Illinois Valley Times

Coal City Village Board met Oct. 9

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

At 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, Mayor Dave Spesia called to order the meeting of the Coal City Village Board in the boardroom at Village hall. Roll call; Dan Greggain, Pam Noffsinger, Tim Bradley, Bill Mincey, CJ Lauterbur and Dave Spesia. Absent; Dave Togliatti. Also in attendance were Mark Heinle, village attorney, Matt Halloran, village engineer, Sergeant Mike Imhof and Matt Fritz, village administrator. 

All present recited the Pledge of Allegiance. 

The regular meeting minutes from September 11, 2024, was presented. Mincey moved to approve the minutes with changes, second by Lauterbur. Roll call-Ayes; Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey, and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Absent; Togliatti. Motion carried. 

The regular meeting minutes from September 25, 2024, was presented. Bradley moved to approve the minutes as written, second my Lauterbur. Roll call-Ayes; Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Absent; Togliatti. Motion carried. 

The warrant list was presented. Mayor Spesia while in agreement with a charge from Sunbelt for rental of a generator for well # 7, requested an update from Halloran regarding the status with ComEd. Halloran indicated they have been reaching out to ComEd to get an actual date for the service connection. Fritz indicated the plan date was November but they would move it up if they could. There were no other questions on the warrant list. Greggain moved to approve the warrant list as written, second by Mincey. Roll call-Ayes; Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Absent; Togliatti. Motion carried. 

There was no public comment at this meeting. 

Ordinance 24-23, adopting ban on tobacco shops. Fritz explained back in February 2024 this was an item looked at while going through uses and text amendments. The Planning & Zoning Board inquired how something may be written regarding permitting or not permitting the shops due to the number of them in the area already. A moratorium was put into place with the assistance of Heinle. Fritz explained he received some calls during the timeframe this has been in effect and was able to indicate the village had a moratorium in place. Heinle explained by accepting this ordinance the moratorium would be permanent and tobacco specific businesses would not be allowed to open in the village. This item was a matter of public hearing and recommended with a 6 to 0 vote by the Zoning Board. 

Bradley questioned if someone wanted to open a tobacco shop would this be a variance process. Heinle explained it would be a process requiring the code to be amended as well as going through a special use process. The process may potentially deter a business wanting to open a shop here versus another location. 

Bradley moved to adopt Ordinance 24-23, adopting a Tobacco Shop Ban within the Village of Coal City, second by Mincey. Roll call-Ayes; Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Absent; Togliatti. Motion carried. 

Resolution 24-09, sale of a Lion's Park detached garage. Fritz explained the Park Board has been working with Coal City Baseball and Softball and a question arose if a new structure could be provided and altered behind field two due to height restrictions for their tractors. There was discussion at the park board meeting in regards to utilizing existing structures versus constructing another building. The Lion's Club has been staging a float in the garage for many decades but has also not used it for many years, so Lion's was interested in selling the garage to the village. Lauterbur, Fritz and Darrell Olson, maintenance director inspected the building, which is in good condition except for needing some new siding and some roofing repair. Lion's discounted the price from the initial amount and the bill of sale is prepared for the amount of $10, 200.00. With the purchase of the garage, softball and baseball will have additional area for storage and the village will store a couple of the riding mowers in there as well. Lauterbur indicated that the Park Board was unanimous and liked the idea and baseball/softball were interested as well. They will now keep the existing shed for other items and move the tractors into the garage on the concrete pad. Mincey moved to adopt Resolution 24-09 approving the acquisition of Lion's Club detached garage, second by Bradley. Roll call-Ayes; Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur, Nays; none. Absent; Togliatti. Motion carried. 

Fritz explained during a public health and safety meeting Chief Harseim indicated he would like a few T Mobile phones within squad cars in order to have another tool to place calls and take photos without having patrol bringing it home at the end of the shift. This will be a monthly expense for regular reoccurring T Mobile service. Imhof explained there are two officers per shift and it is a tool that will help with their job performance. This will allow the officers to refrain from utilizing their own cell phones to take pictures, call subjects or call people back. Imhof tested the phone by going to as many points inside and outside of town and there were no issues. There is a tower west of town and T Mobile is one of the biggest carriers out there and the only carrier that has true 5G all the time. Bradley moved to authorize the utilization of T Mobile phones for police operations, second by Greggain. Roll call-Ayes; Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur. Nays; none. Absent; Togliatti. Motion carried. 

Mayor Spesia informed the board Coal City is hosting the Grundy Chamber Coffee & Company on October 17th, at 8am at The Clubhouse. Spesia explained Mayor Kernc of Diamond called him to express her appreciation for Coal City supplying water during their water main break. 

Lauterbur thanked Olson from the maintenance department for the quick work on the downspouts for the shed behind baseball field one. It looks very nice and hopefully will help with the water issues. 

Bradley stated he heard nothing but rave reviews of the Homecoming Parade in town and kudos to all who were involved setting this up. 

Heinle explained the Hunters Run project has been going through the Zoning Board and there will be some additional pieces coming through with favorable zoning recommendations specifically a Development Agreement and Dormant SSA. This will hopefully be done at the next Village Board meeting. 

Halloran explained Carbon Hill Road will be done at the end of the week and said contractor, PT Ferro Construction did a good job. Halloran indicated the water plant foundation has started to be dug out for the new building and should be ready to start framing at the end of the week. Mincey asked if D Construction was done with all of the manholes and Halloran indicated they are all done and adjusted. 

Imhof reported the Halloween hours this year for Coal City will be from 4pm - 7pm on Thursday, October 31, 2024. Imhof also reported there is a speed sign in front of the Police Department, which was donated to Coal City by the Wilmington Police Department. The only thing it needed was a couple of batteries so those were replaced and sign has been staged at a couple of different locations and is working great. The board thanked the Wilmington PD for their donation. Spesia asked if there was a possibility to utilize solar for charging the sign. Imhof will look into that. Imhof reported there is a lot of training going on and morale is high. Bradley asked how many officers are on Field Training. Imhof explained there are two with FTO and they are almost finished with their second phase and then there is a 3rd and 4th phase. The officers should be ready to get on the road by December. 

Fritz explained the village filed for the site location grant for (south of Reed Road) and filed with DCEO for pre-application and worked with Grundy Economic Development Council (GEDC) to get everything completed. Fritz stated DCEO said everything looks great and we are ahead of the submission deadline. 

Bradley moved to adjourn the meeting, second by Mincey. Roll call-Ayes; Greggain, Noffsinger, Bradley, Mincey and Lauterbur, Nays; none. Absent; Togliatti. Motion carried and meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.

https://coalcity-il.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/VB-Meeting-Minutes-10-09-2024-Web.pdf