REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO
October 5, 2021
7:00 PM
Reagan Community Center
Mayor Kristine L. Hill called the Regular Meeting of the Tampico Village Council to order at 7:00PM.
Commissioners Jennifer Morales, Ryan DeBrock and Tammy Kendell were present. Commissioner Jim Coleman was absent. Chief Mike Lewis, Village Utilities Clerk, Jamie McIntire, and Village Public Works employee, Tyler Chriest, were also present. Village Clerk, Kathy Leathers, was also present and recorded the written and audio minutes.
Mayor Hill led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes of the September 13, 2021 Closed Special Meeting were tabled until all Commissioners can be present for approval.
Mayor Hill advised that during the September 21, 2021 Regular Meeting when she referenced that the State of Illinois was contacted by Tom, she actually meant to say the Illinois EPA or the IEPA. They said they were also contacted by Kathy that day as well.
Minutes of the September 21, 2021 Regular Meeting were approved as presented.
Minutes of the September 21, 2021 Closed Meeting were tabled until all Commissioners can be present for approval.
Reports of Village Officials
Mayor Hill reported that herself, Clerk Leathers and the Grant writers, Tara Walters and the USDA were all involved in a conference call in regards to the Grant for the HVAC System. That process should begin in approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Mayor Hill said it looks like we’re going to have to fire up the old boiler one more time.
Commissioner DeBrock advised that she spoke with Rick from FS Gold Star. We are under contract to get our diesel fuel from them. Rick asked if we were getting our diesel from someone else. Mayor Hill said that we just recently paid a bill to them last month. DeBrock said I assured him that we were not going through anyone else as of now, and he said he would make sure there was plenty of winter additive to make sure we get through the winter and he’ll check back with us in the spring.
A member of the Tampico Recreation Committee, Wendi Ketchum, was present with updates. Ketchum reported that there are 3 members wanting to resign from the Rec Board. One being Eric Shaffer, and his resignation was approved at the September 7, 2021 Regular Meeting. The other 2 members wanting to resign are Amanda Kendell and Don Jensen, but no resignation letter has been received yet. Mayor Hill advised Ketchum to have the Rec Board vote to dismiss them as members, and then report back to the Council once that action has been taken. Ketchum reported that Allison Sharp and Zach Bryan would like to become members of the Rec Board as well. That was approved and they did show up to the last Rec Board meeting. Ketchum advised that the Rec Board held a clean up day at Booth Park on Sunday September 26th. There was only a couple of people who showed but the graffiti was cleaned up on the small building and the fence line was cleaned up as best as possible. There were 9 lawn bags filled during clean up and the smaller trees had limbs trimmed off of them. Ice cream was giving to the kids for their hard work. Ketchum then reported that the Rec Board is holding a Youth Dance at the RCC gymnasium on Friday October 29th from 7:00PM to 9:00PM. There will also be a Trivia Night at the Kickback Saloon on Saturday October 23rd with a start time of 7:00PM.
Mayor Hill advised the the Tampico Festival Committee is also holding a Trunk or Treat and a Town Wide Scavenger Hunt on Sunday October 31st. Please contact Mallory Wetzell or check out the Tampico Festival Facebook page for details.
Mayor Hill reported that she has been speaking with Tampico Public Works employee, Tyler Chriest, about switching over to Test Inc. to help with all our testing needs since Willett & Hofmann are basically just covering us. Contracts and information was giving to the Council to review. Chriest advised that he feels Test would be more helpful and save the Village money. Mayor Hill reported that the Village would be spending $8,552 a year with Test Inc. and with Willett & Hofmann it would be $21,120 a year. They would be performing the same duties for the Village. Mayor Hill advised that we still need to hear back from the insurance company but enclosed with the given information is comments from the Village attorney, Mr. Shirk. Mayor Hill asked the Council to read through the information and come forward with any questions or concerns before rushing through the process.
Remarks from Guests
None at this time.
Unfinished Business
There was no Unfinished Business to discuss at this time.
New Business
The Council began to discuss Halloween Hours for the Village. Mayor Hill advised that we would like the hours set to be 4:00PM to 7:00PM on Sunday October 31st this year because of all the extra activities going on. Anyone is welcome to set up a trunk or treat along Main street in case you have a home that a lot of kids don’t come to, and also to try and keep the kids more together and safe. Food will also be served that day. Mayor Hill advised to keep your eye on the Tampico Festival Facebook page for all the information for that days activities. A motion to approve the Halloween Hours was made by Commissioner Kendell, second by Commissioner DeBrock.
Village resident, Deb TerBush, asked if she could back up with a question. She asked since the Council did not accept Tom’s resignation, are you going to try and find somebody again to help Tyler? Or are you going to stick with one person? Mayor Hill replied that will be discussed further in the meeting. It’s not on the Agenda but it will be discussed in Closed Session.
Mayor Hill said we need a roll call for the Halloween Hours. “Yes” votes were Morales, DeBrock, Kendell and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Mayor Hill advised Ketchum to bring the Tampico Recreation Committee Members names for Dismissals and Appointments to the next meeting to be approved.
Building Permits
There were no Building Permits issued at this time.
Communications
There were no Communications to report at this time.
A motion was made by Commissioner Kendell, second by Commissioner DeBrock at 7:10 PM, to leave the Regular Meeting and go into a Closed Session to discuss the Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Discipline, Performance or Dismissal of Employees of the Public Body and Possible Action on Any Item Discussed in Closed Session as Allowed by 5 ILCS 120/1 and the Illinois Open Meetings Act. “Yes” votes were Morales, DeBrock, Kendell and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
A motion was made by Commissioner Kendell, second by Commissioner DeBrock at 7:18 PM to leave the Closed Session portion of the meeting and return to the Regular Open Meeting. “Yes” votes were Morales, DeBrock, Kendell and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Mayor Hill said to answer your question Deb, we are going to hire someone to help Tyler down the road. Deb said the only reason why I asked was because somebody told my mom that “he” was a candidate. Mayor Hill replied ok, maybe…I don’t know. Deb said I just wanted to clarify that you said that you have to have a license, correct? Mayor Hill said yes, to work for the Village you have to have a drivers license.
Mayor Hill asked Commissioner DeBrock if she had a question. DeBrock said yes, the Test Inc. who we’re going to have do our water testing. Is it new that they test now and they’re not just a drop off location, because we talked about this at the last meeting. Mayor Hill said right, and we were made aware of all they do offer now. This is where we take our tests. Chriest said that previously Test was getting samples from Tom and testing them. That’s where the fees come in for the $1,400 and $1,200 yearly. They will continue to do that and then there will be an additional $500 a month to be the Operator in charge vs. having Willett & Hofmann do it for their higher cost. Commissioner Kendell said it means they’ll sign the reports and be the representative for the reporting. Mayor Hill said it’s $85 an hour above what they agreed to. DeBrock asked if this is something they’ve been doing for a long time or is this a new venture they just started? Chriest asked Test? DeBrock replied where they’re going to be the governing body. Kendell said I thought that they had always done it. DeBrock said ok because it was asked at the last meeting if that was something we checked in to and it was said to us, in the minutes it said all they do is take our tests and test them. I just want it to be clear that this was an option and that we just did not ask them. Mayor Hill said right, we can use their license and they will do our reports. At the last meeting it was unknown what they all offered. Mayor Hill said Willett & Hofmann was temporary until we could find somebody more permanent. Clerk Leathers said Test Incorporated is the operator for several small towns.
Commissioner Kendell asked Chriest if there was anything else he wanted and asked if he could get some quotes. Chriest replied yes he will. Chriest advised that there are a lot of tree limbs hanging out over the road that he would like to get taken care of before they have to run the plow trucks. Chriest reported that he did some research on purchasing a gas powered pull saw to help trim the trees and the cost looked to be around $1,000. Kendell asked him to get a couple quotes to compare.
Commissioner Kendell asked Chief Lewis if he had any updates for the Council. Chief Lewis reported that at 2:00AM this morning, Jaramie Pierceson crashed his car West of town. The sound was not gun shots, it was the sound of his car hitting a pole and the pole snapping in half.
Commissioner Kendell asked Chief Lewis how the patrolling of the school worked? Kendell reported that she has seen Strike over here. Chief Lewis replied that he must have been visiting. Mayor Hill advised that they have been sending the resource officers over here. Chief Lewis said oh yeah, they do because they have the resource officer for both the schools. Lewis reported that right now, Jim Miller has recently suffered another heart attack. He’s not in good shape at this point in time so they have Terry taking some of his responsibilities off of him.
Bills were ordered paid on a motion by Commissioner Morales, second by Commissioner Kendell.
Commissioner Kendell told Chriest that she liked his breakdown of what he’s been doing. Chriest replied thank you. Mayor Hill asked for a roll call. “Yes” votes were Morales, DeBrock, Kendell and Mayor Hill. The motion carried.
Village resident, Deb TerBush, asked if she could ask one more question. Mayor Hill said yes. Deb asked so you did accept Tom’s resignation? Mayor Hill replied that it has not officially been done yet since Jim is absent.
The meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM. The next Regular Meeting of the Tampico Village Council will be Tuesday, October 19, 2021 at 7:00 PM in the Reagan Community Center located at 202 W. Second Street
Kathy A. Leathers
Clerk
Kristine L. Hill
Mayor
MINUTES APPROVED THIS ___ DAY OF _________________, 2021
**These minutes are not official until signed, dated and sealed by the Village Clerk**
