Village of Ladd Village Board met March 22.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The Ladd Village Board met in regular session in the Village Hall. Mayor Frank Cattani called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm and led the pledge of allegiance to the American flag.
Roll Call: Present: Trustees Jim Manning, Dave Margherio, Jan Martin, Dan Nelson, Molly Thrasher, Mike Urbanowski. (6)
In attendance: Attorney Pat Barry, Attorney Colin Barry, Clerk Bezely, Village Treasurer Julie Koch, Engineer Adam Ossola, and Superintendent Doug Englehaupt.
Thrasher motion/Margherio second to accept the March 8, 2022 meeting minutes as presented. Ayes: Manning, Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski - Motion carried 6-0
Urbanowski motion/Nelson second to authorize payment of the bills in the amount of $146,246.29 Ayes: Manning , Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski - Motion carried 6-0
Martin motion/Manning second to accept the February 2022 Treasurer’s Report.
Ayes: Manning, Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski - Motion carried 6-0 Correspondence: None
Public Comment: Adam Wright of Superior Excavating informed the board of the bid letting for the water project and told them they wouldn’t be disappointed if Superior was awarded the job. He informed the board of a posting requirement that was not met by contractor that was low bidder.
Alexa Doll spoke on behalf of her and her business partner, Heidi Templeton about opening a plant store in the front of the 115 N Main Ave, the Torri’s Building. They asked the board for permission to move forward with their plan. They asked if grants become available to help improve their building they would be very interested. The board gave them permission and wished them luck.
Committee Reports: Nelson stated he had nothing to report. Martin stated she is on the Community Center committee and is considering looking into new curtins in the future. Cattani asked her to hold off until the feasibility study is complete and the Village decides the future of the Clerk’s Office location.
Engineer’s Report: Water Main Bid Letting: Ossola gave the results of the Water Main bid letting from last Thursday, March 17, 2022. He explained the three bids that were received in relationship to the engineers estimate that was computed three years ago for $935,683.00. Cattani and Ossola expected the bids to be much higher with the inflation seen in all materials. Cattani informed the board about the non-advertisement by SKI Sealcoating. Ossola explained to the board this advertisement was to go in 16 days prior to the bid letting. SKI got their ad in late, March 5th and the other 2 bidders got their advertisement in on time. Ossola spoke with the EPA regarding this issue and they told Ossola that it is at Ladd’s discression whether they want to waive this requirement or not. They stated that if Ladd chose to waive it they would be looking for a legal opinion from the Village’s Attorney. This will be required if they moved forward in awarding the low bidder. The board discussion ensued. They decided to award the contract to Superior. Ossola told the board they need to award the bid as follows for proper paperwork to be drafted.
Nelson motion/Martin second to intend to award the bid to Superior Excavating pending IEPA concurrence. Ayes: Manning, Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski - Motion carried 6-0 Ossola stated it may take a couple months for the EPA to repond and officially be able to award the contract. Feasibility Study: Ossola also told the board that he and the architect from Chamlin’s looked at all 3 Village owned buildings last week. Ossola stated the architect is putting together pros and cons for all 3 properties. He plans to have this information by the next meeting.
Sidewalk Grant: Ossola updated the board on the $150,000.00 sidewalk grant for Main Street, he is waiting on EPA to answers questions he sent them approximately 3 weeks ago.
Atty. Pat Barry mentioned the flashing on the front of the Village Hall was loose. Englehaupt is aware.
Superintendent’s Report: Englehaupt had nothing to report. Cattani asked Englehaupt about the map regarding Hoerr Construction Televising for 2022. Cattani asked Englehaupt if the entire Village has been televised and this map would be starting the town over? Englehaupt told the council that this is a rough draft of which sewer lines have not yet been televised by Hoerr. He has not received any bid quote yet for the 5 days of televising. Once he gets this information he will provide a better map showing the exact locations of televising. Cattani asked if perhaps we could utilize the televising that Ameren is having done before replacing gas lines on the East side of the Village. Englehaupt stated that he wouldn’t think that would satisfy our requirement with the EPA. When the waste water treatment plant was built we entered into an agreement with the EPA with a Combined Sewer Operation Plan which requires us to clean all manholes 2 times per year. We have eliminated this down to 1 time per year with the understanding that in the 5 days with Hoerr we are spending as much as we used too with just jetting sewers for 10 days. The camera is what fullfills our requirement. Englehaupt stated that we definitely need to continue with Hoerr televising. Urbanowski asked why Ameren is televising our sewers. Englehaupt stated they are looking for the depth and location of the sanitary sewer taps and without televising there is no way to know this. They plan to directional bore and every crossing where the sewer line is going to cross the future gas line they have to pot hole to get the depth of the sanitary sewer. They don’t know where this is at until they televise it.
Police Chief: None
Building Inspector: None
Village Attorney: Deed: Atty. Pat Barry updated the board on the house at 124 N Hennepin. Barry received the signed deed indicating that she (the signatory) is the successor trustee. Barry feels confident that she is the trustee and has authority to sign the deed. Barry has not received copies of the trust or the amendment to the trust to be 100% sure that she has the authority to sign the deed. Barry stated that he has never not seen a trust that didn’t authorize someone to sign the deed. Barry did reach out to the attorney that he thought may have created the documents but he has not responded yet. Barry went ahead and recorded the deed. Barry stated that he considers that we own the property now and we can move forward with getting demolition bids. They will also include tree removal in the demolition. Barry was asked about being able to choose a company to demolish the house if it is under $10,000.00 and Barry told the board yes, if under $10,000.00 they can select a contractor to do the demolition without having it advertised.
Parking on Main After 1” Snowfall: Atty. Colin Barry distributed the new ordinance he prepared increasing the fine to $25 minimum to $500 maximum with a towing provision for parking. This allows any vehicle violating our parking ordinances to be towed. Barry stated we won’t be towing cars unless they are not complying with the ordinance and the increasing fines are not getting them to comply.
Urbanowski motion/Thrasher second to adopt an ordinance amending sections 10.20.130 and 10.20.060 of the Municipal Code of the Village of Ladd, Bureau County, Illinois relating to parking violation penalties and towing illegally parked vehicles.
Ayes: Manning, Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski, Mayor Cattani - Motion carried 7-0 New Business:
Electric CD Renewal: Treasurer Koch explained CD rates for renewing the Electric Fund CD $456,959.68. Manning motion/Nelson second to renew the $456,959.68 CD on March 29, 2022 for 6 months at a rate of .20% with North Central Bank.
Ayes: Manning, Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski - Motion carried 6-0
NCI Economic Development Corp: Manning stated that this is the one at the college and we have not joined this in the past. No action was taken.
Full-Time Police Chief Appointment: Mayor Cattani stated that based on committee discussions and interviews, they have decided to move forward with hiring a full-time police chief. Mayor Cattani nominated that Jacob Frund be hired as the new full-time police chief and also reassign Randy Dean to Deputy Chief at his same pay rate that he is currently making.
Manning motion/Margherio second to approve Mayor Cattani’s nomination to hire Jacob Frund as full-time Police Chief and reassign Randy Dean as Deputy Chief at his current pay rate.
Ayes: Manning, Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski, Mayor Cattani - Motion carried 7-0 Mayor Cattani swore in Jacob Frund as the Village of Ladd Police Chief. The entire room erupted in applause.
Hoerr Construction: Englehaupt had not received any cost estimates at the time of the meeting. This will be tabled until the next meeting on April 12, 2022.
Announcements: Bezely told the board that farmland south of Ladd but still in the Village limits was recently appraised. The appraiser asked if electric, water, and sewer would be available to anyone interested in this property. Bezely spoke with Englehaupt and told the appraiser yes – electric, water, and sewer would be available to anyone interested in developing the property. Bezely told the board that direct deposit was initiated on the 3/11/22 payroll. Bezely accidentally paid herself twice but realized it and reversed it. Bezely told the board the Village received the $51,875.52 from the additional cost above the engineer's estimate for the Ladd Senior Village. Bezely told the board the News Tribune is doing their Community Review magazine and furnished pricing for the Village to participate. The board would like to participate and recommended ¼ page for $445 in getting information published about last year's accomplishments. Martin will work with Bezely to get this written up. Bezely will find out the date this must be done by. Bezely told the board that John Zupec from Ameren contacted her regarding retiring the gas line on Friday, March 25th at the house that burned at 124 N Hennepin Ave. After Friday this property will be ready for demolition. Bezely received information that there will be a Bureau County Electronics Recycling Event held on April 30, 2022, in the Village of Cherry. Bezely asked if the board would like her to put copies of this event information in the next utility bills so Village residents can take their electronics up to Cherry. This would save the Village $750 by not hosting their own electronic recycling event this year. Bezely also informed the board about Ameren contacting her about another company sending letters out stating people need to call for an appointment to get their meters upgraded – these letters were sent in error so people need to disregard them. She told them that Ameren hired a subcontractor to televise sewer lines on the East side of the Village. Information has been put out regarding covering toilets to keep sewer from spraying in homes. Englehaupt explained that with a combined sewer system you sometimes can’t get the camera down the line without first cleaning the lines and this sometimes causes sewer spraying. Bezely stated the school asked for additional information in an effort to eliminate problems with the students present. Bezely reported that NCICG is offering a RISE planning grant. Shug from NCICG stated that anything could fit this grant. The grant is for any community that would like to write a plan on how their community can revitalize themselves from the Covid 19 pandemic. Bezely asked if anyone would be interested in helping with getting this together. Thrasher asked if we have heard anymore about the Taco Shop. Nothing more is known. Manning asked if Casey’s was doing anything? Bezely told Manning they changed out gas pumps because they were broken. The new pumps are wonderful. Martin asked about the street signs at Ladd Senior Village. She was told that Laborers Home Development has ordered them since this housing complex is privately owned.
Thrasher motion/Urbanowski second to adjourn.
Ayes: Manning, Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Thrasher, Urbanowski - Motion carried 6-0
The meeting adjourned at 7:12 pm
https://www.villageofladd.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2022-03-22-MINUTES-1.pdf
Alerts Sign-up