Kankakee Times

Village of Ashkum Board of Trustees met Sept. 18.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

The Ashkum Village Board met Tuesday, September 18, 2018 @ the village hall. Present were Paul Heideman, Donna Schmitz, Ed Tholen, Shannon Meier, Angie Gray, Russ Hull, and April Lyons. Trustee Jeremy Beherns was not in attendance. Maintenance Supervisor Jeff Hanson, Treasurer Krystal Alberts, and Jackie Glenn, a member of the Planning Commission were also present.

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

Clerk Donna Schmitz read the minutes of the September 4, 2018 meeting. Russ Hull moved to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by Shannon Meier and the motion passed.

President Heideman recognized Zoning Officer Jeff Hanson who reported upon investigation of our ordinances, the building erected on the property of Steve Lemenager is within our guidelines. It may not look good, but the location meets all requirements, and the building also falls within the 55’ from the center of the road. Jeff reported Mr. Lemenager lives on Charles Street and the building is located in his back yard. There are no restrictions regarding the location of a building on the back or side of a house.

President Heideman recognized Jackie Glenn a member of the Planning Commission who was present to update the board of actions of their commission and to answer questions the board may have. Jackie turned in her resignation at the August meeting effective the end of September, so this is her last meeting. Jackie asked if Jeff Glenn was approved to take her place and was advised the board approved his appointment at the September 4th board meeting. Jackie inquired if the police agreement between Clifton and Ashkum is in affect yet so papers could be served to ordinance violators. President Heideman reported the agreement has not been approved and it may take up to three months before a decision is made.

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

Jeff got pricing to replace the basketball hoop in the park from Dick’s Sporting Goods. The old hoops cost $400 each and the new ones will run $600 each. The new ones are the same size, have tempered glass, have a five year warranty and are better than what we have. If we go with this kind, we would have to rework the bracket, and Jeff reported he talked to Brian Poskin because he did our old ones. Jeff checked with BSN and their cost would be $1,200. He thought about having Plexiglas cut and use our old frame but it would end up costing as much as the ones from Dick’s. The board approved his recommendation and to order two so he could have a back up. It was also suggested Jeff wait until spring before installing it. A suggestion was made to ask about discounts because the owner of Dick’s Sporting Goods is very civic minded and has given discounts to organizations in the past. Jeff reported he will check to see if discounts are available and also if he had to pay freight if they were shipped to the store and were picked up there.

Attended the fall water conference and took a test on Wednesday but he hasn’t heard anything about whether he passed or not. The conference was a small one and it was okay. Russ Schoon had told him it would be smaller than the spring conference.

While at the conference he talked to Mike at Midwest Meter who suggested he only order about half a dozen extra meters that were being discontinued January 1st but the board felt the decision made at the last meeting to have an extra 30 to 40 on hand was better for us. He asked Mike for pricing for quantities of 10 and 20.

Jeff talked to a couple of IEPA representatives who said they are getting ready to change regulations on chlorine again.

President Heideman recognized Treasurer Krystal Alberts who gave the treasurer’s report for August 2018. April Lyons moved to approve the report as read, seconded by Russ Hull and the motion passed. Krystal was advised no action was necessary on the CDs due to mature, to allow them to “roll over.” Shannon Meier moved to present the bills to the Finance Committee, seconded by Angie Gray and the motion passed. Finance Chairman Ed Tholen reported expenditures of $6,849.15 in the General Fund and expenditures of $17,320.96 in the Water Works Fund. Total expenditures in both funds were $24,170.11. Ed Tholen moved to pay all August bills in the usual manner, seconded by Shannon Meier and the motion passed.

During the treasurer’s report it was discovered that the BlueCross insurance premium for former Maintenance Supervisor Russ Schoon was still being deducted from our checking account. During the discussion that followed, Krystal reported Clerk Donna Schmitz discussed the matter with Russ in July or August and Russ indicated he would contact BC/BS again. The amount being deducted from our account needs to be paid back, either by Russ or by BC/BS. Krystal will follow up with Russ and report back to the board.

Krystal also reported the audit for years 2017-2018 will go to the auditors next Tuesday.

OLD BUSINESS

President Heideman reported the state police said you cannot combine two villages into one police department and the lawyers from Ashkum and Clifton will meet with State Attorney Jim Devine on September 20th to discuss the matter. When asked how much it would cost the village to have our own police department, Trustee Russ Hull was advised it would cost probably double to what the proposed cost of $35,000 was. It would be at least $70,000 with all the benefits included.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Trustee April Lyons had no report.

Trustee Russ Hull reported he purchased the patching to repair the sidewalk in front of his business on Main Street. Russ also reviewed each of the delinquent water accounts with the board and recommended the service be terminated on five accounts. The board agreed with Russ’s recommendation, and President Heideman reported he will advise Jeff Hanson the accounts that are to have their water service terminated.

Trustee Angie Gray had no report.

Trustee Shannon Meier had no report.

Trustee Ed Tholen reported he wanted to check with Dave Tyson on the bills he recommended for payment because Ed had a question on one of the bills. After getting clarification, Ed reported he would turn the bills into the clerk for payment.

Treasurer Krystal Alberts had no report.

Clerk Donna Schmitz reported her computer has been fixed and it appeared our antivirus software had a virus.

As there was no further business to come before the board, Angie Gray moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:03 p.m., seconded by Ed Tholen and the motion passed.

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