It took 50 minutes to get through the Crossville Village Board Meeting Tuesday. Tempers flared, hairs bristled, and voices were raised during and after the meeting on various topics. It was heated at times but never reached a feverish enough pitch to get Police Chief Mark Wheeler involved. Among the subject matter that caused commotion was the continued conversation surrounding changing language in the animal ordinance to allow TNR (Trap/Neuter-Spay/Release) of feral felines. For about 16 minutes, trustees cussed and discussed ordinance changes. It kicked off with Village President Rick Kuykendall bringing Stacey Ballard, Animal and Animal Products Investigator with the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare of the Illinois Department of Agriculture into the meeting by phone. She would be interrupted by Trustee Heather Guinn who has been working for months to update the ordinance removing language on cats and encouraging residents to tackle the growing overpopulation problem. Frustrations grew and it became unruly.
Guinn: …that you cannot enforce. You can’t enforce a law that goes against the state of Illinois.
Mayor Kuykendall: That’s what I hope we can do tonight…I hope we can take it out.
Guinn: That’s what we need to do.
Mayor Kuykendall: Then vote on it.
Nancy Osborne: I’ll make a motion to take out the cat language from the ordinance.
Mayor Kuykendall: Vote on that. Let’s get that done.
Miranda Kuykendall: I’ll second.
Mayor Kuykendall (claps)
Miranda Kuykendall: That’s not what this is about.
Mayor Kuykendall: That’s exactly what it’s about.
Miranda Kuykendall: You’re our mayor. You’re not supposed to be…(claps)
Mayor Kuykendall (as city clerk Selena Harrell continues to try to call for a vote): This meeting is now adjourned. I’m done with this stuff.
Miranda Kuykendall: I can’t vote right now. I am really ticked off at the mayor.
Mayor Kuykendall: Well I am too. I’m ticked off at all this stuff. Its about as silly as anything I’ve ever seen in my life.
Eventually, decorum would be restored, but it didn’t last. While it did, trustees moved through agenda items including adding a 4-way stop for First Street and Morrell Street. A discussion was held on the former Roger Meriwether property at 308 North Hammill on whether the city should purchase said property for $2,000, tear down the structures and put it up for bid. Trustees instead decided to table the matter for further investigation. Repairs and siding for the salt building were approved at an investment of $1,815. May 11th has been announced as the village spring clean up date. The board also voted Tuesday night to approve expenditures of up to $10,000 for fireworks and other expenses surrounding the upcoming July 4th celebration. Crossville leaders also approved building permits for two residents to put fencing up including Kevin Broadway at 204 North Goodman for snow fencing and Christopher Hurt at 705 North Cross for chain link fencing.
It was during Open Meeting prior to adjournment that things devolved once again into a tense interaction between residents Lori Cullison, her son Jordan Ambrous, and city’s leadership. And it would flair up again after the meeting was called for the night.
Cullison and Ambrous lodged formal complaints. Those complaints include issues Cullison says she’s worked with Village President Rick Kuykendall on for more than a year without resolution. One is the obstruction of an alleyway by a trailer that Ambrous says severely impacts his property access. He says despite repeated attempts, the Village has not taken any action to address the problem and in the formal letter says if he doesn’t get action, he’s prepared to seek legal action. Ambrous also demanded a refund for the $45 fee he was charged for Freedom of Information Act requests. Furthermore, Ambrous also took issue after being charged with Criminal Damage to Property, a case which was later dismissed. The pair said they wanted signed copies of their complaints proving receipt. Kuykendall refused to give signed copies of the formal complaints on the spot saying he’d review it and would get it back to them Wednesday.
After the meeting adjourned, Trustee Kuykendall and Village President would get into it again outside the building with shouting being heard for several minutes after the meeting adjourned at 7:19pm.