Illinois Valley Times

Village of Ladd Village Board met April 22

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Ladd Village Board met in regular session on Tuesday, April 22, 2025, 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 Jan Martin, Dan Nelson, Brad Nicholson, Andy Ruggerio, Molly Thrasher, and Bernie Victor (6)

In attendance: Clerk Rhonda Bezely,Deputy Clerk Julie Koch, Engineer Adam Ossola, Atty. Pat Barry, and Atty. Colin Barry

Martin motioned/Thrasher seconded to accept the April 8, 2025, regular meeting minutes as presented.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

Nicholson motioned/Nelson seconded, to authorize payment of the bills of $116,185.36

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

Ruggerio motioned/Nelson seconded to accept the Treasurer's Report for March 2025.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

Correspondence: A thank-you card from the Barry Family was read in thanks for the sympathy gift.

Project Success sent a thank-you to the Village for the donation to Easter Dinners.

Public Comment: None

Committee Report: Thrasher told the council that the Easter Egg Hunt was successful. It was a beautiful day. They planned for 120 participants and came very close to that. Nelson mentioned that Deb Lorenzi’s yard is still not back to its original condition before last year’s Main Avenue Alley Water Main Replacement project. Nelson said many rocks are in the yard, which is not very nice. Cattani mentioned having the summer help rake it and see how it looks. Nelson also noted that on the corner of Main Ave and Cedar St, it is a safety concern when you try to pull out from Cedar onto Main. Cattani stated that every corner has visibility concerns, but if we remove these parking places, we will lose too many parking spots. Discussion ensued. Ruggerio talked about the wide loads going through Main Ave. Nelson asked if parking time limits could be placed on these spots with poor visibility.

Village Engineer: Ossola updated the council on the Safe Routes to School Project for 2023, which will bid this Friday, 4-25-25, in Springfield at the IDOT building. Ossola updated the council on the Main Avenue Sidewalk Project bid letting, which is set for May 23, 2025, at 10 am in the Village Hall.

General Superintendent: Not in attendance

Police Chief: Not in attendance

Building Inspector: Not in attendance

Village Attorney: Items will be discussed under new business.

Old Business: Cost of Service Study: No action was taken. Trustee Victor asked how much the rates are raised annually, 5% based on the last cost of service study was Bezely’s reply. Atty. Barry told Victor and the council that they could change the rate of the annual increase, but it was set to incorporate all of the village's electric needs based on the information provided for the cost of service study.

Old Business: Set Fair Solar Credit: After a lengthy discussion, it was determined that the fair solar credit should be set at the same amount as last year. This is not what the IL Municipal Electric Agency suggested, which was .0391 for the village on 5-1-2025. Discussion ensued. Bezely provided a cost of .08 kWh as what the IMEA charges us for kWh, but that doesn’t include the distribution costs. Cattani cautioned the council not to increase this number too much because there are other costs that solar customers don’t have to pay, like the non-solar customers do. Such as maintenance fees on the lines, poles, and employee salaries.

Nicholson motioned/Nelson seconded to set the Fair Solar Credit Rate to begin May 1, 2025, at .0542/kWh

Ayes: Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher (4) - Motion carried

Nayes: Martin, Victor (2)

Old Business: Consider Quote to Replace Shed at WWTP: President Cattani took Trustee Nelson and Trustee Victor to the WWTP at separate times to review the shed. This shed is a special build and not something you can purchase, as it is built to specifications. Discussion ensued. Nicholson motioned/Nelson seconded to approve the Quote to replace the Shed (mechanical bar screen enclosure) at the Waste Water Treatment Plant for $20,321.48 plus approximately $2,600.00 shipping for a total of $22,921.48 from Kenco Plastics Company out of Lewisburg, TN.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

Old Business: New Roof System on Water Treatment Facility: President Cattani took Trustee Nelson and Trustee Victor to the Water Treatment plant at separate times to review the project. The roof was installed in 2005, so it is 20 years old. There is approximately 1/3rd of the roof that needs to be replaced. It is necessary to get a scope of work so that all bids we receive are equal. It was asked if a Truss roof could be put on the building instead of replacing the existing roof, and Ossola responded that it would be considerably more money than the current flatrubber roof on this building. After the discussion of the findings from the site visit, it was determined that Chamlin would create a scope of work, and they would bring in a roofer to give their expertise. Victor motioned/Thrasher seconded to hire Chamlin & Associates to create a Scope of Work for repairing or replacing the Roof at the Water Treatment Facility.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

Trustee Victor feels that having trustees and the president examine things simultaneously would have been much more beneficial. This creates a public meeting based on OMA. Victor thinks having an agenda and making it a public meeting when several trustees need to look something over is the way to go. Atty. Barry said it is fine, but it just creates more minutes for the Clerk. Victor noted that he would be comfortable writing minutes for Bezely to type and process, i.e., put on the website and in the permanent record. Next time, we will consider posting an agenda so all interested trustees can attend. It was also discussed that this could take place during our regular meeting.

Victor motioned/Nelson seconded to Adjourn Sine Die @ 7:00 pm.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

Atty. Pat Barry administered the Oath of Office to President Frank Cattani, Clerk Rhonda J Bezely, Trustee Dan Nelson, Trustee Bernie Victor, and Trustee Molly Thrasher. All oaths were signed and kept in the Village records.

President Frank Cattani called the meeting to order at 7:14 pm.

Roll Call: Present: Trustees Jan Martin, Dan Nelson, Brad Nicholson, Andy Ruggerio, Molly Thrasher, and Bernie Victor (6)

In attendance: Clerk Rhonda Bezely, Deputy Clerk Julie Koch, Engineer Adam Ossola, Atty. Pat Barry, and Atty. Colin Barry

New Business: Approve 2025-2027 Committees and Appointments: President Cattani kept the same committees and appointments for 2025-2027. A copy was provided to the council. Trustee Victor was put on the committees that Trustee Margherio vacated in December 2024. Nicholson requested that his number replace his wife’s, which inadvertently ended up on this document. Brad Nicholson: 815-664-8230.

Thrasher motioned /Nicholson seconded to accept the 2025-2027 Committees and Appointments.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

New Business: Retain the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays at 6:30 pm for Regular Board Meetings:

Martin motioned/Nicholson seconded to retain the 2nd and 4th Tuesday at 6:30 pm for Regular Board Meetings.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

New Business: Appoint Jan Martin as President Pro Tem: Martin is the longest-standing Trustee, so she was named president pro tem.

Nicholson motioned/Victor seconded to appoint Trustee Jan Martin as President Pro Tem.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

New Business: Retain the same policies and procedures: Victor motioned, and Nelson seconded, to retain the same previously held policies and procedures in the Village of Ladd.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

New Business: Abolish Working Cash: Ruggerio motioned/Nelson seconded to Abolish Work Cash of $8,537.62 and re-establish it at Zero.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried. 

New Business: Discuss Hope Week – Ax Church: June 1st – June 7th is Hope Week, and Ax Church will return to Ladd to help beautify our village. Discussion regarding what projects could be done by the volunteers was listed, and we will email this information to Ax Church. They will let us know what day they plan to be in Ladd. The Village will provide pizza, drinks, and desserts for the volunteers.

There will likely be a site visit by the church members in charge of Ladd so that we can explain all items requested to be done.

Trustee Martin asked if we wanted to plant two new trees next to the chicken since they both looked dead. Cattani asked if we could grow something with color. Nicholson will look into them, and Cattani told him he could spend up to $70.00 or less on each tree.

New Business: Ordinance regarding stop work order: Atty. Barry explained that the Village of Ladd already has an ordinance for this concern. It is felt that the violation fee, $5.00-$25.00 each day, should be increased to $50 - $500 per day in the violation section of the ordinance. Atty Barry will update the ordinance, and it will be placed on the next agenda to pass. Atty. Barry will write a letter to the owner requesting them to attend a council meeting to explain their plans to the council. We will have Ossola present to ensure their proposal is acceptable.

New Business: Ladd Sports Committee: The Ladd Sports Committee met to clean up the Kennedy Park baseball fields. They removed mulch underneath bushes over by both dugouts. They requested that landscape rock be put down to replace this mulch. Landscape fabric will be needed before putting the rock down. We will ask Ax Church to help us with this. We will get the rock before Hope Week.

Announcements: Bezely was contacted by a Village resident about the Community Center. She feels that there needs to be a community decision on whether to keep the Community Center, sell it, or renovate it to be the new Village Clerk’s Office, Village Police, Village Hall, and community room in the future. Trustee Victor feels that when any action is taken, it will be in an open meeting, and all residents are welcome to come and voice their opinion. Peru’s Chicken Ordinance was provided to the council tonight for review. Discussion ensued. If Ladd considers chickens, it would be $50 per resident who requested chickens, which would be placed in the general fund. Possibility of expanding Ladd Senior Village. Bezely & Englehaupt had a Zoom call with Karlee Macer, executive director of Laborers’ Home Development. Bezely requested that additional 2-bedroom units be added, along with 2-bedroom units that are not income-based. Karlee stated that 40 units would need to be constructed to be worthwhile if this were possible. The non-income-based units are more difficult to provide because LHDC must pay for them, and that isn’t always an option since they are a non-profit. Bezely asked if she finds some investors in Ladd that would like to be part of this and if she could send them to Karlee for discussion, and she stated Absolutely. There is a workshop on Saturday, May 10, 2025, in East Peoria at the Illinois Central College Campus for Newly Elected or Appointed Officials from 8:30 am – 12 pm. This is free, but they do request an RSVP to be set up to accommodate the number of people planning to attend. Bezely stated she’d be happy to respond for anyone wishing to attend. All 108 banners have arrived and will be put up after they are checked over. Red Cross Blood Mobile is set for Friday, May 2nd, from 1 – 6 pm at the Community Center. All officials were urged to make an appointment to donate. Bezely mentioned there are 3 weeks between meetings. 

Executive Session Minutes 6 Month Review: Atty. Barry reviewed the Executive Session Minutes and recommended that the council release the minutes that pertained to the deputy clerk's wage. Atty. Barry stated that if the commission plans to file suit against the vendor again in the other executive session minutes, he recommends keeping them private. If the council decides not to pursue this incident, Atty can release them. Barry’s opinion.

Nicholson motioned/Victor seconded to release the executive session minutes discussing the deputy clerk’s wage, but hold back the minutes regarding computer issues from a former IT consultant.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried.

Easements Out to Adams Creek: Cattani asked Atty. Barry, if we’ve gotten anything done to secure the easements out to Adam’s Creek for the Sewer Separation project, we would like to pursue. Atty. Barry stated that Ossola had gotten some information to Barry but had not had time to move forward. Barry will try to make time to get this done.

Trustee Thrasher asked where we are on Fiberoptic—Bezely left a message today with Tom from SURF internet, checking where things are with a contract and start date. Atty. Pat Barry has not heard from them yet. Atty. Colin Bezely stated that a 2007 State Law, the Telecommunications Act, mandates that any company that the FCC accredits can notify any City, Town, or Village letting them know that they will be bringing in Fiber, and they cannot tell them no. They need to see the permitting procedure. The only thing Cities, Towns, or Villages can do is put in what they call “reasonable restrictions” on them, so you don’t have two people digging in the right-of-way simultaneously. Pat & Colin will try to stagger the timing or location for this to go smoothly. MCC Conxxus isn’t always the most amenable. Atty. Colin Barry stated that he and Pat would do all they could to work with MCC Conxxus to ensure things went as smoothly as possible. Colin feels two more fiber-optic companies are likely looking to bring fiber to Ladd. They said Doug needs to review the map that Pat Barry provided him. Federal Broadband BEAD money and State Connect Illinois money are being given, so companies don’t care if they’re the 5th fiber optic in the ground. They need to get smaller, underserved communities Fiber with the help of the grants. Competition is good for business. All these locations must be done, so this will be a lot of work for Englehaupt and public works. Atty. Pat Barry reminded everyone that we passed an Ordinance at the last meeting that states that companies have to ask permission and fill out a permit application. Atty. Barry will send this to Conxxus. He will have them work through him to keep things controlled.

Koch was asked about our industrial customer’s usage. She stated that usage has decreased a little bit.

Thrasher motioned/Nicholson seconded to adjourn.

Ayes: Martin, Nelson, Nicholson, Ruggerio, Thrasher, Victor - Motion carried

The meeting adjourned at 7:59 pm.

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