Illinois Valley Times

Coal City Village Board met Aug. 12

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

At 7:00p.m. on Monday, August 12, 2024, Mayor David Spesia called to order the meeting of the Coal City Village Board in the boardroom at Village Hall. Roll call- Dave Togliatti, Dan Greggain, Pamela Noffsinger, Tim Bradley, Bill Mincey, CJ Lauterbur and David Spesia. Also in attendance were Mark Heinle, village attorney, Ryan Hansen, village engineer, Police Chief Chris Harseim and Matt Fritz, village administrator. 

All present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 

The regular meeting minutes from July 24, 2024 was presented. Greggain moved to approve the minutes as written, second by Togliatti. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Absent; none. Abstain; Bradley. Motion carried. 

The warrant list was presented. Several items were discussed: 

Mayor Spesia - Municipal Well & Pump (Inspection) $1,500 

Fritz - Inspection cost was determined lightning damage in previous April failure Mayor Spesia & Bradley-Sikich (FY 23 Audit) $1,000 

Fritz - Billing for TIF 

Mayor - Whitmore Ace (Blue & Green Paint) $882.24 

Fritz - Marking for JULIE locates due to lead service project 

Noffsinger - Riverside Powersports (Electric Golf Cart) $9,800 

-asked to share this expense with the Police Department 

Bradley moved to approve the warrant list, second by Greggain. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Motion carried. 

There was no public comment at this meeting. 

Mayor Spesia announced a proclamation for the Knights of Columbus Annual Fundraising Tootsie Roll Drive, September 13-15, 2024. The funding is utilized for individuals with intellectual disabilities and is an event where they will sell in front of certain store fronts, which they have received permission. The village attorney voiced his approval and appreciation that the Knights of Columbus turn in the request ahead of time in case there were any issues. Spesia stated Doug Letterly, a representative for the Knights was present. 

Mayor Spesia presented a Special Event Application submitted for a block party on Quail Run. Chief Harseim stated it would be a short run to close down and had no issues with this. There was no issues with this request. 

Ordinance 24-16, granting a garage variance for 370 N. 1st Avenue. Fritz stated it was positively recommended by the Zoning Board of Appeals. The request is for an extension to the rear of the existing garage, however the planned square footage will exceed what is required as the maximum square footage per village code. The height will also exceed the limit by a few feet and an existing non-conformity will be expanded. There was no one at the public hearing opposing this request. Spesia asked if the addition was going toward the house or away from it. Fritz stated it would be going toward the rear of the yard, west toward the alley. Bradley moved to adopt Ordinance 24-16, granting variances for the expansion of the garage at 370 N. 1st Avenue, second by Greggain. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Motion carried. 

Ordinance 24-17, granting conditional use and sign variance at 215 S. Kankakee. Fritz explained the sign was reviewed at the last Planning & Zoning Board Meeting. A drawing was submitted for review, which shows the sign will be 8 feet from the corner and 5 1⁄2 feet from each sidewalk. One side of the sign will be along Church Street and the other will be along Kankakee Street. There will be pylons at 3 feet tall which will hold the sign in place. The background will be hunter green and letters will be backlit. There were no others present but the petitioner at the public hearing and the Planning & Zoning Board recommended granting this petition. Bradley moved to adopt Ordinance 24-17 granting a conditional use and variances at 215 S. Kankakee for the placement of signage in the front yard, second by Lauterbur. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Motion carried. 

Hansen explained Brandt Excavating has begun the Lead Service Line Replacement project. They have started replacing the old service lines along Broadway and 4th Street as well as removing old water mains along the way. The project is going well and the first draw for Brandt Excavating is in the amount of $128,520.00. Mayor Spesia asked for further explanation of the status. Hansen went over the numbers that were submitted. Bradley moved to authorize a payment to Brandt Excavating in the amount of $128,520.00, which is about 4.8% of the approved funding for the completion of this project, second by Mincey. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Motion carried. 

Fritz explained that due to the outages of well #5, along with the motor that was purchased an electrical supply cable is an important part that may be necessary immediately when Municipal Well & Pump pull up the pump, or can be stored until used at another time. Bradley moved to authorize the purchase of electrical supply wire for the utility wells in the amount of $28,800 from Municipal Well & Pump, second by Bradley. Roll - call Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Motion carried. 

Fritz explained the board received bids on repainting items in the village, which included the sanitary treatment plant clarifier and North Water Tower, in hopes of getting a discount by packaging together projects. There were no bids submitted with a significant discount for this. The change order for clarifiers finishes from DPS Equipment Services will allow for a $58,000 discount and the refurbishment will begin in September. Greggain moved to authorize a change order of $142,000 to allow DPS Equipment Services to repaint Sanitary Clarifiers upon completion of the necessary equipment upgrades, second by Togliatti. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Monday and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Motion carried. 

Mayor Spesia thanked all that were involved in the Back to School Bash, specifically Tammy Moran and Trustee Noffsinger as well as Chief Harseim and representation from the police department. Spesia also stated that school will be starting this week. 

Bradley asked to get a finance committee meeting scheduled after September 4, 2024. 

Noffsinger stated that the Back to School Bash seemed to be successful as a first time event. 

Linda Sula, deputy clerk stated the packets for the 2025 Consolidated Election can be picked up at the village hall during regular office hours of 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday beginning Tuesday, August 20, 2024. 

Hansen reported the extra storm work added to the Second Avenue project has been completed and will be moving ahead to get the landscaping completed within the next week or two. MFT concrete work will start at the end of the week. The aerator has been installed at the water plant and the brine tank is waiting to get painted. A pre-con meeting is being set-up for the Carbon Hill Road repaving in the following week. There was a meeting with ComEd, fire department, designer, contractor to discuss where the electrical is going to come from for Well # 7. ComEd has not yet confirmed from which supply they want to provide power from. Mayor Spesia indicated that he has seen many emails to ComEd from the engineer to get ComEd to respond and stressed this is a top priority for the village to get the power to Well #7 due to multiple events with Well #5 that were not expected. Mayor Spesia thanked Hansen for the hard work and diligence with this. 

Harseim stated the Back to School Bash was very successful and the police department had 100 pre-packed bags which were given away during the event. Jerry Hallahan with State Farm Insurance donated water bottles and ice packs for the kids as well. School will be starting back up on Wednesday for a half day. The police department partnering with the fire department provided new banners to be placed at each of the schools indicating back to school. Two officers will be graduating PTI on August 22nd and will start on different day shifts. Harseim also reported Judge Belt (who has worked with the village) father passed away and gave his condolences for his family. Harseim went over the stats that were given to the board. Harseim reported on the new squad car indicating it should be equipped with everything soon and on the road. 

Fritz indicated he was present on Saturday morning for the Back to School Bash and stated that there were many volunteers on hand and he also thanked the board for their accommodation for moving this meeting to this evening so he could assist his daughter with moving into the college dorm. Fritz explained that with school starting, public works is out restriping and freshening up all the paint on the streets. The next village board meeting will be moved to Monday, August 26, 2024. 

Harseim stated the Back to School Bash could not have happened without the assistance of the volunteers and thanked everyone who helped make it a success. Noffsinger also thanked the Village of Carbon Hill who funded the ice cream truck, which everyone really enjoyed. Noffsinger indicated she was proud of Carbon Hill for stepping up and assisting with the joint effort. 

Mayor Spesia provided his condolences to Judge Belt's family for their loss. The mayor thanked all of the volunteers who helped at the Back to School Bash and hopes we can continue with strong volunteers to continue assisting with events. The next event is Fall Fest in a few weeks - sponsor letters have gone out to businesses requesting their support 

Bradley moved to adjourn the meeting, second by Mincey. Roll call-Ayes; Togliatti, Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Meeting adjourned at 7:43 p.m. 

https://coalcity-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/VB-Meeting-Minutes-08-12-2024-Web.pdf