Illinois Valley Times

Village of Ladd Village Board met Feb. 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Ladd Village Board met in regular session on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at the Ladd Village Hall at 121 N. Main Avenue. 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, Molly Thrasher (6)

In attendance: Village Clerk Rhonda Bezely, Superintendent Doug Englehaupt, Engineer Adam Ossola, Atty. Pat Barry, Building Inspector Barry Flanagan.

Nelson motioned/Margherio second to accept the January 23, 2024, regular meeting minutes as presented.

Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Thrasher - Motion carried 5-1

Nayes: Ruggerio

Nicholson motioned/Nelson second to authorize payment of the bills in the amount of $49,966.62. Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0

Correspondence: A thank you card from the family of Ron Larsen was read for the donation to St. Jude in his memory.

Public Comment: Rick Follmer addressed the council regarding concerns about Ladd having immigrants dropped off. He asked if the Village has thought about declaring that we are a non-sanctuary village. President Cattani doesn’t feel that Ladd is a likely place for this to happen, as there is no train station and we are such a small village.

Raquel Hermosillo and Jose DeLa Torre addressed the council for permission to allow Jose’s brother to live in the back apartment and help them with the renovation of this building. It has been a year since they purchased it and have not had much time to devote to getting it ready for a business to be located in front. This request goes against our Main Ave. property code. They stated when they purchased this property they didn’t know this rule. The council understood their need to get the front business open and allowed the brother to live in the back with a stipulation to return in 3 months with an update on the renovation to provide transparency to the citizens of Ladd. They both understood and will plan to return with an update on May 13th or May 28th.

Committee Reports: Margherio and Nicholson were asked by Tom Giachetto Sr. to come by and look at a large maple tree in his front yard on South LaSalle Avenue. It is split pretty badly and there is concern for it falling on his house. Nelson will take a look at it and Doug will also check it out.

Engineer’s Report: Ossola reported that the Safe Routes to School 2021 Project is out for bid on the IDOT website. Ossola reported that we have a written grant agreement for the Main Avenue Sidewalk Grant through the DCEO. The State of Illinois requests an update on progress in April so things should get moving soon. We will first need to get an engineer. New Business: Census Maps: Ossola explained that there is a Federal Census Bureau Map and also an IL Department of Revenue Map that shows different boundaries than what we have for the Village limits. These maps differ from the Zoning Map and the GIS Map that the county provides. Grant funding and taxing jurisdictions are affected by our boundaries and we need to determine which is accurate.

Nelson motioned/Margherio second to Hire Chamlin Engineering to Determine Village of Ladd Boundaries/Limits.

Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0

New Business: Application for Lead Line Inventory Grant: Ossola explained the Lead Line Inventory requirement mandated by the IL EPA. The Village of Ladd hired TEST Inc. to take care of submitting the Lead Line Inventory data to the IL EPA after Englehaupt investigated all residences in Ladd. Englehaupt was also told that the Cross Connection Surveys that we are required to obtain every 2 years could be used as a starting point for the Lead Line Inventory. A spreadsheet was made with all Village residents' responses. Englehaupt explained how he contacted anyone who submitted galvanized or lead line responses on their cross-connection survey to make sure this was accurate. All incorrect entries were changed to reflect what was actually there, after Englehaupt or one of his workers actually went into the homes and looked at the type of pipe in the home or obtained a picture from the homeowner that they could 100% identify what type of pipe it was. Englehaupt is unclear about why TEST needed an extension when the Village of Ladd emailed their spreadsheet to TEST Certified Operator in Charge, Joe Glynn in March 2023. Ossola stated that he was told TEST has not gotten the information we provided entered into the IL EPA Mandated spreadsheet yet. Englehaupt provided several scenarios to the council based on his findings when looking at some of these connections. If grant funds are applied for and awarded to Ladd we may want to have a company go into every home and check on these lines and put this information on a map. Englehaupt asked Ossola if the grant would cover the cost of entering the data into the mandatory spreadsheet and Ossola stated yes. This grant has been 100% funded in the past. No match is necessary. NCICG stated that the application fee is $750 and the administration fee is $400.00 if we are awarded the grant funds. Englehaupt reiterated that approximately $1,200.00 would allow Chamlin’s or someone from TEST to create a map of all the buffalo boxes in town. That would be an excellent tool at a very reasonable cost. This would be a digital copy/GIS of all connections.

Nelson motioned/Ruggerio second to apply for a Lead Line Inventory Grant through NCICG once the grant application period opens not to exceed $1,200.00.

Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0

Superintendent’s Report: Englehaupt reported that the pump is in at the WWTP. While the rep from the company was here delivering the pump they discussed some other issues with what’s going on with the storm pump panel that we are still waiting on. Englehaupt also explained to the council that there were some issues at Mario Data’s lot on Main Avenue last Friday. When Superior bored in the water main for the Main Ave Alley Water Line project they actually hit the sanitary line that went to the old service station which was located on Data’s lot. The previous owner of the property capped the sewer and illustrated the sewer to be working. Englehaupt stated that had that sewer been operational the Village would have known within 24 hours that it had been hit because the line was full of bored mud. Now knowing all of this, it is evident that Superior had hit this line. Monday Englehaupt informed Cattani of what was going on. Englehaupt and public works employees spent Monday fixing this issue. Brad, the owner of Superior Excavating told Englehaupt to submit the invoices from the repair for reimbursement to the Village of Ladd.

Police Chief: Not in attendance

Building Inspector: Nothing to report

Village Attorney: Utility Lien Ordinance: Atty. Barry stated that he and Colin have been working on the Ordinance that explains the filing of a utility lien. He has to get all the different services to read the same since the past due amount of $1,000.00 is a combination of all services this must be changed to reflect on all utility service ordinances. The council reiterated that they want a fee determined by Atty. Barry that will be passed onto the resident that is $1,000.00 or more past due. Atty. Barry feels that $300.00 would cover the fees associated with filing a lien on a past-due account and also releasing the lien once payment in full has been received. This amount may increase as fees increase in the future. President Cattani mentioned he would think several of these past due accounts would be renters; therefore, a lien would be placed on the landlord's property and ultimately the fees will end up being put on the landlord if the renter defaults on payment and leaves. Atty. Barry will plan to prepare the ordinance to state past due amount of $1,000.00 will generate a utility lien and a $300.00 fee placed on the resident's account for all filing fees. Atty. Barry will have this ordinance ready for the next council meeting.

New Business: Ladd Cemetery part of the Village of Ladd: Research was obtained from a municipality that owns a cemetery and a detailed list of responsibilities and requirements was given to the council. President Cattani summarized things with the fact that owning a cemetery is not a money-maker. Discussion ensued and it was stated that there is a perpetual fund with a large balance that cannot be touched. Only the interest from this fund is available to use for all costs associated with the cemetery. Atty. Barry mentioned a state agency that does take over cemeteries that have been abandoned. So if something happened to the current caretaker then perhaps help could be obtained from the State Agency. After many concerns were voiced President Cattani stated he was going to meet with the current caretaker Friday to try to obtain more information. It was brought up that if the Village were to take this over and the general fund would help out with expenses, perhaps Ladd residents should have a lower burial rate than an out-of-town person would get due to the Ladd resident having to pay property taxes in Ladd.

New Business: Archive Social: Bezely stated that she and Frund discussed this in depth today and decided it is not necessary at this time. No action was taken.

New Business: Music in the Park 2024: Bezely prepared a list for the council that showed 2023 expenses and income. This list also detailed the 2024 Music in the Park Schedule and costs for each band. Bezely was just making sure it is okay to continue to move forward with this event. Heidi Templeton contacted all the bands and set the dates. The Players Club requested to sponsor the Steve Sharp Band on Friday, September 6th as a thank you for allowing them to provide food at the events. The other dates are Friday, May 31st – Wise Guys; Friday, June 21st - Greenfield Station; and Friday, October 4th – Joey Figgiani. A great lineup is set for 2024.

New Business: - Proclaim April – Fair Housing Month: Thrasher motioned/Martin second to Proclaim April as Fair Housing Month

Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0

Announcements: Bezely reported that we have approximately 100 people pay monthly via our online payment portal. In 2023 $295,157.71in utility payments were made through the online portal.

North Central Bank asked if we would consider reducing our outstanding balance for a property at 207 N. Main Avenue. Bezely explained the situation to the council in detail. The council feels this is not able to be done.

Bezely asked if when the 2 stoves purchased in 2020 for the community center are sold, she would like to put an offer in on one.

OnSolve/Code Red alert system will start being used on April 1, 2024. There is a lot to do by then but Bezely would like to have every single resident of Ladd getting emergency notifications. There are many steps to implementation, setup, and roll out but it will all be worth the detailed setup. This will only be used for emergency alerts. We really hope we will have 100% participation.

The rules of Committees in the Village of Ladd are unclear to Bezely. She asked if all members of the public body were on the committee along with President Cattani and the two council members he had selected. The first of the two council member’s names listed serves as the Chairman. All committee meetings are open meetings and therefore anyone can attend. Whether council members or members of the public. The Village of Ladd is not a Committee of the whole per Atty. Barry.

Thrasher motioned/Nicholson second to adjourn.

Ayes: Margherio, Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried 6-0

The meeting adjourned at 7:57 pm

https://www.villageofladd.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/2024-02-13-MINUTES.pdf