Carbondale Reporter

Village of De Soto Board of Trustees met Aug. 19.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

President Eric Schuler called the second regular monthly meeting of the De Soto Village Board of Trustees to order at 7:00 PM.  Paula Parks was present to record the minutes.

Present:  Brian Gleason             Fern Martin

               Eric Schuler                 Jennifer Morgan

               Cristy Desormeaux      Rachel Alstat

Absent: Tony Rushing

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

Motion made by Brian Gleason, seconded by Rachel Alstat, to approve the July revenue report.  Motion carried. 

Motion made by Cristy Desormeaux, seconded by Brian Gleason, to pay the list of bills.  Upon roll call vote:  Brian Gleason – Yes; Fern Martin – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat – Yes.  Motion Carried. 

Motion made by Rachel Alstat, seconded by Cristy Desormeaux, to purchase a Nitrification Kit required by IEPA for water testing from USA Blue Book for $7,780.54 and to transfer funds for the cost from the Water Savings Account to the Water Operating Fund, Line Item 200-494, Equipment.  Upon roll call vote:  Brian Gleason – Yes; Fern Martin – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat – Yes.  Motion Carried. 

Trustee Rachel Alstat reported that the Water and Sewer Committees had interviewed four applicants for the utilities clerk position on August 16, 2024.  The committees recommended hiring this person at $14.90 per hour with a three-month probationary period. Raising the salary would be considered after the probationary period.  The person hired would get three paid sick days; one week’s (35 hours) paid vacation after a year; and Thanksgiving and Christmas as paid holidays.  The trustees present at the meeting recommended hiring Judy Kiehn as utilities clerk at $14.90 per hour as soon as she is available.  Upon roll call vote:  Brian Gleason – Yes; Fern Martin – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat – Yes.  Motion Carried. 

Chief Doan reported that the owner of the property at N. Cherry St. had until August 28 to clean the property up.

Trustee Fern Martin reported that the General Committee had met about the trash pickup.  After calling around to other trash pickup companies and some discussion among the Committee, they felt the renewal contract with Republic Services was the best choice.

Trustee Rachel Alstat reported that the Water Committee had met to review options for software that would allow water customers to access their account information and pay their bills online.  Several companies and other municipalities were contacted by Trustee Jennifer Morgan, Trustee

Cristy Desormeaux and Administrative Assistant Jana Fann.  Mrs. Fann had contacted the Village’s current system provider United Systems.  She received quotes from them for two different systems.  Startup cost for one system would be approximately $32,297.00 with a $1,460.00 monthly fee for billing.  The approximate startup cost of the other system would be $23,247.00 plus $12,000.00 for a New Rack Server.  The annual maintenance fee would be $600.00. Trustee Morgan pointed out that much of the startup cost included training.  That amount could be more or less depending on how quickly Mrs. Fann and the new utilities clerk could be trained. Jana Fann has a meeting scheduled with Locis, which is what several municipalities use. The Committee is still gathering information and looking into adding the cost of the new system to the Phase IV Watermain Replacements Project.  The software needs to be compatible with the new radio read meters that will be installed with the project.

Regarding lates fees, Trustee Alstat pointed out that the back of the water bill states that ”failure to receive bill does not relieve customer of penalty.” The Committee felt it would be unfair to waive all late fees because not all late payments were due to not receiving the water bill. Trustee Jennifer Morgan said that Jana Fann nor the utilities clerk have the authority to refund a late fee. The customer would have to come to a board meeting to make the request.  Therefore, refunding late fees would be on a case-by-case basis.  Reminders are being sent out through the All Call system and on the Village’s Facebook page.

Motion made by Rachel Alstat, seconded by Cristy Desormeaux, to pass Ordinance No.2024-2 amending Paragraph 38-3-23 of Chapter 38, Utilities, Division II Cross-Connection Administration.  Upon roll call vote:  Brian Gleason – Yes; Fern Martin – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat – Yes.  Motion Carried.  Ordinance incorporated by reference.

The next village board meeting will be held Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at 7:00 PM at the village hall.

Motion made by Brian Gleason, seconded by Rachel Alstat, to adjourn the meeting at 7:49 P.M.  Motion carried.

 https://villageofdesoto.com/uploads/1/2/5/0/125085618/minutes_8-19-2024.docx