Sangamon Sun

Village of Jerome Board of Trustees met Sept. 21,

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: The President and the Board of Trustees held a regular meeting on Thursday, September 21, 2023, at the Jerome Civic Center, 2901 Leonard Street, Jerome, Illinois. The meeting was called to order at 6:32 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 (via phone)

Zach Sweet, Village Treasurer

Also Present:

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

Lisa Cave, Village Clerk

Steve Roth, Executive Assistant

Absent:

Ralph Irons, Trustee of Water Department

Phil Raftis, Trustee of Public Works

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the September 7, 2023, Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the September 7, 2023, minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the September 7, 2023, Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee DeHart

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the June 1, 2023, Executive Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the June 1, 2023, Executive Minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the June 1, 2023, Executive Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee DeHart

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the July 20, 2023, Executive Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the July 20, 2023, Executive Minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the July 20, 2023, Executive Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee Lael

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the August 3, 2023, Executive Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the August 3, 2023, Executive Minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the August 3, 2023, Executive Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee DeHart

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

APPROVAL TO PAY BILLS: President Lopez asked whether the board had reviewed Warrant List 24-10 dated September 21, 2023, totaling $43,963.87. Treasurer Sweet added that of this amount $12,458.48 will be paid from the General Revenue Fund, $409.37 will be paid from the 1% Fund and $31,096.02 will be paid from the Water Account. President Lopez asked for a motion to approve Warrant List 24-10 as amended.

Motion to Approve the Warrant List 24-10 totaling $43,963.87 as presented by Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee Lael

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

PUBLIC COMMENTS:

President Lopez opened the Visitors Acknowledgement portion of the meeting at 6:37 pm. Clerk Cave reported receiving no emails.

Dan Williams, resident on Homewood, addressed the Board regarding a resident at 1636 Homewood that has overgrown grass, weeds, a collection of debris throughout the yard, the resident burns garbage and cars in the yard. Trustee DeHart stated she will follow up with the complaint and a letter will be sent out to address some of these concerns. Dan is involved in the Land of Lincoln Honor Flight, and he expressed they did not have enough people signed up for October and they need at least 46 veterans to take the flights. They need World War II Veterans, Korean War Veterans, and Vietnam Veterans. If anyone knows anyone that would like to go on the Honor Flight, please reach out to them.

Gail McCusker, stated that there are 3-4 homes like this in her area.

This portion of the meeting closed at 6:37 pm.

REPORTS:

Trustee Smith stated she has no report. Trustee Smith will be meeting up with Trustee DeHart on the outstanding properties that need addressed. President Lopez thanked her for her service to the community and that she did a great job while she was on the Board and wished her well.

Trustee Raftis was absent from the meeting. President Lopez stated that the seasonal employee has filled out his paperwork and when the background check comes through, he will start 40 hours per week for about 12 weeks. President Lopez stated PH Broughton arrived earlier than expected but they are doing a great job so far.

Trustee DeHart stated that neighbors are disgusted with Iles Ave. President Lopez asked if she could have the guidelines for the Civic Center wrapped up by the end of the year.

Trustee Lael stated he spoke with the architect on the Shop n Save building. They are planning a laundry with video gaming called Wash N Win. They will be taking up 3,080 square feet of the 50,000 square feet building and will be operational a year from now. The plan shows a nice facility and the owners of the whole building anticipates utilizing the entire building. President Lopez asked Trustee Lael to take pictures of the area before they begin so we have a record of what it looked like before their transformation.

Trustee Leigh Irons stated the Village has police officers, Facebook is not correct, there is police in the Village. Trustee Leigh Irons also stated that ads are out for full and part time police officers.

Trustee Ralph Irons was absent.

Clerk Cave stated she the bulletin will go out in the mail next week.

Attorney Brokaw reported Sangamon County will come back out to identify some additional items at 1511 Jerome. Trustee Lael stated he has no faith in the County.

President Lopez has scheduled a time for the meeting with Springfield Fire Department, City of Springfield, himself, Dave Wilken, and the Attorney Brokaw regarding the flushing of the hydrants that occurred May and June of 2023. President Lopez attended the groundbreaking at Legacy Point and will spoke to several people throughout the night and all agreed that this would generate a lot more funds for the City of Springfield and for the Village of Jerome. Up north where they have put a venue like this it has added hour and a half wait times every weekend for the restaurants around the complex. President Lopez stated while he was at the groundbreaking, he received an email about the Shop n Save property and was told 12-18 months from December of 2023 they will be open. President Lopez and Attorney Brokaw will meet with Abbey Powell to discuss ways of adding additional revenue to the Village and possibly help the Village businesses. With the dilapidated properties in the Village of Jerome in the last few months, we need to update the code and pass updated Intergovernmental Agreements with Sangamon County for them to handle some of these properties.

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 stated that unfortunately they had underestimated the costs when they planned the budget for the ARPA funds which was $6,000 but

the bid came in at $16,000. PH Broughton will remove and replace the concrete from the Civic Center to the Corner and repair the drain out front. President Lopez asked if Trustee Lael could take some pictures before out front for the website.

Motion to approve the contract with PH Broughton for removing and

replacing the concrete from the Civic Center to the corner to meet ADA

requirements not to exceed $16,000.00 by Trustee DeHart and 2nd by

Trustee Lael

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES

President Lopez opened discussion and approval of Time Management App. President Lopez asked to table this until the next meeting.

NEW BUSINESS DISCUSSION: President Lopez opened discussion and approval of repairs to the Village Public Works Vehicle. The Orange 951H truck has 2 springs on the front axle that are bad and need to be replaced. Dave has contacted CIT and with parts and labor total is $3,500.00. President Lopez stated the truck was used to remove the debris from the storm in June.

Motion to approve the repairs to the Village Public Works Vehicle by CIT totaling $3,500.00 by Trustee Lael and 2nd by Trustee DeHart

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES.

President Lopez stated that if there is anyone interested in the Zoning Board the Village needs your help! The Zoning Board does not meet often but will be needed soon. Trustee Leigh Irons stated that September 30th is the Hazard Waste collection at the Fairgrounds, folks must register online by September 29, 2023, to drop off their items. Reminder October 14, 2023, is the Large Item Drop off from 8 am to 12 pm. Trustee Leigh Irons is confirming with Woodside Township on if there is an agreement in place with Habitat where they would pick up 2 loads per year (equals to 6 items) no charge for Woodside Township residents. If that is the case, it would benefit the Jerome residents. President Lopez stated he will not be at the October 5th meeting, as he will be out of town.

ADJOURNMENT: With no further business, President Lopez asked for a motion to close the meeting at 7:23 pm. The motion was made by Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee DeHart.

https://www.villageofjerome.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/9.21.23-Minutes-1-1.pdf