The Sandoval Village Board Tuesday night approved a nearly $1.8-million budget that includes money for improvement projects and a pay restructuring designed to make the village more competitive so they can keep employees.
Village Administrator LeAnn Speiser says the budget is being bolstered by federal ARPA, Tax Increment Financing, and Rebuild Illinois Funds.
The projects include the replacement of the water meters with a system that can be read remotely from the village hall and will detect large usage from leaks. The new system will also require the village to purchase new billing software. Speiser also anticipates improvements to the sewage treatment plant.
The board Tuesday night approved the construction of a kitchen in one of the park pavilions. $10,000 is budgeted for the project which will include the installation of cabinets and tabletops along with kitchen equipment.
The Sandoval Police Department will have four full-time members led by Chief Joe Lyons. One new officer, Travis Nix of Salem, has already completed the initial part-time police academy, while two Salem residents, Brody Meigs and Matt Arrasmith, are scheduled to begin the full-time police academy early next month prior to joining the department.
The board has also hired Ricky Schuchman as a full-time public works employee.
Under the new pay structure, Speiser says they looked at making all of their positions competitive with other cities and private industry to allow them to keep employees. The village will pay all of the full-time employees health, dental, and vision insurance under the change instead of employees having a co-pay.
Speiser also announced a good turnout of community members to begin the Comprehensive Plan. Emily Caldron, the Director of Planning at Moran Economic Development, will now work on drafting a plan along with a possible online survey of village residents on what they want to see in the community in the future.
Public Works Director Phil Milano announced a tentative road oiling day has been set for Monday, August 7th, with a rain date of August 11th.
