Kankakee Times

Village of Ashkum Board of Trustees met July 17.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

The Ashkum Village Board met Tuesday, July 17, 2018 @ the village hall. Present were Paul Heideman, Ed Tholen, Shannon Meier, Angie Gray, Jeremy Beherns, Russ Hull, and April Lyons. Clerk Donna Schmitz was not in attendance. Gary Cailteux, Mack Berry, Clifton mayor Andy Winkel, Village Attorney Nicholas Elliott, Lisa Hanson, and Treasurer Krystal Alberts were also present.

President Heideman called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

In the absence of Clerk Donna Schmitz, Trustee April Lyons read the minutes of the July 2, 2018 meeting, and will be taking the minutes of this meeting. Ed Tholen moved to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by Russ Hull and the motion passed.

NEW BUSINESS/VISITORS

President Heideman recognized Gary Cailteux, a member of the Planning Commission, who was present to update the board on activities of their board and to answer questions the board may have. Gary reported a list was compiled of three houses their commission would like to have torn down because they unsightly and not being maintained. A trailer on Fourth Street is full of mold, a house of Third Street, and a house of Fifth Street that has animals going in and out of the house. Gary suggested the village could then possibly purchase the empty lots. Gary was advised that, right now, without a police force, the village is unable to enforce our ordinances. Village Attorney Nicholas Elliott explained the process for demolishing the properties, and said ultimately it is a question of who foots the bill. The first step is to use the ordinance to impose fines, and if the fines aren’t paid then prosecute in a civil case.

Lisa Hanson, a member of the Planning Commission asked if people who are habitually not taking care of properties but are asking for new permits, can the Planning Commission deny the permits. Attorney Elliott reported he would have to research how the ordinances read, and depending on the property, the goal is to fix the property.

Lisa Hanson asked about the situation regarding the bench in memory of Gary Hemp. Gary’s wife was interested in donating a bench, but the location she wanted was not approved by the board. Juanetta was not in favor of the spot President Heideman suggested and would like a decision so she could proceed with the installation of a memorial bench. Lisa asked about purchasing new benches for Main Street and suggested Gary’s bench could be by the Post Office. During the discussion that followed, it was determined it would take a long time to replace the current benches with memorial benches, purchasing one at a time may not allow the village to get all the benches to match because the availability of benches change, purchasing six benches for Main Street so if people who wanted to designate a bench in memory of a loved one could purchase a plaque, and the expense of purchasing six benches at a time. No action was taken on purchasing six benches for Main Street. April Lyons moved to approach Juanetta about purchasing a bench and installing it by the Post Office, seconded by Angie Gray and the motion passed.

President Heideman recognized Village Attorney Nicholas Elliott who reported on the following:

•Regarding the police agreement – Nicholas reported he has been in contact with Dana Meyer, Clifton Attorney and she was going to get information to him. She would send an interpersonal agreement to solidify the agreement. Mayor Andy Winkel reported their board met last night and a copy of the agreement was distributed to the board. A motion was made and approved that they would like to work with the village of Ashkum. Mayor Winkel offered to get a copy of the agreement to Attorney Elliott if their attorney is not able to. Processing work to hammer out the final language or whether the attorneys would handle were topics of discussion to work out details of the contract between the villages.

•Regarding the Lake Street property (Kenny Leveque request) – Homestar Title Company is doing a title search on the property. Dave Tyson reported nothing has been found other that what had been requested recently and the Iroquois County Recorder’s Office didn’t have anything on file. Nicholas reported he would reach out to Homestar Title in a couple of weeks if he hasn’t heard anything from them. If nothing is found on the title research, the process of vacating the street can then be started.

•Regarding the Prevailing Wage Ordinance – Copies of the prevailing wage ordinance for 2018 were distributed for review and action. Russ Hull move to approve Ordinance 2018-03An Ordinance Approving Prevailing Wages,seconded by Shannon Meier and the motion passed by a roll call vote. Tholen, aye; Meier, aye; Gray, aye; Beherns, aye; Hull, aye; Lyons, aye.

•Regarding the 2018-2019 Appropriation Ordinance – Copies of the appropriation ordinance were distributed for review and action. April Lyons moved to approve Ordinance 2018-04 An Ordinance Approving 2018-2019 Appropriation Ordinance,seconded by Ed Tholen and the motion passed by a roll call vote. Lyons, aye; Hull, aye; Beherns, aye; Gray, aye; Meier, aye; Tholen, aye.

•Regarding the release of the lien paid by Iroquois Farmer’s State Bank – the release of the lien has been prepared. It needs to be signed and notarized and then Nicholas will file it in the County Recorder’s Office.

President Heideman reported the renter of the house owned by the Zion Lutheran Church has moved and the church wants to know if they are responsible for the renter’s water bill. It was a consensus the church is responsible for the remaining water bill.

President Heideman recognized Treasurer Krystal Alberts who gave the Treasurer’s report for May 2018. Shannon Meier moved to approve the report as read, seconded by Ed Tholen and the motion passed. Krystal also gave the Treasurer’s report for June 2018. Shannon Meier moved to approve the report as read, seconded by April Lyons and the motion passed. Shannon Meier moved to present May and June bills to the Finance Committee, seconded by Russ Hull and the motion passed. Finance Chairman Ed Tholen reported May expenditures of $6,100.53 in the General Fund; expenditures of $8,627.18 in the Water Works Fund; expenditures of $2,298.65 in the Road & Bridge Fund. Total expenditures in all funds were $17,026.36. Finance Chairman Ed Tholen reported June expenditures of $15,790.07 in the General Fund; expenditures of $11,216.30 in the Water Works Fund. Total expenditures in both funds were $27,006.37. Ed Tholen moved to pay all May and June bills in the usual manner, seconded by Russ Hull and the motion passed.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Trustee April Lyons had no report.

Trustee Russ Hull inquired about the status of the stop signs to be erected on Second and Fourth Streets and was advised Jeff is working on it.

Trustee Jeremy Beherns had no report.

Trustee Angie Gray had no report.

Trustee Shannon Meier reported there are three or four businesses on Main Street being used for storage and asked if there was anything the village can do to control what is done in the building. Attorney Nicholas Elliott responded he doesn’t feel there are many options but will research our ordinances regarding the matter.

Trustee Ed Tholen reported a basketball hoop is broken at the park. Jeremy Beherns reported the backboards are no longer under warranty. Discussion followed about cost of the backboards and to buy a new a new backboard to fix the broken one.

A comment was made about how nice the gutters and fire hydrants look after being cleaned and painted.

Treasurer Krystal Alberts had no report.

As there was no further business to come before the board Ed Tholen moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:15 p.m., seconded by Shannon Meier and the motion passed.

http://www.ashkum.net/pages/subpages/minutes.htm