Kankakee Times

Village of Clifton Board of Trustees met November 12. 

Here is the minutes as provided by the board:

Call to Order

President Winkel called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance at 7:00 p.m.

Members Present: President Andrew Winkel, Trustees Jim Schoon, Randy Gigl, Casey Hull, Joe Kolosky, Brianne Ryan and Paul Hess.

Also Present: Clerk Shannon James, Treasurer Sandy Tammen, Chief Jim Lehmkuhl, Maintenance Supervisor Tim Kent, and Advocate Reporter Kathy Washington. John Solomon arrived at 7:02 p.m.

Approval of Minutes

Kolosky moved and Hess seconded to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Clifton Village Board, October 8, 2018. 6/0 motion passed by acclamation.

Public Questions and Comments: None.

Planning Commission: No Report.

Maintenance Department: No Report.

Building and Zoning: No Report. (John Solomon arrived at 7:02 p.m.)

Police Department: No report.

Streets and Alleys: No report.

Water and Sewer Committee

Gigl moved and Hull seconded an expense not to exceed $1100.00 for village generator inspections and maintenance by MJT Services. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Schoon, Gigl, Hull, Kolosky, Ryan, and Hess. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Gigl moved and Hull seconded an expense not to exceed $3900.00 for sewer plant chemicals. Village Engineer, Jim Earleywine attended the committee meeting last week to explain the sewer plant is failing its’ ammonia nitrate levels. Fats, oils, and grease are not being removed effectively and are resting on top of the beds. This layer does not let in oxygen or water therefore the beds are not filtering correctly which is causing the ammonia nitrate levels to be high. A sample was taken from the beds and sent to the lab and this treatment is recommended. The amount requested would treat the beds for a month as kind of a “shock” then the beds will be reassessed to see how much or often the chemicals need to be used in the future. The village is running all eight beds now at lower levels instead of six at higher levels. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Gigl, Hull, Kolosky, Ryan, Hess, and Schoon. Nays 0. Motion carried. 

Gigl moved and Hull seconded an expense not to exceed $2300.00 on replacement chlorine regulators. Discussion was held on whether to purchase one or two regulators. The cost, from Hawkins, is $1075.00 each if the village purchases two or $1275.00 for one. Kent cautioned the village is currently running on the old regulator from the pool. The board thought it best to purchase two. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Hull, Kolosky, Ryan, Hess, Schoon, and Gigl. Nays 0. Motion carried.

A possible change to the utility billing for water/sewer was discussed. President Winkel has been doing some research into whether or not the winter average policy is working. The current billing policy averages the water usage during the winter months and applies that average to bill for sewer usage in the summer, assuming that water usage above the winter average is used to water lawns, wash cars, etc. and not actually taxing the sewer system. Winkel spot checked several properties within the village comparing the billed amount using the average and the amount that would have been charged if actual usage was used. The result was that some households paid less than actually used and some paid more. He suggested that a revision be made to the Fee, Fine, Bond and Salary schedule to allow the utility billing clerk to use either the actual or average, whichever amount would be lower. It is believed this would be as simple as checking a box in the billing software. Those customers who are not in their homes for a period of time (for example gone for the winter) would be billed on the actual usage as an accurate average could not be obtained. The proposed change to the schedule will be placed on the December 10, 2018, board meeting agenda.

Budget and Finance Committee: No report.

Police and Public Safety Committee

Kolosky moved and Gigl seconded to approve the intergovernmental agreement between the Village of Clifton and the Village of Ashkum regarding the creation of a joint police force and law enforcement board. Winkel advised the ordinance and zoning committee it will need to investigate how this new agreement will change the village code and make changes where necessary. Responsibility of the village treasurer was briefly discussed. The agreement is tentatively set to begin December 1, 2018. The Village of Ashkum Board does not meet until next week and is expected to consider the agreement at that time. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Hull, Kolosky, Ryan, Hess, Schoon, and Gigl. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Kolosky mentioned the police truck radios will need to be replaced before 2020.

Ordinance and Zoning Committee: No report.

Local Improvement Committee

A village resident has inquired about purchasing and planting a tree in the front yard of their property but in the easement. The tree would be a replacement for an ash tree that had to be removed due to disease. Discussion was held on the villages’ responsibility for any tree that is placed in the easement. Future costs of maintenance and possible removal needs to be considered. As the subject warrants further discussion, the Local Improvement Committee will place this issue on their next agenda. Brief discussion was held on whether a tree replacement plan would be in the villages’ best interest as 210 ash trees were removed within the last few years. The committee would like to view a map detailing where the trees were taken down and compare that to areas where tree replacement may be ideal as well as the opposite, not around water lines, storm drains, etc. It was decided this subject is worth exploring more and therefore the committee will place this discussion on their next agenda as well.

The Village of Clifton will not be included in the CN Santa Train schedule this year; however, there has been talk of a group of volunteers bringing a replacement Santa to town via motor home. Santa would need a venue which appears to be unavailable at this time as top local options have already been booked for other events. Discussion was held on possible alternate venues. It was brought to the boards’ attention that a local resident has purchased a Santa house from another municipality and that resident would like to see it used to host Santa for two Sunday’s in December. Hull will inform the motor home Santa there is no venue available this year. A few bags of candy had been purchased for the Santa train already and the board agreed that the candy should be placed in the village office candy jar.

Winkel asked about winter greens for the Main Street planters. Hess stated he should be able to acquire some spruce branches and volunteered to take care of it.

Treasurer’s Report/Payment of Bills

Tammen presented the Treasurer’s report. Kolosky moved and Hull seconded to accept the Treasurer’s Report. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Kolosky, Ryan, Hess, Schoon, Gigl, and Hull. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Tammen presented the listing of bills to be paid. Kolosky moved and Ryan seconded to pay the bills as presented. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Ryan, Hess, Schoon, Gigl, Hull, and Kolosky. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Village President

Winkel presented an update to the sexual harassment policy which came through the Illinois Municipal League in response to new legislation which changes the number of days to file a complaint from 180 to 300. Hull moved and Ryan seconded to approve the update to the Sexual Harassment Policy. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Hess, Schoon, Gigl, Hull, Kolosky, and Ryan. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Kolosky moved and Ryan seconded an expense not to exceed $1700.00 for Communication Services Agreement between Iroquois County and the Village of Clifton. Approving these types of annual expenses at the beginning of the year was discussed. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Schoon, Gigl, Hull, Kolosky, Ryan, and Hess. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Schoon moved and Hess seconded an expense not to exceed $70,000 for annual insurance payment. Roll call of votes. Ayes 6; Gigl, Hull, Kolosky, Ryan, Hess, and Schoon. Nays 0. Motion carried.

Winkel announced that five trustee positions, three 4-year terms and two 2-year terms, will be up for election during the April 2, 2019 Consolidated Election. If a village resident is interested in running for one of the positions, candidate packets are available from Clerk James. Petitions can be circulated now and candidates can file with the clerk beginning December 10, 2018.

Concluding Public Questions and Comments: None.

Adjournment

Kolosky moved and Schoon seconded to adjourn at 8:18 p.m. 6/0 motion passed by acclamation.

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