Oquawka Village Board 

Oquawka Approves New Trustees, Fireworks and Cleanup

By Jeff Tee, River Rat News “Just the facts, Ma’am” 

The Oquawka Village board held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, April 7th. Present were Trustees Brock Miller, Troy Jern, Shawn Hurt; Village President Scott Ray; Village Attorney Andy Youngquist; and Village Clerk Callie Thacker-Matsko. 

Trustees Jim Miller and Nancy Bundy and Village Water Clerk Carey Thacker were absent. Village Trustee Brenda Tee has resigned due to moving out of the area.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Resident Diane Meldrum addressed the board to inquire if anything will be done about a neighbor who starts fires within 6 feet of cars in her driveway, which, she says, is against village ordinance. 

She informed the board the ordinance prohibits fires within 20 feet of structures. Callie read the ordinance to the board. The ordinance reads as follows: “Open burning; the burning of paper, leaves, wood, or grass on private property is permitted, subject to the following restrictions: open burning shall be attended to by a responsible person, open burning will not occur within 20 feet of any building. 

All other burning in the out of doors is a nuisance.” Meldrum asked if she called the sheriff’s office, would anything be done about the violation. Ray informed her that the sheriff does not enforce Village ordinances. 

Diane stated she has had to have visitors to her home remove their cars from her driveway because the fire was so close. Youngquist responded by saying cars are not a building. 

Diane stated she had a fence in the area. No action was taken.

MAYOR AND STAFF

Callie informed the board the audit for 2022 should be done by April 30th. The auditor is already working on 2023. It should be noted that certain grants, such as the BAAD grant (Boat Area Access Development) cannot be awarded until all audits are up to date.

CAMPGROUND

The engineers are still waiting for a correspondence from the Illinois DNR before they can move forward. It’s been over a month waiting for a response.

POLICE REPORT

Ray stated they have received an application for a police officer. The applicant is a well-qualified, retired police officer; however, he only wants to work part time. By law, a municipality cannot operate a police department without a named Police Chief, and a Chief must be a full-time position. The Village will continue to accept applications.

PARKS AND RECREATION

The board voted unanimously to pay $6000 to J&M Displays for fireworks. The fireworks will be held on July 3rd.

The board voted unanimously to pay Quicks Dumpster and Disposal the sum of $6500 for city wide clean up. City wide cleanup day will be May 9th.  This will be Quick’s first year doing the clean up so it was noted that if they happen to miss someone, they will send a truck the following day to make sure the job is done.  Other changes from previous years are: they will take beds, and each household may put out two appliances. City wide yard sales will be May 1st-3rd.

NEW BUSINESS

Ray stated that just before tonight’s meeting, he had received a letter of resignation from Trustee Jim Miller. The letter is reprinted here with Jim’s permission.

Dear President Ray, fellow Trustees, Village staff, and Villagers of Oquawka,

The time has come for me to step down from my station as Village Trustee. I have taken employment that will no longer allow me to occupy the seat I currently hold on the Village Board.

I want to thank you all for the opportunity to serve with and for you all, and especially thank the constituents who voted for me. I have enjoyed my time spent here, albeit shorter than I had expected. If not for this situation, I would happily continue to serve and would run again in the next term. I wish you all the best of luck in your endeavors.

Sincerely,

James A. Miller

Village Trustee

Ray explained the board now has two open seats to fill. Ray went on to say that two people were in attendance at the meeting that he would like to nominate to those positions. Ray named Valie Harley and Mark Lumbeck. 

Youngquist explained the board would need to approve the two nominees. Jern stated he didn’t know Valie. Valie explained her and her husband had moved to Oquawka about five years ago. Jern then asked to go in to closed session.

Upon returning to open meeting, the board voted unanimously to approve Valie Harley and Mark Lumbeck as Village Trustees. Valie and Mark were then sworn in by President Scott Ray.

MEETING ADJOURNED.