Carbondale Reporter

Village of De Soto Board of Trustee met Oct. 3.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

Acting President Eric Schuler called the first regular monthly meeting of the De Soto Village Board of Trustees to order at 7:00 P.M. Village Clerk Paula Parks was present to record the minutes.

Present:  Tony Rushing     Paulette Johnson

               Eric Schuler        Cristy Desormeaux

Absent:   Brian Gleason    Jennifer Morgan

Motion made by Tony Rushing, seconded by Cristy Desormeaux, to dispense with the reading of the minutes and to approve them. Motion carried.

Motion made by Cristy Desormeaux, seconded by Tony Rushing, to approve the September Expense report. Motion carried.

Motion made by Tony Rushing, seconded by Paulette Johnson, to pay the list of bills. Upon roll call vote: Tony Rushing – Yes; Paulette Johnson – Yes; Eric Schuler – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes. Motion carried.

Boy Scout Elliott attended the meeting to earn his merit badge for Citizenship in the Community.

Darren Bailey of Bailey & Company and his business partner Melissa Easton presented information about the executive management services their company provides to small communities such as budget preparation, strategic planning, cash flow analysis, grant management and revenue optimization. The fee would be based on which services the Board wanted. Mr. Bailey would recommend using batches of 100-hour increments at $100.00 per hour or $10,000.00. Mr. Bailey believed that the savings and revenue generated by their services would more than offset the cost. The company was organized within the past year and had no clients to use as references.

Smith Appraisal had submitted a bid of $1,200.00 to perform appraisals for the vacant lots located at 100 N. Hickory St., 207 N. Walnut St. and 213 and 215 N. Walnut. Per Illinois Statute, the appraisals are necessary for determining the selling prices of the lots.

Motion made by Paulette Johnson, seconded by Tony Rushing, to hire Smith Appraisal to conduct the appraisals for the vacant lots at 100 N. Hickory St., 207 N. Walnut St. and 213 and 215 N. Walnut St. at a total price of $1,200.00 for all three properties. Upon roll call vote: Tony Rushing – Yes; Paulette Johnson – Yes; Eric Schuler – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes. Motion carried.

Motion made by Tony Rushing, seconded by Cristy Desormeaux, to approve the Village’s General Purpose Financial Audit by Rice Sullivan, LLC for the fiscal year beginning May 1, 2021 and ending April 30, 2022. Upon roll call vote: Tony Rushing – Yes; Paulette Johnson – Yes; Eric Schuler – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes. Motion carried. The audit is incorporated by reference.

The duck issue is scheduled for a bench trial on November 14 via Zoom.

Trustee Tony Rushing recommended publishing the city worker position again with a deadline of October 14 at 2 PM.

The next regular Village board meeting will be held Monday, October 17, 2022 at 7 PM at the village hall.

Motion made by Paulette Johnson, seconded by Jennifer Morgan, to adjourn at 7:53 PM. Motion carried.