May 4, 2026

STATE OF ILLINOIS) COUNTY OF ) ) Minutes Board of Trustees Regular Meeting May 4, 2026 President Eric Schuler called the first regular monthly meeting of the De Soto Village Board of Trustees to order at 7:00 P.M. Village Clerk Paula Parks was present to record the minutes. Present : Brian Gleason Nichole Galloway Eric Schuler Jennifer Morgan Cristy Desormeaux Rachel Alstat Motion made by Cristy Desormeaux, seconded by Brian Gleason, to dispense with the reading of the minutes and to approve them. Motion carried. Motion made by Jennifer Morgan, seconded by Nichole Galloway, to approve the April Expense report. Motion carried. Motion made by Nichole Galloway, seconded by Brian Gleason, to pay the list of bills. Upon roll call vote: Brian Gleason – Yes; Nichole Galloway – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat - Yes. Motion carried. President Eric Schuler appointed Brian Miller to fill the vacant trustee position. Motion made by Cristy Desormeaux, seconded by Jennifer Morgan, to approve the appointment of Brian Miller to the trustee position. Motion carried. Village Clerk Paula Parks administered the Oath of Office to Brian Miller. Trustee Miller took his seat at 7:10 PM. President Schuler announced that Trustee Nichole Galloway would be moved to chairperson of the Water Committee. He appointed Mr. Miller to be chairperson of the Finance Committee. Motion made by Cristy Desormeaux, seconded by Nichole Galloway, to approve the building permit application from Bill Dailey to add an additional bathroom to his house at 205 N. Locust St. Motion carried. Mark Sutton of J. T. Blankinship Inc. explained that originally the Phase IV Watermain Replacements project was much smaller. As the project has grown, so has the cost. Now that the bids are known for a final project cost, the engineering costs have increased and the engineering agreement will have to be amended. The design engineering cost is $115,497.00, and the construction engineering cost is $109,000.00. Motion made by Nichole Galloway, seconded by Rachel Alstat, to approve the amendment to the engineering agreement with J. T. Blankinship Inc. for the Phase IV Watermain Replacements project. Upon roll call vote: Brian Miller – Yes; Brian Gleason – Yes; Nichole Galloway – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat - Yes. Motion carried. Mr. Sutton also explained that the railroad permit for boring had expired in January. The current permit allowed for bore and jack all the way through. However, the permit should be for a directional bore. The railroad wants $4,800.00 to change the permit. Wiggs Excavating said they would do the bore and jack for an additional $3,500.00. Mr. Sutton will try to get the railroad to waive the $4,800.00 fee. He asked the Board to approve whichever cost they wanted. The additional cost will be added to the cost of the project. He pointed out that the directional bore is better and more efficient. Motion made by Nichole Galloway, seconded by Brian Gleason, to approve a new railroad permit for a directional bore method with or without the fee of $4,800.00. Upon roll call vote: Brian Miller – Yes: Brian Gleason – Yes; Nichole Galloway – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat - Yes. Motion carried. Trustee Jennifer Morgan had received only one quote for sealing the park walking track. Egyptian Sealcoating submitted a quote for $3,600.00 to seal the walking track. The quote does not include patching or rebuilding any of the edges. Trustee Morgan will meet with the man from Egyptian Sealcoating to see what if anything needs to be done. If any patching or repairing is necessary, Egyptian Sealcoating will submit another quote for the additional work. Motion made by Jennifer Morgan, seconded by Cristy Desormeaux, to hire Egyptian Sealcoating to seal the park walking track for $3,600.00. Upon roll call vote: Brian Miller – Yes: Brian Gleason – Yes; Nichole Galloway – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat - Yes. Motion carried. Two quotes had been received for demolishing the burned house at 211 N. Ash Street. LEL Operations LLC submitted a quote of $7,595.00 including full clean up and hauling everything off. Dale Jones submitted a quote of $9,100.00 for demolition and removal of materials. Motion made by Cristy Desormeaux, seconded by Nichole Galloway, to hire LEL Operations LLC to demolish the house at 211 N. Ash St. Upon roll call vote: Brian Miller – Yes: Brian Gleason – Yes; Nichole Galloway – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat - Yes. Motion carried. Motion made by Nichole Galloway, seconded by Brian Gleason, to suspend the rules and move Agenda Item 7d Approval to raise the utilities clerk’s reimbursement for health insurance until after Agenda Item 9 Reports of Standing Committees. Motion carried. Police Chief Ben Doan stated that the two AED’s had been ordered for a total cost of $1,647.34. There is one unit for each concession stand at the park. The cost will be split between the Village, the school and the Little League. The burned-out house at 115 N. Cherry St. has been posted for cleanup. The owner has 30 days to respond. If there is no response, the matter will be sent to the attorney to start the process for the Village to demolish the house. The Village will not be asked to help fund the school resource officer. Chief Doan will be there more often. Trustee Nichole Galloway reported that the Finance Committee had met at 6:30 PM to discuss raising the rental for the east hall and purchasing new toilets. The Committee recommended raising the fee to $75.00 for out-of-town residents and to $50.00 for in-town and township residents. The ordinance making the change will be presented at the next board meeting. Trustee Jennifer Morgan reported that the Park Committee had met at 6:00 PM to continue planning for the 2026 Party at the Park. Trustee Morgan would like to use net funds from the Party at the Park for ADA playground equipment. The next Park Committee meeting is scheduled for June 1, 2026. Utilities Clerk Judi Kiehn submitted her letter of resignation effective at the end of the work day on May 27. Motion made by Jennifer Morgan, seconded, by Brian Miller, to post the utilities clerk position. Motion made by Rachel Alstat, seconded by Cristy Desormeaux, to go into executive session at 8:06 PM to discuss personnel, pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1). Upon roll call vote: Brian Miller – Yes; Brian Gleason – Yes; Nichole Galloway – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat - Yes. Motion carried. Motion made by Rachel Alstat, seconded by Jennifer Morgan, to come out of executive session at 8:25 PM. Upon roll call vote: Brian Miller – Yes; Brian Gleason – Yes; Nichole Galloway – Yes; Jennifer Morgan – Yes; Cristy Desormeaux – Yes; Rachel Alstat - Yes. Motion carried. No action was taken. No action was required on raising the utilities clerk’s reimbursement for health insurance because she was leaving. The next village board meeting will be held Monday, May 18, 2026, at 7:00 PM at the village hall. Motion made by Cristy Desormeaux, seconded by Jennifer Morgan, to adjourn at 8:28 PM. Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Paula J. Parks Village Clerk