THEODORE HARTS Supervisor DANA STUTZKE Highway Commissioner FRANCES LEAL Town Clerk MARCY LAWRENCE Assessor TOWN OF STERLING 108 Fourth Ave. - Suite #2 STERLING, ILLINOIS 61081 Phone (815) 625-3990 Fax (815) 625-3193 Trustees: TOMAS AUSMAN RUTH M. STANLEY WILLIAM C. MCGINN KEN DUNCAN --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOARD OF TRUSTEE S MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 22 nd, 2018 A meeting of Sterling Township Supervisor and the Board of Trustees of Sterling Township was held on August 22, 2018 at the Sterling Town Hall at 8:30 A.M. The meeting was called to order by the supervisor, Mr. Theodore Harts. Item 2 Roll Call Elected officials of the Sterling Township board present included: Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Stanley, and Mr. Harts. Also present were the highway commissioner, Mr. Stutzke and the assessor, Mrs. Lawrence. Others present were Mrs. Schneider, Mr. Sotelo, Mrs. Sotelo, Mr. Gould and Russ Francis. Item 3 Pledge of Allegiance Led by Mr. Duncan. Item 4 Approval of Agenda Motion was made by Mr. McGinn and seconded by Mrs. Stanley to approve the agenda as presented. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Stanley, and Mr. Harts voted aye. Motion carried. Item 5 Approval of Minutes of Previous Meeting Motion was made by Mr. Ausman and seconded by Mrs. Stanley to approve the minutes of the previous meeting, August 9, 2018. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Stanley, and Mr. Harts voted aye. Motion carried. Item 6 Communication from Visitors NONE Item 7 Riverside Cemetery Report Riverside Cemetery Manager Mr. Sotelo reported: July was not a busy month. It has been noted there are many more cremations and they are happening more often and there are fewer full burials. Schilling Funeral Home had contacted the cemetery about a burial and filing information when putting the ashes of the spouse in the casket. Mr. Sotelo informed the Funeral Home that you cannot put a cremation in a burial. He notified the Funeral Home that burials and cremations must always be separate and filed separately. The compressor has stopped working and has been replaced. There was an incidence of vandalism at the cemetery in which a cross was kicked off of a head stone. The head stone has not been damaged, but the cross was kicked off. Riverside Cemetery filed a vandalism report. The picket fence in the front of the cemetery is a first impression and it has deteriorated and is
weathered and should be tended to. Mr. Sotelo has found that it is $3100 for a similar fence and $6000 for a composite fence that is less maintenance. Due to the cost Mr. Sotelo will replace/repair the picket fence with a similar wooden picket fence. The steps were replaced for $1300 The posts that protect the corners at the entrance were rehabbed/restored and they look much better. Mr. Sotelo and Mrs. Schneider attended a webinar about workman compensation and were able to address questions regarding the recent burn incident at the cemetery. The education for the two of them was $25 and they were able to gather the information they needed from the seminar at a reasonable cost as compared to involving an attorney. Item 8 Assessor Report None Item 9 Clerk Report Marcy Lawrence, deputy clerk, shared a thank you letter from the School House which thanked Township for the support and indicated the contribution aided in helping over 1300 students. Item 10 Highway Commissioner Report Mr. Stutzke reported: The skid loader came in. There was a foot of water by Frantz on LeFevre after storms and this area now needs to be repaired. The Highway Department has maintenance issues. The Turbo went out on the Low-Pro and repairs will be $3600. On the big loader the accelerator pedal is sticking. Mr. Stutzke has found that they are sealed, and the seal just wears out. Mr. Stutzke has no other options for repair of the pedal on the big loader other than West Side. West Side completed the repair and the part was $495 and it is 1 ½ hour to repair and in addition there was charge for repair of $575 just to come to the site. Also, West Side had a miscellaneous fee for shop rags, oil etc. They charge a percent for the miscellaneous as opposed to detailing the invoice and itemizing per actual product used. Arny, from the Union Grove Township had commented to Mr. Stutzke some time ago to make sure to get a maintenance agreement built into the sale/purchase price, or at least to consider having traveling time for repairs waived as part of the sale/purchase price. The air filters are wearing out on the Turbo. Item 11 Supervisor Report Bills Town Fund - $14,394.56 - Motion was made by Mr. McGinn and seconded by Mr. Ausman to authorize and pay the expenses of the Town Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Stanley and Mr. Harts all voted aye. Motion carried. General Assistance - $4,871.11 - Motion was made by Mrs. Stanley and seconded by Mr. Duncan to authorize and pay the expenses of the General Assistance Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Stanley, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Harts all voted aye.
Motion carried. Town IMRF Fund - $1,123.84 - Motion was made by Mrs. Stanley and seconded by Mr. Ausman to authorize and pay the expenses of the Town IMRF. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mr. Duncan, Mrs. Stanley, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Harts all voted aye. Motion carried. Community Development - $733.84 - Motion was made by Mrs. Stanley and seconded by Mr. Duncan to authorize and pay the expenses of the Community Development Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mrs. Stanley, Mr. Duncan and Mr. Harts all voted aye. Motion carried. Town Social Security - $1,060.19 - Motion was made by Mr. Ausman and seconded by Mrs. Stanley to authorize and pay the expenses of the Town Social Security Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Road and Bridge Fund $13,172.23 - Motion was made by Mrs. Stanley and seconded by Mr. Ausman to authorize and pay the expenses of the Road and Bridge Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mrs. Stanley, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Harts voted aye. Motion carried. Road Tax Fund - $1,211.25 - Motion was made by Mr. McGinn and seconded by Mrs. Stanley to authorize and pay the expenses of the Road Tax Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mrs. Stanley, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Harts voted aye. Motion carried Equipment and Building Fund - $35.60 - Motion was made by Mr. Ausman and seconded by Mr. Duncan to authorize and pay the expenses of the Road Tax Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Mr. McGinn, Mrs. Stanley, Mr. Duncan, and Mr. Harts voted aye. Motion carried Highway Social Security Fund - $569.56 - Motion was made by Mr. McGinn and seconded by Mr. Ausman to authorize and pay the expenses of the Social Security Fund. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Highway IMRF Fund - $622.23 - Motion was made by Mr. McGinn and seconded by Mr. Ausman to authorize and pay the expenses of the Highway IMRF expenses. Trustees, Mr. Ausman, Item 11 Trustee and Supervisor/Staff Reports: Ruth Stanley shared newspaper articles of Algonquin and reminded all she still has TOIPAC raffle tickets for sale. Mrs. Sotelo is working on a renewal certification for the chair lift at the Center for Youth. She is also updating the Phone List for Township staff and will prepare an expense report for all rentals at the Center for Youth Mr. Harts, Supervisor also reported that Mrs. Sotelo will be a backup in finance if needed and that Mrs. Sotelo has been training with Mrs. Schneider. Township is cross-training and now has backups for finance and General Assistance.
Paul Gould reported that they have installed 2 extra cameras at the Center for Youth and that they will soon be working on the landscaping at that location. He reported the bathroom is framed in and electrical and plumbing for the bathroom are complete at the General Assistance building. They will put the toilet and sink in soon. The General Assistance building had the old cloth electrical wiring and that is all out and has now been updated. The closet is framed in and will be used for supplies. The dry wall has been completed in the main room and a floor for the bathroom in the General Assistance building was donated and that will be installed. Mr. Gould pointed out the basement at the General Assistance building will be a good shelter for staff in the event of threatening weather. There is a drum of oil in the General Assistance building which needs to be disposed of and quotes for disposal have been quite high. It is 100 150 gallons of oil for the furnace and it contained in the original fuel oil drum. Mr. Gould will continue to explore options and pricing for disposal. Mrs. Schneider of Finance reported that the Senate Bill 2638 is now law as of August 14, 2018 and the Comptroller will accept statement on a Cash Basis. She also said that TOIRMA has sent 3 reimbursement payments to the Township for the Robinson case. The total owed in the Robinson case is $5157. Mrs. Schneider reminded all that the November conference is November 11-13 and it is $55 a person to attend the banquet. She also noted that the Thanksgiving Basket Drive committee will meet soon and get the project started for this year. Supervisor Mr. Harts reported: Fran Leal said she is doing quite well. She is driving, and she starts rehab this week through September. She anticipates being back the 1 st of October. She is getting around great and just tired. Now that school is back in session the Township is back to regular hours, 8 4:30 Monday thru Thursday and 8 12 on Friday. The construction at the General Assistance building is ongoing and Township has now capped spending on that project and moving forward will spend as little as possible. The initial decision was to remodel as opposed to tearing down the West Side. Remodel expenses have now reached that comparable to demolition. Mr. Harts will present a complete expense report of the remodel at the end of the project. It is noted that Township has saved a lot of expense by using in house staff to complete many of the remodel projects. The plan moving forward is to use the building to service General Assistance clients without duplication of services. Mr. Harts will give the board of trustees more information of the project and the plan as he learns more of the need in the community. Mr. Harts thanked the Highway Department for their help with the landscaping of the front of the building. The Highway Department brought 2 truck loads of dirt to fill out the front after the tree had been removed and they have seeded. Mr. Harts also thanked McKenna Floor Coverings for the donation of flooring for the General Assistance building. Supervisor, Mr. Harts, met with Shirley Vasquez, the instructor of Right Direction and they have decided the program was successful and they will continue again starting in September. The Youth program was assessed after a year and Mr. Harts and Ms. Vasquez have decided not to meet every week as they have in the past as this is difficult for students, yet they want more youth involvement. They have discussed small trips every other month and that every month there will be
community service events. The students must earn points in community service to participate in the trips. The Youth program will focus on the Jr High age. They will now meet with the youth weekly at the school, due to convenience, and develop a plan for the Youth program. Principal Matt Birdsley is on board with this program. Mr. Harts said we currently have 2 staff from the BEST program who are working with Mr. Gould on the General Assistance building and they have been a huge help. They do a good job. Item 12 New Business Mr. Stutzke of the Highway Department brought up the news of the City giving the go ahead for a roundabout at Lynn Blvd and LeFevre Rd. He is concerned. The City has never approached him regarding the new roundabout and he is concerned about plowing and about larger equipment, trailers and haulers maneuvering the roundabout. The Highway has the North and West side of the proposed roundabout. Item 13 Old Business NONE Item 14 Closed Session- NONE Item 14 Communication from Visitors NONE Item 15 Adjournment Motion was made by Mr. McGinn and seconded by Mr. Duncan to adjourn this meeting. Motion carried unanimously. Next meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at 8:30 am, at 108 Fourth Avenue, Suite 2 in Sterling. Marcy Lawrence Deputy Clerk Frances Leal, Township Clerk