The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Jeff Tee, River Rat News
The Oquawka Village Board held its regularly scheduled meeting on April 6th.
Present were Trustees Don Rice, Shawn Lain, Tammy Bundy, Brian Collier, Scott Ray; Village Clerk Jacqui Smith; Village Attorney Andy Youngquist; and Village President Nancy Bundy. Trustee Brenda Tee was absent.
MAYOR AND STAFF REPORT
Village President Nancy Bundy stated she had received a quote from Fisher's for Two porta-pottys for $150/month. One would be for the horseshoe pits and the other would be placed at the marina. After some discussion it was decided that two were needed at the marina. Nancy will order a total of three.
Nancy mentioned she had received a thank you from the Henderson County Food Pantry. Nancy read the thank you note: "The Oquawka Food Pantry would like to thank you for your decision to lease the Parks and Recreation building to our pantry. The added space is great and having a bathroom is an added bonus. We will forever be grateful to each of you. Thank you for all you do for our Village."
STREET AND WATER REPORT
Nancy stated she had received a bid to put the dead ash tree in front of Dale Cochran's residence on the ground for $350. Rice asked where the village was in at in regards to the tree budget. After some discussion, it was determined they have used $1025 of the $2500 tree removal budget. Motion by Ray to remove the tree at the Cochran residence. All members vote yes. Motion carried.
Collier mentioned some loose fence at the ball park. Petersen stated they had already repaired it but noted someone had seen some kids unwiring the fence and climbing on it. Ray stated he found it strange that people see this happening but don't call anyone to report it. Lain said they have cameras at the pool and still can't catch the vandals. Lain went on to say that when they do catch them, it gets thrown out.
ZONING REPORT
Zoning Officer John Newton stated there were two permits issued for the month of March.
Ray suggested they put out a notice of reminder that building permits are required when building inside the village limits. He said one of the projects in which a permit had been issued last month was ¾ done before he saw it and there wasn't a permit issued until then.
POLICE REPORT
Nancy stated there have been several complaints about illegal ATV's, 4 wheelers and motorcycles speeding around town. It was also noted that mini bikes and Side by sides have been using main street. I addressed the board saying I had witnessed a dirt bike run the stop sign at 12th and Pike Streets at what looked to be in excess of 40MPH. Nancy asked Clifford if the county could enforce these calls when he wasn't on duty since they weren't just city ordinances being violated. Clifford said the county could enforce them. Nancy suggested they talk to the Sheriff's office because they couldn't have Clifford on duty 24 hours a day but they needed to do something before there is a bad accident or they have to put a stop to all side by sides and golf carts. Lain asked about changing Clifford's hours around so he could patrol more during the daytime.
OLD BUSINESS
The tandem axle dump truck has a three-stage cylinder which is leaking. Rice explained that since it's a three-stage cylinder, it will be more cost effective to replace it instead of repair it. He is currently waiting on Straight-line truck repair for an estimate. Ray asked if, after getting the estimate, Nancy could contact each board member separately to take a straw poll and get the cylinder replaced before the next meeting. Youngquist advised they could not do that because the phone calls would essentially be a meeting. Lain suggested they go ahead and approve up to $10,000 to get it replaced. He stated he didn't think it would be that much but they need to get the truck fixed no matter what. Ray made a motion to approve up to $10,000 to fix the dump truck cylinder. Second by Lain. All members voted yes. Motion carried.
NEW BUSINESS
There have been complaints from a resident that lives near the village dump about the smoke from burning trees and other yard waste. The fire tends to burn non-stop due to residents adding their own yard waste daily. Village employees typically cut up and burn the trees that they remove from village property along with other yard waste type items as part of their clean up. Many solutions were discussed such as moving the burn pile to another part of town, renting a large fan to burn the pile faster with less smoke, trucking the yard waste to a dump site in Monmouth, etc. It was decided that if the burn pile is moved it will not solve the problem and will probably bother even more people. Lain noted that if you do away with allowing people to take their yard waste up there then you'll have small fires all over town. It was decided to only burn during the last week of the month and not allow people to throw yard waste on the fire but instead place it in a designated area and the village employees will burn it when it's appropriate to do so.
MEETING ADJOURNED
Jeff Tee
River Rat News