REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO

March 3, 2015
7:00 PM
Reagan Community Center

Mayor Kristine L. Hill called the regular meeting of the Tampico Village Council to order at 7:00 PM.

Commissioners Toby Johnson, Bruce Hill, Mary Jo Sigel and Derrick Maupin were present. Police Chief Terry Strike was present and Village Clerk, Kathy Leathers, recorded the written and digital minutes.

Mayor Hill led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Minutes of the February 17, 2015 Regular Meeting were approved as presented.

Bonnie Anderson, Kickback Saloon, requested permission to remain open until 2:00 a.m. on Friday and Saturday night. Liquor license holders are allowed to remain open longer up to six times a year with approval of the local liquor commissioner, Mayor Hill. Mayor Hill approved the request.

Resident Al Morthland asked the council about allowing a junk yard on S. Lincoln Street.
Chief Strike and Commissioner Hill advised the resident has already been notified.

Morthland also wanted to know how come the flags have stayed up so long. Mayor Hill told Morthland they were frozen in the holders.

Morthland then told the council somebody in town has been calling his kids and telling them that he is saying stuff about the election. Morthland said the only thing he has ever said about the election is he thinks the police cars should be here in town and everybody in town agrees with him. Morthland said that is the only thing he has come out and publicly said. Mayor Hill told Morthland she has no idea who is calling his kids, but it was not them. Morthland didn’t say it was but he is telling them what somebody here in town is doing and he says that is slander, if he finds out the **** is going to hit the fan. Mayor Hill told him she has no idea. Morthland said that ain’t right, if someone has something to say they should come to him, you don’t call my kids and tell them about it. Morthland said the council wouldn’t like it if he was calling any of their kids. Mayor Hill said they are not and they agree they wouldn’t like that either. The mayor said we don’t like being bashed constantly either. Morthland said he does not know who it is, but his kids do and they won’t tell him because they know what he will do. Mayor Hill told him that is a personal business for him. Morthland said he knows, he is putting the word out.

Morthland also told the council they are planning on having a “Meet the Candidates” meeting probably in two weeks. Morthland asked the council if it was alright to have it in the gym, he said it’s not a conflict with anything. Mayor Hill told him if there is nothing else scheduled she doesn’t see any reason he can’t. He said they want to check to see if it is considered a conflict with having the election and stuff here. Mayor Hill said as long as it’s not the day of the election, you can’t do it then. Morthland said no it would be within a few weeks. Mayor Hill said there is no reason he can’t use the gym. Morthland said he will contact the newspapers and stuff to see when they can be here. Commissioner Johnson asked Morthland if he had an actual date in mind. Morthland said either the 13th or the following, 17th or the 18th. Commissioner Johnson said that way they can look at the calendar and see. Mayor Hill said to make sure it’s available for all candidates to be there and you’re not excluding someone. Morthland said Mike [Sigel] has already agreed to it. Morthland said he didn’t know if all of them would come but he knows Johnson would come. Johnson said sounds good. Morthland said they are all invited. Maupin asked about the time because on the 18th the gym is booked after 7:00. Mayor Hill said it could be done in the meeting room, too, that’s available and that’s more comfortable too. Maupin said that’s true. Morthland said he will have a couple people ask questions and if people come, allow them to ask the candidates questions, too. Commissioner Johnson told Morthland it sounds like a good idea. Morthland said a lot of people are asking about it and he will get it set up. Mayor Hill told Morthland to keep the council posted.

Mayor Hill said Mediacom apparently didn’t make it and she wondered if it had to do with the weather. Commissioner Maupin said they still haven’t gotten back to him. Mayor Hill said she has been back and forth with a representative a few time. Commission Maupin said the Mayor is too generous in giving them the benefit of the doubt. Mayor Hill said she was supposed to have the franchise agreement from them too and they haven’t e-mailed it to her yet.
Commissioner Maupin said they were supposed to get back to him in November. Mayor Hill said she talked to the representative two weeks ago. She said she will find out where they are at and put it on the agenda one more time because she would like to get this resolved. Maupin said they are not his favorite people right now.

Mayor Hill told the council Sandra Tornow would like to use one of the trailers, the first one out there, for the food pantry. The Mayor said the council has checked with [William] Shirk before in the past when the village leased it out to the state, but she wanted to present it to the council to see if there were any issues with them moving into one of the trailers. Mayor Hill said when it comes to things like this she can make that determination for the best interest of the village but she did not want to do it without letting everybody have a chance at having their say. Mayor Hill said she thinks it will be a lot more convenient, it gives a lot more attention to the food pantry and they will have a lot more versatility there. Bonnie Anderson said they need more space. Mayor Hill said absolutely, she can be in there and work and schedule things. The Mayor said she thinks that will be awesome and if no one has any objections, she would like to invite them to move in. Morthland wanted to know if the village was going to charge her for it. Mayor Hill told him no, they are a non-profit too. Mayor Hill said she has told them, [the food pantry staff], if they want to paint, put down carpet or build partitions, that would be for them to do. The Village could not take on that expense but they could give them the space. Commissioner Hill and Mayor Hill said it would need to be the first one since it is already set up from leasing it out earlier. Commissioner Maupin asked if this would be done formally or if there will be a contract or anything like that. Mayor Hill said we could have Shirk draw up something so the food pantry would have a copy as well. Mayor Hill said it might be easier for people because it is handicap accessible and they can get in and out more easily with having two doors. Mayor Hill said the director was pretty excited about it. Anderson said it will be beneficial to those who donate. Commissioner Sigel said people would be able to drop off things and have better access. Mayor Hill thinks this will be a better fit for the community. She said they would be able to have a sign up and a lot of people don’t even know Tampico has a food pantry so this will make a lot more attention to them. Anderson said she had been taking food over to their current facility and it is jam packed. Commissioner Maupin said he didn’t have any problems with it. The council agreed to allow the food pantry to move into the trailer.

The Council next discussed approving a change in the first council meeting in April. The April 7th meeting will be the same date as the consolidated election. Mayor Hill said as they mentioned before it needed to be on the agenda so the council could vote on it. Mayor Hill said she thinks it is just too…it could cause problems. She said it seems like every time you turn around somebody wants to jab you for something and there is just no reason to put any of the council in a bad light with issues. Mayor Hill stated the council might as well not be in the building, completely staying away from it because the election would be ending as the council would be walking in. Mayor Hill said she just doesn’t think it’s a good idea, somebody will say somebody said something. Commissioner Johnson said most likely. Mayor Hill said if the council does need the extra meeting to work on their budget the council can work out an extra meeting for a work night to make sure they get that done or if we need anything for scheduling of bills and such, but just that night is not a good idea. On a motion by Commissioner Maupin, second by Commissioner Sigel, approval was given to cancel the April 7, 2015 Regular Village Council Meeting due to the polling place for the April 7, 2015 Consolidated Election being held in the RCC Gym on that date. “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Sigel, Maupin and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.

Commissioner Hill motioned, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, that the quote from Wipfli, LLC, Dixon IL, be accepted to perform the Village’s 2014-2015 Annual Audit at a fee of $10,000.00. “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Sigel, Maupin and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.

Mayor Hill led the discussion to consider approving Village Attorney service fees for the 2015-2016 fiscal year. Mayor Hill said Shirk has done a fantastic job, very in tune with smaller municipalities and in sharing costs across the board as well. Commissioner Johnson stated there is something to be said about the familiarity he has with us and maintaining that, sticking with it. Commissioner Maupin said he has nothing but good things to say about him in everything he has to deal with. Mayor Hill said he is very well versed in municipal laws. Maupin said Shirk seems very knowledgeable and if he doesn’t know it, it doesn’t take long for him to get back with the answers. Commissioner Sigel asked what type of fees is the council looking at. Clerk Leathers told her it is the same fee as last year of $200.00 per hour. Sigel wanted to know if the council had considered it with other lawyers. Leathers told her the previous village attorney was a $900.00 retainer fee and $115.00 per hour after that. Leathers told the council there were times with the previous attorney when it took up to four – six weeks to get an answer. Leathers said that is one of the reasons the council decided to do new legal counsel. Leathers said most other attorneys that are well versed in municipal law run at the $200.00, if not higher. Mayor Hill said as quickly as he comes back with his answers and his research, Shirk is not wasting our time. Mayor Hill continued by saying if he does something with other municipalities, he has like five in the area, he splits the cost five ways. Mayor Hill stated if he finds something, he writes it up and he addresses it, the mayor said she thinks that is more than fair, most attorneys would not even consider that. Mayor Hill said she is really pleased with how he tries to use good judgment on this and help save the municipalities money because he knows we don’t
have that much and he gets back in a very timely manner. Commissioner Sigel said she noticed the village does have rather high lawyer fees. Mayor Hill said the council has had a lot of issues, a lot of issues that had to be addressed professionally. Commissioner Hill said every phone call costs money. Mayor Hill called for a motion and a second to keep William Shirk on as village attorney. Commissioner Johnson made the motion, Commissioner Hill seconded, to approve attorney fees of $200.00 per hour for the 2015-2016 fiscal year with William R. Shirk of Morrison, IL. “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Maupin and Mayor Hill. Commissioner Sigel voted “No”. The motion carried.

Mayor Hill handed budget worksheets to the council. Clerk Leathers told the council the budget worksheets are always a lot to take in at once, especially in Commissioner Maupin’s case since he has the public property department and the water/sewer departments. Leathers told them the worksheet figures for the fiscal year were current to the end of February. She reminded them any plans they have, such as motor fuel tax projects from Commissioner Sigel to the sand/salt mix for next winter will need to be considered. As another example, she stated if the council decides to go ahead with the South Main Place sewer project and Kimball Street Lift Station improvements, Commissioner Maupin will have to add those into his budget figures. Mayor Hill asked the council to also take into consideration cost of living increases if there are employees in their departments. Mayor Hill stated those have been written into the budget since she has been on the council. Mayor Hill advised them the time frame is getting close, the council should have this done before May 1, 2015. The Mayor told them that’s why a working meeting is being considered if the department heads have issues or if they have any questions, the clerk is always available to help. Mayor Hill said this isn’t the first time the council has done this either, so she does not see a lot of issues other than if they have something blown out then they know they need to adjust. Mayor Hill told them to work back and forth with their sheets and try to keep it close to the budget you had in line other than their projects. Al Morthland asked if they shouldn’t wait to see if they have a new board. Mayor Hill told him the budget can’t. Clerk Leathers told Morthland it is the law. Morthland said he knows it has to be done by May but what if a new board gets in. Leathers stated the new board would take over at the first meeting in May. Mayor Hill said it has always been that way so a new board does not get this dumped on them and give them a chance to get their feet wet before they end up in the middle. Mayor Hill asked the council to get their pencils ready and start working through it and if they have any questions please ask. Clerk Leathers told them she will be doing up the budget figures for the special funds such as the social security fund, municipal audit tax fund, etc. Leathers said if they do decide to have a budget meeting, a work night, she will have those figures ready for the council to look over and see how those budgets are looking because those funds rely solely on the property taxes that come in for those purposes. Leathers said there will be a CDAP fund budget on there for the siren grant. Leathers stated the budget has to account for things that may or may not be coming up. She said just because it is on the budget doesn’t not mean you have to do it, such as if a grant falls through or things like that, you don’t have to worry about it. Leathers told them appropriations were explained to her as a sort of wish list, if you have enough money and you wish to do these things but if it does not come to pass, you just won’t spend the money. Mayor Hill said it’s not like other things that if you don’t spend it you lose it. Leathers encouraged the council to schedule a work night meeting, that way everyone is on board and questions could be asked and answered and everyone learns just a little bit more of the budget process. Mayor Hill suggested the council set the date at their next meeting and it will give everyone a chance to look at their budgets and their schedules.

Reports from Village Officials
Commissioner Maupin reported he had talked to Matt Hansen. Maupin said there was something left out of the estimate, ground sampling. Maupin said it is his understanding it’s like a core sample so that when they start digging they know what they are going to be dealing with, what kind of ground they are going to be dealing with on South Main Place. Maupin said it will be another $4,500.00 to be added in to the figures Hansen gave the council at the last meeting and add them into the budget. Maupin said he is assuming it needs to be added to the agenda so the council can talk about it at the next meeting and maybe vote on whether or not the council wants to move forward with those projects. Mayor Hill said it would help Maupin with his budgeting as well. Maupin agreed saying the projects will be a pretty big chunk of his budget.

Commissioner Sigel reported she has had a few people come up to her, there has been an interest in Tampico Days for kids. Sigel said maybe have a kid’s day, a, like a Friday or Saturday, have more activities for them, bringing back the teen dance on Thursday night. Sigel said maybe the Recreation Committee could do that, put it on for them. Commissioner Johnson said go ahead and put the committee down for that. Johnson said they had talked about it last year, it is such a simple thing to do, the dances are easy. Commissioner Sigel said that would be great. Mayor Hill said they could even do it right here in the gym, that way it would be rain or shine. Commissioner Sigel mentioned having a parade itself just for kids, some games, blow up things, fundraisers for them. Sigel said there are a lot of people involved, really involved and want to do it. Commissioner Sigel said they should do something geared more to them this time around. Commissioner Maupin asked Sigel if some of the people asking her about it would be willing to help. Sigel said definitely. Mayor Hill said the village used to have a committee years ago that was nothing but the Tampico Celebration committee. Mayor Hill said she would encourage a group of people to do that. Commissioner Johnson
stated he has always said that because there are a number of children’s things going on but they are so sporadic you don’t know where and when things are and they get missed. Johnson said if all of them had a central place to be, a committee or something, it might actually work. Commissioner Maupin said he thought they did Main Street on just one of the days. Mayor Hill thinks there should be a sub-committee just to manage that and then they can reach out to like the Recreation Committee, the Legion whatever, they can reach out to the different groups like they used to. The Mayor said that was a good group, they had really involved people and she loved being on that. Mayor Hill said they had the carnival, we had all kinds of stuff they did. Mayor Hill said they did a lot with that committee. Mayor Hill said instead of looking to the board to do everything all the time, she thinks there should be a committee set up instead of people just saying, “You guys aren’t doing that.” Mayor Hill said the council has quite a bit on their plate and they want to help, but they can only do so much. The Mayor encourages the groups to get together and do things, that’s fantastic. Bonnie Anderson suggested going to a Men’s Club Meeting and coordinate with them. Mayor Hill said that’s what she is saying, there needs to be a committee that goes and does that. Mayor Hill said that every year she has tried to get a schedule, have everybody contact her and then do a run down schedule so that’s on the website so they can see when everything is. She said she had tried to contact everybody and coordinate that part of it, but you can’t run the whole show, you have to have a group that’s doing that. Anderson said she doesn’t disagree. Mayor Hill said she has gotten more things on the calendar. Anderson said advertise it. Mayor Hill said absolutely, the minute they know they are welcome to do this and we’re encouraging it, maybe they will be a little more comfortable instead of thinking we’re going to micro-manage them, no, just tell us what the village can do to help. Commissioner Maupin said one of the things they have struggled with are….and we need to get better at finding a way to communicate with people in town. Maupin said not everybody in town uses the internet yet or actively checks the Tampico website. Maupin stated that is the village’s most efficient way but it’s not the most efficient way to reach everybody. He said not everybody goes to Casey’s or Kickback or Post Office, you would think most people would hit those places, but they don’t, not on a daily or weekly basis even. Maupin said it is kind of a struggle without a newspaper in town or something that everybody reads for the council to reach everybody in town. Anderson said that is one way of utilizing the businesses in town. Mayor Hill agreed, the council totally encourages things like that to be developed like that. Morthland said he heard the other tavern is going to open up. Mayor Hill it’s great to have another business open, or more added to that business. Mayor Hill said more development is a win for everybody.

Mayor Hill asked if there was anything else. Morthland directed his comments to Commissioner Sigel by saying a guy asked him about an alley behind his, [the guy’s], place. Morthland told Sigel that guy had talked to her earlier in the year about it, the guy lives on East Third Street. Morthland told Sigel there is no alley behind the houses there and the guy can’t get to his garage. Commissioner Sigel told Morthland she has to come up to Village Hall and take a look at it. Mayor Hill said that has been brought up several times over the last few years and the other neighbors are opposed to this, there are other things to go around it. Morthland maintains there is an alley there. Mayor Hill told him not anymore, it was abandoned. Mayor Hill said, it’s there, it’s a right-of-way but in order to do that it has to be done completely right. She said you have to go down and get the sub base, you have to get it to drain properly, you have to have everything in line. Mayor Hill said she did all the research and everything on it and it’s going to be very costly, very costly. Mayor Hill also said some of the people in that block are against it and they have a right to have their say too. Mayor Hill told Morthland, the cost of it is very high once you put it in there right it has to drain properly. She said you can’t just can’t go in and throw gravel and say there you go, that’s not fair to other property owners. Commissioner Hill agreed it could cause problems if not done correctly.. Mayor Hill said it could end up ponding in their yards and everything else, it’s just not really considerate. Commissioner Sigel asked if the alley was abandoned legally. Mayor Hill told her years and years ago, well before this council’s time, yes.

Commissioner Johnson commented that it’s unfortunate you just have to consider the fact we have people who have come in with a complaint and he has said it before, you have to get community backing. Johnson said for one person to walk in with an idea or a concern and for the village to spend a large amount of money because one person had the concern. Johnson said all he asks for is you ask the community, you do a petition, do anything to let us know that it’s actually a community concern and not just the one person who wants it before the village spends a lot of money on one person’s problem. Commissioner Maupin said if the village does spend a lot of money on one person’s problem it sets a bad example. Maupin stated that just says that someone could come in here and try to bully the council around a little bit to get what you want. He said that’s not exactly the message we want to send everybody. Morthland said he’s not bullying them around, the resident asked about it. Mayor Hill said the resident needs to address it. Commissioner Johnson said obviously he thinks Commissioner Sigel will research it, legally if we have to do something, we would do it. Mayor Hill said she has an entire folder somewhere, the matter has been before the council about three times. The Mayor said she and the previous mayor went through it umpteen times.

Commissioner Sigel said she wanted to make a statement. She said a pillar of the community passed away this week and he will be sadly missed by many. Mayor Hill said, definitely, Art Radake, he was of great service to the community as well and a friend to everyone. Sigel agreed. Mayor Hill said the luncheon will be here at the RCC, the village has
donated the use of the building for Thursday, since there were so many to pay their respects to the family. The Mayor said gym night would be affected. Commissioner Maupin said he tried to reach as many Wednesday night basketball players as he could but asked the village clerk to put up a note that saying basketball is canceled on the door. Mayor Hill said she put it on the village calendar but she doesn’t know how many players check that. Commissioner Maupin said he has numbers for five of the guys and asked them to please spread the word.

Bonnie Anderson asked if the building’s cooler was working for storing food from the funeral luncheon. Mayor Hill said the walk-in cooler does work. Anderson asked if it was running right now. Mayor Hill told her it is and to keep an eye on it, when the door is opened and closed to much it tends to collect water on the bottom of the cooler. . Anderson said she didn’t even know if they had it running. Mayor Hill said it’s so old they don’t dare shut it down. Anderson said they could use hers if they needed to. Mayor Hill told Anderson that was very nice of her. Commissioner Hill said the water heater needed to be turned on as well for washing dishes or whatever. Commissioner Johnson stated when they go in to get Gatorade after basketball night, he noticed the center fan was actually hitting the grate, the guard. Commissioner Hill wanted to know if sounded like ticking. Johnson said it was more than that, it was filling the air with noise. Johnson said he was able to push it up at the center so it wasn’t doing that and then stop it to take a look at it and it had pretty much broken into pieces, it was all off. Johnson said he took the guard off and it just slid in two pieces and it is sitting in there. Johnson told Commissioner Hill the motor is spinning with no fan on it, but he put the guard back up. Mayor Hill said they are looking into surplus to replace it. Anderson asked Johnson if he through the fan away. He said no, he still has it. Anderson said she may have one and they cost around a $150.00. Johnson said he would grab the part and they could look at it. Anderson said she may have a couple of them because the ones that were put in to her cooler when she had it fixed were the wrong ones. Anderson said she would look to see if she still had them. Johnson said perfect and thanked her. Mayor Hill said she appreciated that.

Commissioner Johnson then reported Baseball Registrations went out smoothly as they said they would, the schools allowed us to leave the registrations with them. He said the school separated them and sent them out to the classrooms and the children took them home. The Middle School went as far as allowing him to e-mail it to them and they printed them for the Tampico students. Johnson said he thought it was great cooperation from them. Johnson reported Saturday was pre-registration here, [at the RCC], so there are several ways they can register. He said they can just drop it back off at the school if they want and they will eventually be picked up. Johnson reported had a pre-registration “sit in” when Anita Elgin was there and they got a few trickling in, the figured pre-registration would not be a lot. He told the Council, final registration is March 10, 2015 and in the evening from 5-7 p.m., he will be sitting in the gym. Mayor Hill suggested Johnson shoot her an e-mail and she can put it up on the village website. He asked if he could send her the whole registration in case someone wanted to print it out. Mayor Hill said they could do that.

Commissioner Hill reported he and Chief Strike had gone to the Cities the day before for a safety seminar on gas safety and pipelines. Hill said the speaker did an awesome job of explaining everything about pipeline safety, digging, emergency numbers and everything else. He said it was pretty interesting and taught them both a little here and there. Hill said spring is coming and if people are going to dig, call 8-1-1, call J.U.L.I.E., even if you go down an inch, it’s the law. Mayor Hill stated there are a lot of pipelines around here. Commissioner Hill stated there are four of them right in this area. Mayor Hill said it didn’t hurt to go get some training. Commissioner Hill reported Alliance has a 36 inch pipe.

Mayor Hill reported the Tampico Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, (THPAC), has started selling 50/50 raffle tickets for the plaques for the downtown buildings. Mayor Hill said they are starting a littler earlier this year. She said she has counted them up and she thinks if they sold all of the tickets they have right now it would be a total of $3,500.00. She said if they could do that it would more than cover getting the plaques done so that would be fantastic. Mayor Hill asked those present to please buy or help sell.

Mayor Hill also reported she has been working on the web calendar a lot more, she has been putting a lot more stuff on there. She said she has put the community building on there since Terry Gaskill has been e-mailing her some things. Mayor Hill is trying to put a little bit more out there so people could see what’s going on in the area. Mayor Hill said if people have something either call Village Hall, call her or e-mail her so she can get it up on the calendar.

Bonnie Anderson said she personally knows the Village of Tampico that Dana, [Fellows], does not belong to the village. Anderson wanted to know how they can get that out there so Dana is not getting the flack of what’s not on there. Mayor Hill said defend him, that’s about all we can do. Mayor Hill told Anderson the village has put it out there that it is a volunteer base and he is taking care of it. Anderson said she feels bad for the bad PR for the city as well as Dana. Mayor Hill said yes, we have had plenty of that and it was very upsetting to him to be attacked. Anderson said she knows because she has talked to Dana that he bought it because it was still up for grabs and he bought it so it would not get bought by somebody else. Anderson said she knows that. Mayor Hill said she was wanting a website and she hooked up with him and they got to working on it and that’s how it started. Anderson said she is trying to find a
solution so it’s not….[unintelligble]. Mayor Hill told Anderson she thinks the best thing is just to stand together and defend him, appreciate the great job he is doing. Mayor Hill said whenever you see anything let it be known, that’s about all we can do. Anderson said she does not disagree with the mayor. Mayor Hill said he did put that out there too and he’s got it on the page that he does this as a volunteer, so she thinks that helps people understand. Anderson said she did not want the Mayor to be defensive about that and she understands that is why the mayor is and that’s why she is asking. Mayor Hill said she is not being defensive, she just thinks there is not a lot more that they can do. Anderson said she is asking for the same reason the mayor is being defensive. Anderson said she would like to see Dana not have to be defended publicly. Mayor Hill said that would be wonderful, she totally agrees. Anderson wants to know if there is a way that anybody can think of that they can say that it is private owned. Anderson said she did not want to see Dana get *** for doing a good job. Commissioner Maupin said it was brought up at a meeting several weeks ago, it’s in the meeting minutes a couple meetings ago and not everybody reads those. Mayor Hill said more than once they have put it in there. Anderson said she does not blame the citizen, and it’s more than one, who say well this wasn’t on there, but it is on this other site. Anderson said that’s because the web page isn’t the calendar. Mayor Hill said that is on the same web site, it’s the same website. Mayor Hill said there is one on facebook. Commissioner Maupin said the Tampico Bulletin on facebook is not run by anybody at all. Mayor Hill said that is not official. Anderson asked the council if they could see where she is coming from. Mayor Hill said the tampicoil.com is the most official one for the city the only difference is we don’t have a full time person running that so by law and statutes he, [Dana], does not have to post everything. The mayor said if he was a paid employee, the village could be in trouble if agendas and minutes and everything were not up there. Mayor stated that’s what he did, he put up the little disclaimer so that people would understand a little better that he is running it for our village, representing the village in an official capacity where as the facebook web pages none of them are. Mayor Hill said they are done by volunteers as well, but they are not the go to ones more or less. Mayor Hill stated they are doing a good job and putting good information out there and they are wonderful people but the village does not go to them and ask them to make sure to put certain things up there. Mayor Hill said facebook gets kind of in a dark area. Commissioner Maupin said as far as he has seen, the ones he is a part of don’t get used that much anymore on facebook. Anderson asked which one of the pages the village does put stuff on. Mayor Hill reiterated it is tampicoil.com. Anderson said that’s what needs to get out there somehow. Mayor Hill told her that is why the council tries to bring it up at as many meetings as they can, to try to keep stuff up there. Mayor Hill said she could put stuff up there and then Dana puts stuff up on there. Anderson said she could do word of mouth, that’s it, but she would like to see it resolved. Mayor Hill said she knows, that would be a perfect world. Commissioner Maupin said he thinks they all would. Commissioner Hill said there is always going to be that somebody. Mayor Hill said the council can’t solve it all. Anderson said there is a lot of people who look at that site that believe it is the Village of Tampico site. Mayor Hill said the tampicoil.com one is. Commissioner Maupin said people don’t go to that one as much as the other one and asked Anderson if that was what she was trying to say, the other one gets more traffic than the Tampico one and she wants to try and find a way to flip it. Mayor Hill asked if she was talking about the historical society website, too. Mayor Hill said that one Denise McLoughlin manages. Commissioner Maupin said there is the Tampico one on facebook used to be really popular and what Anderson is trying to say is more people see that one than ours and the council needs to find a way to correct it. Mayor Hill said she understands that too but people are going to do what they want to do. Commissioner Maupin said it comes down to the council needs to find a way to communicate with everybody. Maupin said it comes down to the fact that the council is struggling with ways to communicate with people in this town that don’t read the meeting minutes, that don’t get on the website. Mayor Hill said of course the ones that are negative are the ones that are heard the most. Commissioner Hill said if they don’t come to the meetings they are not going to find out anything, anyway. Mayor Hill said they can read the minutes, the clerk pretty much does them verbatim now. Commissioner Hill said it’s like they mentioned earlier, there are a lot of people in town that don’t have a computer, they don’t do that kind of thing. Morthland said he gets along just fine without one.

Mayor Hill stated she has said this for several years, stand up for bullying and all this slander. Mayor Hill said she knows for herself, she did not take this job for the money. She said she did it because she wanted to see the town she grew up in become resuscitated and have new life and mean more again. The Mayor said she sees things happening that are very positive and of course you’re going to get knocked down and kicked to the curb umpteen times. Anderson said she thinks that’s why we are all here, that’s why they come all the time. Anderson said they try to work toward the same goals even though we have differences in opinion. Commissioner Maupin said when you are as invested as we all are it’s hard not to get offended or get your feelings hurt when people start running you down. Maupin said it is just human nature because every one of us that takes the time to come and participate, you know, us six, or the people that take the time to participate in this meeting are all invested in this and when you start seeing people bad mouth it or run it down it’s real easy to see the mean side. He stated everyone is so invested and it hurts their feelings when you start stomping on their baby. Commissioner Hill said that’s the way it is in any little town, too, at least everybody knows everybody. Mayor Hill said it takes time to develop. Commissioner Hill said everybody thinks you should do it like this, you can’t do it like that, you’ve got to do it like this. He said everybody has a different way.

Mayor Hill said even like the daycare, it’s a huge asset to the village but it takes time, you have to do it right and these
things take time. She said it’s a shame, she wishes that she could snap her fingers and open the door, but you can’t do that. Mayor Hill stated we were touting this building last year and we’ve now been in here a year and she thinks it’s fantastic.

Commissioner Johnson read a thank you note to the Mayor and Village Council from Art and Lydia Sage. Johnson read, pre-printed, “Thank you for all your efforts.” Johnson continued, “As we were walking in the gymnasium last week, when the wind chill was way below zero, I decided we needed to thank you for all the work you have done to secure our wonderful old school. You have dedicated yourselves to providing village residents with a multi-purpose facility second to none. Thank you, Art and Lydia Sage”.

There were no communications.

Bills were ordered to be paid on a motion by Commissioner Johnson, second by Commissioner Hill. “Yes” votes were Johnson, Hill, Maupin and Mayor Hill. Commissioner Sigel voted “No”. The motion carried.

Mayor Hill asked if there was anything else. Commissioner Maupin said to Commissioner Sigel, she never really says but can he just ask why she never wants to pay the bills. Maupin said he has assumptions but he doesn’t want to do them. Commission Sigel said it is because of the daycare. Commissioner Maupin asked her if it was the daycare in general. Sigel said yes. Mayor Hill asked her why that would make such a negative thing when it could really help this community so much. Commissioner Sigel said she agrees that the daycare is a much needed necessity, but paying $600.00 each time when it’s not up and running and the village does not have the funds to pay it and it’s coming out of donations and when eventually it’s going to start having to come out of taxpayers money, she can’t see that it is justifiable. Mayor Hill told her but also you’re going to have a return on this and it is going to be profitable and self sustaining, but you have to get to that point, so sometimes you have to spend money to get there. Commissioner Sigel said she does not need to be spending all the hours. Mayor Hill told Sigel with her knowledge and her professionalism, she can do more in her time than most people can because of her years of experience. Commissioner Sigel told the mayor, that’s what she said. Al Morthland wanted to know why she left CGH. Mayor Hill explained to him she did not leave to come down here, she retired and the mayor was working with her prior because Connie had to have so many hours of service when they are in a position to help other communities, other daycares and stuff, she was coming down here to help us and see what direction we could go with ours and do a feasibility study. Mayor Hill said while they were doing this, she retired and a few weeks after she retired, the mayor asked her if she would even consider helping the village now that she was retired and she really thought about it and she was excited to come help us but she just wanted to do it on a part time basis because she didn’t want a full time job. Mayor Hill said this is right up her alley and this is her way of continuing on with what she loves. Morthland asked if it had even been okayed by the state yet. Mayor Hill said no, that’s what the village needs to do. Commissioner Maupin said no, that’s what was covered at the last meeting. Maupin said the big thing he took away last week was the village can’t get anywhere until we cut through all the red tape and it costs money to cut through the red tape. Maupin his thing is he just doesn’t, he can understand why Sigel thinks the village can’t afford it, he can understand that, he can follow that train of thought. Maupin continued by saying the thought that we can open this without spending any money, doesn’t, that is just absolutely a 100% not feasible, it would be like trying to open a bar or restaurant without investing anything. Commissioner Sigel said exactly, she, [Cooper] is still on paperwork but does she need to fill out as much, okay, filling out paperwork, but the hours that she is putting in, is she filling out a lot of paperwork all that whole time, can she cut back on the hours she’s spending at this time. Mayor Hill told Sigel she doesn’t think she, [Cooper] is charging the village for all the hours she is putting in to it either. Commissioner Maupin said he has no expertise in daycare and he will not pretend that he does so if a person like her was brought on to be my expertise, and if she says this is what we need to do and how we need to do it, then I’m inclined to trust her because it’s like him down here and she is up here with this so it’s…Maupin said if she says this is what we need to jump through these hoops, which the state requires we jump through these hoops, then that’s what we need to do. Maupin said it’s going to take money laid out to make money. Commissioner Sigel said when she, [Cooper], says that we are not looking at it until maybe possibly July or August and the village is still spending $600.00. Sigel said she can’t justify that. Morthland said no, he can’t either. Commissioner Hill said you have to spend money to make money. Commissioner Maupin said you are either growing or dying, you don’t just get to stay in one place. Commissioner Sigel said then when you have Sterling, two daycares in Sterling shut down because of 4-C’s. Mayor Hill said that was the Y and she doesn’t know what their circumstances were. Mayor Hill stated she, [Cooper], has turned several around in this area. Commissioner Sigel said she knows she, [Cooper], did, but when we’re looking at funding, state funding, possibly because of the 4-C’s, and this is what you’re looking at. Morthland said the state ain’t got any money either. Sigel asked if they are even going to open up. Mayor Hill said most of the daycares are full in this area and it’s a huge asset to keep young families coming here, moving here and staying here. Commissioner Sigel said she agrees we need a daycare. Commissioner Hill said all the different things that she has to do every day to try to get this going, all the paperwork, all the research, he knows it has to be brain wracking. Mayor Hill told the council they now have a retired DCFS on the board that she will cut through this red tape and she knows what to do with a lot
of this stuff

to help expedite it but like Connie has said, in the summertime your enrollment is down a little bit more because more kids are home babysitting and stuff and that’s why there are shooting for more the fall session because she, [Cooper], said that’s when she gets the tears, she gets the parents, school is back in session, I don’t have any place to take the kids, they don’t have anybody to watch Johnny so they are doing it right. Morthland asked how much they are going to charge for the kids. Mayor Hill said she, [Cooper], went through all that last time and Mayor Hill does not have her numbers right here. Clerk Leathers advised it is $155.00 per week per child and that includes breakfast, lunch and a snack. Morthland said a lot of people, they don’t make that much money. Commissioner Maupin said that’s what it is, trust him, he has a little one and he has checked into daycare for, it’s that expensive. Morthland said women that go to Rock Falls and Sterling don’t make that kind of money where they can put out a $150.00. Commissioner Sigel said that’s why they are looking at 4-C’s. Mayor Hill said that’s why they are looking into assistance, any more you have to have them 4-C’s. Bonnie Anderson said that’s where the tax payer pays for it again because the actual person gets paid money for going to work and having their kid…Mayor Hill said you have your highs and your lows and your scares with the state, it’s been going on for years and years. Commissioner Maupin said they, [the public] are paying for it again but they are not paying extra. Anderson stated she would like to commend Mary Jo, [Sigel], for having her opinion. Mayor Hill said everyone is entitled to their opinion. Anderson said she doesn’t disagree with that, her opinion is why she is here but she thinks it’s great we have a diverse board. Morthland said not everybody just saying yes. Commissioner Maupin said no one sits up here and holds a gun to their backs and tells them to say yes all the time. Maupin said we vote the way we vote because that’s the way they feel like voting. Maupin said no one has ever said you have to vote this way. Commissioner Johnson said don’t diminish it by just saying it. Johnson said he is just not saying yes. Morthland said that’s the trouble, everybody agrees to just say yes, nobody is talking. Johnson told Morthland he said it again and that’s offensive to them. Johnson said we are not just saying yes when they vote, it is how they feel about that item, maybe we have researched it before and we know what it is. Morthland said the council does not talk about stuff during the meetings, they don’t talk about stuff that’s brought up. Commissioner Johnson said the talking at that point would be if he had an inquiry about because he has already looked through his paperwork and made a decision or someone has said something and he agrees with it. Morthland argued the people out there don’t know what the council is talking about if they don’t talk so they can hear. Morthland said they have a right to know what is going through their minds too, you know. Morthland said that’s what they put the council there for. Commissioner Maupin said they get the agendas too, so they can do the research ahead of time like the council does. Commissioner Maupin repeated that they can see the agenda the same time the council can so they can do the research prep for the meeting like council members do too. Mayor Hill said we just went through that, they have been posted and we know they get circulated as well. Maupin said, yes they are posted, Al. Commissioner Johnson said he agrees with Bonnie that having a diverse board like this is the only way to maintain checks and balances and he commends Sigel on that as well. Johnson said you either agree with this project or you don’t, to break it down as simple as possible, we saw a need in the community. Johnson said they went for it, they got enough of the board to agree to move forward with it and now we’re moving forward with it. Johnson said again, he commends Sigel, and said to continue to have her opinion but the bottom line is, unless you convince enough of the board otherwise, they are going to continue to move forward. Morthland wanted to know how many kids that had lined up to be joining. Mayor Hill said they can have up to 20 kids. Morthland said he wanted to know how many have they got now. Commissioner Maupin said the village can’t have any, it does not have a licensed daycare. Commissioner Johnson said they do not have a licensed daycare. Morthland asked how many parents said that they would bring their kids. Mayor Hill said they went over that at the last meeting, they are doing a feasibility study now, but she knows at least four or five positives right now who will be bringing their kids. Commissioner Johnson said they are in the middle of a needs assessment right now. Commissioner Hill said they had a member of the audience the last meeting, where all of this was discussed, she said her kids went to Connie and she is awesome at what she does and how she lines things out. Commissioner Hill is sure she will do the same for this village that she did for 25-30 years. Morthland said 22 years. Commissioner Hill said same difference. Hill asked Morthland if he has ever taken a chance in life on anything. Morthland said he joined the Marine Corp. Hill said there you go, it’s the same thing with her, [Cooper], standing up here and telling everyone here at the meeting. Morthland said he knew, he was here at the meeting. Commissioner Hill said then he should know what was said. Morthland said it hasn’t been proven that everything she said was right too. Commissioner Johnson said then they will all have egg on their face. Commissioner Maupin and Commissioner Hill agreed. Mayor Hill said, the council saw a need, even with this building, they had opposition with this building as well but it has turned out to be very good for the community and continues to be, it’s growing. Mayor Hill said she and Commissioner Hill put a lot of time into it last winter. She said they were here all the time with a few other volunteers to try to get it open and get the village in here. Mayor Hill said a lot of people have benefited. She said Commissioners Maupin and Johnson have done great with the recreation board, they are in here all the time, the village has had parties and everything else. Mayor Hill said that was a chance they had to take and it’s turned out to be a good thing. Mayor Hill asked could it have fallen through, yes it could have. But by God you have to stick your neck out once in a while if you believe in a community and you believe it can thrive and be a place people want to move and stay. Commissioner Maupin said he knows he keeps beating a
dead horse you have to make this a good place to live if you want good people to continue to live here. Commissioner Hill said exactly. Maupin said staying the same that it has been for the last twenty years or for as long as he can

remember isn’t trending in the correct direction so we need to try and change something. Commissioner Hill said we need young people like you. Morthland said you have to have good housing too. Mayor Hill said the village needs to have people that own their homes and can afford to buy their homes. Commissioner Maupin said there are only so many things we can control like this building and the daycare and the things we do with this building are the things this board can control. Maupin said they can’t go out and fix up all the dilapidated homes and sell them to people, we can’t make people move in, but we can make nice things, nice activities, we can put on things, amenities that people want in this town and then hopefully that gets people to stay and attracts the people that we want to live in this town. Maupin said that’s all that they are trying to aim for and he knows, it sounds like there isn’t enough talking, but it just, when you sit there and accuse, when you say that they don’t, that they’re talking behind closed doors or you are assuming that stuff and they are just saying yes to power through an agenda, that’s insulting to their integrity, it’s insulting to the council for him to say that kind of stuff to us. Morthland argued they would like to know what’s going on with these things. Morthland said all it is is she reads it off, everybody does a vote to pass it, second it, that’s all they hear about it. Mayor Hill said the council gets their packets because they were elected to go through this and make good judgement and do their homework and do their research. Commissioner Hill said that’s why they were elected. Morthland said the people out there would like to know what you research. Morthland said of all this stuff that’s been done here, not one thing has been discussed tonite. Commissioner Maupin said he feels the meeting minutes will prove otherwise. Commissioner Johnson said thank you for that, but…. Mayor Hill said they could sit there and argue this all night. She said they do their best to represent the community, to make good judgments and choices because it is their money going into this too, their tax paying, their property taxes and everything else. Mayor Hill said it council members money going into it too and they don’t want to waste resident’s money any more than they want to waste theirs. Mayor Hill stated they try to do their best job, do their research, do their homework and make the best decisions they can. Mayor Hill said they are always willing to listen if they have any questions feel free to call or stop in, e-mail or whatever, they want to communicate, they want to hear, not just complaints but positive influences and stuff. She said the council does want more interaction if you do have an objection, they want to hear that as well but to say they don’t try to do what they are doing and they are powering through this is ridiculous. Morthland said they would like to know what they are talking about. Commissioner Johnson said they understand but how about a quick suggestion. Johnson said he would never suggest that Morthland interrupts the council up here but if you have the agenda in hand at the beginning of the meeting and we ask for any comments, why doesn’t he, [Morthland], say I see you are going to discuss this later, please elaborate when it comes to that so the public can have a better understanding and the council will do that for him. Mayor Hill said the council has kept this meeting very open, the council has allowed a lot of interaction throughout the entire meeting, not just at the beginning. Morthland said it should be that way. Mayor Hill said it has been. Morthland wanted to know when was the last time the mayor told people their five minutes was up. Mayor Hill said well, if the council has other business and this is a business meeting and we are going over the same thing over and over, then it is time to move on. Morthland said is supposed to be an open meeting. Mayor Hill said it is open until it becomes a coffee shop, the council has to do their business. Bonnie Anderson told Commissioner Johnson that was a good suggestion and he thanked her. Mayor Hill said anytime anyone has raised their hand and said what is this about, does the council not go and try to answer questions. Bonnie Anderson said she looked on the agenda and she is not sure what is going on, she agrees with Commissioner Johnson. Mayor Hill said she did go into it and explained that she had met with the food pantry.

Resident Mike Sigel commented as someone who has been on boards and in business it doesn’t matter if you disagree, he appreciates that they take the time to do it. Sigel said he had been on that side so many times and he fully understands what the council is doing and going through and the time it takes behind the scenes regardless if it’s with people or other things. Sigel said it is a big undertaking. Mayor Hill thanked Sigel. Sigel told Anderson part of the reason people aren’t sitting here is, say it’s the 80/20 rule. Sigel said 20% of the people do 80% of the work and the other people believe or they don’t care. Sigel said if they believe they voted for the right people and they are really trying then they are going to stay home. He said he stays home too.

The meeting adjourned at 8:08 PM. The next regular meeting of the Tampico Village Council will be Tuesday, March 17, 2015 at 7:00 PM in the Reagan Community Center located at 202 W. Second Street.

Kathy A. Leathers Kristine L. Hill
Clerk Mayor

MINUTES APPROVED THIS 17th DAY OF March, 2015
**These minutes are not official until signed, dated and sealed by the Village Clerk**