2026 Village Board Meeting Minutes

    CRAINVILLE VILLAGE BOARD

Board Meeting

Tuesday March 10, 2026

  Mike Harbin                  Yea                   Sam Jones                   Yea (President)

   Julie Aue                        Yea                   John Oetjen                Nay

   J.D. Williams                 Yea                   Jim Rains                    Yea

  Brad Olson                     Yea                   Jaci Chapman            Yea (Clerk)

  Tena Steinacher             Nay                  Art Mize                     Yea                             

A quorum was present:

Minutes:

Minutes from the February 10, 2026 regular Board Meeting were presented. There were two corrections; Jim Rains was marked as absent and he was present at the Board Meeting, and under Unity Christian School should read; Jones advised Unity Christian School that they will have to take their request to the Zoning Board.  

Motion 1: Harbin made the motion and Mize seconded the motion to approve the February 10, 2026 Village Board Meeting Minutes as corrected. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

Treasurer’s Report:

Village Financial Report was given to all Board Members.   

Motion 2: Aue made the motion and Williams seconded the motion to bring down $30,000 from the Illinois Fund to the Village General Fund. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

Bills:

March 2026 bills were presented.

Motion 3:   Mize made the motion and Harbin seconded the motion to pay the March 2026 bills as presented. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

Visitor Participation  

See under Unity Christian School

PSC Engineering Report (Rodney Potts Reporting)

Motor Fuel Budget

Potts told the Board that IDOT has changed how municipalities budget their Motor Fuel Funds. IDOT has divided the budget into two categories. Category One is Maintenance; which includes such line items as gravel, culverts, striping etc... Category Two is asphalt overlay. Potts gave the Board estimates on using MFT funds for repairing the rest of Marion Street.

Sewer Plant Update

The Village of Crainville is in the process of tying the Village sewer system into Carterville’s new sewer plant. There will be a meeting at the Village Hall on March 16, 2026 at 10:00 AM. There are grants and/or loans that are available to the Village to help fund the headworks that will be needed in order for the Village to tie into the new sewer plant. PSC will be available to explain the process of applying for these grants/loans at this meeting.

Department Heads

Water Report: (Pam Borders) 

1. There are 809 water customers
2. 627 garbage customers.
3. 0 Building Permits
4. 7 new customers
5. 4 final customers
6. 1 solar permit (804 Skeeter Ridge Ln)
7. Room Rental 2 $120.00

Water Appeals

There were two water appeals.

One: Makayla Mitchell had a water leak that was due to her cold-water valve breaking on her washing machine. Landlord was contacted; however, it was several days before the leak was repaired. Ms. Mitchell has moved out of the apartment since filing for the water appeal. The Board decided to reimburse her $12.00 for sewer/water.

Two: Love and Truth Church had a water break in one of the bathrooms. The church did not find the leak for several days.  The Board decided to charge them their average sewer bill, and charge them for the water over their average water usage at the rate Rend Lake Water District charges the Village. 

Street/Water-Sewer (Ryan Farrar) 

1. Farrar is working on collecting and inputting data into the mapping software.  
2. Bruce Whitcotten’s last day will be April 3, 2026.
3. Workers have been installing a valve in a bypass at the lagoon to keep water from back feeding into the lagoon during heavy rain events.

Bruce Whitecotten was present at the meeting and he thanked the Board for his tenure as a Street/Water employee for the Village.

Police Report (Chief Lindley)

Chief Lindley presented his written report. He told the Board that all of the FLOCK cameras have been installed and are working.

Old Business

Village Park

PSC is working on a grant that can be used to bring the Village Park up to ADA specifications.

John Pasoni/Hidden Meadows

Jones told the Board that Pasoni has put street lighting in Hidden Meadows. The road still needs to be brought up to Village codes. Pasoni will work on oil/chipping the road in June/July.

New Business

Unity Christian School/Water & Sewer   

Jones told the Board that the Unity Christian School wants a variance to build a school on Donna Drive. At the February Board Meeting Jones advised Unity Christian School that they will have to take their request for a variance to the Zoning Board. The Zoning Board met February 19, 2026 to discuss the Unity Christian School’s request for a variance. Several representatives from the Unity Christian School were present, and they questioned whether the Village can legally deny the school the variance. The Village Attorney will review their concern regarding the variance and report to the Village at the April Meeting.

Motion 4: Mize made the motion and Aue seconded the motion to table the Board’s decision on Unity Christian School’s request for a variance to build a school off of Donna Drive until the April Board Meeting. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

Mowing Contract

Motion 5: Harbin made the motion and Rains seconded the motion to hire American Mowing Service (William McKinney) to mow for $550.00 per mowing. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

Bank of Herrin CD

Motion 6:  Mize made the motion and Rains seconded the motion to let the CD at the Bank of Herrin roll over for six months with an interest rate of 3.94%. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

Budget

Jones reminded the Board that it is time to start working on the annual budget for 2026/2027. He asked that Board Members review the budget and make any recommendations they have at the April Meeting.

Gary Wiggs/Zoning Board

Motion 7: Aue made the motion and Rains seconded the motion to appoint Gary Wiggs to the Village of Crainville’s Zoning Board. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

Executive Session

Motion 8: Harbin made the motion and Mize seconded the motion to go into Executive Session at 7:30 pm to discuss legal and personnel issues. All present voted yea and the President declared the motion carried.

The Board came out of Executive Session at 8:20 pm.

Motion 9: Harbin made the motion and Aue seconded the motion to adjourn the Board Meeting at 8:25 p.m. All present voted yea and the Acting President declared the motion carried.

                              Respectfully Submitted                                

                 Jacquelyn Chapman, Village Clerk