Peoria Standard

Village of Bellevue Board of Trustees met July 26.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

I. CALL TO ORDER

The Village of Bellevue Mayor called the Village of Bellevue meeting to order at the Village Hall. He indicated that an audio tape recording was made of all discussions during the Regular Session.

The Meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m.

II. ROLL CALL

Mayor Merriman asked for Roll Call Attendance to be taken by Mrs. Pesch.

Present: Trustee Aaron Lannert, Trustee Judith Wight, Trustee Sandy Cooper, Trustee Leroy Wiseman, Trustee Ross Pesch

Absent: Trustee Martin Schuettler

Also in Attendance: Mayor Dean Merriman; Attorney Lane Alster; Steve Wilson, Village Public Works; Matthew Raible, Village Zoning Officer; Theresa Noel, Village Treasurer; Susan Pesch, Village Clerk; Francis Heskett, Village Resident; Tim Menefee, Village Business Owner; Mike Baietto, Village Resident; John Closen, Village Resident; Christina Harris, Village Resident

III. ACTION ITEMS

A. Trustee Wight moved to approve the Regular Session Minutes held on July 12, 2022. Trustee Pesch seconded the motion. There was no further discussion.

Voice Vote: All Ayes

Motion Passed

B. Trustee Wiseman moved to approve the Bills for July 26, 2022. Trustee Lannert seconded the motion. There was no further discussion.

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: 5

Nays: 0

Motion Passed

IV. PRESENTATION FROM THE AUDIENCE

Mayor Merriman thanked the visitors in attendance and gave them an opportunity to address the Village Board.

Mr. Heskett inquired about the gentleman below the hill cutting the weeds when he is cutting the grass. Mayor Merriman asked if he was speaking about the property with the boat. It has been better. However, the Village will send the property owner a letter.

V. NON-AGENDA BUSINESS BY BOARD MEMBERS AND VILLAGE EMPLOYEES

Mayor Merriman asked if there was any non-agenda business to be brought before the Board from either Village Trustees or the Village Employees.

Mrs. Noel asked Board members if she could receive a raise because she has been working with the Village for a little over a year. She stated having three jobs. It is a lot of responsibility. Mrs. Noel informed Board members that she does not live in the Village but she is always available, and has done a good job. Trustee Wight asked Mrs. Noel what she thought was a fair increase. Mrs. Noel responded that $1,200 per month would be fair. The position is stressful. She informed Board members that two additional bills were added for payment, the visa bills and the Villas of Hollybrook.

VI. ACTION ITEMS

A. Trustee Lannert moved to Purchase a 580 Backhoe Loader. Trustee Wight seconded the motion. Mayor Merriman stated that the current backhoe is 14 years old. It would cost the Village $6,500 in parts. Case would give $36,000 for a trade-in with $131,200 to purchase a new backhoe loader. John Deere would give $50,000 for a trade with $158,265 to purchase a new backhoe loader. Mr. Menefee inquired about leasing or guaranteed residual on the new backhoe loader. Mayor Merriman responded that it is not an option for the Municipal Buying Program. Mayor Merriman informed Board members that he wanted to use the monthly gambling revenue to pay for the purchase which would take approximately one year to pay it in full. Attorney Alster stated that they did not need to earmark this money and could use general funds.

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: 5

Nays: 0

Motion Passed

B. Trustee Pesch moved to approve to Bid on the Paint Striping Machine and Chipper. Trustee Wight seconded the motion. Mr. Wilson stated that West Peoria was selling the two items through sealed bids. He requested to place bids on both items.

Roll Call Vote: Ayes: 5

Nays: 0

Motion Passed

VII. INFORMATION / DISCUSSION ITEMS

A. Repair or Purchase 580 Backhoe Loader

B. Hamptons Crossing Retention Basins & Homeowners’ Association-Attorney Alster informed Board members that he spoke with Mr. Wilson in regards to the issue with the lot that is part of Hamptons Crossing. The Village needs to access the area to do work on the property that is owned by a private resident. It was never supposed to be sold and was supposed to be continuously owned by the Hamptons Crossing HOA. The HOA was to be formed in Hamptons Crossing. Trustee Pesch had a meeting with the neighbors to discuss the issues. There were concerns over the formation of the HOA and the requirements and obligations of the HOA going forward. The Village is not involved in the formation. The issue for the Village is the need to deal with the maintenance of this particular lot that should be owned by the HOA. This was required to be formed pursuant to the Declaration of Restrictions in the subdivision. Attorney Alster informed Board members that Trustee Pesch received information from the homeowners that they wanted to meet with the Village Attorneys and the Village Mayor and had legal questions. The Village has discussed using American Recue Plan Act funds to fix the problem that presently exists in exchange for them to maintain this particular lot going forward. Presently that money has not been earmarked for anything else. If the Village is unable to get the HOA to take care of the property, then that money may be used for something else. Mr. Wilson was trying to get the work done before the end of August and before the rainy season begins. The Village has agreements from most of the property owners surrounding the lot which would allow temporary easement to gain access to clear out the brush. Attorney Alster asked Mr. Wilson if it would cost $40,000 to clean it up. Right now, there is no resolution of the matter. There is a number of different options moving forward. The best option is the HOA to be formed and manage the property. This was supposed to be done, but we cannot force them to form the HOA. Attorney Alster asked Trustee Pesch about the meeting.

Trustee Pesch stated that homeowners had legal questions.

Mayor Merriman asked if the attending Hamptons Crossing residents had questions at this time.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris stated that she did not have questions, just comments. She stated that her family moved in about 10 years ago. Many of the residents have no knowledge of what is being discussed including residents in that area. When her family moved in on Fox Den, there was no paperwork, discussion, or mention whatsoever on the HOA. Residents are being taken off guard and being asked to form the HOA that they never heard about. There are few folks on her block that are original owners of their property. They pulled up old paperwork and there was no obligation of the HOA. The paperwork that was given to residents looked like it was a suggestion not a requirement. As neighbors, we would like to sit down with our own attorney and have a proper discussion to determine who is actually responsible for this. If we do not form an HOA, what are the other ways that the Village can maintain it, or not, and result in an increase of taxes. It just feels a little abrupt to those of us that have never heard a word about this until now.

Attorney Alster commented that the Village has nothing to do with the Declaration of Restrictions as it attaches to the property. Whenever the subdivision was formed, based upon what we see going through the records, the Declaration of Restrictions were recorded, which is not unusual. Every time an individual purchases a property, if you have a Schedule B, and usually get a closing statement and/or Title Commitment, you see on your Schedule B that any restrictions on the property are listed. Every property at closing should have the Declaration of Restrictions listed if it was purchased after the date these were recorded. I believe that they were recorded prior to any homes being constructed in the subdivision. Whether or not residents knew about it, obviously, I do not know. If you have Title Insurance, it is probably listed on the commitment somewhere. It is not the Village of Bellevue’s position whether the HOA is formed. The Village does not have control over the neighborhood.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris stated that the issue is that the alternatives that were proposed at the meeting was that if homeowners did not form the HOA, the Village would form some sort of taxing body for the subdivision, only to cover maintenance moving forward.

Attorney Alster stated that this is an option available to the Village. Mr. Wilson can explain the issue with the way the water moves through the property.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris made suggestions that if there was a proper discussion, where everyone brings their paperwork. Many of the residents heard about this for the first time at the meeting last week. If we can have a proper discussion with the Village Officials who are involved and hear all of the alternatives. Just so you are aware, some of the amounts being discussed tonight were different from the amounts at the actual meeting.

Mr. Wilson stated that the price that was given for a bid if the Village did not do the work was over $100,000. If the Village bows out and does not do the work, it will cost over $100,000.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris asked where the $40,000 comes in.

Mr. Wilson stated that if the Village does it with their own equipment, they can save quite a bit of money. If the Village decides they are not going to do anything, it is going to cost the homeowner $100,000.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris said that a single homeowner who owns the land, that is unfortunate for that person. It feels like a series of major missteps that happened before many of us moved in. We just would like the opportunity to discuss it properly.

Attorney Alster stated that to make it clear, the Village cannot compel anyone to form the HOA. The Declaration of Restrictions that are recorded against all of the lots in the subdivision, and have those rules that apply, that it was supposed to be formed. The developer did not do what the developer should have done. The developer did not pay the taxes on the two lots that were supposed to be transferred to the HOA. Therefore, there is actually two possibly three, one of which may be in the other subdivision, but these are all supposed to be controlled and maintained by the HOA. They have been sold for taxes, one of them, I believe, is going to be sold for taxes. At the end of the day, the Village is going to do what is necessary to comply with the State of Illinois EPA issues. This is out of necessity to correct the problems with the waterway and storm sewer issues. Attorney Aster asked Mr. Wilson if this information was accurate.

Mr. Wilson responded to Attorney Alster that the information that he has given is correct.

Attorney Alster stated that the Village is willing to listen to anyone’s communication on the matter and talk with attorneys. The offer that the Village is trying to make is to avoid tasking someone with all of the costs of the issue. The Village would like to take care of the problem and then move forward with the HOA. The HOA could then take care of the maintenance.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris commented that she understands all of this. I think we are all on the same page. I think if we could just have an official meeting where everyone in the neighborhood is afforded the opportunity to know in advance when the meeting is going to be, no offense about the meeting last week, but we learned about it a couple of days in advance. Many of us have young children, activities, and people work full-time. It was difficult for many of us to make it, and some of the folks in our neighborhood are really ill. I think it would be a nice gesture if we could sit down and have a proper discussion.

Attorney Alster stated that the Village is happy to meet. The meeting of the neighborhood that occurred, was not a Village meeting.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris responded, correct.

Attorney Alster said that he is happy to go, and the Mayor as well, at any point in time. The one issue that we have is the timing of it since we are nearing the end of the dry season. By the time we go through the process of getting quit claim deeds completed after a meeting with the homeowners, whether they want the HOA or not, might push us into the next year to do the work. It could cause problems with the ARPA money to do the work. The ARPA money was earmarked for issues with stormwater. The Village has purchased several culverts and the remaining money was going towards this problem. I do not know if the money will still be available next year.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris said that people just learned of this last week. If we knew this was an EPA issue, it should have been brought up months ago.

Attorney Alster stated that this has been discussed during the last 4-5 months at the Board meetings on agenda items.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris stated that unless you were on that lot, you would not have known that there was an issue.

Hamptons Crossing resident Mike Baietto asked Board members if they actually received a formal complaint by the IEPA or the USEPA.

Mr. Wilson explained that what the Village does, is that, it actually has to go around and check all of the water retention ponds to see if there is anything wrong with them. They notify homeowners that they have to fix them or the Village has to do something to help control the issue. If the Village does not, they would receive a fine. The Village is not going to get fined.

Hamptons Crossing resident Mike Baietto said that what we heard at the meeting, was that this all has been driven by the EPA, and the Village might be faced with up to $200,000 in fines. I guess there is no paperwork or complaint.

Attorney Alster responded that the paperwork is the law on the books. In order to avoid fines, the Village has to use due diligence as a municipality, and go through, and make sure all of these issues are dealt with. The Village right now is in the process of looking through it’s waterways and drainage situations. This is a real problem. If we do not do anything about it, we are not going to get a “hey, you have two years to fix this, or you are in violation, and here is a fine”. There is not going to be any nice notice letters from the IEPA. They are just going to start hammering away. This is why the Village is trying to fix the problem, basically at the Village of Bellevue’s expense, even though it is not the Village of Bellevue’s responsibility. Because of the way the IEPA rules have been changed, it makes it the Village of Bellevue’s problem, At the very least, to take the necessary steps to try and fix it. The individual that owns that lot currently, did not know when she purchased it, that it was originally part of the subdivision. This was not supposed to be sold. It was purchased at a tax sale by a previous owner. Now the current homeowner owns it. It should have always been owned by the HOA. What we are trying to do here is figure out a solution that works best for everyone involved. The tax issue and all of that, is something that the Village will have to think about if the Village has to do it on the Village’s own dime. The ongoing issue will be if there is not anyone maintaining it. I do not think the person that owns the lot presently, is going to continue maintaining it or start maintaining it. She has not done so yet. I do not think the prior owner did either. In terms of a meeting, I do not know what kind of notice. If you want to schedule a meeting, give us a date. We would be happy to show up. Mayor Merriman agreed.

Hamptons Crossing resident John Closen stated that he does not think that she has the equipment to maintain it after it has been fixed. There are other people in the area that said they would be willing to maintain it. I do not know of anyone that I have heard from that is interested in the HOA. Could this be something to look into. Attorney Alster responded, no. The problem with that from the Village’s perspective, is that we do not want to go out there in 10 more years and do the exact same thing which could result in spending maybe $100,000, or who knows what it could cost at that time. The reason for the HOA would be better for the Village to deal with currently, because then it exists for the maintenance.

Mr. Wilson stated that right now we are talking about her, but the other one at the end of Fox Den, has to be maintained by someone.

Hamptons Crossing resident Mike Baietto asked Mr. Wilson if it was lot 15A. Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris said it was the one behind Hamptons Crossing. Trustee Pesch stated that the lot number is 15A.

Hamptons Crossing resident John Closen inquired about who owns it.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris said it was owned by the LLC.

Attorney Alster stated that it is listed under the developer and under one of his LLC names, but he has not paid taxes on it.

Hamptons Crossing resident John Closen commented, that is how he lost the first one.

Attorney Alster commented that this is exactly what happened. He was supposed to transfer it to the HOA. There is nothing that can be done. It was sold for taxes. The residents may have a course of action against the developer for some reason or another, but the Village does not. With respect to the developer’s requirements, all of those are laid out specifically in the Declaration of Restrictions. He was supposed to transfer those properties to the HOA that he was supposed to have formed. Without pointing fingers at anyone, obviously the plain language of the document, speaks for itself as to what was supposed to happen. The only way to fix the problem is to quit claim the properties that were supposed to be owned by the HOA in the subdivision back to the HOA, which would be the party that was intended to own them going forward. The Village does not have standing to do anything about that. The homeowners in the subdivision are the ones who have standing to deal with that.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris inquired about it being an option to deed the property to the Village.

Attorney Alster stated that the Village would then have the ability to form the HOA, because the Village would be a property owner in the subdivision. The Village could own it, but the Village does not want to take on the property, and the obligation to maintain it.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris asked if it was already an inherited obligation that the Village is the one required to go and make sure that it is up to EPA standards.

Attorney Alster said the Village is not required to actually do anything to fix it. The Village is just required to take the necessary steps to try and get the existing owner to resolve the issues.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris asked if this person does not correct the issues, would the Village be responsible for the fines.

Attorney Alster stated not necessarily, the fine comes if the Village does not do anything necessary to try and make the person who owns the property to maintain it. We have due diligence requirements, so we do not have legal obligations to maintain it, the actual maintenance of private property. We do not have a right to go on the property.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris commented that she understands this, but what was said earlier was that it costs $40,000 if the Village fixes it and $100,000 for the quote that you got. Otherwise, if it is not fixed, you could receive $200,000 at the Village level. We are trying to say the same thing here. What I am getting at ultimately, if nobody fixes it and the problem just persists, the Village does not fix it, the homeowner does not fix it, the Village gets fined anyway. Is this correct.

Attorney Alster commented, yes, if the Village is not making the best effort to try and have someone fix it.

Mayor Merriman stated that as long as the Village is attempting to get “you” to fix it, the Village is doing their due diligence, which alleviates the Village from being fined.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris stated that if it never gets fixed, the homeowner that owns the property, could be the one that receives the fine.

Attorney Alster stated, probably.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris inquired about the fine at the end of Fox Den up to Hamptons Cove.

Mayor Merriman explained that it could be the LLC.

Attorney Alster stated that this could be the case, unless someone purchases the property.

Mayor Merriman reiterated that these properties were never to be sold. They were to become the property of the HOA, maintained by the HOA, and that never materialized.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris said it is a series of missteps.

Mayor Merriman stated that Mrs. Harris commented that a lot of folks were never given notice of the HOA. He explained that his father-in-law bought a new house in the Hamptons Crossing subdivision in 2004. His paperwork included the Declaration in regards to the HOA, which was filed at the courthouse. Anyone that purchased a new home in the subdivision, received the paperwork.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris commented that she is the third owner of her home and does not have the paperwork.

Attorney Alster mentioned that like all of us, we do not really read the Schedule B exceptions to our title work. If you go back and look at your closing documents and title commitment, I would almost be 100% positive that on the list, is a recorded document called Declaration of Restrictions dated whatever the date it was filed and recorded. The Title Company is not going to tell you. It is just part of the list of documents included.

Trustee Pesch stated that he is a second owner of his property and was given the documents at closing.

Hamptons Crossing resident Christina Harris stated that she certainly was not, and her father-in law was her realtor. If it was in there, she can promise that she would have been told about it.

Attorney Alster stated that the big issue is what the Village is going to do moving forward. For the purpose of meeting with everyone, they are happy to talk with them.

Mayor Merriman commented that if a meeting was set up to let the Village know when and where. They will attend.

C. Next Village of Bellevue Meeting – August 9, 2022

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

Mayor Merriman asked for a motion to adjourn. Trustee Lannert moved to adjourn the meeting. Trustee Wight seconded the motion. There was no further discussion. Voice Vote: All Ayes

Motion Passed

MEETING ADJOURNED AT 6:40 p.m.

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