Illinois Valley Times

Village of Ladd Village Board met May 27

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

The Ladd Village Board met in regular session on Tuesday, May 27, 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, Engineer Adam Ossola, Atty. Pat Barry and Police Chief Jacob Frund.

Thrasher motioned/Nicholson seconded to accept the May 13, 2025, regular meeting minutes as presented.

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

Nelson motioned/Martin seconded, to authorize payment of the bills of $84,405.78.

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

Nicholson motioned/Nelson seconded to accept the Treasurer's Report for April 2025.

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

Correspondence: None

Public Comment: None

Committee Report: Nelson & Victor reported on four trees that were submitted to the Village Clerk’s Office. #1~ 102 S. Hennepin Ave. has several split branches that need to be removed from the tree. #2 ~ 202 S. Peru Ave., a large tree on the berm has a lot of dead branches. Recommend removal of the entire tree. If time is a problem, we want dead branches removed as soon as possible, and the rest of the tree can come down when time permits. #3 ~ 129 S. Peru Ave. recommend removal of the southernmost tree on the berm. #4 ~ 420 N. Bureau Ave., a large tree on the berm, needs to be removed entirely. The bark looked like it was dying.

Village Engineer: New Business: Award Contract for Main Avenue Sidewalk Project: Ossola explained the bid opening for the Main Avenue Sidewalks that took place last Friday, May 23rd, in the Village Hall. Three bids were received, and the low bid was $77,109.00. The engineers' estimate was $117,515.00. Cattani stated that Ossola was reaching out to the State to see if we could add on areas since our bid was so much under the engineer's estimate.

Nelson motioned/Nicholson seconded to Award the Contract for the Main Avenue Sidewalk Project to Gillan Construction, LLC for $77,109.00.

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

Eventually, Route 89 is going to be repaved. There have been surveyors in town for the last several weeks. Ossola stated that when they get ready to start route 89 through Ladd, they will get in contact with the Village to see if we would like to pay for the parking lane to be done also. 

STATE of IL Grant $400 million for the entire state, and our application will be for $2.9 million. Ossola explained from the last meeting to help the Village get East Cleveland Street asphalted instead of tar and chipped. This would be from Route 89 out to the Eastern Village limits. The bid is due in 30 days, and we discussed trying to get a sidewalk or bike/walking lane added to the project. Ossola stated there is not enough time to get the necessary easements/information to include a bike lane in this grant application. The figures that Ossola came up with were 2.9 million. This type/amount of funding is not offered very often, and with only having approximately 1 month to apply, you must be shovel-ready. There is no time to add a bike/walking path out there for this round of funding. President Cattani asked the council to allow Ossola to move forward with the application for all of East Cleveland Street to be asphalted. Victor asked if it would help to contact our State Representatives. Ossola stated that it can’t hurt. Martin will reach out to Representative Muriel Briel’s Office. New Business: CMOM update: Ossola explained that this is tied to the NPDES Permit for the sewer plant and the sewer system. The new NPDES Permit will have language that this must be updated every year. Ossola is asking for permission to do the update from when the plan started in 2016. Ossola wants to update this annually as required. Ossola feels that minimizing the cost of this annual updating is mostly what municipalities are looking for.

Ruggerio motioned/Nicholson seconded that we hire Chamlin & Associates to update the CMOM plan for the IEPA.

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

General Superintendent: Not in attendance

Police Chief: Chief Frund thanked the trustees for his wage increase that took place at the last meeting. Frund explained all the mandated training he’s been receiving. Frund explained that he will be allowed to teach all the part-time officers all the mandated training. E-Bikes, Dirt Bikes, and Scooters have been an issue, but the police department seems to have caught up with the culprits. It appears that these kids know the time gaps in police coverage. Frund checked on some ordinance violations, tall grass, and other items for which he sent letters. Most have cleaned up the problems. He has a new list from Officer Sarosinski regarding lawn violations. He will check to see if these have been corrected, and if not, he will issue tickets. Nicholson brought up that bicycles and E-Bikes must follow the rules of the road. Frund reported that it is a suggestion according to state statute. Dirt bikes have become a nuisance. Victor asked if they’re colliding with cars. Frund stated that is what some residents are complaining about. Victor feels that kids riding dirt bikes are possibly staying away from worse actions, and maybe we need to consider that. The concern is that kids on e-bikes need to check both ways when passing through an intersection. People are worried about hitting one of these kids, mostly because they are barreling through intersections and ignoring other traffic. Victor asked what decertification is in reference to. The state of Illinois, in the SAFE-T Act, stated that police are not getting trained as mandated. Your certifications are in a holding period if you are not up on your mandated training. You legally cannot work patrol if you are not certified to do so.

Building Inspector: Not in attendance

Village Attorney: Old Business: Wage Increase for Police Chief: Atty. Barry prepared the police chief’s new wage ordinance. It was distributed to the council for review. He was given a 5% increase from the Council, which is retroactive to May 1, 2025. The Annual Wage will be $79,497.60. Martin motioned/Nelson seconded to pass Ordinance 1190, an Ordinance Revising the Compensation and Benefits of Jacob Frund as Police Chief for the Village of Ladd, Bureau County, Illinois.

Ayes: Thrasher, Nelson, Nicholson, Martin, Victor, Ruggerio, President Cattani – Motion carried.

Ruggerio asked if he’s heard anything from the owners of the Furniture Store. Atty. Barry sent them a letter after the meeting where we adopted the new ordinance for violating a stop work order, and invited them to a board meeting. We will have to decide if we are going to file suit against them if they don’t respond or come to a meeting.

Old Business: Hiring Summer Help: President Cattani asked the council how many summer help employees they feel should be hired out of the 10 applications. The board feels supervision is needed for these kids. Each council member responded with the number they think, and it was 4-3, with four trustees feeling three kids should be hired. Then it was requested that they each be given a sheet of paper, and they would write down the three applicants they felt should be hired. The votes were tallied and announced to the council.

Nicholson motioned/Victor seconded to extend an offer of Summer Employment to Ryan Bosi, Zavery Zrust, and Alyssa Torchia as Summer Help for 2025 at $15.00 per hour and keep the other applicants in sequence in case one of the selected applicants has obtained another job.

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

Nelson mentioned the hydrant on Cedar & LaSalle has a black top, but he’s noticed one of the caps is missing, and he’s worried about hornets nesting. Englehaupt will be made aware.

Old Business: Building Permit Fee for A&B Garage Addition: After discussion, it was unanimously determined to waive the building permit fee. Nicholson motioned/Nelson seconded to Waive the $240.00 Building Permit Fee for A&B Garage’s Addition to Their Existing Business.

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

New Business: Non-Union Employee Health, Vision & Dental Insurance: Bezely provided all information and pricing to the trustees for their review. Non-Union employees are 100% covered, and their dependents are 75% covered by the Village and 25% covered by the employee. Questions were asked, and answers were provided. The Delta Dental and Delta Vision plan costs have not changed since before 2016. We are currently paying $325.39, and it is going up to $333.51. The council indicated they were fine with this increase. Discussion ensued. Insurance coverage will remain the same, just updated with the 2025 pricing for Health, Dental, and Vision.

Martin motioned/Ruggerio seconded to Renew Health Insurance for Blue Choice Preferred PPO for 3 Non-Union Employees at the monthly amount of $4,162.67 and Vision and Dental at the monthly amount of $333.51.

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

Easements Out to Adams Creek: Cattani asked Atty. Barry, have we gotten anything done to secure the easements out to Adam’s Creek for the Sewer Separation project? Barry just started to work on the easements and asked Ossola some questions to determine the landowners who need to be contacted to secure the proper easements to bring the west side sewer separation out to Adams Creek. Atty. Barry asked Cattani if he was going to approach the landowners. Discussion ensued. It was discussed that the project would go down the South Side of the Road. Ossola mentioned that eight easements would be needed.

Announcements: Bezely was contacted by a landowner who is willing to allow the City of Spring Valley and the Village of Ladd to go in together on a digital sign, which can be used for various functions. Ladd would advertise on the South side of the sign, which would tell people about Ladd as they are driving north on Route 89/6 before Route six breaks off and heads west. It was unanimous that the council would like to hear more when the cost of the sign is known and the electricity costs. Bezely expects to hear from the Spring Valley landowner in the next couple of weeks. SURF network was contacted again, and Tom told Bezely that Ladd is part of the BEAD Funding Program, and SURF is just waiting on the State to release the funding, then they will be in touch with Ladd and ready to start. Tom estimated that 1-2 months before this is expected. Bezely has another Zoom meeting with LHD Executive Director, Karlee Macer. This meeting will be on June 3rd at 1:30 pm to discuss potential investors for the non-income-based 2-bedroom apartments that Ladd has requested LHD build in Ladd. Bezely asked the council to feel free to advise questions she should ask during the Zoom meeting. One possible investor requested that Bezely find out if the interest from the money they lend/pledge to the project would be tax-exempt. Bezely is reaching out to other possible investors to make sure she gets all their questions so that answers will be secured. It was mentioned that Charro Taco’s & Bakery changed their hours to 9 am – 9 pm. Trustee Victor has been approached about having chickens in the Village, and he instructed the residents interested to attend a meeting and inquire. Thrasher asked about the status of the possible subdivision on the east end of Ladd. Atty. Barry is going to contact the gentleman interested and speak with him again.

Thrasher motioned/Nicholson seconded to adjourn.

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

The meeting adjourned at 7:48 pm.

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