Sangamon Sun

Village of Jerome President and Board of Trustees met Nov. 16.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

CALL TO ORDER: The President and the Board of Trustees held a regular meeting on Thursday, November 16, 2023, at the Jerome Civic Center, 2901 Leonard Street, Jerome, Illinois. 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

Dale Lael, Trustee of Building & Zoning

Ralph Irons, Trustee of Water Department

Phil Raftis, Trustee of Public Works

Also Present:

Lisa Cave, Village Clerk

Steve Roth, Executive Assistant

Zach Sweet, Village Treasurer

Absent:

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

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES: President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the November 2, 2023, Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the November 2, 2023, minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the November 2, 2023, Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Ralph Irons and 2nd by Trustee Leigh Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES.

President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the October 5, 2023, Executive Meeting Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the October 5, 2023, minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the October 5, 2023, Executive Meeting Minutes as presented by: Trustee Lael and 2nd by Trustee Ralph Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

President Lopez asked whether the Board had reviewed the October 19, 2023, Executive Meeting Minutes and if they found need for any changes, corrections, or amendments. President Lopez asked the October 19, 2023, minutes would stand approved as presented.

Motion to approve the October 19, 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 24-14 dated November 16, 2023, totaling $143,307.02. Treasurer Sweet stated the breakdown of the amount that $73,453.92 will be paid from the General Revenue Fund, $4,486.15 will be paid from the 1% Fund, $6,000.00 will be paid from ARPA and $59,366.95 will be paid from the Water Account. President Lopez asked for a motion to approve Warrant List 24-14 as presented.

Motion to Approve the Warrant List 24-14 totaling $143,307.02 as presented by Trustee DeHart and 2nd by Trustee Ralph Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE;

MOTION PASSES. 

PUBLIC COMMENTS: 

President Lopez opened the Visitors Acknowledgement portion of the meeting at 6:35 pm. Clerk Cave reported receiving no emails.

Dan Williams wanted to thank the Board regarding 1636 Reed, and it is much nicer to go outside in the backyard but they still have a used car lot in front.

Dottie Kuys, resident asked why the park is closed in the winter, Trustee Dehart stated that she is looking into why that is and when it began and will get back to the board.

Theresa Sample, Senator Doris Turners office, they will be providing free turkeys tomorrow at United Grace Methodist Church.

Shawn Stillman, 1310 W Iles, following up on the police activity. Shawn is very concerned about the traffic on Iles while children are present. Why is there a van parked right where the crosswalk ends. There is tons of trash around them. Maybe a no parking zone 20-30 feet around the pedestrian crosswalk. President Lopez has reached out to District 186 to do a sight visit on that area and will contact the City of Springfield on the lack of signage on the intersection that goes into the apartment complex. Shawn would like to see flashing lights and extra street lighting in that area.

This portion of the meeting closed at 6:48 pm.

President Lopez spoke with Senator Turner last week with Trustee Lael and we are preparing a summary of a timeline of when the grants were awarded and where we are in expenses. Senator Turner would like to present it to the General Assembly to possibly obtain additional funding of grants for Jerome’s roadwork. Trustee Lael stated it was a good meeting.

REPORTS: 

Trustee DeHart stated she has been learning about the ordinances and is keeping up with the complaints on broken fences, she had a great turn out for the Halloween. Trustee DeHart is also finishing up the fire pit inspections which is only good till the end of the month. There are 90 homes still needing to address their trees, bushes, landscapes.

Trustee Raftis had nothing to report.

Trustee DeHart stated that the park is closed but is reviewing why and when they decided to start closing the park and will continue looking into that.

Trustee Lael stated he went to the Sangamon County Natural Hazard Disaster Task Force meeting this week and is updating the information.

Trustee Leigh Irons Chief Tolley has completed her field training course, Corey Hillen will start school in January 2024.

Trustee Ralph Irons stated the Village has one third of the Village that has not responded to the Cross Connection Surveys and that Dave is working on a door hanger. Anyone that hasn’t filled it out will have their water shut off until the surveys are completed, it is a state law. President Lopez asked Senator Turner to help with the Clean Water Act. Dave has done a great job keeping the Village in compliance with all the requirements from the State of Illinois and Federal guidelines.

Clerk Cave stated FEMA grant has been uploaded and it is looking for a total of $26,348.52 in reimbursements.

Attorney Brokaw was unable to make the meeting due to a family emergency. President Lopez will ask him to send some information out to the trustees regarding the Paid Leave for All Workers Act Requirements.

TREASURER REPORTS: Treasurer Sweet presented to the Board of Trustees the Financial Status via email for November 16, 2023. Revenues: A slight uptick in revenues from the previous year based on strong numbers from Sales Tax and Income Tax increase. Funds: Currently there is approximately $1,195,147.67 in the Illinois Funds GRF account and $238,592.19 in the MFT funds. There is approximately $52,361.63 in the INB GRF account and $127,932.60 in the INB Water account. The other bank account balances are as follows: Law Enforcement - DUI – $60.36; Law Enforcement – Vehicle - $656.89; 1% NHR - $450,652.04; Road & Bridge - $19,458.78; and Police Equipment Fund - $2,893.88, Cannabis Fund - $1,874.94, MFT 

Rebuild Illinois fund – $109,136.94, and the American Rescue Plan Fund $58,380.46. 

OLD BUSINESS: President Lopez opened discussion and approval of Time Management App. November 20, 2023 at 10 am Locus will provide the Village a demo on the Time Management App and also texting and emailing water bills.

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 Ralph Irons seconded the motion. 

The Board went into Executive Session at 7:06 pm. 

The Board returned from Executive Session at 8:08 pm. 

OLD BUSINESS DISCUSSION CONTINUED: President Lopez opened up discussion and approval of Hiring of Part time Police Officers and would like to amend that to a Full Time Officers.

Motion to amend the hiring of a full time officer instead of a part time officer by Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee Ralph Irons

Upon roll call vote, all voted AYE,

MOTION PASSES. 

President Lopez opened up discussion and approval of Hiring of a Full time Police Officer.

Motion to approve the Hiring of Dillon Branham at $21.00 per hour for the Full time employment subject to Power Test and Background Passing by Trustee Leigh Irons and 2nd by Trustee Ralph Irons

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 8:13 pm. Motion was made by Trustee Raftis and 2nd by Trustee Leigh Irons.

https://www.villageofjerome.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/11.16.23-Minutes.pdf