Metro East Sun

Village of Glen Carbon Trustee Walter Harris recently gave an update on the 2022 IML conference.

Harris attended the 2022 Illinois Municipal League (IML) Conference and made a presentation on the experience and proceedings to the rest of the village board during the Nov. 8 Village Board of Trustees meeting. He was pleased to report that attendance was up this year which was previously affected by COVID-19. One of the discussions at the conference was about the Open Meetings Act and Harris maintained that the Village of Glen Carbon and the board has done an excellent job at following the guidelines and using remote meetings to connect with as many residents as possible.

One of the major presentations that Trustee Harris attended was called "Just an Amtrak Away," which he wanted to bring to the board as Amtrak does impact the immediate region around the village. He gave a brief background on the organization and how they adapted to COVID-19, and then discussed how the firm and many municipalities are looking for funding to add stations and increase ridership and movement through various towns.

The final piece he shared with the board was the discussion on code enforcement. Code officials are responsible for enforcing code on property maintenance and nuisance violations, which is primarily driven by complaints or community inspections. Based on the presentation, Harris said he believed Glen Carbon was doing a good job in this area, particularly with how they communicate with residents who are in violation.

"The IML Conference provides a specially designed session to allow every attendee the opportunity to participate in educational sessions that are most beneficial to them and their community," Harris said at the board of trustees meeting.