City of Villa Grove Committee of the Whole met March 27.
Here are the minutes provided by the committee:
Call to Order—Roll Call: The City Council of the City of Villa Grove met in committee session on Monday, March 27, 2023, in the Council Chambers (for continued social distancing). Mayor Eversole Gunter called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Roll call found the following members present: Aldermen Blaney, Cheely, Garrett, Hooker, and Johnson. City Administrator Athey, CPS Director Surowka, Police Chief Rea and PW Director Mixell were present as well as architect Brian Kesler. Alderman Pangburn and City Clerk Osborne were absent.
Pledge of Allegiance: The Mayor stood and led all attendees in The Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Comments: Resident Tom Felkner was present, to ask the Council to sell him the lot next to his home on First Street. The Mayor and Director Mixell let him know that the lot was still being considered for ongoing use of the department and that it was not for sale. Should that position change in the future, Mr. Felkner will be notified of the pending bid process.
Reports:
Athey – she is processing final transactions from the finished FY22 audit that affect new budget year proceedings. Rea – had nothing to report, just busy with investigations. Mixell – furnace is to be replaced in coming week; adjuster is handling claim on Zest For Life Center roof claim (wind damage); park assessment to be done with Jim Closson from IMLRMA but anticipates wood fixtures need to be removed at Coddington Park as well as the slide at Harrison Park; he recently resecured pavilion that was damaged; anticipates moving the t-ball games due to deterioration of the diamond/dugout areas; double-doors to the ZFL should also be replaced soon as required electric work is finished. Surowka – soccer and baseball/softball practices are set to begin this week; she is working continuously on fundraising, programming and Community Center updates; has selected the software program she would like to use for the Center and field tracking (which has a lot of functionality including access to the building and concessions use); has set opening day festivities to coincide with the May 6 Loyalty Day Parade.
Johnson asked for a status of the park planning with Jake Wolf concerning changes to the fields and road at Richman; Mixell indicated that it was ongoing and Athey noted that they would be working on some drawings for the next meeting.
Kesler presented updated numbers for the modification to the Community Center gym floor and surrounding area thresholds, with the total cost at just over $162,000.
Eversole-Gunter – she would like to look into providing ADA-compliant play equipment especially for Coddington Park; invited everyone to attend the Easter Cantata to be held on Psalm Sunday at the VG First Christian Church at 4:00 p.m.
Discussion of Pending Business:
Consensus was given to approve payment of Broeren Russo’s next pay request (no. 9) and to execute the change order for the Community Center flooring as discussed. After talking over the possible renaming of Madison Street per the Douglas County E911 request, the consensus of the Council was to leave both Madison and Matteson streets alone with no changes to be made.
Consensus was also given for Administrator Athey to attend the WIU Midwest Community Development Institute (to be paid from the FY24 budget) and to pursue researching the costs of creating a City app for social outreach to residents.
Adjournment: With no further items to be discussed, all members concurred to conclude the meeting at 6:53 p.m.
https://villagrove.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-0327-cotw-minutes-jsa.pdf
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