<< Back To Meetings
03/25/09: Minutes - March 25, 2009 - Special Meeting
The Village Board of Trustees met in special session, Wednesday, March 25, 2009;
at the Hillcrest Village Hall. President Hicks called the meeting to order at
7:02 P.M. Answering the roll call were Trustees Jim Mecklenburg, Rich Elliott,
Orrie Samp and Vicki Stewart. Absent from the meeting was Trustee Michele
Hardcastle.
President Hicks stated that he called a special meeting to
discuss the drainage problem in the 400 block of Linda Avenue. President Hicks
stated you have a printout of the property in question as shown on the Ogle
County GIS. President Hicks stated Friday, Monday and Tuesday that he and
Village Building & Zoning Administrator, Casper Manheim and Village
Maintenance Man, Robert Villatoro went to the site to locate the lot
pins.
President Hicks stated that the pin on the South East corner could
not be located however; he was able to find the pin on the North East corner of
the lot. President Hicks stated by finding the front pin on the adjacent lot it
was determined where the South East pin should have been. Trustee Stewart asked
about the back pin on the East side of the lot in question. President Hicks
stated that he found the back pin on the East side of the lot. President Hicks
explained that the fence located on the property in question is not square with
the lot and actually is over the lot line on the North West corner and on the
South East corner. President Hicks stated that the South East corner of that
fence is actually three feet over the property line on their neighbor’s
property. President Hicks stated the fence post is going through the drain tile
and that is the reason it is not draining.
President Hicks stated that
Building & Zoning Administrator, Casper Manheim has provided you with a copy
of the zoning ordinance that pertains to the situation. President Hicks read the
zoning ordinance for all in attendance. The ordinance states, “Fences may be
located on public utility and drainage easements; however, the Village and the
public utility companies having right to use the easement reserve the right to
remove the fence to construct, repair or maintain utility facilities, with no
obligation to replace or restore the fence unless so stated in the governing
easement document. It shall be the obligation of the property owner to locate
all utilities prior to construction of a fence.” President Hicks stated this is
no different than when a resident is digging in their yard and they fail to call
J.U.L.I.E. and they cut a gas line, the gas company fixes the gas line and the
homeowner receives the bill.
Trustee Samp stated that he wanted to make
sure he understood in the ordinance where it states the Village has the right to
remove the fence, but the ordinance doesn’t state who is liable for the repairs.
Trustee Samp stated that if the Village takes the fence down, fixes the drain
and does its job are the homeowners liable to pay for the work. President Hicks
stated that the ordinance doesn’t go into specifics however; this is the same
situation that we had several years ago on Errett Road when the cable company
dug a trench right through Village drain tile. President Hicks stated that after
pictures were taken and everything was documented the gas company had to pay for
the repairs made.
Trustee Stewart stated in order to hold the property
owner completely responsible the Village needs to know that the fence was not
okayed by a building inspector at the time. Trustee Stewart stated that she is
aware that the building inspector at the time was asked to come out and look at
the property and the property owner was given the go ahead. President Hicks
stated that the building inspector tells the property owner when they pull a
fence permit what the setbacks are. Trustee Stewart stated when she installed
her fence it was the same building inspector and she was not told about the
setbacks. Trustee Stewart stated she automatically moved the fence in two feet
to make sure it was on her property and when the building inspector came out he
looked at it and said it looked good. Trustee Stewart stated the setback
requirements were never mentioned to her and she does not know if the setback
requirements were mentioned to the homeowner in question.
President
Hicks stated that it is the property owner’s responsibility to find their lot
pins and to locate the utilities even though a property owner can build in an
easement if they damage the utilities they are responsible. Trustee Mecklenburg
asked if the drain was working prior to the construction of the fence. President
Hicks stated yes. Trustee Elliott stated that it is the homeowner’s
responsibility to have their property surveyed.
Trustee Stewart stated
there was another incident on Ramona Avenue where the garage was built on
someone else’s property just because it lined up with the trees and it is still
sitting there today. Trustee Stewart stated with things going up and down
homeowners need to make sure they are within their lot pins and setbacks and if
there is an easement it is up to the Village to make sure the property owner
builds within those limits. Trustee Stewart stated that the drainage issue on
Linda Avenue needs to be fixed.
Building & Zoning Administrator,
Casper Manheim stated that he pulled the file for the property in question and
there is no building permit on file for a fence. Trustee Elliott asked when the
fence was constructed. Trustee Stewart stated that she believed the fence was
constructed after the deck was built. At that point Clerk Adams stated that she
would contact the Flagg Township Assessor’s Office to see if they had a copy of
a fence permit for the property in question.
Trustee Mecklenburg asked is
there no doubt that the fence caused damage to the drain tile. Trustee Samp
stated that if they hit the drain tile they should have known. President Hicks
stated that it appears that as many as four fence post could be through the
drain tile preventing water to flow to the retention pond.
After a brief
discussion it was the consensus of the Board of Trustees that if the fence had
not been constructed the drain tile would still be functioning properly. During
the discussion President Hicks stated the four inch drain tile would be replaced
with six inch drain tile. Trustee Samp stated that he felt it would not be fair
to make the homeowner pay for the difference in the price between of a four inch
drain tile to a six inch drain tile. After a brief discussion it was determined
that more discussion is necessary to determine if the homeowner will be
responsible for the entire bill or a portion of the bill.
President Hicks
presented the Board of Trustees with a bid from Hicks Excavating to install 210
feet of six inch drain tile for a cost of $4,200. Trustee Samp made a motion to
award the bid to Hicks Excavating for $4,200 to install 210 feet of six inch
drain tile; Trustee Elliott seconded the motion. Vote as follows: Mecklenburg –
yes, Elliott – yes, Samp – yes, and Stewart – yes. The motion passed
unanimously.
Public Comment
No public comment at this
time.
There being no further business to transact a motion to adjourn was
made by Trustee Stewart; Trustee Samp seconded the motion. Vote as follows:
Mecklenburg – yes, Elliott – yes, Samp – yes, and Stewart – yes. The motion
passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m. The next regular monthly
meeting will be held April 8 at 7:00 p.m. at the Hillcrest Village
Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Teresa J. Adams
Village Clerk
Posted: 3/25/2009 |
Updated: 3/25/2009