An ordinance to allow Manteno Village trustees to attend meetings remotely via Zoom video link was tabled after an extended discussion in a committee meeting on Monday.

Before the regular Board meeting, trustees met during the finance/public safety committee and brought up concerns that weren’t addressed in the ordinance.

“There’s no rules,” said Mayor Annette LaMore after the regular Board meeting. “You have to have rules. Who do you report to? How soon do you have to let people know? And who do you let know that you can’t make it to the meeting? What kind of equipment are we going to have? Will people be able to hear everything? How many times can a trustee just decide they can’t come?”

LaMore added they should also decide whether trustees should be paid when attending remotely. The Illinois Municipal League has posted some guidelines on the subject, LaMore said, and other boards have drawn up rules.

“There’s a lot of information to be had about it, but we have to decide what’s best for us,” she said. “The real question is, ‘Is this really a valid thing to do?’ We’re just a small town. These people, when they ran to be trustees, knew that they would have meetings to go to.”

During the committee meeting, the questions of accountability and transparency were raised about attending remotely.

Trustee Joel Gesky brought up the idea of allowing Zoom participation at the March 2 board meeting, and he said during the committee meeting he disagreed about the accountability issue.

“I think it allows board members to participate,” he said. “I do agree with some parts that we need to discuss rules as far as how votes will be cast, things of that nature, and I’m not opposed.”

The ordinance was on Monday’s agenda, but Gesky asked for it to be tabled to allow for more discussion in upcoming committee meetings.

“It’s a reasonable request to want to have guardrails up as far as how this is going to actually facilitate,” he said.

The trustees decided to each bring two or three suggestions that they would like to see addressed or included in the ordinance before a vote can be taken. Having remote access would allow trustees to attend meetings if they’re out of town on business or at home but unable to attend due to illness.

Gesky said it’s not about jamming the ordinance down anyone’s throat.

“It’s about us doing what’s best for our community, and allowing trustees and elected officials to participate,” he said. “Because the more that participate, the better off we are.”

Work approved for pavilion on Square

Two separate motions were approved for work on the pavilion for the Square on Second.

One was for an estimate by KPI Electric, of Kankakee, for $21,967 to furnish and install electric for the new pavilion, and one an estimate for $49,410 by Glade Plumbing & Piping Company, of Kankakee, for the plumbing on the two restrooms in the building. Both were the lowest of just two bids received.

Public Works Superintendent Jim Hanley said the work on the pavilion should start in the next week or two once the pavilion kit arrives, as the foundation has been laid.

“It’s going to be ready for summer,” he said. “It will take two months [to build it],” he said.