Village of Hennepin Board of Trustees met Oct. 20.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
President Coleman called the meeting to order at 5:30 P.M., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Present: President Kevin Coleman
Diana Brandstatter, Village Clerk
Jessica Leighton, Village Treasurer
Trustees: Bickerman Buffington
Mennie Cyr, remote participation
Goetz
Also Present: Street Supervisor, Tim Rylko
Absent: Trustee Clausen
MOTION: Mennie Second: Bickerman
To Approve September Finance report as submitted.
Motion carried unanimously.
MOTION: Goetz Second: Bickerman
To Approve September minutes and warrants paid for September 2021.
Motion carried unanimously.
MOTION: Buffington Second: Goetz
To Approve Bills to be Paid.
Roll call vote: Ayes-Bickerman, Mennie, Goetz, Buffington, Cyr
Nays-none, Absent-Clausen, Abstain-none
Motion carried unanimously.
There were no donation or travel requests.
President Coleman discussed the Village’s Christmas decorations and setting up a time for volunteers to help assemble and place them throughout the parks. It was agreed to begin decorating on Saturday, November 13th at 9:00 a.m. Street Supervisor, Tim Rylko, stated that he would begin assembling the displays before that date to speed things along. Trustee Bickerman mentioned the idea of wrapping some of the trees with lights.
RES. 21-04
MOTION: Buffington Second: Bickerman
To Approve Resolution #21-04 entitled: A RESOLUTION APPROVING AN INTERGOVERNMENTAL AGREEMENT CONCERNING LAW ENFORCEMENT SERVICES FOR THE VILLAGE OF HENNEPIN, PUTNAM COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Roll call vote: Ayes-Bickerman, Mennie, Goetz, Buffington, Cyr
Nays-none, Absent-Clausen, Abstain-none
Motion carried unanimously.
Trustee Cyr began a discussion of the audit and whether to continue with the process annually or have only the required Annual Financial Report requirement completed. Cyr stated that he had been in contact with Hopkins & Associates from Granville, who had quoted the annual AFR at $3000. The Board agreed to hire Hopkins for the FY2022 Annual Financial Report.
MOTION: Cyr Second: Bickerman
To Approve engaging Hopkins & Associates for the Village’s FY2022 Annual Financial Report Requirement at a cost of $3000.
Roll call vote: Ayes-Bickerman, Mennie, Goetz, Buffington, Cyr
Nays-none, Absent-Clausen, Abstain-none
Motion carried unanimously.
RES. 21-05
MOTION: Buffington Second: Bickerman
To Approve Resolution #21-05 entitled: A RESOLUTION APPROVING A SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE ASSESSED VALUATION OF THE HENNEPIN POWER STATION FOR THE VILLAGE OF HENNEPIN, PUTNAM COUNTY, ILLINOIS.
Roll call vote: Ayes-Bickerman, Mennie, Goetz, Buffington, Cyr
Nays-none, Absent-Clausen, Abstain-none
Motion carried unanimously.
RES. 21-06
MOTION: Buffington Second: Mennie
To Approve Resolution #21-06 entitled: ENTITY AUTHORIZATION, setting forth Authorized Signers on Behalf of the Village of Hennepin with North Central Bank Accounts. Authorized signers per this Resolution are: Kevin Coleman, Diana Brandstatter, Teresa Clausen, Jessica Leighton and Christian Cyr.
Roll call vote: Ayes-Bickerman, Mennie, Goetz, Buffington, Cyr
Nays-none, Absent-Clausen, Abstain-none
Motion carried unanimously.
The Christmas decoration discussion continued with Trustee Buffington stating that he would like to add colored flood lights to the Village’s decorations along with string lights for around trees.
MOTION: Bickerman Second: Goetz
To Approve an expenditure of up to $400 for additional Christmas lights and flood lights. Roll call vote: Ayes-Bickerman, Mennie, Goetz, Buffington, Cyr
Nays-none, Absent-Clausen, Abstain-none
Motion carried unanimously.
President Coleman discussed the Request for Qualifications from engineers, that was published in the Putnam County Record, for the connection of downtown riverfront to the Oak Ridge Trail at the wetlands. Coleman asked for a committee to be formed to review the qualifications from engineers that will be submitted through noon on October 28th. Trustees Buffington and Goetz, along with Coleman will be on the committee.
President Coleman then discussed the possibility of having Alex Rolando from the Hennepin Public Water District help Street Supervisor, Tim Rylko, for possibly 20 hours per week, as needed. The Village would pay for half of Rolando’s salary for those weeks working with Rylko. This is just a preliminary discussion, noted Coleman. Trustee Cyr stated that he likes the idea. He stressed being specific about the duties that would be performed and what would not be included in the work. Trustee Buffington also stressed the importance of making sure Rylko is equally compensated.
Trustee Cyr, concerning the subject of property maintenance, identified a list of five properties that had not responded well to Dumpster Days and did not make an effort to bring their properties into compliance. It was agreed that Tim Pyszka, Property Maintenance Officer, would be directed to visit the properties in question to give them a list of what they need to do to bring their properties into compliance.
A short discussion was held concerning the traffic congestion at Fifth St. near High St. during school days. A suggestion was made to implement no parking during school days to alleviate the problem.
Trustee Cyr stated that $300,000 of the Village’s Education & Recreation funds have been put into annuities that are earning approximately 2.6% compared to the very low CD rates. Cyr also noted that he will be working towards putting more of the Village’s funds into annuities for better rates.
President Coleman informed the Board that the intersection by Joe Boggio’s corner has been poured. Street Supervisor, Tim Rylko, noted that the old surface was concrete over dirt with no base.
Trustee Goetz informed the Board that Devil’s Lane needs gravel to fill the pot holes. Rylko will drag the road and add gravel.
Reminders were discussed. Trick or Treat hours will be Sunday, October 31st from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., with food and treats at the WDB Park starting at 4:30 p.m. Christmas festivities will be on Saturday, December 4th. Trustee Buffington stated that they will try to hold the entire event at the WDB Park, including treats for the kids and pictures with Santa in the shelter. The sides of the shelter will be brought down and heaters used during the event. The ceremonial Christmas lighting of the park will be the finale of the event.
Trustee Bickerman stated that she would be resigning from Hennepin Baseball and asked that a replacement be found. President Coleman stated that we would need someone to run the concession stand and take care of the ball diamonds. Different ideas were discussed to secure volunteers for those needs. Trustee Buffington stated that he is on the Bi-County Baseball board as a safety coordinator and explained the changes that would be taking place in the future of Bi-County Baseball, simplifying the implementation of the program. Buffington also discussed the recent Bi-County meeting. Trustee Goetz volunteered to replace Bickerman as Village representative for the baseball program. More discussion was held concerning the diamond preparation with others volunteering to help.
Trustee Goetz brought up the discussion of the diamond dirt that has been ordered, noting that he needs a place for the trucking company to dump the dirt, since it can’t be put on the diamond, due to the rutting that would occur.
Trustee Buffington stated that he had spoken to someone from Twiggy’s Tree farm about trees to be purchased with the generous donation from the Robert Simons family. The rep from Twiggy’s suggested waiting until spring because of their inventory being down. We could let them know what kind of trees we had in mind and they would set them aside for us in the spring. Buffington also suggested purchasing a few more trees at the same time to replace some of those that had been lost.
MOTION: Buffington Second: Bickerman
To Approve the expenditure of $2799.97 to Bi-County to cover charter fees, insurance and Jerseys for the 2021 baseball season.
Roll call vote: Ayes-Bickerman, Mennie, Goetz, Buffington, Cyr
Nays-none, Absent-Clausen, Abstain-none
Motion carried unanimously.
It was mentioned that Paul Loiselle will be resigning from the Planning & Zoning Commission, effective after the January 2022 meeting. President Coleman noted that the commission could use one or two more members.
MOTION: Mennie Second: Bickerman
To Adjourn.
Motion carried unanimously.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Eqe_8b0tvbOuiFIn4we7qsXLD-5RUqHk/view
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