Sangamon Sun

Village of Jerome Board of Trustees met July 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: The President and the Board of Trustees held a regular meeting on Thursday, July 20, 2023, at the Jerome Civic Center, 2901 Leonard Street, Jerome, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 6:33 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

Dale Lael, Trustee of Building & Zoning

Christina Smith, Co-Trustee Public Health

Zach Sweet, Village Treasurer

Also Present:

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

Lisa Cave, Village Clerk via phone

Absent:

Phil Raftis, Trustee of Public Works

Ralph Irons, Trustee of Water Department

Steve Roth, Executive Assistant

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the July 6, 2023, Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the July 6, 2023, minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the July 6, 2023, Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Smith and 2nd by Trustee Leigh Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

APPROVAL TO PAY BILLS: President Lopez asked whether the board had reviewed Warrant List 24-06 dated July 20, 2023, totaling $93,174.47. Treasurer Sweet added that of this amount $44,860.28 will be paid from the General Revenue Fund and $48,314.19 will be paid from the Water Account. President Lopez asked for a motion to approve Warrant List 24-06 as presented.

Motion to Approve the Warrant List 24-06 totaling $93,174.47 as presented by Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee DeHart

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES. 

PUBLIC COMMENTS: 

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

Clerk Cave reported receiving no emails.

President Lopez asked the Trustees to stick around and sign the paperwork after the meeting. The Secretary was out a few days and had a ton of warrants given on Tuesday. 9:00 am on Monday will be the cutoff for warrants to be processed. President Lopez will not sign the warrants for other Trustees. The Shop n Save location was sold and the President can not disclose what it will be at this time. Niemann Foods was not aware of the pop up food giveaway last week, they will be posting a sign on their property for no trespassing. President Lopez wanted to public thank the Trustees for all their work before during and after the fourth of July parade, commend Hyvee for hotdogs, buns, chips and water. The left over food Trustee Leigh Irons delivered to the St Johns Breadline. The City of Springfield talked with President Lopez where he thanked the City for all their help getting residents power back on. Issues have been identified and a new plan will be put together for future outages to allow residents to report the outages. President Lopez would like an ice cream social soon. President Lopez and Trustee Leigh Irons wanted to publicly thank Katrina Christofilakos for the dumpster and to Lake Area Disposal.

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

REPORTS: 

Trustee Smith stated she has nothing to report. Trustee Lael stated he feels that residents are not doing enough to clean up, he has been getting calls which he should not get. Attorney Brokaw stated that the Village could reach out to Sangamon County Public Health and pay $125 per home and they will handle the complaints with the homes. Residents would get fined and the Village would recoup the costs of the initial $125.

Trustee Raftis was absent.

Trustee DeHart stated she is working on getting the lock system.

Trustee Lael stated he applied for FMA23 grant for a total of $50,000. The deadline was July 17, 2023 and Trustee Lael submitted the application on July 14, 2023. The resident at 1511 W Jerome has still not repaired the fence and the neighbor is getting tired of it falling in her driveway at 1517 Jerome. The Village needs to do something about these properties. The Village should be fining the residents for allowing a contractor that has no permit to do work on their homes.

Trustee Leigh Irons stated she had nothing at this time.

Trustee Ralph Irons was absent. Dave stated that lead and copper surveys are out. August 3, before the next board meeting there will be a meeting with the water department.

Clerk Cave had nothing to report.

Attorney Brokaw had nothing to report.

OLD BUSINESS: President Lopez opened discussion and approval of the Contract for Paving and Concrete Work for Municipal Complex to meet ADA Requirements. Trustee DeHart asked to table that until the next meeting.

President Lopez opened discussion and approval to Ratify the Purchase of Generator & Transfer Switch. At the last meeting we approved the purchase of the Transfer Switch and the Generator.

Motion to approve the Purchase of the Transfer Switch and Generator effective July 6, 2023 by Trustee Lael and 2nd by Trustee Leigh Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES. 

NEW BUSINESS DISCUSSION: President Lopez opened discussion and approval of the Declaration of Local State of Emergency and Disaster Proclamation. President Lopez stated this declaration will go from today through August 3, 2023 at our next meeting in regards to the aftermath of the severe storms and clean up efforts. President Lopez stated in declaring a local disaster the Village would be able to ask for State and Federal funding.

Motion to approve Declaration of Local State of Emergency and Disaster Proclamation by Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee Lael

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES. 

President Lopez wanted to commend the Public Works Department for all their hard work cleaning up the debris, they have done a total of 74 loads as of today. President Lopez submitted an initial assessment of expenses of the storm totaling $47,887.00, with costs of equipment, dumping fees etc. IEMA stated not to over estimate the expenses. Iles will be the last road the Village will pick up.

President Lopez opened discussion and approval of the Purchase of Two Monitors for Office Staff. Beth the Water Clerk approached President Lopez requesting an extra monitor for herself and the Secretary. Motion to approve the Purchase of Two Monitors for the Office Staff not to exceed $1,000.00 by Trustee DeHart and 2nd by Trustee Smith

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES. 

President Lopez opened discussion and approval of a Contract with Matrix for Support Services on Computer Equipment. President Lopez stated that Nate has been working with us tirelessly and has exceeded his amount he had originally stated, actually doubled the amount.

Motion to approve the Contract with Matrix for Support Services on

Computer Equipment for $2,000.00 a year that would be subtracted when we utilize their service by Trustee DeHart and 2nd by Trustee Leigh Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES. 

President Lopez opened discussion and approval of the Waiving the Water Charges for 1664 Homewood and 11 Reed Ct. 11 Reed Ct is a vacant lot, 1664 Homewood has no had active water and should not have any bills. President Lopez would like to table this until further information is obtained. Trustee Lael believes that these have been done already. 1664 Homewood has someone paying taxes on the property.

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 Leigh Irons seconded the motion.

The Board went into Executive Session at 7:17 pm.

The Board returned from Executive Session at 7:47 pm.

President Lopez opened discussion and approval for Ordinance 24-05 Authorizing the Disposal of Surplus Property Owned by the Village of Jerome, Illinois. President Lopez stated we are surplusing 150 chairs and 4-5 laptops. If you have any old laptops that need to be turned in please return them to be scrubbed.

Motion to approve for Ordinance 24-05 Authorizing the Disposal of Surplus Property Owned by the Village of Jerome, Illinois by Trustee Smith and 2nd by Trustee DeHart

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES. 

ADJOURNMENT: With no further business, President Lopez asked for a motion to close the meeting at 7:51 pm. Motion was made by Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee DeHart.

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