June 3, 2026 Meeting Minutes

            Village of Bishop Hill,  County of Henry, State of Illinois

The regular meeting of the Village of Bishop Hill Board was held at the Municipal Bldg. The meeting was called to order by Village President Mike Funke at 6:00 p.m.

ROLL CALL: Mike Funke, Patrick Light, Lisa Nordstrom, Ben Strand, Jim Nolan, Carsen Meyer, Sharon Wexell & Terri Wigant were all present.  Mike Keup was absent.

MINUTES: Light motioned to accept the May minutes, seconded by Nolan. Voice vote, motion carried.

TREASURER’S REPORT: Nordstrom motioned to accept the Treasurer’s Report, seconded by Nolan. Voice vote, motion carried.

PAY BILLS: Wigant said a bill for $36.00 from Pace Co. for water testing had come right before the meeting. Cameron Meyer was present and had a JULIE call to add to his bill, for a total of $450.00 for the month. Wexell also reported that last month we paid Carpenter Construction $15,000 for 2^nd  invoice instead of the $16,000 voted on. She just received the $1000 Blue Stem grant so she paid Jeff Carpenter to complete the $16,000 owed. Light motioned to pay all bills with the changes made by Wexell and the additions of Pace and Meyer’s change, seconded by Nolan. Voice vote, motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS:

            Cameron Meyer said he was waiting for the 10 new stop boxes to come in for the new water services; hopefully next month he will start connecting water services to the new water main on Olson Street. Funke said when we get done with Olson Street connections, he would like to go over to Ericson St and connect houses to that new water main.

            Wigant said the East road in the cemetery had sod removed and new gravel put down; also five different areas of bushes and trees have been cut down and/or trimmed up. Wigant also reported  that she, Wexell and Jeff Olson, from the OSA, will be meeting with Lacky company on Friday the 5^th to make plans for the monument for unmarked graves.

            Funke said Mike Rabas is interested in being on the Zoning Board. Nolan said he still needs two more people to be on the Board.

            Board is still not sure what they want to do for the 180^th Old Settler’s Parade.

NEW BUSINESS:

            The men went to look at Cemetery Street after last meeting. Strand said he dug out the ditch on the East side of that road. Funke said the East/West culvert and the North/South culvert on the access road both need to be replaced. Funke asked how much money we would have left from the Cemetery Grant? Wigant said about $600; we should be able to use that for the road. Wigant asked what they were going to do with the road itself and Funke said just gravel for this year with Meyer suggesting maybe next year oil and chip.  Funke said the road around the back of the Methodist Church will be graveled also.

             Wigant said the contract for our renter of the old town hall will expire soon; asking what the Board wants to do - keep rent the same or raise it and 1 or 2 year contract? The Board asked to review what the current contract was. Wexell said the regular fee is $250 per month, but if Jeff Goard, our current renter, cleans the public bathroom the fee is $200 per month. Wexell's thoughts concerning the cost of rent for the Old Town Hall was this - as a board I feel we should assist our businesses as best we can. Mr. Goard pays for water, utilities and we receive a share (however small) of sales tax. If we raised the rent $50 a month (for example), an additional $600 a year would neither make us or break us. Strand motioned to leave the contract as is, 2 years at $200 per month and clean the bathroom, seconded by Nolan. Voice vote, motion carried.

            Wigant also had a 1-year contract renewal from Eagle Enterprises, for our garbage and recycling. The price increase is 4% ($450 to $468 per month). Funke asked Wexell if we were losing money on the garbage account. Wexell said no, it is still holding its own. Nordstrom motioned to accept Eagle’s contract, seconded by Nolan. Voice vote, motion carried. Strand said around October-November we should review the water/garbage income, to see if we need to raise the monthly fees.

            Wigant brought up the CO2 project in Galva, because it could affect our water if the buried CO2 would leak and get into the aquifer. The aquifer is shared by several towns around us and farm water wells. After a lengthy discussion the Board voted to have a Resolution drawn up that the Village Board is opposed to the project.  

There was no further business Strand motioned to adjourn, seconded by Light. Voice vote motion carried.