Village of Ladd Village Board met June 13.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The Ladd Village Board met in regular session on Tuesday, June 13, 2023, in the Village Hall. Village President, 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 Dave Margherio, Jan Martin, Dan Nelson, Brad Nicholson, Andy Ruggerio, and Molly Thrasher
In attendance: Deputy Clerk & Village Treasurer Koch, Police Chief Frund, Atty. Pat Barry, Engineer Adam Ossola
Margherio motioned/Nelson second to accept May 9, 2023, Plan Commission, and May 23, 2023, regular meeting minutes as presented.
Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0
Nicholson motioned/Thrasher second to authorize payment of the bills in the amount of $127,997.26
Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0
Correspondence: None
Public Comment: None
Committee Reports: None.
Andy Ruggerio wanted to thank the Village for cutting the dead limbs off the tree by his house that he had brought up to the board. Ruggerio questioned if the summer help would be able to paint the fire hydrants as he sees that the City of Peru’s summer help is painting theirs. Ruggerio wants to know if we have a plan in place to replace the fire hydrants that are in non-working condition. President Cattani will talk with Doug to see what the plan is for the replacement of the hydrants and painting.
Engineer’s Report: Adam had nothing for the council. President Cattani asked Adam if Superior was going to return to fix the grass in Lorenzi’s yard and the park since it is not growing. Adam had already been made aware of this issue via email from Rhonda and said with the lack of rain that we have had that it still growing as well as can be expected and we will wait till spring to see how it looks. If we need to address it again, then we will at that time.
Superintendent’s Report: Not in Attendance
Police Chief: Chief Frund asked the council to consider giving Tara a raise to $20.00 per hour to clean the park restrooms. Frund stated to the council that the bathrooms at the parks have been pretty bad lately and Tara came to him about them. Tara said that she felt that she needed more money if she was going to continue to clean them on a weekly basis. The council seemed to all agree with that. We will add this to the next meeting’s agenda to make a final decision.
Building Inspector: Not in attendance
Village Attorney: Discussion ensued regarding a new Ordinance of the Erection of Stop signs: Council was asking Chief Frund what his opinion was as to where these new stop signs should go and if we needed to remove any of the yield signs. Frund stated that he thinks we should go with the ordinance that Atty Barry has written up for now, and that we can always take down yields or put up more stop signs in the future if needed.
Nicholson motioned/Nelson second, to pass Ordinance Authorizing and Directing the Erection of Stop Signs in both the Easterly and Westerly Directions of Pine Street at its intersection with Central Avenue, in both Easterly and Westerly Directions of Elm Street at its Intersection with Central Avenue, in both the Northerly and Southerly Directions of Chicago Avenue at its Intersection with Cedar Street, and in both the Northerly and Southerly Directions of Central Avenue at its Intersection with Pine Street all in the Village of Ladd, Bureau County, Illinois
Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Cattani
Nayes: Thrasher- Motion carried 5-1
Unfinished Business: Approving the Garbage Contract with Republic Services: Atty Barry stated that they fixed in the contract that one 95-gallon container for recycling will be picked up every other week. Everything else in the contract was good and what the council had all agreed on. Martin motioned/Thrasher second, to approve the garbage contract with Republic Services for 10-1-2023 thru 9-30-2027
Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Thrasher
Nayes: Ruggerio Motion carried 5-1
Discuss adding a Class A Liquor License for a potential business on N Main Ave: Todd Schmollinger is looking to sell his southmost building and the new owners are wanting to put in a convenience store. They want to sell various grocery items, lottery, cigarettes, and liquor. They also want to have gambling machines. Margherio mentioned that we wanted to make sure that they would be putting the propane tanks in the back of the business that will be for sale. Discussion ensued with regard to bringing in too many machines within the community and taking business away from the businesses that are already established within the community. Their hours will be Monday thru Saturday 8 am to 9 pm and Sundays 9 am to 8 pm. Geeta, the interested party, came to talk to the council if they have any questions. Council was concerned that she would be selling paraphernalia and made it clear to her that they would not want that being sold within the Village. She asked if it was ok for her to sell Vapes just like she does in her LaSalle store. The council felt this is allowed. She will work with Todd on getting coolers installed and they are hoping by fall to have the store open if everything works out. If she is not allowed to sell liquor for consumption and have the gambling machines then she will not be purchasing the building for a business.
Thrasher motioned/Nelson Second to Add a Class A Liquor License for a Potential Business on North Main Ave.
Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Thrasher
Nayes: Margherio, Ruggerio Motion carried 4-2
New Business: Discuss & Pass Raffle License Ordinance for Village of Ladd: Tabled discussion due to Colin not being able to make the meeting. We will put it on the next agenda to pass once Colin is able to be in attendance.
Cashing in CD #’s 11807, 12407, 57425, 39187 and taking penalty to invest at 4.11% for 12 month or 4.01% for 24 months: A spreadsheet was provided showing the penalty and the additional interest if done. Nelson motioned/Martion Second to Cash in CD’s 11807, 12407, 57425, 39187 and take a penalty to invest at 4.11% for 12 month.
Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher – Motion carried 6-0
Discuss and Finalize Tree Planting Ordinance: Frank is needing to contact Morgan Wilson to speak with them regarding what kind of trees are ok to plant on the berms. Give the resident 4-6 options to plant there. Maybe something that isn’t fast-growing that we won’t have to worry about them growing into the power lines every year. Atty Barry and Colin made the decision to put the General superintendent in charge of reviewing the applications. The fee would be very minimal but will take the General superintendent to go down and look at the location where the resident is wanting to plant the tree to see if it will interfere with water lines or electrical lines once it is grown to its maturity point. We will table this till the next meeting after Frank gets us some suggestions.
Discuss St Bede State Champions Sign for Village of Ladd: Rhonda reached out to IDOT to see how we go about getting a sign for St. Bede Softball State Champions (Emma Slingsby, Maci Kelly, and Dr. Mike Morrow). We haven’t heard back from IDOT yet so we will wait till we hear from them. Table until next meeting
Announcements: Koch informed the council that the new server that we are getting from Dale will come with a 1-year warranty.
Koch asked the council what they would like Doug to do with the old Christmas wreaths, that we will not be using and that have parts that can’t be salvaged for use of other parts. Councils agreed that it’s ok to throw those away that are not salvageable. Thrasher stated that the guys were very impressed with the quality of the new decorations and she looks forward to getting more when the time comes. They also talked about getting a van trailer to store those in and the new Christmas decorations. Frank is going to look into the purchase of one and see what the cost will be.
Tim VanFleet is concerned that the speed limit in town is 30mph. Feels that we should consider changing the speed limit to 20mph in town. We are going to see how putting these new stop signs in will work in hopes that they will slow down traffic. Once will see how these work then we can revisit this concern if they don’t help.
Our sidewalk policy needs to be updated because any resident that lives on the corner and is wanting their sidewalks redone, now need to be ADA compliant. It’s the Village sidewalk and we have to approve every replacement of a sidewalk so Atty Barry states that we don’t have to change the Ordinance. Announced that the Falcon Automotive building was sold. They are going to get in there right away and work on fixing the roof and doing all of the other repairs. They are currently unsure what they are going to put in there as a business once it is completed but their main concern is to get the building repaired right now. Told the council that the new owner introduced herself to Heidi and told her if there was ever a time that her yard was a mess from the roof before it gets repaired that they will come over and clean it all up. Molly asked if the Farmers Market can put the food truck on Main Ave, on the corner of Locust so that the patrons will shop while getting themselves food. Molly asked if there could be an electrical box put on the pole there for the food trucks that don’t bring a generator. Frank said that he will get with Doug and ask him.
Thrasher questioned why no one from the Streets, Electrical, Water, and Sewer departments is in attendance at meetings anymore. President Cattani stated that he was told that it wasn’t mandated in their union contract that they attend meetings and that they all had prior engagements. Board asked if they could give a report for each meeting as to what they are doing within the Village and what projects they have approaching in the coming weeks. Cattani with speak with Doug on his matter. Atty Barry will also look at the contract to see what it states.
Ruggerio commented that he noticed that the summer help was out driving the dump truck and that without a CDL that it is a liability issue for the Village. President Cattani will address this issue with Doug. Nicholson also commented that they have been riding on the drawbar of the tractor and that it is very unsafe for them and a liability issue for the Village as well. Cattani mentioned that he had talked to Doug about that.
Martin motioned/Nelson second to adjourn.
Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerion, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0
The meeting adjourned at 7:37 pm
https://www.villageofladd.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2023-06-13-MINUTES.pdf
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