Carbondale Reporter

Village of Makanda Board of Trustees met Feb. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

CALL TO ORDER: Regular meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 7:00p.m. by President Tina Shingleton.

ROLL CALL: Clerk called the roll of the Village Board: Trustees Hilliard, Allen, Dalton, Ross, Pitcher, and Wolff, were present.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: President asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting. Trustee Wolff made a motion to accept the minutes It was seconded by Trustee Dalton. Voice vote. All members present at roll call voted yes. Motion carried.

CITIZEN’S HEARING: Erick Wagner and Jamie Hagy-Folyer were present. Jason Tabor and Nathan Van Hise were here to observe.

PETITIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS: President received an email from Scott Ryan who is planning to hike through Makanda on the River to River Trail the last week of March. He asked if there was space in town where he might be allowed to set up a tent. President advised the Village does not have facilities for camping. Village Clerk recommended Giant City State Park camping facilities and Panthers Den. This information was passed on to Mr. Ryan. He looks forward to seeing our incredible Village soon.

Within the last few weeks there have been two different requests to hold a one-day festival in the Village. The first was from Legal Smile for The Southern Illinois Cannabis Cup with approximately 500 – 1,000 attendees and the second to hold a Summer Solstice festival with no more than 50-100 participants and would include one of two food trucks as vendors and music. Upon review of the Village’s Special event Guidelines, they state the applicant for a special event permit must be a business or organization that owns or leases space at the location where the event is to be held. This information was passed on, as well as letting them know the

Village is very small and there is an issue with space for parking and to set up vendors for food and activities. There are also no restroom facilities.

CLERK:

TRUSTEES: Trustee Allen reported that Dan had talked to Danny Williams regarding the drainage pipe Danny has installed from his pond to the ditch beside the road. It was reported that Danny will relocate the pipe if there’s a problem. Trustee Ross reported that the current owner of the Box Factory property has not kept his word that he would keep the property in good shape, so that it would not become an eye sore for people to see when they drive into town. The overgrowth of vegetation at the base of a utility pole, is causing the Frontier line to sag. If it were to break, it would take out the internet service to the Village. Trustee Ross reported that there are a lot of dead trees that need to be cleaned up. Some are on the Village right of way, some are up at Evergreen Cemetery, and some appear to be on Giant City Park property or State property. President Shingleton will talk to Dan about removing the dead trees on the Village right of way, when weather permits. Trustee Ross reported that the Black Vultures have torn the insulation off the lines to the new air conditioner, and the rubber from around the front door. The Vultures have made a mess all around the Community Center. Board discussed the situation. It was suggested that someone should call Jackson County Animal Control. Trustee Ross will talk to Calvin at Giant City State Park about how to get rid of the vultures.

FISCAL MATTERS: A. Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer presented the Treasurer’s Report

B. Bills Payable: Treasurer presented the Bills Payable

President asked for a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report and pay the bills. Trustee Ross made a motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report and pay the bills. It was seconded by Trustee Hilliard. Voice vote. All present at roll call voted yes. Motion carried.

Treasurer reported that the Village has two CD’s at Regions Bank, in the amount of $13,243.02. He advised it would be best to leave them there until they come up for renewal, and then withdraw the CD’s to avoid any penalty for early withdrawal. The Board can then decide the best place to invest that money.

REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES:

A. Finance Committee:

B. Ordinance Committee:

C. Street & Road Committee: President suggested asking for assistance from Jackson County Sheriff’s Office regarding parking on Crackers Neck Road. We will move forward with No Parking signs as previously discussed. May also need to send a second letter to property owner, Gregory Tunnison, reminding him that we have an Ordinance for no parking on Crackers Neck and vehicles will be towed.

Regarding Baptist Hill resurfacing, Board members strongly expressed their opinions that the estimate the Board received for resurfacing the entire road was too high. Board was reminded that they had voted to have the core drilling done at the last meeting, but then the motion was tabled. Board discussed having the resurfacing done from Baggett Lane down to the bottom of Baptist Hill Road. Trustees Allen and Wolff suggested that they should be able to provide bid requirements for the project to be put out for bid. Trustee Wolff stated that the Village does need to have an engineer’s stamp on the project, in order to get the work done. Trustees Wolff and Allen have been talking to Hunter Neef from Samron to give the Board an opinion for resurfacing the lower portion of Baptist Hill Road. They reported that Hunter has agreed to do so. Trustee Wolff will explore the possibilities of grants for resurfacing through Dale Fowler and Paul Jacobs. Trustee Wolff will also consider contacting Mike Bost and Jay Kranz with IDOT to see if he would work with the Village to put a stamp on the specifications the Village decides to have. Trustee Pitcher investigated two possible grants, one is the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) but it only assists with walking, biking, and trail projects. The second is the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIM) which does help with rural feeder roads which may help with resurfacing Baptist Hill Road. This information was passed on to Trustee Wolff for additional investigation. Board discussed the expense of resurfacing and maintaining blacktop roads, and the urgent need to find grant money, to do so. Baptist Hill Road and McGuire Road were both originally black topped with grant money.

D. Subdivision Committee:

E. Insurance Committee:

F. Playground Committee:

REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES:

A. Emergency Disaster Committee:

B. Special Events Committee:

ORDINANCES & RESOLUTIONS: President advised that a revised Estimate of Maintenance Costs would need to be submitted to IDOT. The Resolution does not need to be approved again as we did not go over the initial approved total amount of $28,000. The initial cost for rock was more than approved and will be offset by the lesser amount that was approved for oil and chipping of roads. The initial amount was $27,822.15. The total amount after revision is $25,731.44. President asked if there were any questions.

President asked if everyone had had a chance to look over the 2023-1 Camping Ordinance which repeals and replaces Ordinance 2017-5. Trustee Wolff made a motion to accept the 2023-1 Camping Ordinance. It was seconded by Trustee Dalton. Voice vote. All present at roll call voted yes. Motion carried.

EXECUTIVE SESSION:

UNFINISHED/OLD BUSINESS: It was mentioned that we need to move forward with the process for cleaning up abandoned property on Crackers Neck. Property owners should be given a time frame for cleaning up the property. President will check with legal counsel to move forward.

NEW BUSINESS: President received correspondence from AGE regarding current Electric Aggregation contracts. Our current contracts with Homefield Energy offer a rate of $0.05400/kWh and will expire in December 2023. This current rate is a 55% savings below Ameren’s price-to-compare of $0.12/kWh for residents right now! As they have done with the past two contract renewals for members in the SIAP, they are requesting all communities in our aggregation pool to approve a new Limited Power of Attorney for the electric aggregation program’s renewal later this year. This is important with the volatility in the market, as the Limited POA allows us as your consultants to sign contracts for all communities in the Southern Illinois Aggregation Partnership at the same time to ensure everyone is receiving the same low rate the group can secure. Energy prices traditionally have only been able to be held for 1-2 days because commodity prices change hourly throughout the market day. The volatility in the market now has left suppliers only willing to hold prices for a couple hours at a time, with multiple pricing curve updates through the day. Having these POAs in place allows our whole group to lock in rates in a matter of minutes ensuring the group receives the best possible rate for our residents. President asked for approval to sign the POA. Spring is historically considered a great time to buy energy due to having lower demand for both natural gas and energy in between the winter and summer months. They anticipate moving forward sometime this spring with the renewal agreements for the Southern Illinois Aggregation Partnership’s electric aggregation contracts. President asked for a motion to approve signing of Limited Power of Attorney for the electric aggregation program’s renewal letter. Trustee Ross made a motion to approve signing. It was seconded by Trustee Dalton.

Eclipse Committee needs to meet to review and discuss Eclipse 2024. President, Clerk, and Trustees Ross and Dalton were the Committee for the 2017 Eclipse. Committee members will remain the same for the 2024 Eclipse. Debbie Dunn has asked to be included in the meetings. A meeting will be scheduled for the Committee to discuss.

Trustee Wolff reported that Dan had suggested that the Board give Kip a raise of $2.00 per hour, which would bring his hourly wages to $18.00. Trustee Wolff made a motion to give Kip a $2.00 an hour raise and to give Dan and Randy each a $1.00 per hour raise. It was seconded by Trustee Allen. Voice vote. All present at roll call voted yes. Motion carried. These raised will become effective May 1, 2023, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS: Finance Committee Meeting on February 11, 2023, at 9a.m. in the Village Hall.

ADJOURNMENT: President asked for a motion to adjourn the meeting. Motion was made by Trustee Wolff and seconded by Trustee Ross. Voice vote. All present at roll call voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 8:17 p.m.