Village of Roscoe yearly financial audit yields very favorable results

At the Nov. 1 Village of Roscoe meeting, Village trustees discussed finances, mass transit, recent construction, and proposed construction.

Wendy Unger, representing the Baker Tilly accounting and consulting firm, presented the 2021 Fiscal Year audit.

Unger said the year-end results were very positive.

The Village has complied with all required information. There were no problems getting access to information and no deviation from account procedures.

Financially, the Village is doing well.

Mary Maddox, board member of Stateline Mass Transit District (SMTD), gave trustees an annual financial report and status of ridership. Maddox said 2022 has been a successful year for the not-for-profit organization.

Total rides in 2021 were 3,924.  So far in 2022, rides are at 4,479.

SMTD provides services to residents in the Villages of Roscoe, Rockton and South Beloit, as well as Roscoe and Rockton Townships.

The Village of Roscoe’s contribution is $25,000.

Currently, riders pay $3.00 per ride. Elderly and handicapped pay $1.50 per ride. Small children ride free.

As of July 1, 2022, veterans can ride free of charge.

Ridership went down to 22,350 in 2021, due to COVID.

To date, ridership in 2022 is 21,393.

SMTD currently has eight vans and funds for three more.

Trustee Mike Dunn commented on the outstanding success of the Halloween “Truck or Treat” at Porter Park, Oct. 22. Trustee Sue Petty thanked the Village staff for their hard work.  “The event meant a lot to the Roscoe community.”

Petty also gave an update on the re-surfacing and extension of Culver’s drive-through.  The traffic lane has been lengthened and flow has improved.

Trustees approved Final Plat No. 1 and Plat No. 2 at Villas of Rose Way. The vote was 4 to 2, with trustees Sue Petty and Carol Gustafson voting no. Construction is expected to start immediately.

Editors note: The Villas of Rose Way, adjacent to The Gardens On Prairie Rose, calls itself "Roscoe's newest premier duplex community." But Village Administrator Scott Sanders told us that the development was already approved in the mid-1990s. Back then, it was planned as a typical 88-unit apartment complex, with each building connecting 2-10 rectangular apartments. Now, the developer wants to build 27 higher-end duplexes instead, creating 54 two and three-bedroom residences on the 10-acre property.

Since the development will be much less dense than originally approved, with fewer utility connections, the developer had to request a new plat. Two units, on Bluestem west of Rose Way, had already been started since they were in a different plat. Sanders says the same developer previously built much of Promontory Ridge. Kelsey Fagan of Dickerson & Nieman Realtors is the broker for The Villas of Rose Way.

The board approved a resolution to hire Premier Technologies for $2,700 per month to provide professional information consulting services for 2023.

Under New Business: Trustees agreed to give a $250 retention gift to employees for a second year.

The amount will remain at $250 after deductions and taxes. The vote was 5 to 1, with trustee Gustafson voting no.

Trustees discussed instituting a reserve policy. They agreed the Village should keep a four- month reserve to keep the Village running.  “We cut expenses in 2020 and we have been in a strong position the last two years,” President Mark Szula said.

Under Old Business:  The closing on the property on Pearl Street behind the police department has been completed. The area will eventually be used for police department parking, after it has been used for a fire department training "burn" in mid-December.

Fehr Graham engineer Brandon Boggs reported the Main Street ComEd utility project is moving ahead.

Boggs said the Public Works building addition has been started and paving of the parking lot will be finished soon.

The Shepherd Hills sidewalk project has been completed and plans are being finalized for the Porter Park project.

The Committee of the Whole meeting was held following the regular meeting. Trustees are currently working on a draft of the village of Roscoe budget for the fiscal year 2023.

The next Village meeting and Committee of the Whole meeting are scheduled for Nov. 15, beginning at 6:30 PM.

A Village Zoning Board meeting was scheduled for Nov 9, 5:30 p.m. at Village Hall.  Zoning Board trustees were to discuss the design review for The Townhomes of White Oak in Hawks Pointe Plat 5, at the corner of Roscoe Road and Old River Road.

The property has been re-zoned from commercial general to multi-family and the Village looked at tentative designs for the development, but it has not received final approval.

Coming soon: a report on the zoning meeting.

Click, tap, or swipe on the images below to view an image gallery for The Villas of Rose Way.