TOWNSHIP OF HOLLIS ~ COUNTY OF PEORIA ~ STATE OF ILLINOIS
MINUTES REGULAR MONTHLY BOARD AUDIT MEETING
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015
After the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, the Supervisor called the meeting to order @ 7:00 P.M. at the Hollis Town Hall, 6430 West Wheeler Road, Mapleton, Illinois 61547-9615.
Board Members Present for Roll Call:
Supervisor Gary W. Thomas; Clerk Kelsey A. Archer; Trustees: William J. Gerdes, Tal B. Beckman, James E. Bailey and Brian B. Fengel.
The Supervisor announced a quorum was present.
The Road Commissioner Dennis R. Beckman and the Tax Assessor Alice B. Dailey attended
this meeting.
There were no visitors.
There were no corrections or additions to the agenda
APPROVE MINUTES of Previous Meetings:
Prior to tonight’s meeting, copies of Minutes from the Regular Monthly Board Audit Meeting held on Thursday, July 30, 2015 @ 7:00 P.M. were distributed to Board Members for their review.
MOTION to accept the Minutes as presented made by Bill Gerdes; second Tal Beckman. The
motion passed unanimously with all ayes.
AUDIT CURRENT EXPENDITURES, Investments, Transfer of Funds, Budget Line Item Transfers:
1. MOTION to accept for payment all Town Fund Invoices as presented to the Board on the Disbursement Summary August 27, 2015
Motion Jim Bailey; second Brian Fengel. The motion passed with all ayes on a roll call vote.
2. MOTION to accept for payment all General Assistance Invoices as presented to the Board on the Disbursement Summary August 27, 2015
Motion Jim Bailey; second Bill Gerdes. The motion passed with all ayes on a roll call vote.
3. MOTION to accept for payment all Road & Bridge Fund Invoices as presented to the Board on the Disbursement Summary August 27, 2015.
Motion Brian Fengel; second Jim Bailey. The motion passed with all ayes on a roll call vote.
4. MOTION to accept for payment the Joint Bridge Fund Invoices as presented to the Board on the Disbursement Summary August 27, 2015.
Motion Tal Beckman; second Bill Gerdes. The motion passed with all ayes on a roll call vote.
TOWN BUILDING, GROUNDS & EQUIPMENT:
In the near future, Hollis Township will be changing our telephone service from AT&T to Tel-Star Communications.
Tel-Star has given us a very good monthly rate which will be about half of what we are now paying to AT&T.
Alice Dailey has been talking with them and she can give more details if necessary. Alice was instrumental in getting Tel-Star to offer services in the Mapleton area; and of course, Hollis Township already has internet service with Tel-Star.
There will be a battery back-up with Tel-Star which will support our security system with Oberlander for fire and burglar alarm warnings. We will notify Oberlander as soon as we have changed telephone vendors and they will test the system to be sure everything is working properly to continue our security system with them. We have four smoke detectors in the office building: one in the meeting room, one in the front office reception area, one in the back hallway and one in the vault.
TOWN BUSINESS ~ Supervisor:
Gary offered information he obtained from the Township Officials of Illinois Supervisor’s Division Meeting held last Friday, August 21, 2015 in East Peoria:
One continuing topic discussed was the never-ending efforts by some groups to get rid of Township Government.
General Assistance Catastrophic Insurance was also discussed. There seems to be a decline in the number of Townships participating in this coverage and it was noted that there were no claims paid out last year. Hollis Township will review this policy and decide if it is prudent to continue paying for this coverage.
CLERK BUSINESS / Busines & Comments:
Kelsey Archer will continue working with Eric Lofgren, our Web-site manager, to keep Hollis Township information updated. She has made some changes in the information on the website and tonight she distributed bios to all Township Officials for their review and personal updates.
ROAD BUSINESS ~ Highway Commissioner:
1. There was an emergency repair made to a culvert on Powell Road. Hoerr Construction was hired to reline this culvert which had erupted and needed to be repaired quickly.
2. The Peoria County Highway Department has seal coated LaFayette Avenue this week after waiting all summer for them to schedule it. Now, we are waiting for them to apply the second coat of 3/8” rock on top of the seal coating. Note: Hollis Township pays Peoria County to seal coat our roads.
After the completion of seal coating on Lafayette, our road district employees will be more available to continue clearing roadside ditches of debris.
3. Our summer, part time employee Justin Reavley has moved onto his college education this fall; therefore, the Road District has hired another part time employee. Stuart Parks began working for Hollis Road District on Monday, August 17, 2015. He has presented a good resume.
4. It was necessary to have the 2004 Ford F550 towed from Chippewa Road on July 31, 2015 to the Uftring Auto Mall in East Peoria. The towing invoice has been forwarded to TOIRMA, our insurance provider, for reimbursement.
This week, we were able to drive the 2004 Ford truck to the Auto Mall for repairs.
Also this week, we have taken the 2004 International 7400 Tandem into Centre State for repairs once again. There have been many issues with our trucks and other equipment these past few months.
Martin Implement came to our shop location to work on the boom mower; they have ordered parts to complete repairs.
5. The Village of Bartonville has given us about 400 tons of millings from their roads at no cost to our Township. We had two of our trucks hauling the millings, as well as one truck we hired from FCI Excavating to help us obtain as many millings as possible.
6. Several weeks ago, we had vandalism on some road signs and also on our roadways; spray painting foul words on signs and also painting pornography on the actual roads. Tuscarora Road and Lafayette Avenue were the areas targeted.
This week, one of our “fresh oil” signs was stolen.
7. Peoria County Highway Department Motor Fuel Tax: Hollis Township Motor Fuel Tax Un-obligated Fund Balance Report ~ No current information available. Most recent information:
Monthly allotment added July 2, 2015 ~~ $1,963.22 left us a negative balance [$13,790.20]
8. Recently, we have had more people coming to our Office Building for assistance. There was discussion with regard to creating a more secure method of greeting unknown individuals approaching the office. Trustee Fengel suggested installing security cameras outside the Town Hall Building and the Maintenance Buildings for added security. Changing the front entry of the Office Building was also suggested. There will be continuing discussion and other information presented at future meetings.
TRUSTEES/ Information / Business:
Trustee Jim Bailey has contacted the individuals who comprised our 3-Member Audit Committee and completed our audit for fiscal year ended March 31, 2014. All are willing to participate again this year. The three Hollis Township residents who are also former Township Officials are: Russell M. Look, Maryann S. Morrison and Christopher R. Lofgren. A date will be set in the near future for them to meet and review the Township and Road District Accounting records.
TAX ASSESSOR’S OFFICE / Information / Business:
Peoria County sent the PTAX 228 – Notices of Property Assessment dated Aug 28, 2015 which were received on or about August 22, 2015.
Alice Dailey can update the Township Board regarding the telephone inquiries she has received
since those notices were received by property owners in Hollis Township. Everyone is calling questioning the increase in their assessment and the increase in the actual taxes. All individuals are wanting the taxes lowered.
She will attend a meeting tomorrow at the Peoria County Assessor’s Office and will try to get more details on the reason for the tax increases.
OLD UNFINISHED BUSINESS: As discussed last month ~ see details in the July Minutes and your JULY / AUGUST Perspective Magazine:
MOTION to approve payment of the Township Officials of Illinois ~ 108th Annual Educational Conference pre-registration fees – full registration is $ 165.00 per person which includes Monday and Tuesday for this Conference to be held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Springfield, Illiniois. Approval is for all Elected Officials and the Administrative Assistant.
Motion Bill Gerdes; second Tal Beckman. The motion passed with all ayes on a roll call vote.
Trustee William J. Gerdes and Road Commissioner Dennis R. Beckman asked to be registered for the conference.
NEW BUSINESS:
1. Hollis Township Trustee Tal Beckman submitted his resignation tonight effective August 31, 2015.
2. MOTION to adjourn made by Jim Bailey; second Bill Gerdes. The motion passed unanimously with all ayes. The Meeting adjourned at 7:52 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
Kelsey A. Archer, Town Clerk