The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Shirley Linder, Quill Editor
Stronghurst Mayor Brendan Schaley announced that a fundraiser has been scheduled for Saturday, June 26th for an addition to the Veteran Memorial site.
The discussion took place at the Village of Stronghurst regular board meeting Monday evening, February 1st,
Brendan said the planning is now in progress by the village and the Stronghurst Booster Club.
He stated there were two stages to the Veterans Memorial. Stage 1 was to put up what they have now. Stage 2 was to put some sort of monument in the middle of it.
Schaley said they have chosen a "Battlefield Cross" and have located a gentleman in the area that has quoted $7500 to construct and mount this five-foot monument of stainless steel.
The meeting was held at the Stronghurst American Legion building with a good crowd in attendance. Mayor Schaley opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance.
During the alloted time for guests to speak, Betty Waterman asked what had happened that Dollar General would not be coming to the village.
Mayor Schaley responded that they had backed out as the location wasn't to their liking and that's all they told him. She asked if they might come sometime in the future, and he was told if a location nearer to Main Street was available, they were interested. If not, probably not.
Ronne Gittings reported they were having problems with the wells being low on water. This is causing a problem keeping the water tower full, especially lately, when there had been a fire, a leak, and two weeks of high residential usage of water.
Gittings said he will keep an eye on the situation and hopes there will be normal rainfall this spring and things will return to normal.
The January police report was given by Police Chief Arbry Vancil and included:
Chief Vancil will be taking five online classes in February and one class with the sheriff's office.
Mike Bohnenkamp gave the January financial report of "$7,600 to the good."
The highest bid the village received for the Hummer was from Kale Burgdorf for $6500 dollars.
Several bids were received ranging from $900 up. The board voted to accept Burgdorf's bid of $6500. The board passed an ordinance for the sale of the Hummer.
The board approved extended hours for the sale of alcohol, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and from 11 a.m. until 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The ordinance also included the hours of 11 a.m. until 1 a.m. on New Year's Eve.
The board approved the legal fees for Attorney Mariah Wallace for 2021 as follows: The monthly rate of $500 for one in-person attendance at one meeting each month, and 2 preparations of annual budget and appropriation pack levy ordinances.
Any other service will be charged by 1/10th of the hour at a rate of $155 per hour and all costs will be directly transferred to the village.
This includes general meeting attendance and preparation of the budget, tax levy ordinances, emails to Hollie, emails from Hollie in regards to meetings, board, etc.
Extra charges will be made for driving to and from meetings, including general meetings, attendance at more than one board meeting per month, phone calls and/or emails from any citizens or trustees other than Hollie or the mayor, any meetings or court appearance on behalf of the village preparation on any other ordinance.
Mayor Schaley said, "Just because Mariah represents the village it doesn't mean she represents everyone in the Village of Stronghurst. She doesn't need calls about snow removal and roofing license, etc. Just so we know, everyone is clear."
Doran Insurance was approved for all the village insurances for another year. It was approximately $500 more than last year's premium.
The board entered executive session for employee compensation. Upon their return to open session, they voted to give Clerk Hollie Allen a $3 an hour increase in her salary. The meeting was adjourned.
Present: Mayor Brendan Schaley; Trustees, Mike Bohnenkamp, Jerry Nortrup, Shane Reed, Amanda Van Arsdale, Mike Swisher, Randy Jarvis; Employees, Hollie Allen, Ronnie Gittings, Arbry Vancil, Attorney Mariah Wallace;
Guests, Sara Evans Brown, Garrett Fishr, Lori Hamilton, Betty Waterman, Sally Fisher, Bryan Hubbard, Jim Fisher, Char Fisher, Janice Smith, Jamie Hines, Emily Harden, Delmar Jacobs, Kathy Jacobs, Kale Burgdorf, Kim Doornobs-Smith, Susan Brown, Michael Brown, Shirley Linder
The next regular meeting will be held on Monday, March 1st at 6:00 p.m. at the Village Hall.