Village Board - Regular Meeting

Good evening everybody. Thank you for joining us tonight for the Mantino Village board meeting for Monday, May the 18th of 2026. Would you please rise for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Don Leer, Reverend Leer, will lead us in prayer.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come before you tonight and just say thank you for what you've given us so far and and for just the weather and all that is out here. But we ask your hand of protection upon the businesses, the farmers and all. Lord, as as we come into the summer that you would bless them and that you'd protect them, watch over each board member, give them their families good health and safety. We pray help them to make wise decisions even tonight. And we pray that uh you would just move in in this community, Lord, to bring about uh your will. We pray over the police officers and the firemen, Lord, the first responders that your protection be upon them as they go into tough situations sometimes. And father, we also just ask that uh you would heal this people that are hurting and that you would uh touch us in that way. Give you the thanks for that in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Thank you. Roll call or I'm sorry, Barry. Yes. Udro here. Bon here. Crockett here. Gi here. Zimbleman here. Reading of the agenda. Is there anything on the agenda that anyone would like changed? Chris, I had asked you to take off the uh consideration to approve contracts tonight. Why is it still on here? Several board members requested that it remain on.

Several. Okay. Reading of the minutes. Are there any changes? corrections or can I have a motion for approval? I'll make that motion. Motion by Budro. I'll second. Second by Crockett. Rudro. Yes. Crockett. Yes. Barry. Yes. One. Yes. Yes. Yes. Abstain.

All right. Public participation. Tonight's first um speaker is Anne Gates. Good evening. Lots of things to be thankful for tonight. Yesterday in DC, our nation was rededicated as one nation under God as history was unfolded and fundamental truths were brought forth. It was and is a historic moment for our nation and other nations also joined our celebration. I'm thankful for Jim Pace sharing his expertise as emergency management in three different counties as it pertained to ion lithium fires. It was encouraging to hear a professional validate what's been spoken for two years. I did not think I did thank the reporter from the journal for putting my picture on the front page. Um but by not quoting anything I had spoken, many people have approached me and wanted to know what I what I had said in stores, in gas stations, at church. A I didn't know that many people got the journal anyway. Um but it gave me a platform. It gave me a platform to share what's really going on with goan and it gave me a platform to share my faith in Jesus Christ. So I thanked him last week for that but that nobody heard it but him. So I wanted to thank him publicly for that. I shared why this was important to know the truth about what's happening. I'm thankful for the young lady from the economic alliance board for lifting the cover and giving us a peak into how things really run. Don't ask, they won't

tell. And hopefully we won't be blown to hell. End up with more than what we have with just go and the likes owned by CCP. By the way, Germany just closed their go plant. As we were reminded yesterday, we are not a globalist nation. We are unique in that we try to do what's best for the bajority, our communities, states, and nation. We take a dim view of greased palms, lined pockets, grift gifts, and appointments. Illgotten gain. It's not the American way. as Pritsker pushes Illinois to be a globalist state with the end goal of being autonomous from the federal constitution. Again, his words in 2019, not mine. Now, he also has said a couple of days ago that he will end capitalism in Illinois. We need to be aware. We need to use our voice and our vote and get rid of the people in towns and cities and counties that choose intentionally not to represent we the people. God bless America and Mantino. You need to God bless God because he's kept you safe from that so far. Thank you.

Thank you. The next speaker is Jake Smith. Good evening. May is recognized as mental health awareness month. Any of us carry a heavy weight that may not be visible. Sometimes it's easier to wear it than others. It's as easy as faking a smile, cracking a joke, or just simply saying, "I'm fine." Sometimes you're too tired to even fake it. It's feeling the most alone in the most crowd of rooms. It's finding the most peace in the darkest and stormiest of skies. The weight of the struggles in the world around you becomes too much. Just 10 short years ago, I tried to take my own life because those struggles just felt like too much. But I thank God every day for not being ready for me when I thought I was ready to go for once and for all. Because now I'm back to loving life again. If it weren't for my faith in the Lord and a great sport system, I wouldn't be standing here today. But the struggles still come and go. Sometimes the dark thoughts still creep in. And I know I'm not the only one who feels the weight of the world weighing heavily on my shoulders. No one should ever have to feel alone in their struggles. There is a major crisis in our society and our community regarding mental health and suicide, but people fear talking about it due to fear being ridiculed and belittled, especially in this day and age with social media. But I'll be the one to take those hits if it means even just one person realizing that they are not alone. Especially as a man, I'm supposed to just shut up and suck it up and man up. But it takes a real man to stand up and address the things that make us human. On behalf of everybody struggling, men and women, this Sunday, May 24th, beginning at 8:30 a.m., I will be walking 26 miles for mental health and suicide awareness in Mantino. In addition to walking to bring awareness,

I will also be dedicating each of my 26 miles I walk to a life lost to suicide. While 26 is a lot and 26 too many, it is only a very small sample size. But sorry, as to how many lives have been lost to suicide in this world, but to each one of those 26 names, they were people's entire world. 10 years ago, I could have become a statistic. But instead, I wear the invisible scars to bring awareness as this is the purpose that was set out to have and that wasn't served yet. Every scar has a story and every day is a new opportunity. Your struggles don't define you. If I can overcome these struggles, so can you. Greener grass and bluer skies are ahead. You are not alone. You are enough. You matter.

Thank you so much. The next and final speaker is Terry King.

Hi everybody. How you doing? I had an interview to be a substitute park guard yesterday or Yeah. Sunday. Yeah. And I found out something that really bothered me. The pillow was open and there's no guards there. And kids are kids. They do kid things, okay? They get hurt, whatever. And there's no park guards during the day because there's not a budget for it. What are we talking $10,000 here? I mean, really, people could have give up 50 cents an hour for the kids. So, instead of complaining, I got a solution. I will water the flowers in the town for free. I'll donate my time. And you take that money, you would pay me to water or somebody to water the flowers and you get park guards out there because some child is going to get hurt and then it's going to be, "Oh, we're sorry." And how are you going to talk to that parent when their child breaks their leg or something and there's nobody there to call the police or the fire department but other little kids? I find it appalling. These are your children. I'm a great grandma. I I'VE JUMPED ON TOP OF DOGS TWICE IN MY LIFE THAT were attacking children. So, this really bothers me. So, I am going to donate my time except for when I'm on a cruise, which is in July, my 10th one this year. But I'm serious. I'm serious. You need There's no park guards there till June 1st because there's no money. What's the matter with you people? You don't love your kids. I'm not saying you don't love your kids, but what is what is Mantito if you don't have the kids? That's all I got to say. They should come first. Thank you very much. All right, the reports of the village officials tonight. We have an appointment. There are two people that are coming on to the planning commission

because Dan McGawan and Todd Creek have fulfilled 21 years of service and the their three-year term has expired this year and so they are stepping down and we are appointing Dolly Carson and Chris Pillbeam. And if you're here, please stand up. I would like to thank Dan Mcgown and Todd Creek both for their 21 years of service because that's a long time to be a actively involved and dedicate yourself to a committee commission. So, thank you very much for that. We need a motion to approve. I make that motion.

I make that motion. second question to ask really quick. Um, since this falls under my kind of committee, I was never informed that either of them were up or that you were appointing. And I'll be honest, I don't know who Chris Pilbeam is. He's not even here. I don't know Carson. She's not here. I knew Andy Lee. I knew Paul Motel. Uh, I knew Mr. Hoop. Uh, that's why I voted in favor of them. I don't know who these people are. I will not be voting in favor of them because I don't know who they are. So, I would ask we could push this to my Wednesday committee meeting so I could get some background information on them before I make any kind of decision on who these people are. When is the next planning commission meeting? Wednesday. My meeting, planning and zoning is Wednesday.

When is the next planning commission meeting, Paul? Do you know? Should be next Tuesday. Okay. And yours is next week. Okay, we can put that up. No, it should be Wednesday. It's this Wednesday. Upcoming Wednesday. That's okay. Then we we could still vote on them for the board meeting, the first board meeting of June. They Does everybody agree with that? All right. You made a motion. Are you fine with it? Any of the other trustees have comments on this? You want to do that for both people? I just don't know either one. So, I would I would ask for both. That's okay. All right. When's your meeting again? uh this this Wednesday at 7 a.m.

All right. If the board agrees, then we'll we'll postpone that until the next meeting. Uh requests. Mantino Sportsman's Club has asked for $13,000 donation for fireworks. And this is something that comes up every year. Chris, is this the same amount we paid last year? No, it's $500 more. We paid 12,500 last year. And that's what we budgeted for this year. Okay. We need board approval for this. Can I have a motion? I'll make the motion. Motion from Barry. I'll second. Second from Budro. Barry. Yes. Budro. Yes. Von. Yes. Crockett. Yes. Gi. Yes. Zimbleman. Yes.

All right. Motion passes. Announcements. Um, I have several announcements to make. One of them is about all the activities we're planning for the week approaching the 4th of July. I did leave some flyers on the entry table. We have a a family bike slow roll on Sunday, June 28th. We have uh live music on the square on Monday night the 29th. The silhouettes will be playing. On Tuesday, June 30th, there's a puppy party out at Legacy Park. And so you can bring your dogs out there on a leash and they're going to have treats, some kind of a treat bag for the first 40 dogs that come. On Wednesday, July 11th, I will be at the Mantino Market handing out flags. On Thursday, July 2nd, Music on the Square will feature a band out of Chicago called Stevie Swings, and they are a tribute band for Frank Sinatra. They recently played um for Valentine's Day at the Legion, and they were a big hit. So, it's a fivepiece band. Everybody is welcome to come out. We hope you do. And then on Friday night will be the fireworks on July 3rd.

So, do we have we budgeted that or is that where are we pulling the money? We have uh we have sponsors that are paying for it. Sponsor paying the whole thing? Yeah.

Good. The Mantino Legion Memorial Day schedule of events is out and for those of you who are interested, they begin their services out in Delm at the Delm Cemetery at 800 a.m. And I try to go to this every year. I've been doing it for a long time and it's very it's very meaningful and it really honors all those veterans who died for us. 8:30 a.m. will be Blooms Grove Cemetery. 9:00 a.m. is the Veterans Cemetery out by the Veterans Home. 9:30 is St. Joe's Cemetery. 9:50 is Elmwood Cemetery and at 11 o'clock they'll be back at Legion Park for services. Also from the Legion um they are going to have a special day well on Memorial Day they are having free hot dogs and pop when you tour the Mantino American Legion Military Museum. It's up on the second floor. So that will be Memorial Day from 12:30 until 4 o'clock. Today I received an email from Aqua Illinois and I want to share this with you and I have flyers up here about this. It was from Dave Carter who's the president of Aqua. They have something called a dollar energy fund and there's a phone number you can call. It's 8882826816. If you are a customer that can't pay your bills for some reason, maybe you live alone and are living on a limited income. Um, they have a customer assistance fund and if you qualify by how much money you make, and it does go up to people with as many as eight children, they have guidelines here on how much money your gross monthly income or annual income could be. They will give you a 70% discount on your water bill. So, if you know anybody who's struggling to pay their water bill, these are available up here for you. All right. And finally, um

I guess that's it for my all my things. Um the trustees who wanted to discuss the contracts contracts expired April 30th, correct? Is that how that works for all both the chief Jim and Lorac? Okay. We haven't discussed this at all yet. Are we having an opinion that we don't like any of the three job performances or Well, I think we should we should have a discussion on the contracts just like we should have a discussion on anything that goes on on this agenda. There hasn't been a discussion about the contracts during which we were supposed to discuss tonight but the meeting got pushed unfortunately. But I mean we can I'm open to that. We can again we can move it to mine or to yours next week.

Yeah. Like like it's and then we can we can do it the 1 of June. That sounds good. Point. Trustees agree on that. So, you're going to put it on your committee meeting? We can put it on both. We can put it on both. That way, we're all there with stuff. CJ, when is that? Uh, mine is Wednesday at 7 a.m. Is yours is next Tuesday, correct, Mike? I think his is next Tuesday at 6 or 5:00 p.m. Yeah. 5:26. Yep. Five o'clock on 5 p.m. 26. Yes. Okay. All right. Village administrators report.

I did want to thank uh Mr. Roy Hodes for coming in last week to apologize to myself and Sheila Martin. It was uh great to see that he owned uh his perpetuating the misinfo of us being related to the nent. So I appreciate him coming in and doing that. um not everybody would take the time to do that and and uh it was greatly appreciated. Uh and then I would like to turn it over to Ashley Peterson who's got some information on upcoming village events.

Thank you. Good evening everyone. So I just wanted to give a quick chamber and events update. So last Thursday we actually hosted the Mantino Chamber Awards dinner and it was a wonderful evening celebrating our local businesses, organizations, and community leaders. We had about 39 businesses join us that evening, which was very exciting growth for our organization. During that dinner, we also awarded two $1,000 scholarships to two local students in Mantino High School. Our award winners this year included Rising Star Award for Unknown Strength, their gym in Mantino. Small business of the year was Maria's Kitchen. So, make sure you stop in for lunch and you congratulate them. Large business of the year was St. Mary's Hospital. Community leader of the year was American Legion and influencer of the year was Amanda. She's the manager over at Fitness Premiere. So, if you see her, make sure you say congratulations. As for upcoming events, tomorrow night kicks off our Mantino Cruise Nights. That's going to be over here on Main Street. That's going to be from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Uh cruise nights will continue every 1st and third Tuesday through September. And then this Wednesday, we also have our second Mantino Market. That's going to be on the second street and on the square in Mantino from 4 to 8:00 PM. We're going to have over 30 vendors this year. Um the Mantino market will continue every 1 and third Wednesday through September. I also placed some of these flyers over there by the welcome center or welcome area where you registered. So, please take one when you grab when you step out. Thank you so much.

That's all I have. All right. Committee reports. Finance Trusty Barry. Thank you, Mayor. U old business on the agenda. None. New business on the agenda. Payment of the bills of $23,32753. Bills authorized and pay between board cycle $80,635.14. Uh finance our next finance committee meeting will be May 26, 2026 at 5:00 PM and the village board. Thank you. Thank you. Planning and zoning trustee Bedro.

Thank you, mayor. Uh, no old business. Uh, one quick thing for new business since we did this about a couple months ago and I know obviously it's now vacation time as people are kicking off short-term rentals. Have we had any updates on that, Chris? Have we got our people that we know apply for that? We received a sample application from the clerk and that's as far as it's gone. So, no one that had a short-term rental has filled that out. We've not put out any information of how to apply or any of that. We're waiting for the clerk to give us direction on how they wants to handle that. Okay. I feel like we need to get on this kind of quick as this is why the clerk's responsibility to get the addresses. No, it's your responsibility to push the information out.

It's I pushed the I to us. You got to push it out. You got to ask like us to post it though so that we can share it because like the mayor you're a short-term rental like I mean we got to somebody gives me the address so I can give you don't have to give it directly to them. You just have to push it out on the villages. You just ask for social media and then they have to come in and do that stuff. All right. So maybe just put it in the paper. Put it in the local newspapers. I don't do social media. Local newspaper or we have well we have a village account. I'm saying could we push that out? That could be that could be put on the social media side. I don't personally do social media and that's okay. Again, that's just under the villages one. Again, those are free. So we just need to get on that so we can have some control. That's why we ended. And I think I sent the contract to all you guys. Everyone a couple months ago,

please refrain from comments, please. Guys, you've had your chance. Um, our next planning and zoning committee meeting is this Wednesday at 7 a.m. in the village boardroom. Our next planning commission meeting is Tuesday the 9th at 6 PM. And that is all I have. Thank you. Public safety and health trust von. Thank you, mayor. Um, old business, I have none. new business. There is nothing this evening. We have officer Ben Elzinga that is going to give our report this evening. Thank you officer.

Good evening members of the board and everyone else here tonight. Uh just a few short words. One of the greatest strengths of Mantino is the way that uh this community works together. Something hopefully we can all agree on. Uh at Mantino Police Department, we know that the effective police effective policing doesn't happen in isolation. It happens through partnerships. Our relationships with residents, the fire department, our schools, churches, local businesses, nonprofit organizations all play a critical role in keeping this village thriving. These partnerships help us share information quickly, respond more effectively, and support families during difficult mo moments. They allow us to reach our youth, assist our seniors, and stay connected to everyday needs of our neighbors. We are truly grateful for every organization and every resident who works alongside us. Your involvement makes our jobs possible and it's a big part of why Mantino continues to be one of the best communities around. On behalf of the Mantino Police Department, thank you for your trust, your cooperation, and your commitment to keeping this village strong. Thank you guys.

Thank you. Thank you. Chief, do you have any update on the Dunkin Donut? How that went? I do not have the final total yet, but given the weather was kind of challenging that morning, I think they did really well. Uh, it was really cold standing out there surprisingly, even though it got much nicer later. But, uh, we always get good support on that. But, I haven't heard the final totals yet, but I'm sure they did pretty well. It's a good event, and they did it from like five other locations around the county. So, it's a great fundraiser for Special Olympics. Okay. Is there anything else? Nope. That's all I have. Mayor,

thank you. Public works and utilities. Trustee Crackett. Uh, thank you. I don't have anything on the agenda this evening. Our next public works committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June uh 2nd, 7 a.m. here in the village boardroom. Um, Jim Hanley is not available this evening for uh for any updates on public works. So, uh, my section is pretty short and that's all I have for this evening. Thank you. Properties and recreation trustee GKY.

Thank you. I have no action items on the agenda for this evening. Our next committee meeting scheduled for Wednesday at 7 a.m. right here. Um, quick comment about the cruise nights. You said that it's the first and third Tuesday of of every month. Correct. Um, and I know that this is it it's happened year after year after year, and I just thought of it kind of now, but is there any way does anyone have any opposition of us asking them Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, our village board meetings are on that Tuesday. When that street gets blocked off and parking, it makes it a little bit difficult. Can we ask them to switch just those two Tuesdays so this way people who want to come to our meetings can because it's pretty difficult parking that this all gets closed off. It's

throughout the whole year. I think that would be hard for them to do because they have people coming from miles and miles away that come on this. But we do have parking back here, you know, in the alley and next to this building that we're in. Pretty limited as to what you can get in there. I I I mean I would hate to see us change try to change what they're doing. I don't think that that would go over too well. Well, okay. So much for when you guys want to come to the meeting. And I mean, I don't think I don't think a phone call would hurt to ask them. Maybe maybe it's easier than what we all may think. I mean, do you have a contact that you could possibly just ask? Yeah, I can talk to Richard about that. And that's I know they've been doing this for many years.

They have. And every in every Memorial Day and every Labor Day, it's it it makes it for a disaster for us having our board meeting like people trying to park. Well, we can all park around the problem for us. They can park at the square. That's us, but right now there's everybody here plus businesses. I mean, are you saying we don't need that parking then? I mean, if you go out and look, there's quite a few cars parked out in front right now. But again, I'm not going to argue about it. It was just a suggestion that we should consider. So that's all I have. Okay, I'll ask him. Thank you. General government trustee Zimbleman.

I have nothing on the agenda tonight. The next general government committee meeting is Tuesday, June 2nd at 7 a.m. in the village boardroom. That's it. Thank you. All right, we're going to roll right into new business. We have a consideration regarding a motion to approve an intergovernmental agreement between the village of Mantino and the Mantino Community Unit Service District number five for the provision of school crossing guard services. Um I don't have any paperwork on this. Chris, do you want to explain this to us?

Yeah. As part of the uh work on trying to reduce the deficit in the budget, Trusty Gesy reached out to the school district and asked if they would be willing to pay 100% of the cost of the crossing guards. We've always done a 50/50 split with the school district. They agreed to pay the 100%. So, this uh agreement will put that in motion so that at the beginning of the next school year, they will start paying 100% of all the costs. Everything will still run through the village. They'll still be village uh part-time employees. The school district will just reimburse us for all of the costs for those guards. I'm going to ask for a motion, but we can follow that up with more discussion if the trustees want to do that. So moved.

Motion by GKY. I'll second. Second by Crockett. Any more discussion on it? How much roughly does that save us or would a number do it for us? I would say probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $15,000 a year. Where is the agreement? The agreement. Do we have the copy of the agreement? Yeah, we I sent that out to everybody via email and that would take effect in the next school year. You said All right. There is a motion on the floor. A second. It was a motion in a second. Second. Gas Crockett. Yesi. Yes. Yes. Barry, yes. Budro,

yes. Vaughn, yes. Zoman, yes. Motion carries. Consideration regarding a motion to approve an estimate from Scenic Landscaping in the amount of $9,350 to replace nine trees on Main Street. And I have a motion for that. What What are we doing with the trees? I mean, we never even talked about a variety of trees. We talked about it at the last No, no, I know we talked about, but I don't have any. There's nothing in front of me that says what what he's planning on planting. Joel, Chris, that was included in the packet as well. Correct. And it was all the all the trees that were listed before minus the maples. We removed the maples from it. Correct.

It was included in the packet that we picked up at the board. No, it's the one that's emailed out. Hadn't we talked about a donation of trees? No. Mike had mentioned that he was going to supply the trees. So, do we know what trees we're actually talking about here? Joel, do you have those handy Chris? I don't have that. Yeah, I don't have it in front of me, but it it's included in the quote that we got from We actually got three quotes and they were the lowest. And it does describe They were all same trees. Correct. Because I I had asked Jim to make sure that all any bids that he got required the same trees.

Correct. All three all three of them quoted the same trees. It had the lilacs. And do you want to bring this back when we when we have more information? I think we need My question is on this when we talked about it a little bit more is that we got six dead trees outside in front of here that are dead, right? And we we've got more than that that are going to be an issue, right? No, we got to we got to do something otherwise we're going to end up replacing all of them at one time.

No, and and I get all that, but my thought was is on this is that when we discuss this about the removal of the trees is that he was going to remove them or that we were talking about removal and we said our public works was too busy for the removal of them and then but I mean there's this pair of tree that's right here on the corner is going to die. I don't disagree, but do we want to replace all of them all the way up and down Main Street? If so, we're trying to be expense management. And I and I get all that stuff, but I know we also talked about like on these corners there. I mean, if you look at these trees that are behind here, these locust trees that are popping out of the ground because of the turf. I mean, I just think before we rush into getting nine trees for that section there, that there's a plan for the rest of the stuff because are we going to replace these corner island trees or are we not going to do that?

So, I guess I guess my question to you is is when are we going to do that? Because that was two weeks ago, three weeks ago. Well, I mean, I have, like I said before, is I have when I talked to Jim last time, I asked Jim to get a price for the removal of the trees. How much would be to remove them, right? And I think Jim got bids on both the removal and for removal and replacement. Now, I apologize. I don't have the stuff here in front of me, but I it was included in everyone's email. Um, and I think he had asked you about the bids on the trees and hasn't heard anything. So, I haven't heard I haven't Jim Hanley has not called me about any trees. I think we need to table this until we have more discussion and know exactly what we're planning on purchasing.

Again, I just want to let Lyn know if the lights are bad on Christmas because we haven't got these trees plants. I'm just saying like we we're trying to get this done. You you guys complain now, but the number one compliment we get in town is our lights. So, I just again I feel like moving on some of this is better than not moving on none. I think two or three weeks isn't going to put us that far behind. We keep we said that last meeting. So now we're rolling. We also have to consider the time of the year and two or three weeks from now it gets drier throughout the year. So I don't think any landscape contractor would probably suggest planting new trees in the middle of summer. I think if we're going to do this, this is something we need to

Well, being in the landscaping business that we plant trees, if you water them, they're going to live well and it requires a lot more water that time of the year. At the same token as I mean I'm just not in favor of seeing a bunch of dead trees on Main Street. Said if we want to if we want to replace all the trees, but we're trying to re we're trying to do it in a frugal manner at this point by only doing nine trees and and I and I understand all that, but my my thing is is that at the time I don't want to invite people here to Mantino and drive up and down Main Street and see a bunch of dead trees.

All right, Mike, you are a landscaper. I'd like your recommendation on this. At the end of the day is is like I've said before is if we're able to get the trees down like these trees that are over here, if there's three or four that are on these corners that are that the bad ones, these bigger, larger pairs that are sitting out there. So, if it comes to 13 or 14 trees, I I already made it clear to everybody that I have no problem bringing 13, 14, 15 trees over here. I just don't have the the the time to remove them. So, I know we got a cost on the removal end of it. And then how did the cost from the removal go to $9,300 for for nine trees? I mean, I don't it's up to you guys. I mean, I don't I don't care. I think this is removal and placement, correct? I just looked that up on the agenda. It's removal, the tree, and putting it in. It's all three parts.

It's taking It's taking the trees out, hauling them away, supplying new trees, and planting, right? All factor. Now, are we going to do the trees the way Sam Martin said? Remember when he was talking? Not all one. Not all Not all one type of trees. That's what we suggested. There's three there's three variations or three different tree species that were included in that and I don't recall it off top of my head but I know one was lilac the first presentation when we talked about it at the last committee meeting there was one that was a maple in there and I suggested that we stayed away from that because shallow roots in our sidewalks the options on this says uh kindred spirit oat gladiator crab apple and red jewel crab apple are the three options

they have on that I wasn't at the last meetings wasn't able to make it back up. If those tree those are the trees, then I would make sure that they're fruitless. Okay. Well, I think we could we could clarify that. Yes. I'd like to make a motion to move forward on this. I get a second. Is there a motion in a second? There. I've got a motion Crockett. Trusty Crockett. I don't have a motion by Crockett. Is there a second? I'll second. Second by Zimbleman.

Yes. Zimbleman. Yes. Barry. No. Bujo. Yes. Von. No. Two. Oh, I'm sorry. Yes. Yes. Or two. Pass.

Motion carries. All right, on to the next one. Consideration regarding a motion to approve a real estate sale contract between the village of Mantino and Cwell Ford for the property at 409 South Oak Street, Mantino, Illinois 60950 in the amount of $156,000. Chris, could you explain to us was how many bids we got and Yeah. So, we put out the information to give everybody a chance to bid on it. We did a blind bid and we received two bids. This was the higher of the two. I'm sorry, we received three bids. This was the higher of the three bids that we got.

Chris, what uh what was the appraised value of that building? Appraised value, I believe, was $170,000 for that property. And we had gotten two two bids on that. Three bids. Sorry. Yep. Three bids. Joe, were legal to accept that bid because it's within 80%. Is there a motion? I'll make that motion. Motion by Budro. Second by Von. Budro. Yes. Bon. Yes. Barry. Yes. Crockett. Yes. Zomman. Yes. Yesi. Yes.

Motion carries. Consideration regarding a motion to award the bid for the 2026 MFTt maintenance project to Workus Paving Company for a price of $367,71154.

I'll make the motion. Motion by Barry. I have a question uh prior. Um I'll second. Go ahead. Okay. Second by Woodro. Can I ask a question on this? Yes. Um, I'm not Chris, I'm not familiar with this uh uh company. I just I haven't seen them in the area. Where are they actually from?

Yeah, they're from up north. This is the first time that they bid on anything down here. Um, our village engineer, Bruce Hill, was aware of the company. Um, they've done multiple projects with them in the past and have had good results. So, he was confident that they will be able to do the work uh, get it done for us. And when when would they plan on starting this and would will they have it finished by the time school starts? Uh that's the plan now is yet to we'll have to do a precon meeting and then they'll give us their schedule at that meeting. That should happen after the approval tonight, probably within a week or two. Um but the uh push is to get all the work done prior to the start of school like we've done in the past. Okay. Thank you for that. All right. There's a motion and a second on the floor.

Mary, yes. Budro? Yes. on yes rocket yesi yesman yes motion carries consideration regarding a motion to approve an audit engagement letter for audit services with SCDU's CPAs and advisers burbanet fiscal year 2526 do I have a motion so moved second second by Crockett Deski, yes. Crockett, yes. Barry, no. Yes. Von, are these the same audits that they had last year? The same auditors? Yes.

Are they? It is. They do our yearly audit. They've done it for how how long, Chris? I think they've done it for six previous years. This will be their seventh. Okay. Yes. one. Yes. Okay. Motion carries. Ordinance number 26-01, an ordinance amending title 8 building regulations. Chapter 1, building code, section one, building code, section 8-1-21, private fire brigades of the village of Mantino Municipal Code. So moved.

Motion by second by Barry. Uh Joe, I got a question. This goes in effect today, correct? Or when it gets approved? It go It's effect like most ordinances that penalties 10 days after it passes officially goes into effect. Uh but people have 180 days to comply with it, right? To get their businesses with the fire if they qualify, they have 180 days. I guess it's effective. So it's effective for existing businesses, new businesses, anybody. It's effective today. Okay, perfect.

Somebody want to explain that? So, what what what it the ordinance is stating is is that any large business that comes in that has uh any type of hazardous materials, chemicals, so on and so forth, they're required by us to have a fire brigade in place before anything would start over there. Um, this is a good ordinance on there. Um, it's going to hold any new businesses, existing businesses to be able to do it by our our standards and the fire department standards. It it's a safety net for us as a village and it's a safety net for the residents and it's a safety net for the fire department, too.

So, it means there's firefighters on each shift at the plant. They would have to have their own separate fire brigade, certified firefighters depending on the hours or whatever the the stipulations were per agreement. But yes, they would have to have all that. Chris, would you like to add to that?

Now, this was something that was uh implemented initially by Trusty Barry and Trusty Gi, and we reached out to BNF Technical, who uh obviously has been involved in a lot of what we've done lately for industrial type work. uh they worked with Joe Canar the village attorney to draft this ordinance, put it together so that uh we could uh make sure that anything in the future uh would be covered. So thank you. This also gives us protection as a village. Okay, there's a motion in a second on the floor. Yes. Barry, yes. Budro, yes. Bon, yes. Crockett, yes. Zimbleman,

yes. Motion carries. Ordinance number 2602, an ordinance amending title one administrative chapter 6 board of trustees of the village of Mantino Municipal Code by adding section 10 remote attendance. So moved. I want to say something as soon as we get that second. We have a motion on the floor. I'll second.

Second by Zimbleman. GKI made the motion. I read in here that one of the um one of the rules would be it could be a business meeting. To my understanding, every town that has this uses it for emergency situations, not typical business situations unless you're on village business. So, I would ask that that be taken out. I don't know that we can. So, I mean, you can take it out if you want to. the state statute. The language that I have in there in subsection A3 is taken exactly from the state statute. There's not I didn't change a single thing to it. But don't we want it to be in an emergency situation so it's not done on a regular basis?

Well, what if I mean if you're out of town um whatever the case may be, you have a family vacation planned but there's an important business that is being discussed. I don't know if that qualifies as or or business. You're on business for whatever it may be. I've read on some of the local ordinances for other towns that they don't you can't go on a family vacation. Well, that vacation is wrong. The the business a family emergency certainly would be right. But business if you had your business took you to uh Boston and you were going to miss a meeting, you could call in and attend the meeting. I've read it's only for emergencies, but it's just

if the board the board it's literally from the statute. There's let's say let's say we don't have that. Let's say we don't have that and Peggy got sent to a Meyer conference in Atlanta and she wants to call in and we try to deny her. We would be legally wrong. We could get No, you can take it away. Like you can take the state I'm concerned the state has it. The state gives you the limits of what you can do. These are this is what So we could limit it if we want. You can go further back. You could say, "Hey, we're not going to allow people to do if you're in, for example, active military service. If you're you could tell uh a person that, hey, listen, I know you're going overseas, but we're not going to let you attend the meeting." You could do that, but by statute, it's allowed.

Well, I think what constitutes an emergency in my mind might be different than Peggy's bind or I think following the state statute seems to take out all the gray area. It it it listed that's what the attorney has. I think we should follow that. And then is there anything on there about the maximum number of remote meetings you could have? I thought we had discussed it. We had a number of different some people wanted none. Some people had um five a month. So I I mean that's what I thought we had in there. Well, there was it's never been in there, but I was if you guys want to add something like that or take it as it comes. I don't think we should if it becomes a problem

for how many times a year you can use it. I mean if it's very important and stuff you know you how many trustees at the same time are allowed to use this or else it would be two right because we have as long as you have the majority of quorum here so we need four people here you need four people here you need the quorum here I I think the whole thing of limiting it to is it work or is it sickness I mean so then a trustee if they're going on a work trip are they going to call in and lie and say they were sick I mean it it's kind like having employees and if they ask for a day off for vacation and you don't you don't give it to them the next day they're sick. So why set ourselves up to something you can't enforce anyways.

What if you take a job in another state and you're gone for six months? Are you going to come to those meetings every month from another state? I guess we can always address that as it comes up. I don't I don't anticipate someone that's something I said too. I said if someone's gone for two or three consecutive meetings, I will personally call them and be like, "What are you doing?" Like, yeah, we had legal sale. I mean, the only thing I say if you get called out on active military duty, you're you're going to be gone for an extended period of time. That's a legit issue. Be multiple.

No, no. I and I and and I understand all that, but my thing is is that just say you call you go to six meetings remotely. Like there isn't a number on there that says a maximum of two or three or four. I mean I I get people are sick. I get people to go out of work. I I get I understand that. I mean they're a reasonable person, but I mean what's stopping somebody from just saying, "Hey, I don't want to come in here." I still don't see why we're they have to have a reason participation. We're not trying to limit it, Todd. But all I'm saying is that your elected official if you need to miss six meetings and be remote well then don't you think that that might be an opportunity to say

I mean that we had discussed the time we even talked about it too CJ about the amount of minutes that the meetings that were on there for remote attendance. I'm not against remote attendance but I mean if somebody comes in and says if I just say hey you know what I'm going to go remote see you guys later. I don't think there's anybody on the board, but they would get denied too. Again, they have to prove. Well, you got So, you have you can't just be remote for no reason. You have to have a reason. Certainly, you could lie. Um, but if I think if that became apparent, then do we ask for documentation based on that or no?

Well, I would I would be careful about, you know, asking for medical records or whatever the case may be. the I guess you can if you wanted to do it I would say do it for certain reasons like business travel you might want to limit that or but for personal illness for active military I don't know how many emergencies deaths yeah I don't know if you want to put a limit on that well I mean emergency situations you're very rarely going to have a number of emergencies listen I I I don't think we need at the end of the day if somebody was up forward and says hey I I have a death in the family. I'm going to be gone for 6 weeks. Cool, man. Hey, I I have something I have to deal with with with my parents. Fine. But when there's no communication on it, then it's just like, okay, no problem.

That's in the ordinance, though, right? They would have to communicate and that would be sent out to the board. So, like if in my instance, if that ever happened, I would you guys would all be notified, too. Yeah. For the reason that's already in the ordinance. That is the idea. Is this something else that the clerk will take care of? It's well in terms of the notice goes to the the clerk or the administrator or their design and then whoever it is sends it out to the board. Um so they got to tell the reason why and if it's not going to violate some privacy the factual basis for the exemption and we're set up to do this remote attendance Chris

actually reached out to our IT guy as well as our AV guy and u got one response back. I'm waiting for the other, but we will be able to have it set up. Yes. So, there's a motion on the floor by GKI. Was there a second? I I will point out, too, that even though nobody asked, I I thought it would be a good idea to put in here for if a person is remote and they're being and it's being disrupted by third parties or the like the TV's on the background and it's falling asleep, then you could or they're not paying attention, right? You could actually remove them from the meeting. So, I added that section in. And do they get paid for remote attendance? Well, a remote attendance is attending a meeting. So, you you would get paid, but

let's say let's say we do this and this goes horribly wrong and I miss the next six months. Could we amend this ordinance? You can always amend it. That's what I thought. Okay, perfect. All right. There is a motion on the floor by GKY and I don't know if anybody second by Zimbleman. Okay. Gi. Yes. Zimbleman. Yes. Barry abstain. Budro yes. Vaughn no. Crockett. Yes. All right. Motion passes.

Resolution 2602. A resolution of the city, village, town of Mantino in support of municipal housing authority. Chris, you want to explain it? Uh this was something you add to be added to the amendment.

This came from this came from IML so that we have jurisdiction over what happens in our town and that Pritsker can't make the rules for Mantino that we will make the rules for Mantino. But at the end of the day, this this is just like the solar farms and just like everything else that's approached can county is that JB Pritzkar is over trying to overstep to tell any small towns, large towns, big towns what they can and can't do for building. They could put granny flats up. They could put a three flat up and there he's pretty much saying this is an affordable housing thing. It's going to pass in the state of Illinois. It's going to pass. I hope not.

I hope not too. But everything that I've heard, it's going to pass. So at least this gives us some type of control to say a we can make stricter building codes. We could do things with our building to make it to the fact of what we want to do. I mean, Chris Curtis, the mayor of Cani, said that they could put a three flat up on a 7500 foot lot in Cany Ki with this ordinance and pretty much have no control over it. So, it's another great thing that our governor has done for us to to help out everybody. And now this this means that if you get an opportunity, do research on the Illinois Build Act. It's a joke. Several people have came out and discussed it, talked about it. And if our local representatives, I would definitely tell you to reach out to our local representatives and tell them how you feel because everywhere that I talked to mayors around town, New Lennox, it's this is completely trying to overstep his boundaries.

This will help kind of hopefully put some more public pressure on our representatives to actually vote no. Well, and I would hope that all these residents around these towns would reach out to the representatives and let them know how you feel because I don't know if anybody would want a three flat on a 7,500 foot lot next door to them. Other towns are voting for this. Correct. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. So, that's why hopefully it does build momentum. Hopefully, Mike, I'm definitely in in in favor of us having tighter control and and more control. I guess my question would be to the attorney seeing as we're non-home rule, could we enforce this? And would we?

So, so all that's all that's going on right now is they had the Pritskers has the bill pending in uh in the legislature downstate which essentially would take away the power that you already have over residential zoning in the case of affordable quoteunquote affordable housing. So, all all this resolution here is saying, hey, to your uh House representatives, to your Illinois senators, that you do not want them to pass the Build Act. Okay. Is there a motion? I make a motion. I'll second. Barry makes a motion. Seconded by Budro. Barry. Yes. Budro? Yes. Von, yes. Rocket, yes. Gi, yes. Yes. Motion carries.

All right. The final consideration is for a motion to approve payment of bills in the amount of $230,32753 including TIFF number three at zero. I'll make that motion. Motion by Barry. Second. Second by Von. Barry. Yes. Von, yes. Yes. Crockett, yes. Jessi, yes. Zoman, yes. Motion carries. All right. We're going to go around the room and have short comments because the auditors are waiting to give their report. Mike, do you want to start tonight? I don't have any comments. Nothing. Okay. CJ,

I was asked just really quick. Uh, tackling disability night is uh June 11th. Uh this is put on by our Mantino football program. Uh Anthony Engelman is the one running that. So if you want to reach out to him, uh he just wanted me to push this out because uh on Friday, registration is still open after Friday, but if you register by Friday, you get the free t-shirt. So this is a great activity again uh bringing everybody together with that. Uh then really quick, just some quick shoutouts. Uh, middle school state track has a bunch of qualifiers uh for Maninova Middle School, 3200 girls, 4x2 eighth and seventh grade girls, 800 meter girls, high jumper for girls, and we have a one one kid is a 200 meter and a long jumper, and then a guy is doing shotut. And then our high school track girls are sending people down to state this weekend. Uh, we have two 3200, so that's a two two mile girls qualified. Delaney Monroe and Llaya Neville. Sophia Moost is going for discus. Clark Gorson's going for the 800 meter and the 600 meter which is a mile. And then Olivia Malaroy is going for high jump. So we've seen a lot of successes of our athletes uh this year with that stuff too. And obviously as we most of us know seniors graduated uh Sunday, eighth graders graduate Thursday. So I already saw a bunch of eighth graders out and about today uh when I was coming back from a conference. So just be aware there's going to be more kids which is great out and about uh with the two. I do have to say honestly though uh with this forensic audit um we have been asking for this final draft report um for the last two weeks. We got it today at 8:35 a.m. Obviously many of us work I didn't get a chance to look at this until 3:30 and I sped through it from the rough draft. There's at least and this is my just estimate 13 differences. So, we just postponed nominations, contracts. I'm asking for 48 hours to review this so that we can be prepared to answer your questions.

It doesn't change anything. So, I just feel like we need to be prepared because if there are things they say to us that make us look bad, but we know we're wrong, we got to be able to quote that and that. So, is that it? That's all I have. All right. Thank you, Peggy. No, I'm Nothing from Peggy. Todd? Uh, no comments this even.

No comments. Joel? Um, the only comment I have is kind of goes hand inhand with what Chris said. Uh, I'd like to thank Sandy Chis. She emailed me back and acknowledged some after some research that the idea about John Deere wanting to come to Mantino had no no bearing from village of Mantino and was never brought before us to make a decision on. So, um, again, thanks for, um, acknowledging that that was not accurate information. That's all I have. Thank you, Annette. I just want to tell Ashley, you're doing a great job. The market was a big hit and looking forward to working with you on the October Fest and welcome.

I have one thing that I wanted to add and that was to let you know that last Wednesday night, Mantino hosted a mayor's association meeting. I was asked if I would do this because they rotate through all the uh villages and towns in Cani County. So, we had 26 people there, 10 mayors, guests. There were three Mantino trustees there. Peggy von CJ Budro came in towards the end and Mike Barry. Uh the topics that we talked about that night were safety and Chief Alford was one of our speakers and he gave an excellent talk on some of the scams and things that are happening to seniors and things that we do in Mantino to help our our people stay safe. Jorge Bonilo was there. He is a leadership coach and he spoke about different personalities and how important it is to understand that so that you can work better together. So that's all I have. Now we're going to roll right into the forensic audit report. If anybody needs a fivem minute break, this is your time to take it.

You know what? Before we before we do that, as CJ had mentioned, this is a 186 page report that I just got handed today. I don't I cannot speak to the accuracy or the inaccuracy of this report. Didn't you give Therefore, I'm going to make a motion that we adjourn the meeting and discuss this at a later time. So, I'm going to make a motion that we adjourn. I'll second that motion. How are you going to prove it's real? I want to say that what is in the first draft of the audit is factual. It's all factual. And the only difference that I was told was that was going to happen with the final report were some notes and some recommendations. So that's what was added to that first draft that you got what two weeks ago.

I can tell you right now that's not the case. Six pages that I haven't had a chance to read. The things I looked through are not a motion to adjurnn takes pre uh takes precedent. It's not debatable. So no it off. There's a motion on the floor and a second. Crockett. Yes. Yes. Mary, no. No. Yes. Yes. Zimble. Yes. Were we not given a hard copy from them or we had to print that off ourselves?

There was a paper copy that was given for all the trustees and Chris Lorac had them in his office for all the trustees. I don't know if he gave it to you or if he called you or asked you to come and get it, but we all had a copy. All right. If you public paid for itees, we just asked for 48 hours. Public Why did they not get the reports? What was holding it up? No. What? What was Because they were not Well, some of his paid for it. Really? Okay. All right. There was a motion made and it was seconded and there were four people that voted for it. Of course,

and here's the problem that we're going to have. I know our auditors are getting ready to go away and they're going to be gone for an extended trip and I'm not sure I'm not sure when they're going to be able to come back and you were in such a hurry to hear the results of this audit and now you're going to put it off for maybe another month or two. Well, why did they send it at 10:30 at night? They cannot present it as long as three people stay in three trustees stay in this room. Okay. Or three or the mayor and two trustees.

Well, they may wait. The meeting's not adjourned yet. It is a journ. Wow. Little mayor. I get too, right? What? I get to stay too. You can stay, but