The Dwight Village Board of Trustees met in their regular meeting Monday April 8.
Present were Village Trustees Pete Meister, Marla Kinkade, Jenny Johnson and Brian Berta. Also attending were Mayor Paul Johnson, Village Administrator Crissy Livingston and Village Clerk Whitney Scott. Trustee Randy Irvin had tendered a resignation letter to the Board on April 3 and was not in attendance. Also absent was Trustee Justin Eggenberger.
The following items were approved in the Consent Agenda portion of the meeting:
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- Motion approving Payments of March 29th, 2024, bills $69,388.70
- Motion approving Payments of April 8th, 2024, bills $55,266.29
- Motion approving the minutes of the March 25th, 2024, Village Board Meeting
- Motion approving the minutes of the March 25th, 2024, Public Hearing
- Motion approving Resolution 2024-09 – A resolution authorizing and approving the execution of a proposal from the General Code
In Public Forum, representatives of St. Patrick Church in Dwight addressed the Board requesting reimbursement on curb reconstruction costs associated with the repaving of their parking lot. The Mayor and the Board were sympathetic to the request, acknowledging that St. Patrick’s hall and parking lot are used for many community events, but an ordinance pertaining to curb replacement would need to be drafted and more detailed information would be needed.
Village Administrator Crissy Livingston reported the home water service line survey was underway and door hangers had been distributed to homes that had not responded. If a resident received a door hanger but had already submitted their survey, it should just be disregarded.
EMS Director Michael Callahan reported the ambulance with the oil problem was back in service and the issue is being monitored.
Mayor Johnson added that a legislative bill is being considered at the State level to allow EMS Agencies to bill directly to customers. The bill is designed to offset the problem of users abusing the EMS system. Since Dwight residents are not charged for ambulance calls, the EMS crews are being called out for incidents that are less than emergency. The Mayor cited one example, where one address had 309 calls within the last few years. He pointed out changes need to made to get the system corrected which is why this is being looked at by the State Legislature.
Chief of Police Mike Nolan told the Board initial employment testing for new recruits will take place Saturday April 13. The two current recruits at the Academy are entering their final weeks of instruction. He also adde that Grundy County has installed Flock cameras on Route 47 north of the I-55 interchange. Flock cameras technology allows law enforcement officers to query for various characteristics of a suspect vehicle, including make and model, color, paper plates, and other attributes.
Director of Public Works Cory Scoles reported that twig chipping and lawn refuse bag pick-up has begun for the season. He reminded residents to not blow grass clippings into the street.
In Committee Reports, the bid and construction of the Renfrew Park West parking lot was discussed.
The Board also reviewed the appropriate funding and coordination of the Fourth of July fireworks. Since the formation of the Dwight Economic Alliance in 2014, that organization had coordinated the fireworks with financial support from the Village. The Board had voted recently to become a Platinum member of the DEA and would no longer technically be funding them, so the DEA was requesting from the Village a donation of $15,500 for this year’s fireworks display. The Board agreed that since bids had already been negotiated they would honor the DEA’s request along with the awareness that next year the Village would be more involved with decisions on funding the event. The cost of fireworks has increased over 40% since 2019.
DEA Representatives Bob Ohlendorf and Rudy Piskule who were coordinating details of the event were on hand and told the Board consideration was being given to moving the 2024 fireworks to Saturday July 6. A decision on that should be known in the next few days.
The resignation of Village Trustee Randy Irvin was accepted. Dwight resident Josh Jahn was appointed to take his seat as he was the first runner-up in the last Trustee election.
In New Business the following items were approved or adopted:
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- A proposal from Grassman Plumbing and Heating for a new A/C unit
- The Amended FY24 Budget
- The resignation of Trustee Irvin
- Appointment of Trustee Kinkade as Pro Tem
- Resolution 2024-10 – Removal of banking authority for Opperman bid.
- Resolution 2024-11 – Signing authority for Opperman bid.
- Award bid to Opperman Construction Company for Renfrew West Parking lot at $312,761.00
- Resolution 2024-12 – Donation to Dwight Economic Alliance of $15,500 for 2024 fireworks.
- Resolution 2024-13 – Rock Salt – A resolution required by the State from the Village to allow the State to proceed with the bidding of Rock Salt
- Appointment as Village Trustee Josh Jahn
- Village Clerk swear in newly appointed Village Trustee Jahn
The next Dwight Village Board Meeting will be April 22.