Kankakee Times

Village of Herscher Village Board met Sept. 6.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Village President Shannon Sweeney called the meeting to order with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. The following Trustees were present: John Branz, Mike Bruner, Bob Voss, Jacob Wagner (Zoom), and Skip Grigas. Andy Cotter was absent. Also present, Village Clerk Heather Meredith, Deputy Clerk Vannessa Weaver, Police Chief Chad Scanlon, Public Works Employee Keith Witheft, Janet Mau from The Herscher Pilot (Zoom), Village Accountant Carmen Huizenga, and Village Attorney Chris Bohlen.

Bob Voss moved to approve the Regular minutes of August 15, 2022; Mike Bruner seconded. All in favor; Motion carried.

John Branz made a motion to suspend the agenda for the Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Audit Review given by Carmen Huizenga from SKDO. Mike Bruner seconded. All in favor. Motion carried.

Carmen Huizenga presented the FY 2021-2022 Audit, including the annual financial statements, general fund cash, and business (utilities) types of activities. The Auditor’s report is a bit longer because of new requirements. She pointed out the Wastewater storm damage claims and insurance was a bit unusual as it was still in progress. An item to note is that the $102,000 we received in ARPA funds is not recognized in the audit. No issues were found while doing the audit. The AFR is almost completed. She says that there is nothing special to note. She requests that after the adjusting entries are posted they check the balances. The Management Letter should be made available if requested. Carmen asked if there were any questions.

John Branz made a motion to return to the regular agenda. Bob Voss seconded. All in favor, motion carried.

STREETS:

Bob Voss said that spray patching should be done within the next month. He will be having the arborist out to check on the trees. Bob is hoping to get N Oak St, 1 block of Clyde St, and 1 block of Second St paved next year.

FINANCE:

John Branz presented the Accounts Payable Report totaling $26,929.83 to the Board for payment. John Branz moved to accept the accounts payable as presented. Skip Grigas seconded. Roll call taken Jacob Wagner-aye, Mike Bruner-aye, Andy Cotter-absent, John Branz-aye, Skip Grigas-aye, and Bob Voss aye. All in favor; Motion Carried.

Payroll presented totaled $18,544.90. John Branz moved to accept payroll as presented, Skip Grigas seconded. Roll call taken Jacob Wagner-aye, Mike Bruner-aye, Andy Cotter-absent, Bob Voss-aye, Skip Grigas-aye, and John Branz-aye. All in favor; motion carried.

John Branz added:

-The Treasurer’s Report for August shows a total of $2,262,681.29 in all accounts 

-Received the Second distribution of 2021 Real Estate Taxes in the amount of $17,847.52 

-Finished Reviewing the Audit

-Continuing to work on Annual Treasurer Report

-Transferred another $100,000 to the General Fund funds at the Illinois Funds

PARKS:

Skip Grigas made a motion to reimburse Greg Osenga for the purchase of panels for the score board at Sims Park in the amount of $5,115.00. Mike Bruner seconded. Roll call taken Jacob Wagner-aye, Mike Bruner-aye, Andy Cotter-absent, John Branz-aye, Bob Voss-aye, and Skip Grigas-aye All in favor, motion carried.

POLICE:

Chief Scanlon said that we need to look at hiring some part time officers. We have couple of officers retiring soon. He would like to have a committee meeting; he says there is a Part Time Academy the end of September if we needed to send someone through it. A committee meeting was set up for September 19th following the Regular Meeting. Chief said Labor Day went well with no incidents.

ORDINANCE:

Jacob Wagner reported the roof and gutters are completed at Village Hall. Jacob said Code Officer Steve Spencer is back and working on some alleys. Jacob thanked Heather and Vannessa for working on code letters in Steve’s absence.

WATER AND SEWER:

Mike Bruner said that the Oak Street project is completed and the building at the wells is almost finished. Next year he plans on doing water Main Replacement on Park Road and Oak______. It was estimated that it would be about $470,000.

OLD BUSINESS:

President Sweeney and a few other Board Members were approached by Dana Masching owner of County West Physical Therapy about including her in the Downtown Grant Applicants. Her property is zoned C3 Neighborhood Commercial. After some discussion the Board concurred that we could add C3 Neighborhood Commercial to the list of applicants.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mike Bruner made a motion to pass a Proclamation for National Assisted Living Week. Jacob Wagner seconded. All in Favor; Motion Carried.

John Branz moved to donate $55 to the Kiwanis of Kankakee County for a box of peanuts to be donated to the troops. Bob Voss seconded. Roll call taken: Bob Voss-aye, John Branz-aye, Mike Bruner-aye, Skip Grigas-aye, Jacob Wagner-aye, and Andy Cotter-absent. All in favor; Motion carried.

Mike Bruner moved to donate $500 to the Herscher Unit 2 PTA Walk-a-thon from The Village of Herscher and the Herscher Police Department. Bob Voss seconded. Roll call taken: Bob Voss-aye, John Branz-aye, Mike Bruner-aye, Skip Grigas-aye, Jacob Wagner-aye and Andy Cotter-absent. All in favor; Motion carried.

John Branz added

-We received an invitation from ICRMT Conference in Springfield if any wanted to go.

-Reached out Don Deveraux about updating our Policy and Don will be here in a few weeks.

-We were contacted by Chris Korte about switching insurance back to IML. Its more work to work with them. But Chris is saying he can beat ICRMT by $20,000. President Sweeney says it doesn’t hurt to investigate it.

-Troy Coffman the SBH President says we own the trees along ditch and parking lot at SBH and they are expensive to maintain.

OPEN TO THE FLOOR:

Keith Witheft said Thank you for the flowers sent to his father’s funeral from the Village.

Motion to adjourn by Bob Voss. Seconded by Skip Grigas. All in favor. Motion carried

https://herscher.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Bd-Minutes-September-6-2022.pdf