No Actions Are Taken At Village Board Meeting

By Charlie Feldman

 

There was no old business. There was no new business. But the Glen Carbon Village Board met as scheduled on Tuesday, March 24.

In a meeting 11 seconds over 10 minutes long, the board approved two different sets of minutes, said the Pledge of Allegiance and listened to letters of interest and comments from the mayor before going into executive session, which is closed to the public.

They practiced safe distancing. Three sat apart with the mayor, facing the audience. One was in the audience. Some were not there at all.

“According to the governor’s executive order they have suspended the rules regarding a quorum physically present,” Mayor Rob Jackstadt said at the meeting. “But ironically, we physically do have a quorum present of four of the board members. So, in any event, several of our board members are participating by phone.”

The topic turned to coronavirus-related communications that the village has been sending to its residents. “They’ve sent two or three,” Jackstadt said. “And the most recent has been a letter dated March 23. It went out by mail.”

The letter reminded readers of orders from the President and the governor to help prevent the spread of what the World Health Organization has called a pandemic. The mayor read it out loud to those present and those watching the meeting live via the village’s Facebook page.

‘The village of Glen Carbon remains committed to safety and the welfare of our residents and our employees,” he read. The letter then offered a list of health and safety precautions those who live in the village can follow – washing their hands, maintaining a distance of six feet when they’re in public, covering their mouths when they cough and self-quarantining if they feel sick.

“The village continues to adjust our operations to ensure that essential services are available to our residents,” he continued. “Village Hall is closed to the public but staff remains available to assist residents over the phone.”

Building inspections and permitting will continue, he said.

“Village parks are closed,” he read. “Republic Services has delayed the spring cleanup for a later date, which will be established once services return to normal. “

The next and final announcement was on behalf of the village board and administration.

“We want to send our sincere thank you to the voters for approving the street referendum at last Tuesday’s election,” Jackstadt said. “We sincerely appreciate the support that you have provided us in going forward with this much-needed project.”

Nearly 70 percent of the voters from Glen Carbon cast their Tuesday, March 17 election ballots in favor of issuing $7,400 in no-tax-increase bonds to pay for improvements to the village’s streets. This project is scheduled to begin next year.

“We want to thank you again for that approval of the bond referendum,” he said.

The time then came for people wishing to address the board to step forward. Nobody did. So the board approved the two sets of minutes and called it a night – for the public, at least. They went into executive session to take care of business of which the minutes might eventually appear at a later meeting to be approved at which the agenda on that night might possibly be larger and the meeting possibly longer.

Or possibly not.

The next village board meeting is scheduled on Tuesday, April 14. It will be streamed live on the Village of Glen Carbon Facebook page.