REGULAR MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUNCIL OF THE VILLAGE OF TAMPICO
March 18, 2025
7:00 PM
Reagan Community Center
Mayor Bruce Peltier called the Regular Meeting of the Tampico Village Council to order at 7:00PM.
Commissioners Sherry Coleman, Susan Dean and Tammy Kendell were present. Commissioner Jim Coleman was absent. Chief Strike and Village Superintendent, Tyler Chriest, were also present. Village Clerk, Jamie McIntire, was present and recorded the written and audio minutes.
Mayor Peltier led those present in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Minutes of the March 4, 2025 Special Meeting were approved as presented.
Minutes of the March 4, 2025 Regular Meeting were approved as presented.
Reports of Village Officials
Superintendent, Tyler Chriest, reported that the Village held a spring clean-up last year that provided free dumpsters, e-waste recycling and tire drop off for Tampico residents. Chriest said he did not see a need for it this year. Residents are allowed 1 bulk item per week through regular garbage collection. There wasn’t much of a turnout last year for the tire drop off and there is a facility in Morrison that anyone can use to drop off their e-waste items. Chriest said if the Council is fine with it, he doesn’t see a need to have the spring clean-up this year.
Chriest advised that hydrant flushing is set to take place the week of April 7th through April 11th.
Chriest said it was discussed replacing a fire hydrant and he started working on it. It’s been dug up and measurements were taken. Chriest called to get the parts for the replacement and those can possibly be delivered between Thursday of this week or Tuesday of next week. Chriest said he plans to replace the hydrant next week while the school is on spring break. The water will have to be shut down to the town for approximately 6 hours at the most to make the repair, if all goes well, and then the Village will be on a boil order until further notice. The boil order could last for approximately 24 hours. Once a date is set, phone calls will be made and notices will be posted. Doing it this way will save the Village approximately $5,000 with the line stop. Parts for the hydrant will cost approximately $7,500. Commissioner Dean said it would be smart to have a burn ban during that time as well with the water being shut down. It would be a safe thing to do. The Mayor and Council agreed. Mayor Peltier said it may seem inconvenient to do this during spring break while the kids are home, but if it was done during school hours the school would more than likely have to shut down during the process.
Chriest also advised that there’s been a lot of work happening with the lead service line replacement and water treatment plant. We’ve gone around and located a good number of valves and determined if reinstatement of service would be allowed for some of the homes in town that have been disconnected for quite some time. Once that list is complete it will be submitted to the engineers.
The discussion of having dumpsters available to Tampico residents for spring clean-up will be discussed further closer to Memorial Day weekend. Residents will be responsible for hauling their own items to the dumpsters.
Chief Strike provided the Mayor and Council with a revised schedule. He plans to switch things up so there isn’t a routine and to help with catching those who are illegally driving 4-wheelers and go carts around the Village.
Chief Strike also provided the Mayor and Council with Incident Reports that they can fill out, being sworn officials, that they’d turn in when witnessing illegal activity. That will provide Chief Strike with the ability to give out State Citations when he’s not present during the time of the illegal act. If it’s a juvenile, the parents will be notified and if it’s a go cart or 4-wheeler involved, they will be confiscated and turned into juvenile court services.
Chief Strike also reported that citations will be written at the end of every month for properties that aren’t properly taken care of per Village Ordinance. They will receive one warning, then citations will be written up to $500. If they don’t pay it will be turned into the Village attorney, and we’ll take them to court. There are certain properties that are in very poor shape and the owners will be receiving letters soon about taking care of the properties or else proper steps will be taken. Village resident, Deb TerBush, reported that the trailer next to the Kickback Saloon had its door wide open and she witnessed rodents going in and out of the trailer. Chief Strike said he’ll contact the owner about the situation.
Mayor Peltier advised that he spoke with Dan Peppin with CFPS about the infrastructure grant to fix the drainage issue in front of the post office and repair the sidewalk along Kimball Street towards the school. Peppin said he’s about 98% complete with the application and hopes to have everything he needs by the end of the week to submit it. After their legal team reviews it, they’ll submit it and if approved, we will be able to go for bid for the project and hopefully have it done this summer. This project will take the place of the MFT project we decided to hold off on for this summer.
Mayor Peltier reported that our office is having issues with the gWorks company that we voted on back in September to replace the Village Books program. Last Thursday, Mayor Peltier, Clerk McIntire and Utilities Clerk Vails had a phone conference with two representatives from gWorks. Mayor Peltier told them we would like to get out of the contract due to how poor their service has been. There was a period of 2 months that our office didn’t hear anything from the company. We were supposed to be up and going with the program by the first of the year and it’s no where near ready for that. During the call, gWorks offered to put together a game plan for us to review at this meeting in hopes we could still move forward with them, but they never presented us with that information. Mayor Peltier said that just another instance that shows we should not move forward with working with them. We’re going to see what the next steps are to get out of the contract and if we have to get our Village attorney involved, we will do that. Hopefully we will receive part of our payment back, if not all of it. Clerk McIntire and Utilities Clerk Vails have already started researching other companies that we could contact to provide the service and programs we need. Mayor Peltier said we’ll continue to work with Village Books until we can get everything figured out.
Remarks from Guests
There were no remarks from guests.
Unfinished Business
First under unfinished business was to discuss leasing Village owned lot next to Tampico Township building to the Tampico Township. There were no updates on this topic, so it was tabled until the next meeting.
Next on the agenda was to discuss a donation to the Tampico Township for a digital video billboard. There was no updated information on this topic, so it was also tabled until the next meeting.
New Business
A motion was made by Commissioner S. Coleman, second by Commissioner Dean, to approve Appropriations Ordinance NO.O08-25-03-18 for the Fiscal Year Beginning May 1, 2025 and Ending April 30, 2026. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
Mayor Peltier asked Superintendent Chriest if he had a timeline of when the disc golf baskets will be installed at the Village ball diamonds. Chriest said he planned on doing it this week. The Village has a post hole digger that is gas powered and not frequently used. Chriest tried to get it running but didn’t have any luck. This isn’t uncommon with this tool. Chriest would like to purchase a new one and make sure to maintenance the tool more frequently. The cost of a new post hole digger would be approximately $300. Chriest advised that they have assembled one of the baskets and they should work well and attract interest.
Next on the agenda was to review / discuss / approve setting a mowing rate fee for unoccupied/vacant properties. Superintendent Chriest has been working with Chief Strike on fines related to the properties that are not kept up to Village code. Utilities Clerk Vails created a spreadsheet to keep track of the properties that the Village public works are taking care of when the property owners fail to do so. Chriest suggested a $100 minimum for a mowing fee with an additional $100 per hour after and a $200 per hour fee for clean up of overgrown brush/piles that are taken care of with a two-person crew and use of the Village backhoe and truck. Chriest said the Village has enough property to mow and we’re not in the business to take care of other people’s properties. Commissioner Dean said hopefully this deters residents from expecting the Village to take care of their properties for them. Mayor Peltier said they do take care of quite a bit of properties that are not Village owned. This way they’ll be able to keep track of the extra work they’re forced to do and fine the owners accordingly. Chief Strike said this information would be attached, along with pictures showing what the property looked like before the work, so they can see how the Village came up with the price of the fine. Mayor Peltier said this isn’t to scare residents that we’ll be coming around with a ruler to everyone’s yard. This is to deter the owners of unoccupied properties from letting them get out of control and hold them accountable to take care of their property without it coming out of the Village’s pocket. Chief Strike said we’ll send them the citations and if they aren’t paid and the property isn’t properly taken care of after that, we’ll take them to court. The Mayor and Council agreed to the suggested rates presented. A motion was made by Commissioner Dean, second by Commissioner S. Coleman, to approve the presented mowing rate fees previously discussed. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
Building Permits
Building Permits approved by Zoning Administrator, Tyler Chriest, were 209 W. Market St. – Windows.
Communications
Clerk McIntire advised that Mr. Shirk is still working on the updated building code. He’s been busy with it being tax time but hopes to have it to us soon to approve.
Clerk McIntire reminded residents that sign ups for town baseball/softball is due by March 25th. The schools were given handouts for all the kids to take home and they also put the information out on Facebook. If anyone has any questions, they can call the Village Hall office.
Clerk McIntire also reminded everyone that the RCC gymnasium is a place to vote on April 1st for the Consolidated Election.
Clerk McIntire reminded that the Village water rate increase will be in effect on the May 1, 2025 utility bills.
Clerk McIntire also reminded anyone who plans to drive an approved golf cart and/or side by sides in the Village of Tampico will need to renew or register those in the Village Hall office by March 31st. Anyone who does not take care of that will be liable to receive an ordinance violation.
Bills were ordered paid on a motion by Commissioner Kendell, second by Commissioner Dean. “Yes” votes were S. Coleman, Dean, Kendell and Mayor Peltier. The motion carried.
The meeting adjourned at 7:26 PM. The next Regular Meeting of the Tampico Village Council is Scheduled for Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 7:00 PM in the Reagan Community Center located at 202 W. Second Street.
Jamie M. McIntire
Clerk
Bruce Peltier
Mayor
MINUTES APPROVED THIS 1st DAY OF April, 2025
**These minutes are not official until signed, dated and sealed by the Village Clerk**
