November 5, 2025 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, Mike Keup, Jim Nolan, , Sharon Wexell & Terri Wigant were all present. Amanda Laub was absent.

MINUTES: Strand motioned to accept the October minutes, seconded by Nordstrom. Voice vote, motion carried.

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

PAY BILLS: Wexell stated that the interest only payment of $4,385.88 was paid via ACH to USDA Rural Development on November 1. Two bills noted on the list was paid in October, (1) a $15,000 down payment to Rock River Electric following the boards approval to install an (EPA required) generator, and (2) C. Hawkins for $95 with board approval in September.  Light motioned to pay bills, seconded by Nordstrom. Voice vote, motion carried.

OLD BUSINESS:

            Meyer said next week he would start hooking up residential water services to the new water main on N. Olson St. then he would do the off shoots of N. Olson St.  He would be able to do 2 or 3 services a day.

            Funke opened the 2 snowplowing bids that were received. The first bidder submitted two separate bids; one for a price per plowing and a price per hour. The second bid was price per hour. After discussing the bids, the Board decided to go with the first bidder for his hourly bid. He included on his bid the spreading of cinders for icy roads and he has a tractor with a snowblower. Light motioned to hire Cameron Meyer at $110 per hour, which includes two chippings as needed. Seconded by Nolan. Voice vote, motion carried. 

            The Board tabled the discussion of putting a new hydrant at the end of E. Main St.

            The Board tabled indefinitely the idea of installing a new water salesman and having a meter put on the municipal hydrant to sell water. They both are costly and we don’t have employees to read a hydrant meter and send bills for the gallons used.

            Wigant said the GoFundMe page for the flagpole is not doing well at all,. She wanted to know if the Board would be opposed to her having a trivia night and other fundraisers to help obtain the money needed to restore the flagpole. The Board said they were fine with Wigant doing fund raisers.

            Funke said he had not heard anything further on getting the roof painted on the Municipal Bldg. He will have to call Mike Massie about when the Kewanee Correction Center crew could do the work.

            Wigant said she and Wexell applied for a Cemetery Relief Grant on Wednesday Oct 22 . We should hear if we received the grant by the end of December or first of January 2026.

NEW BUSINESS:

            Wexell said the 2026 village insurance will (again) be through Illinois Municipal League. The total cost of $5,734.59 includes the required IML membership fee. She will represent the board as the insurance coordinator saving the village the 10% fee we would normally pay to Porter-Hay Insurance.

            Wigant said there was another T.V. left at the dumpsters. She said when people back up to the dumpsters, she can’t see on the video what they are putting in. We need a camera on the light pole. Light said we would have to get another camera and run a wire from the building to the light pole. Funke said we would run the line underground. Wigant will see about getting another camera and line. 

             Wigant said a gentleman that owns a business outside of Galva, would like to make a donation to get one of the wind tower benches.  Wigant wondered if the round one is what he wanted. Light said the Old Settlers wanted the regular bench and a teardrop bench. Nordstrom said the gentleman’s donation could go towards the flagpole fund which the Board agreed. Wigant will find out for sure which one he wants and how much he would donate.

             Wigant asked the Board if we could use some of the Cemetery Perpetual Care funds to pay for a granite monument in remembrance of the first settlers that were buried in the cemetery. Most of their  headstones are missing in that area, which is by the Eric Janson burial. Wigant had talked to Cheryl Dowell and Diane Lindbom about replacing the headstones, but they had thought about putting up a sign with all the names of the settlers. It would be less expensive and easier to mow. Dowell, Lindbom, Jeff Olson and I all met at the cemetery with Harvey Ponder from Lacky Monument. Ponder suggested a granite monument with all the names of the settlers etched on it. Ponder also said if we found names of more people buried there, those could be added to the monument. Bishop Hill settlers put a granite monument in the Red Oak timber for 50 people that died from exposure when they first arrived in this area. There is also a granite monument by Osco, Il, for 70 cholera victims from Bishop Hill who died in 1849. Wigant said granite would be no maintenance needed, except for cleaning once in a great while. Wexell and Wigant had put the monument in the grant request, so we will see if we even have to use the Perpetual Care fund. Wigant said she is collaborating with Dowell, Lindbom and Olson, from the Old Settlers Association to get this done. Also, we want to make a list of all the headstones that need fixed. The Old Settlers Association has already allotted money from a fund they have to fix a few headstones each year.  Wigant asked, in the future, maybe we could use a little of the Perpetual Care Fund each year to fix stones, like the Old Settlers are doing, until all the stones are fixed or reset. Nordstrom said to table the subject until we find out if the village receives the grant. Wigant will talk to Rollie Krause; he is the caretaker of the Perpetual Care fund.

            Wigant said a married couple had bought a full lot of 8 graves, lot #581, on February 21, 2003 for $560. Wigant said at that time a person would get #2 graves for $140. No one has been buried in that lot; the couple does not want the lot anymore. Wigant wanted to know if the Board wanted to buy them back at the $560 price. Funke said he knew of a situation where a person bought a grave and later sold it to another person. Wigant said the only thing about that is making sure it is recorded correctly. The Board agreed to buy them back at the price the couple paid and then the Village can resell them. Wexell will talk to the couple.

             Wigant said there is a garden area and yard that is a very tall weedy mess. The Board had sent the residents a letter before to clean it up. Funke said it is probably zoned agricultural since it had been farmed before, so unfortunately there isn’t much we can do about it.

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