Peoria Standard

Village of Swansea Village Committees met Oct. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

Attendees: Treasurer John Walter, Trustee Marilyn Neumeyer, Trustee Jeff Parker, Trustee Matt Lanter, Trustee Brian Thouvenot, Trustee Richard “Rocky” McDonald, Trustee Cary Lewis, Police Department Chief Matt Blomberg, Fire Department Deputy Chief Doug Little, Director of Public Works Rick Tucker and Building and Zoning Director Greg Anderson

Absent: Board President Michael Leopold, Village Clerk Tyler Thompson, and Village Administrator Ben Schloesser

PERSONNEL COMMITTEE: Held 6:00 to 6:03

Chair: Trustee Parker; Vice-Chair: Trustee Parker

Members: Trustees Lanter, Lewis V, McDonald, Thouvenot

1. Request To Hire Sewer Plant Operator 1– Kyle Wallace

Motion to Forward: Made by Trustee Parker, seconded by Trustee McDonald

Trustee Votes: All ayes

Motion to Adjourn: Made by Trustee Neumeyer, seconded by Trustee Parker

Trustee Votes: All ayes

FINANCE COMMITTEE: Meeting Not Held

Chair: Trustee Lanter; Vice-Chair: Trustee Thouvenot

Members: Trustees Lewis V, McDonald, Neumeyer, Parker

Meeting Not Held

JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: Held 6:03 to 6:04 and 6:28 to 6:42

Chair: Trustee Lewis V.; Vice-Chair: Trustee McDonald

Members: Trustees Lanter, Neumeyer, Parker, Thouvenot

1. Republic Services- Rhonda Breslin Speaking About Trash and Recycling

Trustee Lewis said she was not present. At 6:28 she was present. She is the new municipal manager for Republic and said there were some things in certain neighborhoods she noticed. She brought her operations manager and a driver. The manager said the driver lives in Swansea and it is his community. The manager said people have been putting carts by their mailbox which is slowing down pickup and they have added a page to the Village website. He believes the service will be a lot better with the driver. Trustee Lewis asked when the driver started. The driver said a few weeks ago. Trustee Lewis said he knows that the other drivers were helping handicapped people put their carts out. The manager said another complaint the Village might hear is about people paying for extra cans they don’t have but Republic will remove those payments. Rhonda said that might be caused by previous owner’s carts remaining. She said when the carts are too close the automatic arm might not be able to grab them. She said they are thinking about putting a statement on the invoices to look at the Village website. She said they do not do billing locally so they don’t have someone to stuff envelopes. Trustee Parker suggested putting it in the Swansea Report. Trustee Neumeyer said there is room. Trustee Lewis said there have been some misses of yard waste. The operations manager said recently the only misses he has seen have been from people who are not paying for the yard waste. Rhonda said in July there were several people on vacation, and they wanted to make sure people’s trash was picked up so they might leave yard waste for the next day. She said it is hard to keep drivers but now they are full, and they are getting help from the Alton team. She said new drivers are put on the yard waste route first. The operations manager said he has made it a priority to pick up yard waste. Rhonda said there is a system to alert about delays and there is a mobile app to get those delays. It also tells about holidays. Trustee Parker asked her to get ahold of the Village Administrator and said they had a bad hydraulic leak in his neighborhood that has not been cleaned up. The operations manager asked what street. Trustee Parker said Westwood and Scottsdale area. The operations manager said he will get out and take a look at it. The operations manager said he sent a crew out but he will take a look again. A member of the public said she has noticed spills on the roads and she just realized what it is now. She said it is probably hydraulic fluid and it is making the roads look bad. Rhonda said they will take a look. Trustee Lewis thanked them for coming today and said he will be in contact.

2. Ord. No. _____ An Ordinance Amending Chapter 111: Peddlers And Solicitors Regarding The Hours For Solicitation Within The Village Of Swansea

Trustee Lewis said this change will make it to 9am to 6pm instead from 30 minutes after sunrise to 30 minutes before sunset. Trustee Thouvenot wanted more discussion.

Motion to Forward: Made by Trustee Lewis, seconded by Trustee Parker

Trustee Votes:

Ayes: Trustee Neumeyer, Trustee Parker, Trustee Lanter, Trustee McDonald, Trustee Lewis

Nos: Trustee Thouvenot

Motion to Adjourn: Made by Trustee Lewis, seconded by Trustee Parker

Trustee Votes: All ayes

Motion to Reopen: Made by Trustee Lewis, seconded by Trustee McDonald

Trustee Votes: All ayes

Motion to Adjourn: Made by Trustee Lewis, seconded by Trustee Parker

Trustee Votes: All ayes

COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:

Meeting Not Held

Chair: Trustee Thouvenot; Vice-Chair: Trustee Lanter

Members: Trustees Lewis V, McDonald, Neumeyer, Parker

Meeting Not Held

PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE: Held 6:06 to 6:19

Chair: Trustee Parker; Vice-Chair: Trustee Lewis V.

Members: Trustees Lanter, McDonald, Neumeyer, Thouvenot

1. Res. No. _____ A Resolution Authorizing The Village Of Swansea, lL To Enter Into An Intergovernmental Agreement With The City Of Belleville, IL For The Purposes Of Utilizing Services From Omnigo Software, LLC Through The City of Belleville’s Subscription

Deputy Chief Little said he has copies with all the agreement in it. It is for dispatching police and fire units and this new agreement will import data from their calls to Swansea immediately. Deputy Chief Little said it has to be done in a certain way and the cloud secures it in a certain way. He said it takes a lot of time to get the information into reports but with this new system it will be imported automatically.

Motion to Forward: Made by Trustee Parker, seconded by Trustee Neumeyer

Trustee Votes: All ayes

2. Res. No. _____ A Resolution Accepting The Price Quotation Of $16,500 From Dinges Fire Company, 243 E. Main St., Amboy, IL 61310, For Four (4) Amkus Ion Flexvolt Upgrade Kits And Labor For The Swansea Fire Department Deputy Chief Little said it is for power spreaders and power cutters. He said DeWalt stopped manufacturing the battery system and most of their batteries stopped charging so getting replacements has become difficult. This would be a retrofitting to make the tools fit new systems and getting the new tools would have been $52,000 so this saves a lot of money. Trustee McDonald asked if this needs bids. Deputy Chief Little said correct and they are the dealer for this area.

Motion to Forward: Made by Trustee Parker, seconded by Trustee McDonald

Trustee Votes: All ayes

3. Illinois Licensed Beverage Association Presents Officer Matt Lindley With An Award For His Actions Related To A Traffic Stop On St. Patrick’s Day Resulting In Numerous Firearms Seizures And Multiple Felony Charges

Chief Blomberg said they honored him at their regional conference and he wanted to let the Board know. Trustee McDonald asked what the cause for the stop was. Chief Blomberg said it was a registration violation.

4. Discussion - Request To Transfer The Remaining Balance From The Restricted K9 Fund To The Restricted Youth Academy Fund

Chief Blomberg said he just received the accounting report. In 2016 they had a drug tactical dog but he left for another department and there was a comfort dog for the SRO, but he has been retired so there is no longer a K-9 program. Chief Blomberg would like to transfer the funds to the Youth Academy since a lot of money was raised through donations. He said he has no intention of bringing the K-9 program back so they could either move the funds or ask the donators if they would like their money back, but that would be very time consuming. Trustee Thouvenot said he has no problem with moving the funds, but if someone donates for a specific purpose it is the Village’s responsibility to try to get a hold of them and tell them that program is no longer being done but there is another program that could use the funds. He said it shouldn’t be too difficult to contact them and just moving it would not be the best practice. Chief Blomberg said he had no intention of doing that he just wanted to come to the Board first. Trustee Neumeyer suggested putting it in the Swansea Report. Trustee Parker wanted to make contact with the donors to see if they are alright with the new use. Trustee Thouvenot said just sending a letter and not hearing anything for 30 days would clear them to move forward. Trustee Parker said to move forward with that.

Motion to Adjourn: Made by Trustee Parker, seconded by Trustee Neumeyer

Trustee Votes: All ayes

PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE: Held 6:19 to 6:28

Chair: Trustee McDonald; Vice-Chair: Trustee Parker

Members: Trustees Lanter, Lewis V. Neumeyer, Thouvenot

1. Res. No. _____ A Resolution Accepting The Bid Of $32,600 From Haier Plumbing And Heating, Inc., 301 N. Elkton St/PO Box 400, Okawville, IL 62271 For The Tharp Sewer Extension

The Director of Public Works said it is to extend the sewer line and there are 3 or 4 houses on septic. He said the old property owner didn’t want the extension. He said there is interest in the owners tapping in now.

Motion to Forward: Made by Trustee McDonald, seconded by Trustee Lanter

Trustee Votes: All ayes

2. Approval Of Costs Associated with Clinton Hills Loop Trail Repair

Trustee McDonald said this is where the wash out occurred in July and there is a representative of TWM present. Trustee McDonald said he spoke to the representative and the Village Administrator on multiple occasions. The representative said it was an act of God that caused it to wash away and it wasn’t closed with the contractor yet. He said Hank’s wants $23,500 to fix it. He said concrete would tie it into the ground better to make sure it doesn’t happen again, which would be another $5000, but there would be more costs. TWM wants it to be done properly and said the total cost would be $40,000 or $45,000 but the cost can be taken down so it would be $20,000 or $25,000 for concrete. Trustee McDonald said the Village hasn’t done anything wrong and the project is $45,000 under budget. He would like to see it done in concrete because asphalt might have trouble again. Trustee Parker asked if there would be footings in the concrete. The TWM representative said yes. Trustee Lewis asked what they would do if it happens again. The TWM representative said he doesn’t know if there is insurance for it. Trustee McDonald wanted it to be made with concrete

Motion to Forward With Concrete: Made by Trustee McDonald, seconded by Trustee Parker

Trustee Votes: All ayes

3. Res. No. _____ A Resolution Authorizing The Purchase Of A New Falcon 4-Ton Transporter Hot Box From CMW Equipment, 12890 Pennridge Drive, Bridgeton, MO 63044, At A Purchase Price Of $38,673.00

The Director of Public Works said it is for keeping asphalt hot and ready to use. It will keep it limited to one vehicle instead of needing several trucks and will make it easier to apply. He was only able to get two quotes and it is under what was budgeted for.

Motion to Forward: Made by Trustee McDonald, seconded by Trustee Lewis

Trustee Votes: All ayes

Motion to Adjourn: Made by Trustee McDonald, seconded by Trustee Lewis

Trustee Votes: All ayes

CULTURAL COMMITTEE: Held 6:42 to 6:54

Chair: Trustee Lewis V.; Vice-Chair: Trustee McDonald

Members: Trustees Lanter, Neumeyer, Parker, Thouvenot

1. Discussion For A Quarterly Open House At Village Hall

Trustee Lewis said it would allow citizens to better understand what is occurring. He asked what the Board thought about it so citizens could be more involved. Trustee Parker asked if it was during the day or evening. Trustee Lewis said it is open and said he spoke to a couple HOAs and citizens. He said there is only so much he can do to explain so he thinks it would be good for citizens to meet with some department heads. He said it does not have to be quarterly. Trustee McDonald said he thinks they could put out a Swansea Report and he would like people to be more involved but people only come when there is a problem. He said they have had open houses before but only 5 or 6 people show up and the reality is that it would be limited. He said they could show up 15 minutes early to allow the public to ask questions. Trustee Lewis said he understands that but regardless if 6 people show up that is still good for them to be informed. Trustee Thouvenot said he is worried about staff time and he agrees with Trustee McDonald that it is not a good idea. Trustee Lewis said he speaks to people regularly and he suggested a rotating department head schedule. Trustee Parker said if they don’t try they don’t know. Trustee Lewis said the main thing is the citizens so he will get with the Village Administrator to figure out what they can do. He said he would like to speak with the department heads about it. Chief Blomberg said he and the Fire Chief speak to people whenever they ask but the open house would require him to take up many employees time. He said they already accommodate people when they have requests and their doors are open all week. Chief Little said they keep the fire doors open all the time and they will have their open house later this month. The Director of Public Works said people only visit him to complain but they have given a few tours. Chief Blomberg said they have done many citizen events. A member of the public said for him the most important part is knowing who to talk to about certain things and they should be available to talk. He wanted them to come in a few minutes early to meetings to address everyone and say who they are. Trustee Thouvenot said he puts a lot of time in to understanding the inner workings and he didn’t realize the intensity. He said he responds to emails within 24 hours and if anyone wants to find him they can call him or email him. He said everyone’s information is in the Swansea Report. Trustee McDonald said some meetings could start 15 minutes early so everyone can introduce themselves. Trustee Parker suggested 30 minutes early.

Motion to Adjourn: Made by Trustee Lewis, seconded by Trustee McDonald

Trustee Votes: All ayes

SWANSEA REPORT COMMITTEE: Held 6:54 to 6:56

Chair: Trustee Neumeyer; Vice-Chair: Trustee Lanter

Members: Trustees Lewis V, McDonald, Parker, Thouvenot

1. Draft November Report: articles due to sproffitt@swanseail.org October 14th

Trustee Neumeyer said there is space open.

Motion to Adjourn: Made by Trustee Neumeyer, seconded by Trustee Parker

Trustee Votes: All ayes

https://www.swanseail.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_10072024-71