Village Board — Minutes

VILLAGE BOARD MEETING – July 23rd , 2025 President Jerry Sonnenberg called the Village of Friendship board meeting to order and roll call was taken. Present were Trustees Brad Oberbeck, Ernie Klicko, Nadine Ashworth, Melvin Waller, Bob Berry, Jason Pierce and President S onnenberg. Also present were Attorney Joseph Hasler , and Clerk Rebecca Reuter. DISCUSS AND ACTION ON BIDS FOR THE RAZE AND REMOVAL OF 207 EAST LAKE STREET Sonnenberg stated that the Village received 2 bids. One was from Fenner Excavating , Inc. for $25,910.00 plus any applicable sales tax. The 2nd bid is Metta Grading & Excavating for $23,000.00. Ashworth asked Sonnenberg if he went back to Fenner’s to see if he would lower his price? Sonnenberg replied that he did not. That’s not something that we should typically do. Ashworth wanted to know if they have an approximate start date. Sonnenberg stated that Metta could be here next week if we go that fast. Fenner’s didn’t give him a date. But first we need to have a meeting with all those involved so everyone is on the same page. We need to give her time to get her personal belongings out. Berry stated that Fenner’s know the urgency of getting this done and would jump on it quick. He knows the whole story behind everything that has happened. Ashworth feels that he does know the story of all of this. He’s been on the property before. Pierce stated that they are all doing the same work, but the prices are a bit different. We have given Fenner’s all our business for over 20 years , but this price is high . He wouldn ’t mind going with someone else. Oberbeck stated that Ashworth looked at some reviews on Metta, he asked her what she found and what her concerns might be? Ashworth stated that there was one review for timing and getting some gravel, and one review for starting something and then not finishing in a timely manner, and then there were some that were good reviews. Oberbeck stated that one was for a supply issue, and one was for a performance issue based on those two reviews. Ashworth asked what obstacles we are facing to get this done? Hasler stated that you can never predict what’s going to happen. He believes the process to follow is to select the contractor and find out when their start date will be. Once the contractor tells us when they can commence the project his advice would be to attempt to arrange a meeting with the property owner and any representatives of the property owner, the sheriffs department, human services department, and our Public Works Director to just make sure that everybody understands that this is going to happen , and it’s going to happen on this date . Any and all personal items fro m the property owner that they wish to remove will need to be removed by then, because we will not be stopping the project once it has begun. Also, if the property owner needs to make arrangements to find someplace to live then they should do that , because again once we start it ’s going to be really uninhabitable when we finish . That ’s why he feels it ’s a good idea to have the sheriff department, and health and human service s department there so if there are arrangements that need to be made to help this person to find a place to live, we can say that we have done everything possible. Theres no right or wrong way to do this, but we want to cover all our bases. His advice is always airing on the side of giving everybody as much notice in advance so that there are no surprises. MOTION by Berry, second by Waller to go with Metta’s bid of $23,000.00, roll call vote 7 – Yes / 0 – No, motion carried. Being no further business to come before the board, MOTION by Berry, second by Pierce to adjourn, motion carried. Meeting ended at 4:33 __________________________________________ Rebecca Reuter Village Clerk