Kankakee Times

Village of Ashkum Board of Trustees Met March 1.

Here is the minutes provided by the board:

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

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

Clerk Donna Schmitz, read the minutes of the February 1, 2021 meeting. Ed Tholen moved to approve the minutes as read, seconded by April Lyons and the motion passed.

NEW BUSINESS/VISITORS

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

Jeff reported Mike Bell from Midwest Meter is coming tomorrow and will be giving him a breakdown of the options available to him. He reported if we go with option two, we would recognize a savings of about $10,000. Instead of using the handheld reader, it would go to an I pad. Our system is fine right now, but if something goes wrong Microsoft will not support it. Jeff has extra meters and readers on hand so if nothing happens with the handheld reader, we’re ok.

A truck with a snow plow hanging out has been parked on Main Street making it difficult for snow removal and was interfering with traffic. Jeff texted the owner advising him he couldn’t park there and the owner moved the truck an hour later.

President Heideman reported Ed Ronna is retiring at the end of June and Jeff responded he had talked to Ed about it. Technically Jeff is still considered an Operator in Training by the state although he completed the number of hours needed (in November) so he had Ed type a letter of recommendation and the paperwork was submitted to the state. He needed the number of hours and a recommendation letter in order to be considered a C operator. Ed is working with him on getting the B license but it hasn’t been easy due to Covid and not being able to get together. Jeff checked and he thinks at the end April there are online classes he can take and then take the test in Champaign. Ed will be available to help Jeff after June but just cannot sign the paperwork anymore.

Jeff reported he will be redoing the mulch in the park and asked if the Finance Committee would consider the expense during their budget meetings in April.

Jeff reported Whitaker Tree Service asked if they could put tree trimmings in our burn pile and he gave them permission. He later discovered the trimmings weren’t from within the village but outside of town. He advised them in the future, the name of the owner and address of the where the trees trimmings are coming from must be provided. He also said the owner must call Jeff.

President Heideman recognized Treasurer Krystal Alberts who gave the treasurer’s report for January 2021. Angie Gray 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 Jeremy Beherns and the motion passed. Finance Chairman Ed Tholen reported expenditures of $7,725.72 in the General Fund and expenditure of $9,658.55 in the Water Works Fund. Total expenditures in both funds were $17,384.27. Ed Tholen moved to pay all January 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:

• During a previous meeting, the board discussed purchasing fences and tables for Main Street in the spring. If we are going to do that, the Finance Committee should include the expense when they work on the new budget. The Planning Commission had brought having table and chairs in front of some of the businesses before the board during their beautifying Main Street presentation and they were going to research how much the project would cost. We should get the information from them. A short discussion followed about how many people would actually use the tables and chairs with most people agreeing they would be used.

• The Clifton attorney hasn’t contacted him yet regarding a decision she was to make several months ago.

• President Heideman reported he’s going to have to put pressure on our village attorney to get the paperwork to us regarding the vacation of the street the Meier family requested at a previous meeting

Trustee Russ Hull reported the golf cart ordinance also needs to be addressed by the village attorney. The weather is getting warm and the golf carts are being used again. There are changes he would like to see made and passed before summer is over. The ordinance should read you must be sixteen to operate a golf cart (not require a driver’s license) and all golf carts must be inspected and have a sticker that would be issued at no cost. Trustees Russ Hull and Angie Gray were added to the Ordinance Committee along with chairman April Lyons. They decided to meet Saturday at 9:30 a.m. to review the ordinance and to make the changes that will be presented to the board at our next meeting.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Trustee April Lyons asked how many apartments are Golden’s Gym allowed to have? As far as anyone knows, there is one renter and another family member living above the gym. Concerns were expressed about the number of entry and exit doors and a secondary emergency exit. April asked if everything had been checked and inspected before the permit was given. Jeff reported Jim Glenn would have been in charge at that time, and he would contact him about the situation. April wanted to make sure everything falls within our ordinance. Can something classified commercial have renters?

Trustee Russ Hull reported that due to the recent snow storm, the water service was not terminated on any of the delinquent water accounts. A new list will be compiled after the water bills go out.

Trustee Jeremy Beherns had no report.

Trustee Angie Gray had no report but Trustee Shannon Meier asked her to advise the board there is a lot of dog feces on the sidewalk between her business and Ne Ne’s. This could have been a result of all the snow and people not being able to walk their dogs on a normal route.

Trustee Ed Tholen reported he would not be here for the next meeting on March 16th because he was going out of town. President Heideman also reported he would be out of town at the same time. During the discussion that followed, it was suggested to move the meeting date to March 23rd. April Lyons moved to move the March 16th meeting date to March 23rd, seconded by Angie Gray and the motion passed.

Treasurer Krystal Alberts had no report.

Clerk Donna Schmitz reminded everyone the Awards Banquet is March 13th.

As there was no further business to come before the board, Ed Tholen moved to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m., seconded by Angie Gray and the motion passed.

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