November 2008 Board Meeting Report

The Illinois Valley Community College Board of Trustees adopted a resolution approving a Tentative Tax Levy and Tentative Certificate of Tax Levy on Wednesday evening. The total tax rate is projected to be 35.50 cents per $100 of equalized assessed valuation which is 00.42 cents, or approximately 1.1 percent, less than last year’s actual tax rate of 35.92 cents. This year’s tax rate represents the seventh consecutive year that the total tax rate will decrease.

The board approved:

  • The architects’ recommendation to accept the base bid and alternate bid one from JB Contracting in the amount of $381,447 to replace the aluminum feeder wire and branch panels in buildings A and B;
  • Payment of $28,636 to AmerenIP for the relocation of utility poles for the new truck driver training facility;
  • The administration to seek bids for a stand-up fork lift for the Warehousing Program at Sheridan Correctional Center to be funded by the Department of Corrections at the estimated cost of $26,000;
  • The purchase of the Industrial Maintenance hands-on training packages from Design Assistance Corporation for a total of $13,590 pending approval from the Department of Labor;
  • The creation of a new full-time, twelve month, non-teaching professional Athletic Director/Retention Coordinator/Advisor position;
  • A new, three-year coaching stipend schedule for the academic years 2008-2011 which will restore paid assistant coaches in the five team sports at the approximate cost of $3,748 for each sport;
  • Stipends for pay periods ending Oct. 18 and Nov. 1;
  • The waiving of tuition and fees for the Honors Program participants’ in two honors courses;
  • The appointment of Abhijeet Bhattacharya as the Economics Instructor; Mark Brown as English Composition and Creative Writing Instructor; and Elaine Novak as Dean of Career and Technical Programs.

The board accepted:

  • A base bid from Vanguard Construction in the amount of $157,700 for the firestop corridor walls and $45,000 for the accessibility upgrades for a total of $202,700; and
  • A bid of $13,894 from Advanced Technologies Consultants, Inc. for a rigging system trainer pending approval from the Department of Labor.

The board heard:

Of the resignation of William A. Salz, Associate Director and Arthur Powers, PC/Network specialist for the LaSalle County Project.

In other business the board rejected:

  • All bids and will rebid for the Hunter Alignment System; and
  • All proposals for electricity service and intend to purchase electricity directly from AmerenIP on a real time pricing basis.