East Central Reporter

City of Villa Grove City Council met June 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

CALL TO ORDER - ROLL CALL

The City Council of the City of Villa Grove met in regular session in Council Chambers. Mayor Eversole-Gunter called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll call found the following members present: Alderman Blaney, Johnson, Cheely, Pangburn and Garrett. Aldermen Hooker was absent. City Administrator Athey, Clerk Osborne, PW Director Lake, PD Chief Rea, and Fire Chief Black were also present. Council followed all COVID 19 protocols for social distancing.

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - The Mayor stood and led all attendees in The Pledge of Allegiance.

CONSENT AGENDA (ITEMS FOR SINGLE-VOTE APPROVAL WITHOUT DISCUSSION) - Alderman Blaney motioned to approve the full consent agenda. Alderman Pangburn seconded the motion. Roll Call: Blaney, yea, Johnson, yea, Garrett, yea, Pangburn, yea, Cheely, yea. Motion approved.

1. Minutes of the regular City Council meeting, held May 9, 2022

2. Minutes of the regular Committee of the Whole meeting, held May 23, 2022

3. Authorization for the Payment of Bills

4. Financial Reports for the month ending April 30, 2022

5. Cash Balance Report for the month ending May 31, 2022

PUBLIC COMMENTS - Ed Carleton came to tell us that he is running for the County Board. He wanted us to know there is a County Board Meeting on June 24, 2022 to discuss how the ARPA funds will be distributed. The FFA was in attendance to say they will have a produce booth on Main Street from 11am-5 pm on Thursdays in July at the War Memorial, as long as council approves. Consensus was given to them.

ENGINEERING REPORT - No updates presented-given by PW Director in his report.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR/OTHER REPORTS

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT - Jacki Athey reported: The Community Center foundation work will begin soon. The ambulance contract is back from legal and is awaiting signatures from Larry Sapp. The Country Club has contacted the city about being annexed into the city and would also like to discuss a TIF District creation there. There will be a public meeting held for the utility sale-date tbd by the legal process.

DEPARTMENT HEAD REPORTS - Public Works: Director Randy Lake reports he has been trying to get in touch with the road engineer from Fehr Graham-Chad-but has not been able to connect with him. He needs to discuss McCoy work and the other paving work coming up. Randy also reports the scrubber is not staying online, so further work has to be done on that. He is meeting with Andy from Fehr Graham this week.

Police report: Chief Rea reports he wants to order some equipment that would be needed for a public shooter incident to avoid issues that happened in the shooting this week in Uvalde, TX, if we had to deal with something similar. Consensus was given to purchase. Also, downspouts are needed at the EMS building. Chuck Black said he will check on materials.

Fire Chief Black reported that the ISO rating received for the VGFD has improved and went down from a 9 to a 6- meaning this is a better rating. All due to things they have done to correct issues within the department. They are rated on FD Staffing-that counts for 50% of the number; Hydrants and water supply counts for 40%; and Communications is 10%. They have improved in many areas, but since they are volunteers they will never have a rating better than a 5. This is a significant improvement, of which the inspector commented on and congratulated them. This rating is what determines insurance ratings for the town for homeowners and businesses, so this should translate to some better rates for all. Council congratulated them on work well done. He also stated there will be a presentation on apparatus given by KME on June 30-anyone is welcome to attend.

MAYORAL REPORT - The Mayor asked if the equipment for the Community Center could wait to be staged until after the fireworks on July 1, but digging has already begun. She wants to make sure this is blocked off and watched very well to prevent any accidents during the festivities.

BUSINESS

1. Approve Ordinance No. 2022-MC05 – An Ordinance Approving the City of Villa Grove Annual Budget for the Fiscal Year Ending April 30, 2023 (FY23 Budget Ordinance) - Alderman Cheely motioned to approve to adopt the budget ordinance for FY23. Alderman Pangburn seconded the motion. Roll Call: Alderman Blaney, yea, Johnson, yea, Pangburn, yea, Cheely, yea, Garrett, yea. Motion carried.

2. Approve reimbursement request for Mayor Eversole-Gunter (flowers/plants) - Alderman Pangburn motioned to approve reimbursing the Mayor. Alderman Johnson seconded the motion. Roll Call: Blaney, yea, Johnson, yea, Pangburn, yea, Cheely, yea, Garrett, yea. Motion carried.

CLOSED SESSION - No Closed Session

ADJOURNMENT - With no further business, Alderman Garrett motioned to adjourn the meeting at 6:45 pm. Alderman Blaney seconded the motion. Roll Call: Blaney, yea, Johnson, yea, Pangburn, yea, Cheely, yea, Garrett, yea. Motion carried.

https://villagrove.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Copy-of-2022_0613_CC-Minutes.pdf