.97M. He suggested Brent call banks to inquired about a $1.5M loan. Any grants we get goes on the loan.

Motion made by Trustee Thompson to pay Petersburg Plumbing not to exceed $465,000 out of infrastructure to make the first payment on July 11, 2023

Second made by Trustee Whitlow

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

• President Clarke advised we could stop Phase 2, but there is a stocking fee and it would cost $500,000.
• President Clarke advised Treasurer Wise found the best deal with UCB. We can get a $1.5M loan from UCB with a rate 4.49%

Motion made by Trustee Thompson to secure a loan up to $1.5M with a rate of 4.49% from UCB with a 10yr payback cycle with intermittent drawing capabilities

Second made by Trustee Murphy

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

• President Clarke read Kelly Haney's resignation letter. Her retirement is effective July 3, 2023. 
• President Clarke said a few words about Kelly Haney and thanked her for her service. Trustee Thompson and Trustee Skinner also said nice words about Kelly Haney. 
• President Clarke reviewed the ordinance pertaining to outside music.

Motion to Exit Regular Session: 7:53pm

Motion made by Trustee Murphy to exit regular session

Second made by Trustee Skinner

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Motion to Enter Executive Session: 8:08pm

Motion made by Trustee Thompson to enter executive session for personnel

Second made by Trustee Skinner

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Motion to Exit Executive Session: 8:36pm

Motion made by Trustee Thompson to exit executive session

Second made by Trustee Murphy

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Motion to Re-Enter Regular Session: 8:36pm

Motion made by Trustee Whitlow to re-enter regular session

Second made by Trustee Murphy

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Motion to Adjourn:

• Motion made by Trustee Murphy to adjourn

Second made by Trustee Walters

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

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Meeting adjourned at 8:44pm on Monday, June 26, 2023. The next scheduled meeting of the Pawnee Village Board of Trustees is Monday, July 10, 2023 at 7:00pm at the Village Hall.

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