Illinois Valley Times

Village of Ladd Village Board met Oct. 8

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Ladd Village Board met in regular session on Tuesday, October 8, 2024, in 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, Dan Nelson, Brad Nicholson, Andy Ruggerio, Molly Thrasher (5)

Absent: Trustee Jan Martin (1)

In attendance: Village Clerk Rhonda Bezely, Village Treasurer Julie Koch, Superintendent Doug Englehaupt, Attorney Pat Barry, Attorney Colin Barry, Engineer Adam Ossola

Thrasher motioned/Margherio second to accept the September 24, 2024, regular meeting minutes as presented.

Ayes: Margherio, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried

Absent: Martin

Nelson motioned/Nicholson second to authorize payment of the bills in the amount of $35,762.69

Ayes: Margherio, Nelson, Nicholson (abstained from approval of ck #42689, he was recipient),

Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried

Absent: Martin

Correspondence: None

Public Comment: None

Committee Reports: Tree Committee Margherio stated he and Nicholson went to Twiggy’s tree farm and purchased 3 trees to replace the 3 trees in town that had died since planting them last fall. Bezely spoke about the tree in Mike Grivetti’s front yard – Grivetti stated this tree doesn’t have sentimental value it has historical value. It is over 100 years old. Grivetti stated that if the Village feels it needs to come down, he is okay with it being removed.

Engineer’s Report: New Business: Flooring @ Community Center: Ossola reported that the Community Center flooring needs testing to ensure it is not asbestos. Most of the new flooring will be installed over the top of the existing floor but there are areas where the plumbing needs to be modified and electricity needs to run in the floor to accommodate outlets near desks. Ossola stated that having this determined before bidding out renovation will likely cut down on the unknown and bids will be less inflated to deal with this possible situation. Nicholson asked if the LCC can still be rented out during this testing and Ossola stated that he sees no reason it would not be able to. Discussion ensued and it was determined that testing would be the first step, then once the renovation gets approved we would need to abate any found and then get clearance air monitoring which indicates all asbestos was removed. 

Margherio motioned/Nicholson second to Allow Flooring at the Community Center Tested for Asbestos for a Cost Not to Exceed $3,000.00.

Ayes: Margherio, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried

Absent: Martin

Ossola asked the council if they would like to move forward with obtaining easements from the landowners on the west side of town out to Adam’s Creek for the storm sewer project on the west side of Ladd. It will be just from the shoulder of the road to the crop line, we will not get into the field. Ossola feels the easements can be obtained this winter. The Village will continue to pursue a grant to help pay for this. Discussion ensued. Most recently 3 residents on Bureau Ave and 1 on Main Ave reported sewer backup. Two residents had raw sewage two had grey water. The council directed Ossola to move forward with the easements for this project. This will be placed on the next agenda.

Superintendent’s Report: Englehaupt reported that we received the Lead Service Line Replacement grant for $30,000.00 of which $15,000 is for mapping and $15,000 for potholing. Old Business: War Memorial Park Restroom Roof: Englehaupt requested the council review the proposal for replacing the roof on the park restrooms at War Memorial Park.

Nicholson motioned/Margherio second to Accept the Bid from Vaini Home Improvement for Restroom Work at War Memorial Park for $2,900.00.

Ayes: Margherio, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher - Motion carried

Absent: Martin

Thrasher asked Englehaupt if the blue paint in the alley was marking the buffalo boxes for potholing.

Englehaupt stated yes, and that most of the unknown material is on the Village’s side of the water service line.

Ruggerio told Englehaupt that his water line on both sides of the buffalo box is copper. He was a kid when this was dug up by the Village and he remembers it was copper from the main to the house.

Englehaupt stated that even though Ruggerio is telling him this he must have proof via construction drawings or permits Englehaupt must investigate by potholing.

Police Chief: Was at training today and wasn’t in attendance.

Building Inspector: Not in attendance

Village Attorney: Atty. Barry reported that the next agenda will have Approval of a Wholesale Connection Agreement with IMEA and Ameren. Barry explained that he sent Englehaupt and Bezely a 65-page document regarding switches and technical stuff. He is deferring a lot of this to Englehaupt to look over and discuss. Barry mentioned this document controls the rights and responsibilities of how we take power from Ameren at our inner connect. Englehaupt had read this document and reported on this information. Englehaupt stated that we could check all the boxes on the requirements. All the necessary switching is there. Englehaupt was not sure if we had the insurance required. Englehaupt stated that they and the Village should have a Certificate of Insurance with Ameren listed as additional insured. Both Ameren and the Village should have a Certificate of Insurance with the other entity listed as additional insured. Barry was thankful that Englehaupt had a chance to review this information and Provide the technical information to Barry. Bezely needs to put this on the next agenda to Adopt an Ordinance approving the Wholesale Connection Agreement and authorize Rhonda and Frank to sign it.

Atty. Barry reminded the council that we need to consider what they want to do about extending the IMEA agreement. We have until April 2025 to get this done. Barry feels a decision by the end of this year or early next year would be nice.

Old Business: Deputy Clerk Wage: Margherio asked if this request would mirror the union contract. Cattani stated yes. There was confusion. Nicholson asked if this should be discussed in a closed session. Atty. Barry stated that we could but we do not have to. Nicholson asked Bezely if something changed because he stated that when we previously spoke about this it was before a union contract meeting and Nicholson stated that Bezely mentioned this would only be when Bezely was on vacation or unavailable. Bezely explained she thought about this and then wrote out details of what and why she was requesting this for her deputy clerk. Many options were considered but asking the council for Koch to be paid her salary when she is on vacation or not available seemed like a big request. Bezely thought about the scenarios and felt that a wage increase for being a deputy clerk is a better option because ultimately the Clerk, who is elected, is responsible for her office. Bezely included a detailed sheet in the council packets explaining how the office is extremely busy, on many days the deputy clerk is alone in the office, and why compensation added to her regular hourly wage seemed best. This was tabled until there was more time to think about it.

New Business: Donation Request from Hall High School Golf: No action was taken, as the Hall Golf Team did not make State

New Business: Donation Request from Ladd Sports Committee: Margherio stated his opinion is that the Village gave $8,000 for the backstop, and $1,000 for a pitching mound. Margherio would have no problem if the committee came and asked the council to match their fundraising efforts. He feels that people just come and ask for money. Perhaps a drawdown or other fundraising could be done to help come up with this $5,000. Margherio feels that if we want to help with this project, we should offer a match of whatever this committee fundraises. Margherio states he loves sports and has coached in the past but he feels the committee needs to fundraise first and then ask the Village to help. Koch is the secretary of this committee and she stated that there are fundraisers in the works. A pick-3 lotto and a taco night were mentioned. The original quote to make this modification for the field was $10,000 but through the Village allowing the public works employees to remove the grass while working for the Village this has cut the cost in half. Now the committee is asking the Village to pay the other $5,000. It is felt that this committee needs to raise money first and then see if the Village could help with anything they could not raise. Koch stated that there is no baseball program in Ladd anymore. The plan is to make modifications to the field to attract a team to make Ladd their home field. Thrasher stated that Steve Bosi and his family have been working very hard to get baseball games back in Ladd. It is going to take some time to raise money to get this done. A question was asked as to where the money was going.

There is a cost to allow kids to play baseball and it was asked where this money goes. It was also asked who is the charter for the baseball, Koch stated Spring Valley Youth Baseball. It was asked who determines where the games are played. It was stated that the district does – Tim Trevier’s name was mentioned. Ladd people are on the baseball board. It would be nice to hear from the Ladd board members as to whether games will be played in Ladd. The schedule will be requested to see if any games are scheduled in Ladd next season. This information will be brought back to a future meeting. Margherio would like a couple of committee members to come to a meeting to discuss this situation. Banners were mentioned to advertise Ladd's businesses at the diamond.

New Business: Liability Insurance Quote: Liability Insurance increased $2,563.11 for 2025. We added the new Freightliner Bucket Truck and Cameras for the Police Department. Nicholson motioned/Thrasher second to Pay IMLRMA $59,768.80 for 2025 Liability Insurance with a 1% Discount for Paying Early and our 2025 IML dues.

Ayes: Margherio, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher – Motion carried

Absent: Martin

Business: Folding Machine Quote: No action was taken as a quote was not received

New Business: Motor Fuel CD Renewal: No action taken; CD auto renewed after the 10-day grace period on 10/7/2024 for 6 months at 3.70% APY

Announcements: Bezely mentioned a resident was concerned the old Presbyterian church was possibly going up for sale and the person interested wants to put in 3 apartments. The neighborhood residents do not want this, due to having nowhere to park. They wanted to start a petition to keep this from happening. Bezely asked if this would keep this from happening in the future. Atty. Barry states it likely would not be allowed due to zoning. It is in an R1 single-family residential zone. Petitions unfortunately would not stop this from happening. They would need a zoning committee notice and hearing. Christmas Walk and Snowman parade is coming up on December 14th and Bezely reminded the council to start thinking about if they would like a float in the parade, etc. 10/33 Ambulance per capita increase Bezely asked Atty. Barry, how that works for the Village if 10/33 raises rates? Barry stated that the Village levy is the maximum allowable now so the balance of the 10/33 Ambulance payment would have to come out of the General Fund. Bezely asked if the ESDA fund was an option for paying the 10/33 billing. Barry will look at this since we will be doing the Levy soon. We currently only use this money for the siren testing. Recently a business owner came into the Clerk’s office with several complaints. They feel that the Village should offer a lot more assistance to businesses regarding communication of Village grants, Village ordinances, Village rules and regulations, and more customized billing solutions for landlords. Bezely tried to explain all responses to the complaints. The council would like to see the business owner come to a meeting to discuss these issues with the council. This will allow everyone to hear the complaints and possibly resolve some concerns. Hearing from the business may make the council want to change some things in Ladd. Email Archiving: Bezely asked Mark Karlosky to attend the council meeting and explain the need for email archiving for the Village email accounts. There are 6 email accounts. Karlosky stated that the fine for not archiving emails is $5,000 per incident. Bezely stated she is not 100% sure of the email laws. Spam, junk, AI-generated emails, coupons you did not request do all those have to be saved Bezely asked? It was stated that yes this all must be saved. The Freedom of Information Act rules state that all emails must be saved indefinitely, Karlosky stated. Discussion ensued and Karlosky will investigate several possible options and provide this cost to the council. Our email host LKCS does archiving but it is a monthly fee. All these options will be measured and then brought to the council for a decision. It was explained that with email archiving every single email you get is copied and placed in cloud-based storage with a reputable company that provides a readable format that can be easily searched. This keeps your computers from being too bogged down with storage issues. Microsoft 365 is what Atty. Barry’s Office used to archive. Karlosky stated that we need every piece of email must be journaled or archived for the Village it is held out in the cloud and encrypted for security. Two-factor authentication will need to be implemented. This also applies to text messages on personal phones, or personal email accounts. The council thanked Karlosky for attending and explaining the situation.

Thrasher asked everyone if they noticed the clean-up going on out at the old Tobler’s Building.

Nelson motioned/ Thrasher second that we adjourn.

Ayes: Margherio, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher – Motion carried

Absent: Martin

The meeting adjourned at 8:02 pm

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