2026 Village Board Meeting Minutes
CRAINVILLE VILLAGE BOARD
Board Meeting
Tuesday January 20, 2026
Mike Harbin Nay Sam Jones Yea
Julie Aue Yea John Oetjen Yea
J.D. Williams Yea Jim Rains Nay
Brad Olson Nay (7:00) Jaci Chapman Nay
Tena Steinacher Yea Arthur Mize Yea
A quorum was present:
Pam Borders was present and taking notes for the meeting.
Minutes:
Minutes from the December 9, 2025 regular Board Meeting were presented. There were no corrections.
Motion 1: Mize made the motion and Aue seconded the motion to approve the December 09, 2025 Village Board Meeting Minutes as presented. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.
Treasurer’s Report:
Village Financial Report was given to all Board Members. The month on the financial report was wrong it should be December 2025. The figures are correct.
Motion 2: Aue made the motion and Oetjen seconded the motion to accept the Treasurer’s Report as corrected. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.
Bills:
January 2026 bills were presented.
Two bills were added: 1. Postmaster out of General Fund for $88.00 which is the fee for the post office box, 2. Illinois Codification out of General Account for $1,800 which is Part B of their contract for help with organization of the Village Ordinances.
There were two corrections. The Ameren bill for the lights on Apache and Mesa is listed twice on the bills. It should be listed with the Visa Card in the General Fund. The bill from Pulley Electric should be out of Water.
Motion 3: Mize made the motion and Oetjen seconded the motion to pay the January 2026 bills as corrected. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.
Visitor Participation
Martin Bruyns told the Board that he is continuing to work with Farrar on infiltration into the sewer lines. The Village is currently treating more water than we are pumping.
Joyce Davis was complaining about her Ameren bill. Many residents have seen an increase in their Ameren rates. Davis asked if using Homefield as her electric provider would increase her electric bill. Jones explained that Homefields rate is higher in the winter than Ameren’s but lower than Ameren in the summer. Residents that want to opt out of Homefield for their supplier can contact Homefield.
PSC Engineering Report
Donna Drive
E.T. Simonds has been working on the surface repair on Donna Drive. They encountered several areas that needed more work than was anticipated in their bid. Potts has submitted a change order to increase the cost for work on Donna Drive by $7,834.47.
PSC submitted the bill from E.T. Simonds for the work on surface repair on Donna Drive. The total bill is $148,017.43. The total bill includes the $7,834.47 change order. Payment for the bill will come out of both the TIF and Motor Fuel accounts. ($100,000.00 out of the TIF and $48,017.48 out of Motor Fuel Account).
Motion 4: Oetjen made the motion and Aue seconded the motion to approve the change order from PSC Engineering increasing the cost for surface repair on Donna Drive by $7,834.47. All present voted yea, and the President declared the motion carried.
Motion 5: Mize made the motion and Williams seconded the motion to pay E.T. Simonds $148,017.48 for surface repair on Donna Drive, $100,000.00 out of the TIF and $48,017.48 out of Motor Fuel Account. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.
Potts presented the engineering fees for Donna Drive, Landing Drive, and Marion Street.
Motion 6: Mize made the motion and Aue seconded the motion to pay, out of the General Fund, PSC Engineering $11,305.00 for inspection for Donna Drive, Landing Drive, and Marion Street. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.
Motion 7: Williams made the motion and Aue seconded the motion to pay out of the Motor Fuel Fund PSC Engineering $12,555.00 for preliminary engineering for Marion Street and Donna Drive. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.
Landing Drive/Marion Street
Samron Construction has been working on resurfacing Marion Street and Landing Drive. There are several areas on Marion Street that need to be addressed further before Potts will release their retainage fee. Several driveways off of Marion Street need additional work, and there are issues with some of the man holes. Oetjen also asked that Potts check on the intersection of Main and Marion. This area is holding water after a rain.
Motion 8: Oetjen made the motion and Mize seconded the motion to bring down $45,000.00 from the Illinois Funds to the General Fund. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried
Motion 9: Oetjen made the motion and Mize seconded the motion to bring down $60,572.43 from the State Motor Fuel into Villages Motor Fuel Fund. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried
Department Heads
Water Report: (Pam Borders)
- There are 809 water customers
- 629 garbage customers.
- 0 Building Permits
- 6 new customers
- 3 final customers
- Room Rental 7 $360.00
Water Appeals
There were no Water Appeals.
Street/Water-Sewer Presented
Ryan Farrar was not present.
Police Report (Chief Lindley)
Chief Lindley presented his written report.
Old Business
Wolf Creek Potager Garden (Building Permit & Enterprise Zone)
Alexis Pennington and Justin Christianson presented their blue prints for their purposed business, Wolf Creek Potager Garden. The business will be located on the Northeast corner of Municipal and Wolf Creek. The Board reviewed the plans and recommended that they continue with their business plans and submit a Building Permit.
John Pasoni/Hidden Meadows
Jones told the Board that Mr. Pasoni is building a house in Hidden Meadows. Pasoni did not apply for a Building Permit, and the footings for the home were in the wrong place and did not comply with Village Zoning regulations. Jones told Pasoni he will have to tear out the footings and apply for a Building Permit. Pasoni will be fined $250.00 for not applying for a Building permit. Jones also said that he will not approve a building permit from Pasoni until Pasoni puts up lighting in the Hidden Meadows Subdivision.
TIF Payment
Jones told the Board that in early January he paid both Deloufleur and the Carterville School District their TIF payments.
Apache and Mesa Lane Lights
Jones told the Board that the lights on Apache and Mesa Lane have been installed, and the residents in that area are pleased with the lights.
New Business
Unity Christian School
Representatives of the Unity Chrisian School told the Board that they are looking at buying property off Donna Drive to build a Christian Elementary School. Jones explained that this area is zoned commercial. The Village of Crainville has limited land that is zoned for commercial use. The Village needs this property for businesses that will bring revenue into the Village. He recommends that the Unity Christian School look at other property within the Village.
Boy Scout Flags
Motion 9: Aue made the motion and Mize seconded the motion to pay the Boy Scouts $400.00 to put up 20 American Flags along Main Street; flags will be flown on several designated days throughout the year. All present voted yea and the Acting President declared the motion carried.
Water & Sewer
Jones told the Board that the Village is losing money on their sewer system. The sewer charge to customers has not been raised in over ten years. In the course of the ten years Ameren and other vendors have increased their charges, but the Village did not increase the sewer rate to keep up with the cost to run the system. Jones proposes that the Village increase their sewer bill $6.00 across the board. This should be enough of an increase to keep the sewer system from losing money. The Board decided to review the increase in six months to determine if the system is no longer running in the red.
Motion 10: Mize made the motion and Aue seconded the motion to increase the Village sewer rate by $6.00, to be reevaluated in six months. All present voted yea and the Acting President declared the motion carried.
Chamber Dinner
The Carterville Chamber of Commerce Dinner will be February 27, 2026. All Board members that want to attend have to contact the office by February 7, 2026.
Codification
The Illinois Codification has finished with the initial Village Ordinance book. Jones handed out the Codification book to Board Members, and asked them to review and indicate what areas where they have questions. Representatives from the Codification group will meet with several Board Member in May to go over areas that are of concern.
Executive Session
Motion 11: Mize made the motion and Oetjen seconded the motion to go into Executive Session at 7:35 to discuss legal matters and personnel issues. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.
The Board went into Executive Session at 7:50 p.m.
The Board returned to regular Board Meeting at 8:15 p.m.
Motion 12: Aue made the motion and Williams seconded the motion to adjourn the Board Meeting at 8:20 p.m. All present voted yea and the Acting President declared the motion carried.
Respectfully Submitted
Jacquelyn Chapman, Village Clerk
Related Documents
- 01-20-2026 Village Board Meeting Minutes ( PDF / 163 KB )