The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Jeff Tee
The Oquawka Village Board held a special session meeting on October 25th to discuss the Oquawka Fire Protection District drafted purchase agreement and any additions, subtractions or changes that the board would like to implement before it goes back to the lawyer for the final draft. Scott Ray and Jason Howard were absent.
There was a lot of discussion; sometimes heated, between the board and Donna Dunn. Donna is the President of the Oquawka Fire Protection District but said she was there, not as a representative of the district, but as a concerned citizen.
Eldridge asked the board if they wanted to add any stipulations for the ambulance to remain in the fire station after the sale.
There was discussion about a lease between the county, who the Ambulance Service works under, and the fire protection district.
The board agreed they need to have it stipulated in the purchase agreement that the ambulance can continue to use one stall of the building after the sale. Donna asked what they would be willing to pay for the use of one stall of the building. One fifth of the monthly bills was discussed.
There was discussion on the purchase price of the building. The building appraised for $105,000.
The trucks for $165,000. 50% of the value would be $135,000 but Eldridge said he asked for an extra $15,000 to cover maintenance and repairs during the time it takes to complete the transaction.
That is how the board came to the $150,000 purchase price. It was noted that the village has recently done some electrical work to the building as well as a $4000 repair to a fire truck.
Donna has received copies of some of the truck titles but there is confusion on a couple of them. She said the 2003 Brush Truck doesn't show a lien holder but Jacqui confirmed there is one.
The question was then brought up as to why the village has the title in their lock box and was able to retrieve it to make a copy for the Fire Protection District when there is a loan attached to it. It was also noted by Donna that the title to the 2000 Freightliner fire truck shows a lien on it. Eldridge said it should not have a lien.
Discussion then turned to a trust fund of which part was left to the Oquawka Volunteer Fire Department and is used to pay the payment on the 2003 brush truck.
The payment is made from quarterly disbursements from the trust Donna asked about excess money from these disbursements and where does it go. She also asked to be made aware of any excess monies because it was earmarked for the volunteer fire dept. Eldridge informed Donna that $26, 609.80 was owed on the truck and there was $21,063.27 of excess money in the account.
Shawn mentioned he thought it was part of the agreement that the truck note would be paid off by the village before the sale.
The board agreed the $21,063.27 would be used to do this. Donna asked that the board let the fire district decide what to do with the excess money and how to pay off the loan.
There was discussion as to who the money belongs to and if the trucks were in the Volunteer Fire Department's name. Donna noted that the title to the 2003 brush truck listed the owner as Village of Oquawka Fire Department.
Eldridge stated the village owns the fire department. Donna stated the money from the trust is meant for the fire department.
Donna said she was having trouble finding information about the trust and asked if the board could provide some. Eldridge explained the trust will expire in December 2019 and that is when the remaining money in the trust will be disbursed. When asked by Donna if he knew the amount of money in the trust, Eldridge said it fluctuated due to the stock market and interest but was probably around $225,000. The trust is to be split between five entities upon expiration.
Donna then noted that in 2016 the village board minutes of the meeting indicated that the board anticipated leasing ground to the County Ambulance Service for the purpose of a new ambulance barn to be constructed.
She said in March, 2017 there was a lease approved by the village board. Donna then asked if the board was supporting a move by the Ambulance Service to a different building.
Nancy and Tammy, who are both a member of the Ambulance Service, explained that it never happened because the state's attorney said the county couldn't build on leased land. Tammy explained the village wanted to lease the land instead of selling it.
Donna stated that the property was deeded to the village by the Ambulance Service for $1. She asked why couldn't the village do that back to the Ambulance Service. Eldridge said that's not what the board wanted to do at the time. Donna then asked what the Ambulance Service expected the Fire District to do for them.
Tammy responded that this was not the meeting to discuss ambulance matters and that they were not there to represent the Ambulance Service. Nancy said the purchase agreement would have to state that the ambulance would stay at the fire station if that's what they decided to do. She said that they had a 99 year lease with the Village of Oquawka.
Donna then asked the three ambulance members:
Tammy, Nancy, and Robert, if they felt comfortable voting on the sale of the fire station since they had an interest in the Ambulance Service or if they felt it was a conflict of interest.
Nancy stated there were all kinds of conflicts and explained that many firemen have sat on the village board and voted on fire department related issues such as the purchase of new equipment.
The subject of charging then came up.
Donna said the fire department has never charged for services before but they may be forced to because their budget is so low. When asked how they were going to charge, Donna explained that if someone came into the fire protection district but they didn't live here and the firemen respond to a car accident, the district can charge per truck/per person for that. She also stated that when they do a lift assist for the ambulance they can charge for that as well. Lain then asked if the district came to his house, which was inside the district, they could charge him for a lift assist? He asked how that was possible when he pays taxes to the district. Donna explained it was because they were assisting the ambulance. Lain said he disagreed with that.
Lain then addressed Donna and asked if she understood what he was talking about with the 50% buy back option.
He explained that in the event that the district decided they wanted to sell the fire station he wanted the Village to have the option to buy it back at 50% of the appraised value because that is what is being offered to the district.