City of Virginia
May 8th, 2023
Regular Meeting Minutes
Meeting Called to Order: 702pm
Roll Call: Martin, Pratt, Wulf, Knous and Cox all answered present. Bowman was not present
Agenda Approval: Alderman Cox made a motion to approve the agenda, Alderman Knous seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Minutes Approval: Alderman Pratt made a motion to approve the minutes, Alderwoman Martin seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Approval of Monthly Bills: Alderman Wulf made a motion to approve the monthly bills contingent upon getting the tax that was charged removed from the Farm and Home bill, Alderman Pratt seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report
Sales Tax: $14647.05
Video Gaming: $7167.95
Treasurer Barrett stated that the new fiscal started May 1st. Both revenues and expenditures were below budget. Treasurer Barrett also stated he appreciated everyone working with him to keep the budget in the positive. He asked the council to please support the appropriations, he would be happy to answer any questions if needed.
Guests:
Terry Ayres, Jeff Waid, Jamie Daniels, Terri Daniels, Lora Jo Cave, Dennise Minor, Stephanie Andrews, Matt Eveland, Mike Lowe, Ewell Andrews, Harriet Andrews
Jeff Waid:
Waid addressed the council and stated in regards to the no parking sign in front of my house, its not an ordinance. He added that a car sitting there does slow people down when they come around the corner. Waid would like to see the sign come down. He also stated that he didn’t know how tickets or towing can apply if there isn’t an ordinance. If anything, he would like to see a slow children sign there because that may deter people from speeding around the corner. Alderman Cox asks if the road needs a no parking sign? He stated he has drove a bus around there before and there were no issues. Mayor will address that in his report.
Jamie Daniels:
Daniels stated that he is the owner of 261 S Job St. He stated the property right behind his lot has had raw sewage coming out of the ground and emptying on his lot. It is a cesspool right now, he can’t mow it and you can see toilet paper. He stated he tried to deal with it last year and didn’t get any action. Daniels added he contacted State EPA they said need to address locally first, if that fails then they will get involved. City says it is a private sewer line, the owner says it is a city sewer line. Daniels would like to know what is being done to address it. He added there is an ordinance that you cant dump raw sewage in the open. Mayor states he had the lawyer draw up a letter and sent to property owner. It is in the process of getting fixed or the water will be shut off. Daniels wants to know timeline. Mayor thinks it is 72 hours. Daniels stated he doesn’t want to cause an issue but something needs to be done. Mayor states you have a fair complaint.
Lora Jo Cave:
Cave stated in reference to last month, she watched two gentleman at the table roll their eyes at us speaking about our issues. She thinks that is rude of people in professional positions. She added that there are two trailers sitting in the neighborhood by her home that nothing has been done about. She also added that she will remove blazer off of her property when she gets a chance to get it done. The company that was supposed to come get it are not going to come and get it, it costs too much vs the value of it. Cave stated again she wanted to address the situation of disrespect that happened last month. Cave added she pays taxes yearly and has lived here for 53 years, she shouldn’t have been disrespected in that way, or any one else.
Monthly Reports
Police Chief: Busy working on investigations, made a good contact with a special agent in Springfield who has helped me out a lot. ISP has helped as well with technology that we don’t have available.
Fire Chief: Donnie Reynolds will be resigning, Rich Stock will be new chief. The city appreciates everything Donnie has done. Alderwoman Martin asks how many years Chief Reynolds has been on the fire dept? Mayor states he wasn’t sure. Lowe asks if he can get a certificate of appreciation for him. Cave states he has been on the fire dept for 40+ years. Lowe states he is done a lot for the town.
Ordinance Officer: 3 status cases going to court tomorrow for review
Superintendent of Water Report (Hayden Coffey): not present
Superintendent of Street Report (John Ratliff): Supt Ratliff stated they are working on drainage problems that have been causing issues for a while. The pipe on Job St down from the school, it was sticking up in the air, it is now back down. A ditch has been dug on Front St on one side, will try to get the other side this week. Supt Ratliff added they got signs put up on E Beardstown, 25 mph speed limits.
Park Board: Alderman Cox states he talked to Gibby. They are doing a lot of mowing and working on the pool. The pool has leaks again and they are not sure when the pool will open, still have to paint it. They also need to get old slide out. There will be two low dives this year. Ball games started this week with big crowd. There are new bases on small diamond. There are also two new batting cage nets, they aren’t installed yet. Sports Boosters and VYA league donated enough to replace the nets. They are still working on the Pickle Ball Court. Next Meeting: May 17th at City hall at 7pm
TIF: no new requests. Balance of account is: $50-60k left. Will get more soon.
Attorneys Report
Attorney Veith stated there are three cases up for status and one up for rule to show cause. There will be two more next month.
Mayors Report
Mayor McClure stated he tried to get an enhancement grant for the square, it was intergovernmental agreement between us and county. We did not get it. Alderwoman Martin stated she was at a meeting with Tim Icenogle, he said those never get approved the first time. He said it usually is around the third time. We also need to try Safe School for Kids again. McClure stated in regards to the ISEARCH grant, the engineer put together reports for the water/sewer projects. We need to get a full audit to them and they should be good to go to submit. McClure stated that we have a lot of discrepancies about signs around town. In 2005 city hall burned and we lost a lot of records. McClure would like the ordinance committee to meet with Chief Shumate and ride around town and see where we need new signs. We need to look at stop signs, yield signs, parking signs, or anything that Chief Shumate thinks that should be there.
Aldermanic Reports
Cox: thanked Pratt and Bowman for their service on the council.
Knous: In regard to the no parking sign on Duncan St, there isn’t an ordinance on there in our book, right? Mayor states he couldn’t find one but it could have burnt up and it didn’t get back in the ordinance book. In 2009 the council went together and re did all the ordinances. Knous stated he looked at google earth back to 2007 and there was no sign there then. Mayor states the ordinance committee can take a look at that and see if they feel there needs to be one there. Mayor thinks that there should be one there. Knous if there is a ticket written and we don’t have an ordinance, is it valid? Mayor states that is what he means, we need to look at this stuff and start fresh.
Wulf: 282 S Main, talked to Superintendent Coffee about it. Wulf is concerned a small kid could fall into the holes. He said he would take a look at it but he has been busy today. Ratliff states he thinks he already has looked at it. Wulf stated that the Virginia BBQ coming up, do we have any officers working nights or weekends? Mayor states you can get together with the police committee and they can answer that question.
Bowman: not present
Pratt: stated it was a privilege to serve on the council with you all, thank you for your service.
Martin: went to Cass Co Development meeting last week. Advertising committee is working on an assessment. They’ll be working on a “goals’ list on how to promote tourism and bring people into our county.They will use that to promote our community. Martin added there is a bill currently in legislature to add tax money that would come to the city if an AirBnB and VRBO was in the city limits. Martin states National Endowment for the Arts, is helping rural areas. The IL Ext Office can partner with communities as far as rural development. It sounded like if we can’t tear buildings down on southside, if we could figure someway to put something like a covering and make it “artful” that is something that they might be able to assist with. Martin will talk to Dustin Fritsche more about that. April and Lauren talked about the 10k they raised for Day Care during the Putt Putt fundraiser. They also discussed the Petefish Bank merger with First National Bank in Beardstown. Paula Morris bought Dr. Ugs and will be selling Kathy’s Kitchen products and ice cream. Martin stated that people buy her products all over and it may make it a “destination” store, think that is the best we can hope for. Virginia Economic Development meeting is this week and will have one next week too. Martin asks if the council has any suggestions on economic development, she would be happy to hear ideas. Martin also praised Becky Hohiemer, owner of Goodtimes, for now opening 7 days a week. The kitchen will also be open until 8pm. They have also started doing a buffet. Martin would also like to applaud TO’s for trying different things to serve the community.
City Clerks Report
Nothing to report
Unfinished Business
No Unfinished Business
Adjourn Sine Die to swear in elected officials 732pm.
Mayor swears in new Alderman.
Alderman Andrews and Alderwoman Stanbridge take their seats on the council.
New Business
- FY 23-24 Appropriation Ordinance (1st reading)
Council reviewed the Appropriation Ordinance. With nothing further to discuss, Alderman Wulf made a motion to approve the FY 23-24 Appropriation Ordinance (1st reading) and Alderman Knous seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
- Approve MFT Program
Council reviewed the MFT Program. With nothing further to discuss, Alderman Cox made a motion to approve the MFT Program and Alderman Martin seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Comment
At 737pm, Alderman Knous made a motion to go into Executive Session and Alderman Cox seconded.
The council entered Executive Session
At 754pm the council returned from Executive Session. Roll was called and all council members answered present.
With nothing further to discuss, at 755pm, Alderman Cox made a motion to adjourn the council meeting and Alderman Wulf seconded. Motion carried unanimously.
________________________________ ________________________________
Randy McClure, Mayor Ashley Cox, City Clerk