Byron Township Board of Trustees met March 12.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
The regular monthly meeting was called to order at 7:08P.M.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Ray Dyck led us in prayer.
Roll call was taken.
Those present were:
Trustees; Janet Harding, Hank Ebert, Dave Engelbrecht, Ray Dyck and Township Supervisor Terry Reeverts
Road Commissioner Ron Gibson and Township Clerk Barbara Rundle.
Township Assessor Bob Goelitz
Public; Denny Herbig was present.
Trustee Engelbrecht requested to add;
Discussion on purchasing the Surface Pro for Cemetery Sexton to Old Business on the agenda.
Minutes from the February 13, 2020 were discussed.
Janet Harding made a motion to approve the minutes as presented.
Dave Engelbrecht 2nd the motion, roll call was taken, and approved by all.
Zoning & Planning Committee Report – Nothing for this month.
Assessor’s Report – Bob reported a lot of calls from appraisers for information on properties. Purchasing the camera for car hood is on hold for now. Continues to be disappointed with how the previous assessor did not keep files on properties up to date and was not doing the job properly. He is still in the process of getting switched over to the new computer.
Road Commissioner’s Report – Ron reported the following;
• They are working on the sweeping but it is not done yet.
• Attended the countywide meeting; received the bridge report and will need to go through to see what repairs are needed, learned the Motor Fuel tax will be much higher which will allow the township to do seal coating of resealing on Severson, Weldon, Oak Grove from Barker to Conger, and A2 the section of Oak Grove west of Conger that has never been done before.
• The crew has been working on the gravel part of Oak Grove to get it ready for seal coating. They have also been working on culverts. They have been getting the culverts from the county which they have on hand.
• Ron has been checking on upgrading equipment because he has been told with the way the economy is and the good condition of the dump trucks they could get a pretty good price for them. He has been looking at upgrading the dump trucks, tractors, and mowers. By doing this upgrade the process would take until August and possible into late September or October. He has been told by the truck salesmen he’s been working with; they have contacts in the southern part of the state and could probably sell the trucks down there because people down there are looking for this type of truck. Ron said the township fell behind between 2008 and last year with keeping the equipment up to date because of how the economy was, so this upgrade will being everything up to par again and make the equipment more universal and every piece of equipment will have a backup. He wants to get rid of the 3 single axle dump trucks, 2 of them with plows and salt spreaders, and replace the 3 with 2 tandem trucks. The tandems will be able to handle approx 30% more weight. One truck would be able to handle the west side of the township and the other handle the east side and not have to come back to reload several times like they do now. He said; by down grading 1 truck and taking care of these trucks, what they would get out of the 3 trucks would almost pay for 1 truck depending on how they ended up. He feels this would make the township function better and be more economical in the long run. On the tractors, he would be going from an ’09 to a new one, replacing the blue tractor, they can be traded or sold out right. He currently has 2 townships interested in the tractors. The mowers are 5 years old and need to be upgraded before the gear boxes go out. To do the equipment upgrade he would get a loan from the Byron Bank for the time it takes to sell all the equipment and pay the loan down as they sell. There is no equipment being paid on at this time. The bank said the first payment would not be due until a year from this fall so there would be 2 tax years accumulated by then and whatever amount he carries over from this year. He feels with the condition of the equipment and what he has been told he can get from selling the equipment out right they should move forward with it. There was a discussion on which equipment would be upgraded and sold out right. Hank said it is a lot of money for different fewer trucks and not knowing if they would work for the township or if they would even like them. Ray asked if it would really save time on plowing and how one driver would be able to handle half the township by themself. Ron said he thinks it will save time and the drivers would be good with it.
At 7:40pm Supervisor Reeverts made a motion to go into closed session with the Township board and Clerk Rundle. Ray Dyck 2nd the motion, roll call was taken and approved by all.
Closed session for:
Under 5 ILCS 120/2.(c(1) The appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body, including hearing testimony on a complaint lodged against an employee of the public body or against legal counsel for the public body to determine its validity
At 7:57pm Supervisor Reeverts, Trustees; Hank Ebert, Dave Engelbrecht, Ray Dyck, Janet Harding and Clerk Rundle came out of closed session.
There were no actions taken while in closed session.
Janet told Ron she was giving his proposal back to him because she didn’t think he should get rid of the whole fleet at the same time but should look at replacing a few pieces at a time. Ron said the reason he was doing all the trucks at the same time was because it would cost a lot more going from 3 trucks to 2 instead of one at a time. Janet also asked him to get more than one bid for the equipment. Ron said he got the bids from Source Well a national bidding service that gets all the state bids and compares them for the best one. Dave said he is not in agreement to go into debt for this amount of money especially going off the prices he has estimated they will sell out right for. Additionally, he is not in agreement with trading off the whole fleet at one time.
Ray asked about the condition of the grader. Ron said he estimates the grader should last until 2025-2030. Ray also expressed concern with replacing everything at once and needing to be replaced all at the same time in the future. Ron said different pieces of equipment will last longer than others and shouldn’t need to be replaced all at the same time.
Dave said another reason he feels very uneasy with the whole proposal is the current state of the market. He is not comfortable with it, he values every dollar he owns and feels it is very risky at this time and the tax payers would probably feel the same way. Ron said he thinks it will put the township in a better situation with the warrantees on the equipment.
Janet brought up the concern of having just 2 trucks not working out like he thinks it will. Ron said they still will have the grader and the 1 ton as a backup also, the county handles way more miles of road per plow than the township does with the tandem trucks.
Terry asked, what if he replaced the 1 ton truck, 1 tractor, and traded in 2 single axle trucks for 1 tandem and did it for 2 or 3 years with the bank. Then replace the other half in about 2 years. Ron said he didn’t have a problem with going that direction but would need to look into how it would work money wise. There was discussion on the numbers. Ron asked about trying to sell the trucks out right because he would like to try but if they didn’t they would trade them in. If someone is interested in purchasing a truck he will sell it by asking for a nonrefundable 20% down payment and then they will take possession once the new township trucks come in. Everyone seemed to think it was a good idea. Terry asked if a Resolution was needed tonight, Ron said no just as long as what was decided upon was in the minutes they should be covered. Terry recapped what was agreed upon; purchase 1 tandem truck $180,349 (trade-in 2 single axle trucks or sell out right, purchase 1 tractor $89,000 (trade-in tractor), and 1 one ton truck (trade-in 1 ton truck) $100,000 for a raw total of $377,500. These numbers do not reflect any trade in values or if anything was sold out right. Terry asked if everyone was good with that and it was agreed upon.
Terry asked Ron if he had heard anything about redoing the driveway at the cemetery. Ron said Denny had brought up the township redoing the drive themselves using hot mat he would need to do some figuring but it may work out to be cheaper. Terry said it made sense and sounded good to him. Ron will get back to them.
Clerk’s Report – Nothing for this month.
Trustees’ Report – Nothing for this month.
Cemetery Report – Terry said he is closer with finding the Arch from the cemetery; he thinks Bill Hanlin could have it.
Supervisor’s Report – Nothing for this month.
Dave Engelbrecht made a motion to approve the following line item transfers in Permanent Road Fund:
Transfer $2,500 from line item 614- Maintenance Supplies for Road to 616 - Maintenance Supplies for Road
Transfer $2,200 from 617-Calcium Chloride to 655-Gasoline
Transfer $6,500 from 451-Health Insurance and $4,600 from 463- Retirement Contributions $11,100 to 410- Salaries
Hank Ebert 2nd the motion, roll call was taken and approved by all.
The following bills were submitted for audit and approval;
Town Fund:
Regular bills $ 1,204.27
Payroll $ 11,155.20
Social Security $ 791.45
Total of Town Fund in the amount of $13,150.92.
Ray Dyck made a motion to approve the bills as submitted;
Janet Harding 2nd the motion, roll call was taken, and approved by all.
Road District:
Road and Bridge Fund $ 6,128.14
Permanent Road Fund $ 17,866.81
Permanent Payroll Fund $ 15,319.66
Insurance Fund $ 212.50
Social Security Fund $ 1,080.90
Total for Road District Fund in the amount of $40,608.01.
Dave Engelbrecht made a motion to approve the bills as submitted;
Hank Ebert 2nd the motion, roll call was taken, and approved by all.
Old Business –
a) Dave reported Mike said the township owns an extra license of Office 16 and is available for the Surface Pro. He also spoke to a rep and the Surface Pro will need an E sims card the same as out cell provider. Terry will ask Josiah what cell service will be used and will find out a cost.
New Business –
a) There were 3 bids received for mowing the cemetery. They were; 1. Backyard Wonder $500 per mowing 2. Pedro Landscaping $350.00 per mowing 3. Michael Sholes $475.00 per mowing. It was agreed they would like to keep it local and decided on Backyard wonder. Janet Harding made a motion to accept the bid from Backyard Wonder to mow the cemetery at $500 per mowing. Ray Dyck 2nd the motion, roll call was taken and approved by all.
b) Ray Dyck made a motion to approve the Tentative Budget & Appropriation Ordinance for the Town Fund beginning April 1, 2020 and ending March 31, 2021. Hank Ebert 2nd the motion, roll call was taken and approved by all.
c) Dave Engelbrecht made a motion to approve the Tentative Budget & Appropriation Ordinance for the Road District Fund beginning April 1, 2020 and ending March 31, 2021. Janet Harding 2nd the motion, roll call was taken and approved by all.
Ray Dyck made a motion for the meeting to be adjourned.
Dave Engelbrecht 2nd the motion, roll call was taken and approved by all.
Byron Township March 12, 2020 monthly meeting was adjourned at 8:47pm
http://www.byroniltownship.com/Board%20Meetings/Minutes/2020-03%20Meeting%20Minutes.pdf
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