Sangamon Sun

Village of Pawnee Board of Trustees met April 14

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, David Skinner, Erika Guess Trustees Absent: Patrick Murphy 

• Also in attendance: Attorney Don Cravens, Treasurer Brent Wise, Chief Barclay Harris, Jeff Schober, Travis Simpson, Andy Lee, Jim Purdon, Bill Beaty, Mack Turner

Visitor's Recognition/Comments: 

• Jim Purdon appeared before the Board. He advised he received a $1,000 bill for water. The last months bill was $31. This is a vacant home. He got no heads up, etc, and thought there would be a meter that would read it. He indicated that Kim Nichols called and said they had used water a large amount of water. No one is living there so there should not have used any water. He has a basement and it was dry. He's had a couple plumbers come out and they've found no broken pipes inside or outside the home. Andy advised he reads it once a month and that the meter is older. President Clarke advised we can waive the sewer charge. Trustee Thompson advised we can extend time to pay to 90 days. He thought we had technology that would tell he had a leak. We just recently approved upgrading meters that can do this. This is also an app residents can download to check usage. Trustee Walters advised that the current meters cannot give a false positive. Consensus was to waive sewer. He will work with Treasurer Brent Wise on repayment. Andy Lee will put him on the list to replace the meter with the new style meter. 

• Bill Beaty applied for the EZDA position. He has been in emergency services for 38yrs in July. He started in Divernon, 23yrs in Springfield, served as fire chief in areas, and now he's retired. He lives on Pawnee Road just north of the 4way at New City Rd. He has talked with Scott Day a bit. President Clarke, Chief Harris, Scott Day and Brent Wise will all meet in a few weeks. President Clarke would like to ask Scott Day as a back-up.

Clerk's Report: 

• Minutes of March 24, 2025 were presented for review and approval 

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve the minutes of March 24, 2025 as presented Second made by Walters 

Roll Call Vote Taken: Walters-yes, Thompson-present, Grant-yes, Skinner-yes, Guess-yes, Clarke- yes 

Motion Carried: (6-0)

Personnel & Finance Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Skinner 

• Trustee Skinner presented the bills payable for the week ending April 14, 2025 in the amount of $149,703.11 

Motion made by Trustee Skinner to approve the bills payable for the week ending April 14, 2025 in the amount of $149,703.11 

Second made by Trustee Grant 

Roll Call Vote Taken: Walters-yes, Thompson-yes, Grant-yes, Skinner-yes, Guess-yes Motion Carried: (5-0)

Gas and Water Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Walters 

• Andy Lee discussed the waterline going out past San Terra down to Fry's old house. If things free up, he wondered if he can get the engineer done and move forward with it next year. He was previously given approval but didn't know if he needed approval again. President Clarke advised he would not need approval again. President Clarke just asked that if we start the engineering process can we get it completed within a year since engineer is only good for a year. Andy Lee indicated yes, they would have it completed. Consensus was for him to proceed.

• President Clarke advised we received a letter from Otter Lake. Water rates are increasing by $.43/1000 gallons to cover infrastructure to replace the water line from Auburn to Pawnee.

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

• Jeff Schober appeared before the Board. He advised they have been patching roads and picking up limbs. They've been opening up culverts for the rain. 

• President Clarke asked about Michelle Drive. He advised we are waiting on bids.

Police Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Skinner 

• Chief Barclay Harris presented the Monthly Police Report. He advised Ryan Turner passed his physical fitness. The part-time academy starts May 3rd. The cost did increase from $2,000 to $2,200. He also attended the basic pistol course and passed that. 

Motion made by Trustee Skinner 

Second made by Trustee Thompson 

Roll Call Vote Taken: Walters-yes, Thompson-yes, Grant-yes, Skinner-yes, Guess-yes Motion Carried: (5-0)

Sewers and Parks Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Thompson 

• Travis Simpson appeared before the Board. The vactor tanks are beyond patching. The cost is $12,453 materials + $1,080 labor = $13,535 for 2 new tanks. The truck is a 2001 and the tanks have lasted 24yrs. It will take 6weeks to make. It can come out of next year's budget. 

Motion made by Trustee Thompson to spend no more than $14K to replace the water tanks on the vactor truck. 

Second made by Trustee Guess 

Roll Call Vote Taken: Walters-yes, Thompson-yes, Grant-yes, Skinner-yes, Guess-yes Motion Carried: (5-0) 

• Travis Simpson advised that last summer, we started the first round of tablets for the ponds to take down the sludge levels. He'll need another for 4-5 months of tablets for this year. Tables are $3,350/mo. This is to eat the sludge to get the levels lowered. This is the 1* time this has ever been done. This is a 2yr treatment. If it's not working and the levels are not going down quickly enough, you either increase the treatment or dredge the ponds. He is hoping this works as the cost of dredging is probably $200K or more. 

Motion made by Trustee Thompson for Travis to get the tablets to get started, it is part of next years budget, up to $20K in case the summer runs long. 

Second made by Trustee Walters 

Roll Call Vote Taken: Walters-yes, Thompson-yes, Grant-yes, Skinner-yes, Guess-yes Motion Carried: (5-0) 

• Trustee Thompson advised the park bathrooms are open. 

• Treasurer Brent Wise advised that PYBSA in cooperation with the Lions Club would like to use North Part on May 3rd for a movie night. The movie would start at dusk. 

• Treasurer Brent Wise advised the office closed down the first couple days of the month for software system upgrades. They are currently doing dual entry in 2 systems to make sure everything is working properly. July 1st is the official conversion date. 

• Treasurer Brent Wise advised we received the electric aggregation new rate. It has been $.07 for the last 3 yrs. At the end of March, they negotiated a new rate of $.10. They entered into only a 12mo agreement in hopes it goes back down. They are expecting Ameren to be $.11. If Ameren is lower, residents can opt out of the aggregation and go with Ameren. They have to stay with Ameren for a year. If they do nothing, they are in the program. 

• Travis Simpson advised the Board that Mack Turner, Interviewed and he would like to recommend we hire him for the open sewer/parks position. He has been at Jerome for 3 yrs. He has his CDL and public works knowledge. He will start May 5th and he is a new Pawnee resident. Motion made by Trustee Thompson to hire Matt Turner in the sewer role and to help with parks Second made by Trustee Skinner 

Roll Call Vote Taken: Walters-yes, Thompson-yes, Grant-yes, Skinner-yes, Guess-yes Motion Carried: (5-0)

Zoning Committee Report: Committee Chair, Trustee Murphy 

• No report 

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: 

• No report 

New Business: 

• None

Motion to Adjourn: 

• Motion made by Trustee Skinner to adjourn 

Second made by Trustee Guess 

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

Motion Carried: (5-0)

Meeting adjourned at 7:38 pm on Monday, April 14, 2025. The next scheduled meeting of the Pawnee Village Board of Trustees is Monday, April 28, 2025 at the Village Hall.

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