The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Jeff Tee, River Rat News
The Oquawka Village board held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday April, 2nd. Trustee Scott Ray and Clerk Jacqui Smith were absent.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Trustee Shawn Lain asked about two checks that were approved at the previous meeting. The checks are written to Centre State Truck Sales for the same amount but different check numbers. Trustee Lain said Jacqui was supposed to look into it. Mayor Robert Eldridge said she probably did but since she wasn't there, they would have to ask her about it later.
OPEN MEETING
Don Rice said he had made a FOIA request for the minutes of the January meeting. He was told the minutes were ready for him but when he came to pick them up, he was given minutes from meetings starting in October 2018 all the way up to February of 2019 but he didn't get what he had asked for. Mayor Eldridge said he would get Don's phone number and check into it in the morning then call him to let him know what he found. Don said he's heard that too many times and went on to say this started back in January and he felt the village was giving him the run around. Don stated he had 60 days to file a complaint with the Illinois Attorney General. He said he could file right now because he has been denied his request but he has not filed yet. He felt the village was trying to push it out of the 60-day time frame so that he would have no recourse. Attorney Youngquist asked Mayor Eldridge why Don hadn't received the minutes he requested. Mayor Eldridge said he didn't know but he would find out. Trustee Nancy Bundy said she wanted to get this resolved because it doesn't look good on the village.
MAYOR & STAFF REPORT
Mayor Robert Eldridge commended the flood committee and the board for their efforts. He apologized for not being able to attend any of the flood meetings so far due to being out of town.
Mayor Eldridge then said he wanted to set a special meeting in order to fix an apparent clerical error in the MFT (motor fuel tax) fund that was found by a state auditor. He also wants to set up a separate account for MFT at that meeting. The special meeting will be Thursday April 18 at 6 p.m. before the work session.
ATTORNEY REPORT
Attorney Andy Youngquist stated the tree cutting complaint had been filed. The first appearance will be later this month. Trustee Tammy Bundy asked if the village could sell the tree or if it needed to be kept as evidence. Youngquist stated the DNR is going to come and eventually put a value on the tree.
Youngquist said there will be items on the agenda next month to keep the ball rolling for the sale and transfer to the Oquawka Fire Protection District.
STREET & WATER
Trustee Shawn Lain commended Jeff and Henry for doing a great job with the flood including sandbagging, and keeping the pumps running.
Mick Olson was present to discuss MFT. This covers repairs and seal coating on selected streets during the year and is paid for by motor fuel tax money from the State of Illinois. Shawn Lain asked if Edwards Street between 7th and 8th streets could be added to the list because it is very rough. Paving in front of the harbor was also discussed. This was supposed to be done last year but it was flooded at the time the work was being done so it was put on hold. MFT only pays for streets so the harbor will be paid for with village funds. They will get it done this year if it isn't flooded.
Mick said there had been a question about buying road salt with MFT. He said the village could do this but it has never done it in the past. Trustee Nancy Bundy said she thought the roads had been neglected and felt they needed to use all the money for the roads. It was noted that some of the money was held back every year for emergencies. Mayor Eldridge said they held back $80,000 last year. When asked by Lain how much salt cost, Mick answered about $100/ton. Streets Supervisor Jeff Peterson said they used 120 tons last year. Jeff said it has to be ordered in April in order to have it delivered in October. It was decided to use MFT money to buy salt this year.
PARKS & RECREATION
Trustees Lain and Nancy Bundy have been trying to find someone to fill the ball field commissioner position but haven't found anyone yet.
OLD BUSINESS
Eagle scout prospect Conner Moede was present to request funds and approval to swap the basketball court and the skate park area. The skate park area is fenced in and would be better suited as a basketball court. The estimated cost of the project including new hoops is $2828.90. Lain asked Conner if he would be willing to fund raise for half the cost. Conner said that he would. Due to this being a spring project, the village will fund it and Conner will reimburse half the cost through fund raising.
The board voted unanimously to switch employee health insurance when the current policy expires in June. The new plan is comparable to the old one but will save the village around $300/month.
The board voted unanimously to hire Destiny McCormick for the pool manager position at a rate of $12/hour. They will eventually hire an assistant manager at $10/hour and life guards at $8.25/hour.
They will purchase one swimsuit per lifeguard and will reimburse newly hired life guards $200 for the cost of their certification.
Lain mentioned looking into raising the price of admission. Tee said she disagreed because the price to get into West Burlington pool was only $4 and they have two slides, a great kid's area and a better concession stand.
No discussion about J&M Displays.
The board will purchase a river gauge, at a cost of $156.00, to put at the end of Schuyler Street. This will coincide with the official gauge at Lock 18 and will help with communication when discussing flood stages.
Nancy Bundy said the flood meetings have been going well and they are implementing a 5-year plan to prioritize different things that need to be done, with protecting the auxiliary well being at the top of that list. It was also noted that some high school kids will be filling sandbags at the high school on Friday, April, 5th.
POLICE REPORT
Mayor Eldridge asked Police Chief Clifford Adam if he has been able to find a part time police officer. Trustee Lain asked if the village actually needed another one. The mayor said it gets busy in the summer and they didn't want to wear Clifford out.
Attorney Youngquist mentioned that if Clifford became ill or got hurt, they needed to have a person to fill in. Trustee Lain said he had talked with Keithsburg and they were looking for part time help. He asked if the board would consider going halves with them to hire a person looking for a full-time position. The person could work 20 hours here and 20 hours there and the two villages could split the cost of training. He stated Keithsburg was willing to do this with us.
Trustee Nancy Bundy stated she didn't want out burn Clifford by working too many hours and that if they aren't able to find a part time officer then she thought the sheriff's department would have to help out. Clifford stated on last Tuesday, he worked 7 to 4 and after he got off work and had been home about 90 minutes, the sheriff's department called him back to town.
Lain asked why they couldn't handle it. Clifford said they only had one deputy on and he was in Media on a domestic call. Lain then suggested they attend a county board meeting to express their concerns. Mayor Eldridge said we've beat this dead horse for a long time and we're never going to win.
Tammy Bundy stated the sheriff says they will respond to emergency calls and if it's something minor, they will take a report and turn it over to Clifford.
Lain said they don't have the authority to call Clifford back in to work. Lain said if Clifford is off duty then he's off duty and they don't need to be calling him back to work.
Clifford said he came in when they called last week because it involved an aggravated battery with a knife. Trustee Tee asked if that would not be considered an emergency.
Bundy, speaking to the Mayor, said she thought they needed to have a talk with the sheriff's department because they can't be calling Clifford in to work without some kind of approval. Bundy asked Mayor Eldridge if Sheriff's Deputy Matt Link had tried to call him. Eldridge said if he called, he didn't leave a voicemail and he doesn't return calls without a voicemail.
Lain said the village is a part of the county and they should have coverage from the sheriff's department. He then asked if some of the village board members could go to the county board meeting and ask Sheriff Steve Haynes to be there as well.
Bundy suggested they have a meeting with Sheriff Haynes and Lain responded by saying he wants the county board to hear what the village has to say. Tammy said the county board has no control over the sheriff's office. Trustees Tee and Nancy Bundy will attend the county board meeting on Tuesday, April 9 to discuss the issue.
MEETING ADJOURNED