Village of Arthur Board of Trustees met Feb. 16.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
A regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of Arthur, Illinois was held on Monday, February 16, 2026, in the Village Board Room. Village President Rod Randall called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm. Roll call was answered by Trustees Matt Bernius, Isai Guterriez, Kurt Hall, Lamar Miller and Christy Bernius. Also present were Village Attorney Kenneth Crossman, Ariana Cherry, Stephanie Wierman, Hoyt Wages, Tyler Hill and Tony Krohn of WCIA News.
Pledge of Allegiance
President Randall asked C Bernius to lead the Pledge of Allegiance.
Public Comment
None.
Consent Agenda
• L Miller made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda including:
1. Approval of February 2, 2026 Village Board of Trustee Meeting Minutes.
2. Approval of January 2026 Leak Adjustment Report.
• M Bernius seconded. All Trustees voted YEA.
Approval of Expenditures
• K Hall reviewed the monthly expenditures. Kurt made note of the tree removal invoice. K Hall made a motion to approve expenditures in the amount of $40,576.47. C Bernius seconded. All Trustees voted YEA.
Reports
• Village President – Rod Randall — Noted that the Community Building flooring is really looking good and progressing.
• R Randall – Received an email from Solar on Earth stating that things are progressing faster. We are a couple of months ahead of schedule.
• Trustee – K Hall mentioned with the nicer weather out, need to watch for the kids on the scooters, etc.
• Police – Chief Elliott Tinnon – Reviewed his monthly figures and stated it was a fairly standard month.
• Chief Elliott Tinnon — Brought in Hoyt Wages and is a new officer. He is currently working with the County. Officer Wages was sworn in.
• Public Works – Grant Corum – Noted there have been 3 major leaks. The 2″ line at the pool and 2 saddle blow-offs on Hickory and Spruce. Those were repaired and areas cleaned up. Also noted that several trees were removed and cleaned up.
• Comptroller – Rod Randall – Reviewed the Comptroller’s report. M Bernius noted that it appears we are set to come in under budget for the year so far.
• Village Attorney – Kenneth Crossman – Levy’s were confirmed with the Clerks last week.
• Arthur Area Association of Commerce – Stephanie Wierman – Discussed the changes in the events that will be coming in 2026. Strawberry Jam is now going to be Arthur Days and moving to June 5 & 6. It will be in conjunction with the merchant’s downtown sales and sidewalk sales. The Strawberry Social will still be going on at the Otto Center as usual. There will be vendors on the side streets on both sides of Illinois Street but Vine Street will not be shut down. The Cheese Festival will be changing quite a bit this year; Vine Street will be closed and it will become a 2-day festival and be held September 4 & 5. The third festival will be the Pumpkin Festival and will be held Saturday, October 3rd. Side streets will be closed but Vine Street should not be closed. Christmas events will be held on Saturday, December 5th. The parade for fireworks weekend will still also be held.
Unfinished Business
• None.
New Business
• Discussion and action on a two-year lease contract and installation for two (2) Flock Safety License Plate Recognition Cameras in the amount of $14,500.00. Chief Tinnon presented the information regarding the Flock cameras. Installation would not occur until May-June. Chief Tinnon noted a few possible locations he is considering that would be advantageous which he is having Flock consider for placement. K Hall inquired about possible grants available. Chief Tinnon does intend to apply for a grant if the Village moves forward with the lease. Chief Tinnon reviewed what the cameras do and do not capture as far as the photos it takes. Chief Tinnon noted that other Flock cameras currently in use in surrounding communities have been helpful in the past. He also gave examples of several instances in which the Flock system assisted the Arthur Police Department in solving several cases recently. M Bernius made a motion to approve entering a 2-year lease as presented. L Miller seconded. All Trustees voted YEA.
• Discussion and action on accepting the resignation of Trustee Mike Hilgenberg. Rod Randall read Mike Hilgenberg’s letter of resignation. C Bernius made a motion to accept the resignation. I Guterriez seconded. All Trustees voted YEA.
• Discussion and action on an appointment to fill Trustee vacancy. Rod Randall recommended Jim Fleming to the position. M Bernius made a motion to fill the vacancy with Jim Flmeing. L Miller seconded. All Trustees voted YEA.
General Discussion
Adjourn
• Town-wide clean up days. Rod Randall mentioned that there have been several asking if there would be a spring clean-up day. Attorney Crossman noted that if we could get things cleaned up in the spring that it may help with some of the ordinance violations over the summer. Chief Tinnon and Grant Corum will coordinate to approach properties that may have issues well before the clean-up days. Then hopefully have the clean- up day the weekend after the garage sale weekend.
• Future purchase of Tasers for the Arthur Police Department. Chief Tinnon noted that the tasers expire May 14, 2026. Upon expiration we lose the warranties and our licensing to the software to maintain the tasers. We have 2 that need to be repaired before the expiration date. The company presented two separate 10-year plans to replace the tasers and plans for them. We have several tasers with issues. This would supply 6 tasers with upgrades over the 10-year period and include training which our officers currently are not able to get.
• Future purchase of radios for the Arthur Police Department. Chief Tinnon noted that the radios currently being used are being phased out by Motorola. The APX Next is a cell phone that is a radio. In testing in the last 2 weeks, it has failed one time (inside the CHI building). Failure was due to the cellular signal being cut off in the building. If the APX Next is going to be used, they would need to be set up to be used in local buildings utilizing their wifi to assist with signal in the metal buildings. Dual band would be able to communicate with the Fire and EMS frequencies. The price per radio is $8,500 each and we need 6. We would be trading in what we currently have for these 6. We would be seeking a grant from the Illinois Department of Ag that is not yet available. They could be financed for 5-7 years.
• Estimates for future development of Phases 3 and 4 of Meadowview Subdivision. Grant Corum went over the needs for Phase 3 to get to Phase 4. He noted that prices are now at least 3 times what they were in 2017. Total estimated cost for Phase 3 including engineering, design and construction is $1,928,000.00 which would give us 11 additional lots in the subdivision. Phase 4 total estimated cost is $1,297,000.00 for 8 additional lots. These amounts do not include any additional property purchasing or easements to get the draining out to the drainage ditch. Rod Randall wondered about advertising for a developer to possibly see if it would save some for the development.
Adjourn
• C Bernius made a motion to adjourn. L Miller seconded. All Trustees voted YEA. President Randall adjourned the meeting at 8:00 pm.
https://arthur-il.gov/file/1165/2-16-26%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf
