Board of Trustees

Village of Peoria Heights Board of Trustees April 20, 2021 The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. Everyone stood for a moment of silence and the Pledge to the Flag. Mayor Phelan invited the veterans in the audience forward to lead the Pledge to the Flag. Upon calling roll, the following Trustees were present: Beth Khazzam, Jeff Goett, Brandon Wisenburg, and Sarah DeVore. Trustee DeVore were present by telephone. Trustees Sherryl Carter and Diane Mariscal were absent. Others present included Mayor Michael Phelan, Village Administrator and Chief of Police Dustin Sutton, Village Clerk Stephanie Turner, and Village Counsel Attorney Mark Walton. Trustee Goett made a motion to approve the minutes from the meeting held on March 16, 2021 and the motion was seconded by Trustee Khazzam. The Board voted to approve the minutes 4-0. Clerk Turner read a letter from Holly and Dorian Mosack of 309 Fitness thanking Village staff for their hard work administering the Commercial Expense Reimbursement grant. As a small business which was unable to qualify for other grants, they thanked the staff for their help and support. Mayor Phelan opened the meeting to public comment. Ms. Susie Dunnen and Mr. Phil Hess, representing the River Valley Big Band, came forward to explain their event request. Ms. Dunnen said the group plays a lot of classic tunes at around 20 concerts a year. Hearing no additional comment, Mayor Phelan moved on to trustees’ reports. Trustee Carter was unavailable so Mayor Phelan asked the superintendents of Public Works for any announcements. Superintendent of Water, Mr. Chris Chandler, announced that Public Works had hired two new laborers, and he welcomed them to the team. Chief Sutton had nothing to report for building maintenance. Trustee Khazzam explained the Village had a successful economic development meeting earlier in the day. She noted the Village is still waiting to hear about several grant opportunities including both the trailhead and the Prospect corridor. She noted Administration is fielding a lot of requests about development, and she’s hoping to make announcements soon. Trustee Goett had nothing to report. Chief Sutton updated the Board that the Village was able to adminster $360,000 in grants over the fiscal year. The BDD Lease and Mortgage Program was approximately $110,000. The DCEO Economic Support program was $154,000 to 36 businesses, and the second round was $95,000 to 18 businesses. Chief Sutton noted the DCEO funds were federal funds, but had been administered locally. He thanked the staff for their hard work and thanked the Board for their efforts as well. Trustee Wisenburg explained that 30 smoke detectors had been installed in coordination with the PHPD Housing Program. He explained that the PHFD still had plenty of smoke detectors to distribute and asked residents to contact the PHFD if they were in need of one. Trustee DeVore reminded residents that Code Enforcement would be out for the annual spring clean up. She explained that the Village had a new Code Enforcement officer and encouraged residents to say hi. Mayor Phelan asked for old business. Hearing none, he moved on to new business. Mayor Phelan explained he was very excited about the 22VA Project and invited organizers forward. Mr. Brown introduced Mr. Michael Ragon, President of the 22VA, to speak about the project. Mr. Ragon explained that there were 6 pieces of art being placed in Donovan Park as part of the project, but the Peoria Heights Art Collaborative had been suggested to place an art piece in Peoria Heights. Mayor Phelan thanked Mr. Ragon and 22VA for approaching the Village to collaborate on the project. He noted that it was exciting to partner with the veterans in their efforts. Trustee Khazzam noted that the artworks on display were the works of veterans, and she stated the Village was proud to support the organization. Mr. Brown explained that the works would be on display at Village Hall then the Peoria Park District would be holding a display as well. Trustee Khazzam made a motion to approve a donation of $2,000 to the Peoria Heights Arts Collaborative. Trustee Goett seconded the motion. Trustee Khazzam noted that the Village is very honored to present a check to Peoria Heights Arts Collaborative to assist with the 22VA art project. Attorney Walton explained that private donors had made donations to the Village with the specification that the funds be used to support 22VA. The donation was approved 4-0. Trustee Khazzam made a motion to approve a donation of $2,000 to the Bridge to Bridge River Drive event. Trustee Goett seconded the motion. Trustee Khazzam explained the donation was to market the Bridge to Bridge event on September 18 – 19, 2021 which would feature collaboration of local river communities. The donation was approved 4-0. Trustee Khazzam made a motion to approve the use of Tower Park for the River Valley Big Band event on Friday, June 25, 2021. Trustee Wisenburg seconded the motion. The event was approved 4-0. Trustee Khazzam made a motion to approve use of Tower Park for the Friday Night Heights events on the first Fridays in May through October 2021. Trustee Wisenburg seconded the motion. Trustee Khazzam explained that Mr. Sam Heppard, owner of the Clink bar, was putting on the event with local vendors as a celebration. Mayor Phelan thanked Mr. Heppard for creating a family friendly event. The event was approved 4-0. Trustee Khazzam made a motion to approve the use of Tower Park for the Hounds in the Heights event on Saturday, July 31, 2021. Trustee Goett seconded the motion. Trustee Khazzam invited Trustee DeVore to explain further. Trustee DeVore stated the Bears Bite Foundation was founded to help people with vet bills they couldn’t afford. The event was approved 4-0. Trustee Goett made a motion to approve award of the MFT sealcoating contract to RA Cullinan & Son in the amount of $245,341. Trustee Wisenburg seconded the motion. Superintendent of Street, Mr. Mike Casey, explained that the project was an annual expense which had been bid out by the Village engineers. The cost is under the engineer’s estimate and will cover roads east of Prospect headed toward Miller Avenue as well as publicly owned parking lots at Village Hall and behind Heights Bank. The contract was approved 4-0. Trustee Goett made a motion to approve award of the MFT spray patching contract to D&D Sweeping Inc in the amount of $42,624. Trustee Wisenburg seconded the motion. Mr. Casey explained that it was patching small cracks in the roads and is also under the engineer’s estimate. The contract was approved 4-0. Trustee Goett made a motion to approve the FY 2021-2022 budget for the Village of Peoria Heights and the Peoria Heights Public Library. Trustee Wisenburg seconded the motion. Chief Sutton thanked the Board and staff for their support. Mayor Phelan and Chief Sutton noted the budget is balanced. The budget was approved 4-0. Mayor Phelan thanked Chief Sutton and Village staff for being very frugal and hard working in preparing a balanced budget. Trustee Wisenburg made a motion to approve the purchase of fire turnout gear in the amount of $10,533.75. Trustee DeVore seconded the motion. Trustee Wisenburg explained it was for the purchase of 3 complete sets of gear and 1 coat. The purchase was approved 4-0. Mayor Phelan proposed the cancellation of the Tuesday, April 27, 2021 Departmental meeting. Trustee Goett made a motion to cancel the meeting. Trustee Wisenburg seconded the motion. Chief Sutton explained that there was both an attendance issue and a lack of agenda items so he recommended cancelling the meeting. Chief Sutton stated that the next meeting would be May 3, 2021. The Board approved cancelling the April 27, 2021 meeting 4-0. Mayor Phelan asked for miscellaneous business. Trustee Wisenburg asked if there would be any movie nights planned for the summer. Mayor Phelan stated there were and asked Clerk Turner or Mr. Chandler, who are involved in the planning, to expand on the subject. Clerk Turner explained there were two planned at the end of June and end of July as well as the annual trunk or treat in October. Trustee Khazzam explained that there were a lot of exciting events coming in the summer including the Springdale Cemetery Run and Art Fair in May, the Bridge to Bridge and Taste of the Heights in September, and regular events like the Drum Circle and Friday Night Heights. Clerk Turner read the Treasurer’s Report. As of the end of March, there was $4,286,866.15 in the Village controlled accounts and $1,532,663.58 in the Water controlled accounts. Trustee Goett made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report, and Trustee Khazzam seconded. The Treasurer’s report was approved 4-0. Trustee Goett made a motion to adjourn, and Trustee Wisenburg seconded. The Board voted 4-0 to adjourn the meeting at 6:35 pm. _____________________________________ ______________________________________ Michael Phelan, Mayor Stephanie Turner, Village Clerk