The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Jeff Tee , River Rat News
"Just the facts, Ma'am"
The Oquawka Village Board held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, June 3rd. Present were Village Trustees Brock Miller, Brenda Tee, Troy Jern, Nancy Bundy, Shawn hurt; Village President Scott Ray; Village attorney Andy Youngquist; and Village Clerk Callie Thacker-Matsko. Trustee Jim Miller and Village Water Clerk Carey Thacker were absent.
Bundy asked about a certain bill she was unfamiliar with. Jern explained the bill was for body cameras, tasers, etc. for the Oquawka Police Department.
Tee made a motion to accept the minutes, bills, and treasurer’s report. Second by Bundy.
All voted yes, except Jern, motion carried.
Ray announced he would like to appoint Trustee Nancy Bundy for Mayor Pro-Tem. Bundy accepted.
Bundy stated she had seen on the Oquawka Facebook page that the Oquawka Police had participated in a special police detail with a grant from the Illinois State Police.
Bundy asked if this was something that was approved by the board or if the police chief applies for these grants and special police details on his own.
Ray explained Edwards applies for it on his own. Bundy asked how much the Village gets reimbursed from the grants.
Hurt explained that how these types of grants usually work is the police have to meet a certain quota of traffic stops or tickets written in order to receive the grant money. Bundy noted the Village is paying for wages to participate in these grants but if quotas aren’t being met then they are not being reimbursed for those wages.
Bundy stated she would like to revisit the policy of the police chief applying for the grants.
Tee asked about getting the bathrooms reopened at Norma Jean Park. Ray said they could now be opened. Ray explained they have been closed since covid and one of the reasons they haven’t been reopened was due to some vandalism.
Tee asked if the security cameras were working. Ray explained they have pictures on the screens at the pool but he wasn’t sure if they were actually recording.
Ray went on to say that the man that set up the cameras wasn’t in the business anymore. Tee suggested they look in to getting cameras from MTC. Callie will get more information about MTC cameras.
Pool Manager Breck McVey announced the pool had officially opened on May 26. She went on to say, so far, they had sold one single pass and one family pass. The pool has been averaging about 28 people per day.
Fireworks will be held July 3rd at dusk. The parade will be July 4th.
Wage increases for all Village employees were discussed. It has been about a year since the last increases were given.
Budget discussions continued with Tee asking about the status of the campground and if it is a possibility of happening this year.
It was noted that the campground has been engineered and the Village has been given a cost estimate from the engineering firm.
The cost estimate is $139,000 which would include the camping spots with power and water, a dump station, and a bathroom and shower house.
The dump station and shower house are required by Illinois law. It is believed the Village could drastically reduce the cost by having Village employees do much of the work.
Bundy stated she thought it needed to be done as soon as possible and asked that it be put on the agenda to start working on it.
Discussion turned to boat harbor dredging. The harbor is very shallow and it must be dredged at least every 5 years to avoid having to do a clam study.
It is estimated the cost to dredge the harbor including excavator rental and trucking would be around $8000. Ray asked for a motion to spend up to $8000 to dredge the harbor. Motion by Miller, seconded by Hurt.
Miller: YES Tee: YES Bundy: YES Hurt: YES Jern: YES
Motion carried unanimously.
Jern asked Ray if they could enter into closed session. Youngquist explained someone would need to make a motion to enter in to closed session. Motion by Jern to enter in to closed session at 7:24pm.
No action was taken upon re-entering open meeting.