Kankakee Times

Village of Ashkum Board of Trustees met Aug. 21.

Here is the minutes provided by the Board:

The Ashkum Village Board met Tuesday, August 21, 2018 @ the village hall. Present were Paul Heideman, Donna Schmitz, Ed Tholen, Angie Gray, Jeremy Beherns, Russ Hull, and April Lyons. Trustee Shannon Meier was not in attendance. Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Hanson, Treasurer Krystal Alberts, and Gary Cailteux, a member of the Zoning Commission were also present.

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

Clerk Donna Schmitz read the minutes of the August 6, 2018 meeting. Russ Hull moved to approve the minutes as read, seconded by Angie Gray 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 on the following:

The Zoning Committee inquired if their committee notice violations of ordinances, do these violations have to be presented to the board or can they act on them. Gary was advised all violations have to be presented to the board for action.

Jackie Glenn turned in her resignation and will no longer be on the Zoning Committee. Gary reported Jeff Glenn is willing to take her place, but no action was taken at this time.

Their committee would like the train depot be painted, but it is the responsibility of the railroad.

Gary asked “President Heideman as chief of police, can he deliver a citation?” President Heideman reported our attorney said he cannot because he wouldn’t have a back up.

President Heideman recognized Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Hanson who reported on the following:

The spray patching will be completed tomorrow by Grosso Trucking.

Steve, an engineer at Tyson Engineering reported there are spots marked for spray patching on Lafayette but there is a pretty good sized lip and he’s apprehensive to patch it again because it would get too thick. He asked if there was another spot we could use the spray patching. Jeff showed him the spot on Fifth Street by Kenny Leveque’s. Steve said they would be in town tomorrow so if there are other spots we want done to let him know.

The stop signs have been put up on Fine Street and the jake breaking sign has been ordered.

A resident with a delinquent water account due for termination of service paid $50 and promised to pay the balance on the 30th of the month. Jeff didn’t terminate the service because Troy had surgery and he didn’t know the status of the account. The mother of the resident told Jeff she would go to the bank and pay the balance.

Haley Brothers repaired a pinhole leak that was discovered because the grass was green and when the owner stepped on it, it was marshy. Haley Brothers will also bore under the road for a new connection on John Grays’s property. John requested a new connection because he wants to move his curb stop down to the corner. When Mark Corbin did his plumbing inspection he advised John he should put a one inch line. Jeff said the new connection, except a new meter, would be at John’s expense.

Brian Shreffler talked to Jeff about having 10,000 gallons over his normal water usage on the last two billing cycles. Jeff reported he swapped readers, and the usage dropped. Brian would like to receive a credit on his previous bills. His previous bills will be checked and an average would be used to determine how much credit to issue.

Jeff reported the part time maintenance employees receive $9.50 per hour and asked if the board would consider an increase. Discussion followed but because it wasn’t on the agenda action could not be taken. President Heideman said he would put it on the agenda for consideration at the September 4th board meeting.

President Heideman recognized Treasurer Krystal Alberts who gave the treasurer’s report for July 2018. April Lyons moved to approve the report as read, seconded by Russ Hull and the motion passed. Ed Tholen moved to present the bills to the Finance Committee, seconded by Angie Gray and the motion passed. Finance Chairman Ed Tholen reported expenditures of $6,131.31 in the General Fund and expenditures of $9,347.27 in the Water Works Fund. Total expenditures in both funds were $15,478.58. Ed Tholen moved to pay July bills in the usual manner, seconded by April Lyons and the motion passed.

President Heideman brought the following before the board for discussion and/or action:

Jon Meents asked if the board would approve his request regarding a 200 foot tile he shares with the village. He would like to fill the tile with dirt so he would be able to mow the area. Jon continued he likes to keep his property well maintained. President Heideman advised Jon he would bring it before this board and the Drainage Committee. During the discussion that followed it was stated if the tile is filled with dirt, the village would have no way to clean the tile and it would require future maintenance. President Heideman remarked there are currently cornstalks in the tile and the village should probably be mowing the area. None of the members of the Drainage Committee were in favor of granting Jon’s request. Other board members concurred with them. President Heideman reported he would advise Mr. Meents of the board’s decision.

The police committee met with the police committee from Clifton and everything went well. A slight problem arose when the state police board indicated we cannot combine two villages into one police department. During the discussion that followed, several villages who share police departments were named so the board doesn’t think ours should be treated differently. President Heideman reported both villages should approve the contract at their September meetings.

Even though we haven’t had much rain, President Heideman reported he was going to contact Addison Brown to spray the park for mosquito abatement before the Homecoming festivities this month.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Trustee April Lyons had no report.

Trustee Russ Hull inquired if he has the sidewalk in front of his building fixed and a lip of 1 ½” is created because the adjoining business did not fix theirs, who would be responsible if someone falls and is hurt? Russ was advised there probably wouldn’t be a lip because the fix would be tapered. President Heideman reported it would be the responsibility of the village if someone was hurt.

Trustee Jeremy Beherns had no report.

Trustee Angie Gray had no report.

Trustee Ed Tholen reported the tarring and chipping on the road by Tri Central Coop has been fixed. Dave Tyson inspected the work and said it had to be corrected. The invoice must come from Tyson Engineering or from the village. If there are any problems Ed should be called.

Treasurer Krystal Alberts reported she talked to a woman at Tremont who advised her that in a couple of years they would be handling only school accounts. Krystal reported at that time we would have to find another software company to handle our accounts and she wasn’t looking forward to that.

Clerk Donna Schmitz reported she hasn’t contacted anyone regarding her computer yet.

As there was no further business to come before the board, Jeremy Beherns moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:53 p.m., seconded by Russ Hull and the motion passed.