(L-R): Pam Zaksas, Trustee John Veres and President Annetta Veres (Archived photo)

Members of the Wilsonville Village Board voted unanimously Monday night to hire Bob Reimann of Sawyerville as an ordinance enforcement officer, and approved the Village’s annual appropriations ordinance and tax levy for the upcoming fiscal year.

On a motion by Bob Carr, seconded by John Veres, the board voted unanimously to hire Reimann at a cost of $75 per month with Reiman working four days monthly to issue ordinance violation citations. The action followed a 20-minute executive session to discuss Reimann’s possible employment. Reimann, a former law enforcement officer, has worked as the ordinance enforcement officer for the Village of Sawyerville since 1997.

Addressing the board earlier in the meeting, Reimann said he doesn’t play favorites when it comes to ticketing alleged violators.

“If it’s one of your kids,” he said, “you’d better expect a ticket.”

[pullquote]I don’t write a ticket unless I have absolute proof and can back it up with pictures and so on.[/pullquote]”If I have to take them to court, I take them to court,” Reimann told the board. “The only thing that I ask is that you back me up. I don’t write a ticket unless I have absolute proof and can back it up with pictures and so on.” He said he would need to have a copy of the Wilsonville ordinance book in order to correctly code ordinance violation citations, and he asked for occasional payment to help pay for gas used in the performance of his new duties. “I use my personal truck,” he said. “My truck is my office.”

He suggested the village might want to follow the example of Sawyerville and revise the structure of fines imposed for repeat offenders. In Sawyerville, he said, a first offense results in a $25 fine, but subsequent offenses result in increasing fines with some escalating to as much as $700. “I’ve had one guy in court five times for the same thing,” he said, “and he has paid fines up to $700.”

If the council determines later that his services are needed more than four days a month, Reimann said he would be willing to negotiate payment for additional service.

“I’m an easy dog to hunt with,” he noted.

APPROPRIATIONS AND LEVY

In other action, the board unanimously approved the Village’s annual appropriations ordinance and tax levy ordinance.

The appropriations ordinance, which sets spending ceilings for specific line items for the fiscal year starting May 1, 2016, authorizes expenditures of $87,340. Specifically, the ordinance sets appropriations for the General Fund in the amount of $45,840, $2,000 from the audit fund, $10,000 from Motor Fuel Tax, $25,000 for Water Operations and $4,500 for Sewer Operations.

The property tax levy ordinance approved Monday night totals $19,050 and is broken down as follows: General Corporate Tax, $3,900; Police Protection Tax, $1,370; Fire Protection Tax, $3,880; Audit Tax, $4,000; and Insurance Tax, $5,900. The levy sets the amount of revenue to be raised from property taxes. The tax rate, the amount by which the Village’s total equalized assessed valuation must be multiplied to generate the levy, will be set by the County Clerk upon review of the levy ordinance.

As presented by Village Clerk Tena Cerentano, the levy ordinance originally called for a $1,900 for the annual audit, but Trustee Deno Filippini questioned whether the levy was enough to cover the cost of the audit.

“How much did the audit cost last year?” Filipinni asked.

Trustee Pam Zaksas said the audit has cost about $4,000 for the past few years. Based on that information, Filipinni asked that the audit levy be increased before approval.

SUMMER LUNCH PROGRAM

After some discussion, the board voted unanimously to authorize use of the Wilsonville Civic Center for a potential summer lunch program for Community Unit School District 7 youths. Village President Anetta Veres told council members that her participation in an “Improving Our Community One Step at a Time” sponsored by the Illinois Coalition for Community Services earlier this month had raised enough money to implement the lunch program this summer. A similar program was previously hosted at the Wilsonville Assembly of God Church.

Veres said the Civic Center is the logical location for the lunch program, but before the program can be implemented there, the facility must be inspected by the Macoupin County Public Health Department and certified for food service. It’s likely that upgrades, including installation of food service equipment, will be required.

Veres said she contacted MCPHD and had arranged for an inspection visit this week, but she asked for the board to authorize the use of the facility if it can be brought into compliance.

“I’d like to know what it’s going to cost first,” said Zaksas. “There’s going to be mucho deniro go into this to bring it up to standards.”

Veres, however, said the action she sought would simply give the lunch program the “ability” to use the center if it can be improved for food service.

Ultimately, the board voted 3-0 to approve the measure. Trustees John Veres and Keith Mohr abstained from the vote because of their affiliation with the Wilsonville Community Organization that manages the Civic Center.

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WATER LIEN

With one dissenting vote, the board voted to waive an $865 Water Department lien against property in the 400 block of School Street that recently was purchased at auction by Donald Benjey. The measure is contingent upon Benjey making adequate progress toward cleaning up and improving the property within six months.

Earlier in the meeting, Benjey addressed the board, asking for some relief on the lien, noting that a reduction of the lien would free up money for him to put toward property improvement.

Zaksas, who cast the sole dissenting vote, objected to the plan, saying that the Village has previously refused to reduce or waive water liens on other properties. She specifically cited a similar situation, also on School Street, where the board refused to negotiate on an existing lien.

“They were landlords,” said Trustee Veres. “They were going to be making money on the property. Benjey is going to use this as his house. It’s apples and oranges.”

“Why even put liens on if this is what we are going to do?” Zaksas commented.

WATER METERS

Village President Veres asked board members to be thinking about ways the village can pay for new water meters to replace upward of 300 aging meters over the next 10 years. While not asking for formal action Monday night, Veres said one idea that has been discussed is the possibility of imposing a $3 monthly surcharge on water bills to build a meter replacement fund. Currently, the cost of replacing a meter runs about $75 each, excluding labor.

Also on the topic of infrastructure improvements, Trustee Veres reported on the possibility of improving manholes with a product called SpectraShield to prevent water infiltration. He said any potential project would focus only on manholes most in need of improvement and would be contingent upon the village receiving grant money to cover most of the cost. Estimates for installing the product, he said, run $300 per vertical foot for manholes and more than $300 per foot for lift stations.

ANIMAL CONTROL

Board members voted unanimously to formally name the Village President and each of the Trustees as contact persons for the county’s Animal Control Officer. Village officials will notify the Animal Control Officer of the decision and provide her with contact information for each of the village officials.

Earlier in the meeting, the board heard from a resident complaining about dogs running at large and the difficulty the resident allegedly has had in getting county officials to respond to her complaints.

RENTAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS

While taking no formal action, the board discussed the possibility of amending current ordinances to impose a fine on the owners of rental properties who fail to have those properties inspected between tenants. Current ordinance requires an inspection for such properties after a tenant moves out and before another tenant moves in. President Veres suggested an initial fine of $75 for a first offense and fines that increase incrementally for subsequent violations.

“I think that is going to get their attention,” she said.

The issue was referred to the Ordinance Committee and is likely to be brought back to the full board for action at a later date.

President Veres also tabled action on imposing a fee for water usage when the fire department responds to fire calls.

“I want to get more feedback from other communities and fire chiefs first,” she said.

In other action, the board:

• Set the board meeting schedule for 2016 for the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m., except for July and September when the meeting will be on the first Tuesday to avoid conflict with the Independence Day and Labor Day holidays. Dates for All-Committee meetings are set for 7 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month, except for May when the meeting will be on Tuesday, May 31, to avoid conflict with the Memorial Day holiday.
• Agreed to donate $100 to buy gifts for a Christmas raffle at BenGil Elementary School, and $50 for the school district’s Adopt-A-Class program.
• Acknowledged a $100 donation for the Community Center in memory of Gilbert and Virginia Meldi.
• Approved a $50 holiday bonus for maintenance worker Mike Campagna.
• Approved the purchase of a rubber stamp to maintain the village’s postal permit for mailing water bills.
• Referred to the Street and Alley Committee the issue of researching a source and pricing for new street signs.

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