The Medina Township Board of Trustees Monthly Meeting
Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Purpose: Regularly Scheduled Board Meeting
Present: Shawn Garner, Supervisor
Cam Parr, Trustee
Mike Molohon, Trustee
Cindy Greene, Trustee
Frank Gerke, Trustee
Mary Sundermeyer, Clerk
Other Officials and Township Staff Present:
Frank Sturm II, Road Commissioner
Deputy Ben Davison, Community Police
Others In Attendance: 3 Residents
Call To Order: Supervisor Shawn Garner called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm
Approval of Minutes: Clerk Mary Sundermeyer presented the minutes from the regular board meeting held on September 14, 2022. Frank Gerke made a motion to approve the minutes. Mike Molohon seconded. The minutes were approved by a voice vote with Cam Parr abstaining.
Community Policing Report:
Deputy Ben Davison gave the report for September. There were 63 reports made involving 41 reports of 15 original crimes as including: domestic battery, aggravated assault, aggravated battery.
Public Input: Lori Turner and Erika Shull talked about the abandoned house on Medina St. The owner died and left no heirs. Now squatters have taken over the house and are causing disturbances. There is trash all over the property, noise at all hours, large bon fires including the burning of plastics, and their dog has attacked other dogs in a neighbor’s fenced yard. The police, fire and animal control have all been called and the problems still continue. The squatters have poorly erected a large privacy fence. Erika will call the Peoria County Zoning commission to have the fence removed if it is not permitted. Deputy Davison reported that he has tried many avenues to remove the squatters but he does not have the legal authority to do so as there is no legal homeowner to say that the people are not supposed to be there. A company in Peoria has purchased the property and that sale will be final in November. As soon as there is a legal property owner to make a complaint, the squatters will be evicted. Lori mentioned that there is another empty house on Court St and that the squatters have been nosing around that property as well and may be storing items in the garage. Deputy Davison had contacted that homeowner and she has given permission for her daughter and granddaughter to be on the property. If anyone else is found there, they will be removed. Lori also reported that the squatters have parked a trailer on Medina Township property near the ball fields. Supervisor Garner will look into this and have the trailer removed.
Old Business:
Shawn presented the proposed noise ordinance to our legal counsel. The lawyer reported that townships do not have the authority to issue noise ordinances. Unfortunately, this would fall to Peoria County and they do not have a noise ordinance. This matter is now closed.
New Business:
Medina Township is renegotiating the Community Police contract with the County Sherriff. The rates have gone up and to save money, Medina is considering having a community officer for 8 hours per day instead of the current 12-hour shift. The proposed shift would be from 6 pm until 2 am. We would need to have a Special Town meeting in order to make this change. Shawn made a motion to hold a Special Town Meeting on November 14, 2022 at 7 pm for the purpose of requesting authority of electorate for the township board to review and revise hours of patrol for the Peoria County Sheriff’s contract”. Cam Parr seconded. The motion was approved by unanimous voice vote.
Department Correspondence:
Supervisor Shawn Garner:
- Investment Report: the report ending on October 12, 2022 was previously presented to the board.
- The park has been reseeded and fertilized.
- There are no are no pending General Assistance cases.
- There are no cases before the Plan Commission.
- Peoria County is waiting for the IEPA regarding asbestos abatement before proceeding with the demolition of a dwelling at 1616 E. Hendryx Lane.
- Virginia Love of Hjerpe & Tennison will attend the board meeting next month to answer audit report questions.
Road Commissioner: Frank Sturm:
- Leaf vacs being readied for the fall pickup season.
- Rented a boom mower to do some brush and tree trimming.
- ADA paving work in Mossville is completed. The homeowner is happy and grateful.
- A number of street signs were replaced in Lake of the Woods.
- The State Central Management Services has a bid for Salt. Salt is now $81.88/ton. We ordered 500 tons. We still have some salt from last year. We spent $63.86/ton salt last year. It has gone up $28.2% in one year.
- The County Highway department received 3 bids for the bridge replacement on Dickson Rd. The bids received range in price from $761,620 to $989,850. This project should be approved at the October 24 Infrastructure Committee meeting and at the November 10 County Board meeting. The bridge continues to deteriorate.
Assessor: Mark Brabant – No report
Plan Commission: Jim Manning – No report
Trustees:
Frank Gerke: Frank will be moving out of the township in March 2023 and as such will need to resign his position as trustee at the time. Shawn will look into the procedure for appointing a new trustee in Frank’s place.
Mike Molohon: Mike suggested looking into a new conference table for the township office.
He also suggested putting more money into the Grant account in the future so we could help out more in the community.
Township/Road District Bills:
All bills of the Town and Road District were reviewed and approved for payment. Mike Molohon made a motion to pay all of the bills. Cindy Greene seconded the motion. The motion was approved by a unanimous voice vote.
Adjournment:
Cam Parr made a motion to adjourn and Mike Molohon seconded it. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:31 pm.
Respectfully submitted this 12th day of October, 2022
Mary Sundermeyer, Clerk
