Will County Gazette

Village of Manhattan Board of Trustees met Oct. 1.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A Regular Meeting of the Village of Manhattan President and Board of Trustees was held on Tuesday, October 1, 2024.

CALL TO ORDER:

Mayor Adrieansen calls the Village of Manhattan Board meeting to order at 6:00 P.M.

ROLL CALL:

Neighbors aye, Young aye, Dilling aye, Beemsterboer aye, Adamski aye, Doyle aye, Adrieansen aye (7 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent). Also present are Lewis, Wold, Nelson, Gehrke, Gulli, Doyle, Tyk, Pintar, and Attorney Taylor.

PUBLIC HEARING/RECOGNITIONS/SPECIAL ITEMS:

Jennifer Hammer, Vice President of Land & River Protection from the Conservation Foundation presents to the Village Board information on the Manhattan Creek Conservation Easement recorded in 2009 in the Brookstone Springs subdivision.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

None.

CONSENT AGENDA:

Young Motion to Approve the Consent Agenda which consists of the September 17, 2024, Village Board Meeting Minutes; September 17, 2024, Executive Session Meeting Minutes (Not for Release); and Approval of October 1, 2024, Bills List. Neighbors Second. Roll Call: Neighbors aye, Young aye, Dilling aye, Beemsterboer aye, Adamski abstain, Doyle aye (5 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent, 1 abstain) Motion Carried.

NEW BUSINESS:

Mayor Adrieansen informs the Board of Trustees that the first item on the agenda is a Resolution Approving an Agreement for Consulting Services (Farnsworth Group – Downtown Design Guidelines). This is next step of our Downtown Redevelopment Master Plan. This will give business owners and developers guidelines to ensure new development reflects the historical character of the Village.

John Stryker, Architect with the Farnsworth Group presents a project overview, scope of the work and timeline.

Young Motion to Approve a Resolution Approving an Agreement for Consulting Services (Farnsworth Group – Downtown Design Guidelines) in the Amount of $42,250.00. Doyle Second. Roll Call: Young aye, Dilling aye, Beemsterboer aye, Adamski aye, Doyle aye, Neighbors aye (6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent, 0 abstain) Motion Carried.

Mayor Adrieansen informs the Board of Trustees that the next item on the agenda is a Resolution Authorizing an Agreement for Consulting Services (KLOA – Traffic Assessment). This traffic study will be completed in conjunction with our Comp Plan. This is to assess several recent traffic studies that have been completed for Manhattan and the adjacent communities.

Beemsterboer Motion to Approve is a Resolution Authorizing an Agreement for Consulting Services (KLOA – Traffic Assessment) in the Amount of $15,000.00. Adamski Second. Roll Call: Dilling aye, Beemsterboer aye, Adamski aye, Doyle aye, Neighbors aye, Young aye (6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent, 0 abstain) Motion Carried.

Mayor Adrieansen informs the Board of Trustees that the next item on the agenda is a Resolution Accepting a Grant of Public Utility Easement. Easement This is for the waterline from Gougar Road to Smith Road to entice commercial development. Additionally the easement will extend to the Berkot’s parking lot for the future construction of a bike path.

Young Motion to Approve a Resolution Accepting a Grant of Public Utility Easement. Doyle Second. Roll Call: Beemsterboer aye, Adamski aye, Doyle aye, Neighbors aye, Young aye, Dilling aye (6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent, 0 abstain) Motion Carried.

FROM VILLAGE OFFICIALS

Mayor Adrieansen asks if the Village Board is in favor of painting ADA parking spots & placing ADA signs at the local businesses throughout town. This would be a one-time installation, and it would be the businesses responsibility to maintain both the ADA parking lot markings and signs after that.

The entire Village Board is in favor of doing this one time and after that is up to the businesses to maintain this at their own cost.

Neighbors would like to thank the Public Works Department for their quick response and repair of the water main break on Foxford Drive.

Young reminds everyone that the Taste of Fall is scheduled for Saturday, October 5th

Dilling informs the Village Board that recently he discovered the Village owned property on McClure was left open and called Public Works Superintendent Tyk to secure the property. Dilling would like to know what is going on with the property.

Village Administrator Wold states that the asbestos will be removed from the property and then it will be scheduled to get demolished.

Beemsterboer thanks Public Works Superintendent Tyk and his Public Works crew for their hard work repairing the water main break on Foxford.

Adamksi asks for an update on the Arabian street lights.

Public Works Superintendent Tyk explains the Village is waiting on poles to be delivered and expects them to come in November.

REPORTS FROM VILLAGE STAFF

Village Administrator Wold informs the Village Board that he is working with Leading IT and assures the Board that no employee has VPN access. Employees will have phishing training. Working to put multi factor authorization in place on all programs that the Village uses.

Community Development Director Nelson informs the Village Board that he continues to work with the Fire Protection District on the site at Eastern Ave. There will be a Public Hearing in the fall and then come to the Village Board late fall for approval of the fire station, new court, & Public Works Facility.

Public Works Superintendent Tyk informs the Village Board that Baker Road closes for construction the week of October 7th. The Public Works crew will begin fall planting of trees. Tyk informs the Village Board of the passing of Ben Guzek. Guzek was an employee of the Village in the summer of 2023 and will be greatly missed.

Finance Director Gehrke informs the Village Board that the bond sale is complete, and the Village will be receiving the funds on October 17th. At that time he will open a Money Market account at First Bank of Manhattan to earn interest until the funds are spent.

EMA Director Doyle would like to acknowledge the Manhattan Junior High School Girls Basketball team. EMA Escorted the team downstate. Congratulations to them and Doyle is very proud of them.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Beemsterboer Motion to Enter into Executive Session for the Appointment, Employment, Compensation, Discipline, Performance, or Dismissal of Specific: Employees, Appointed, or Elected Officials; and Collective Bargaining; and Probable, Imminent, and Pending Litigation at 6:25 P.M. Dilling Second. Roll Call: Adamski aye, Doyle aye, Neighbors aye, Young aye, Dilling aye, Beemsterboer aye (6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent, 0 abstain) Motion Carried.

Adamski Motion to Reopen Regular Session at 8:20 P.M. Young Second. Roll Call: Young aye, Dilling aye, Beemsterboer aye, Adamski aye, Doyle aye, Neighbors aye (6 ayes, 0 nays, 0 absent, 0 abstain) Motion Carried.

ACTION AS A RESULT OF EXECUTIVE SESSION

None.

ADJOURNMENT

Dilling Motion to Adjourn. Adamski Second. All are in Favor. Motion Carried.

Meeting Adjourned at 8:21 P.M.

https://cms7files1.revize.com/manhattanil/Agendas-Minutes/Village%20Board/2024/Minutes/10.01.2024.pdf