City of Virginia City Council met February 12.
Here is the minutes as provided by the council:
Mayor Brunk opened the regular meeting at 7:30pm. Roll was called Anderson, Bowman, Wulf and Cox answered present. Alderman French and Behrends were not present. The minutes of the January meeting were presented. Alderman Wulf made a motion that the meeting minutes be approved and Alderman Anderson seconded. Motion carried unanimously. The monthly treasurer’s report was in the council’s monthly packet, the council reviewed. The video gaming revenue for the month of January was $2,875.85. The sales tax figures for the month of January were $12,186.01. There was no transfer of funds this month. Monthly bills were presented. Alderman Cox made a motion and Alderman Bowman seconded that the bills be paid as presented. Motion carried unanimously. Treasurer Barrett stated that the city is in budget guidelines thus far. There was a transfer issue with the VRWS but it will be resolved. The TIF report is due to be submitted February 20th. Treasurer Barrett also stated that a budget meeting will need to be scheduled soon and that he will email everyone to set a date and time that works for all.
Guests: Megan Nash, Jack Parlier, Owen Dratler, Carolyn Defenbaugh, Steve Clark, Ashley Reese, Ryan Hamann
Public Comment:
Students of the month:
High School : Megan Nash for being trustworthy, Junior High: Melody Perkins for being trustworthy, and Elementary: Jack Parlier for being caring.
Owen Dratler: Mr. Dratler stated that he would like to discuss the burning ordinance that the city currently has in place. He stated his concern for the citizens of Virginia that are inhaling the smoke coming from the outdoor burning. Mr. Dratler gave the council some documents that had information on burning that was from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and asked the council to review. This document states facts on what you burn and what it can cause. He also stated that there are a lot of studies that have taken place since the original burning ordinance was put into place of the harm that can be caused by smoke inhalation and that we could statistically be in danger. Mr. Dratler asks the council to make the new burning ordinance strict if there isn’t going to be a ban. He stated that the burning can not only cause problems for the people burning but for also their neighboring citizens. He said that citizens cant make a choice to breathe the air, we have to breathe it and that means that we have to breathe it when people are burning things.
Mayor Brunk stated that we have the ordinances from neighboring towns and that the council will review those and take everything into consideration when modifying the current burn ordinance.
Public Works (McClure): McClure stated that a boil order occurred due to a leak and the crew got it under control. McClure also stated that it was not the whole town, it was 3 roads which were in estimate around 40 houses
Police Chief (Helmich): 183 calls, 30 service calls. Chief Helmich urges citizens to lock their car doors. There has been a group of kids going around several different towns and breaking into vehicles and taking things that are in those vehicles. Chief Helmich also gave the council of breakdown of policing hours and stated the county still does cover some along with the part time officer.
Fire Chief (Reynolds): no calls
Board Reports
Zoning (Merriman): nothing to report at this time
Park (Cox): Next meeting is February 21st at 7pm
Library: Next meeting is February 20th at 6pm
Economic Development (Anderson): meeting was cancelled, not sure when it will be rescheduled
Cemetery (Behrends): meeting to be held next week
Attorney’s Report: nothing to report at this time
Aldermanic Reports
Cox: Thank you to Randy and the crew for their work. Also thanked the Mayor for hosting the Meet and Greet for the new Chief. Presented a letter to the council from Becky Sudbrink who is a chairman for Volunteer Virginia. The letter stated that since Volunteer Virginia is a subcommittee of Square One they needed some clarification on a few things. First thing was asking the city of they could have access to the copy machine if needed. The second was if in the event someone is sick and cannot water the plant baskets that they put it in the summer, if someone from the city could fill in if needed. After discussion with council, it was unanimous that the Volunteer Virginia organization could use the city’s copier if needing copies related to meetings and such. And if in the event someone was sick or couldn’t get the plants watered, Vickie Bell will contact Randy McClure.
Behrends: not present
Wulf: There are a few properties that need cleaned up and Alderman Wulf will discuss these with the Attorney and the Chief. Thanked Randy and the crew for all their work.
Bowman: nothing to report at this time
Anderson: Received reports of people speeding through school zones. People are speeding both in the morning and in the evening. There is also a hornet’s nest in a tree on W Beardstown St, Randy said he will take care of it.
French: not present
Clerks Report: nothing to report at this time
Mayor’s Report: Mayor Brunk updated the council on the status of the new ambulance service. It is still in process and everyone is waiting on Beardstown’s approval. Mayor Brunk stated that he is still hopeful it will happen and that we need this service.
Unfinished Business:
none
New Business:
Electrical Repairs at the Water Plant:
Mayor Brunk stated that something has to been done and this needs to be taken care of. There have been 4 commercial electricians that have came and done walk throughs of the water plant. They all shared the same consensus that if we do not take care of this now, we are at a high risk of lightning hitting again. At this point, the insurance premium has already increased $10,000 due to it and we do not want it to go up any more. Ryan Hammann was present who is one of the local electricians that assessed the situation. Mr. Hamann stated that it is impossible to mitigate a lightning strike but after the repairs the risk will drop and if it were to happen again it would also limit the damage that it does. There is also a serious grounding issues out there. The council was asked by the Mayor to waive other bids and allow Mr. Hamann to perform the needed repairs. Alderman Cox made a motion to waive other bids, Alderman Bowman seconded. Alderman Wulf voted in favor and Alderman Anderson opposed. Motion carried. Alderman Cox then made a motion to approve the electrical repairs to the water plan up to $20,000. Alderman Wulf seconded, motion carried unanimously.
Housing:
Randy received plans for the new housing development. The plans were shown to the council. There will be 20 new homes built and they are needed to submit soon for the water and sewer permits. Alderman Wulf made a motion to approve the housing plans that were presented. Alderman Bowman seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
With nothing further to discuss at this time in open session a motion was made by Alderman Cox to adjourn at 8:04pm and seconded by Alderman Bowman. Motion carried unanimously.
http://virginiaillinois.net/minutes/february-12th-2018/
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