SUBLETTE — The Sublette Village Board met remotely again for its monthly meeting on May 11.

Pursuant to Governor Pritzker’s Executive Order No. 2020-07 (COVID-19 Executive Order No. 5), Pritzker has suspended certain rules of the Open Meetings Act – specifically the Executive Order permits remote public meetings. In light of the current COVID-19 public health emergency and the prohibition of public gathering of 10 or more, the Sublette Village Board has chosen to conduct the board meeting remotely.

Attendees had the option of calling into the meeting or viewing the meeting through their computer.

Residents were still allowed to ask questions during the Audience Participation portion of the meeting – with the difference being how they asked the question. Acting Village Board President John Stenzel asked that those with questions to e-mail them prior to the start of the meeting to stenz1@hotmail.com and said that those questions and/or comments will be read during the meeting and addressed, if appropriate, at that time.

The board voted 4-1 in favor of extending the village’s current contract with Republic Services by five years, expiring Feb 28, 2027. The new contract will include a rate increase and Republic will supply 95 gallon totes to residents. Voting against the motion was Sublette Village Trustee Julie Kessel. Absent from the vote was Sublette Village Trustee Jeff Myers. When asked why she voted no, Kessel said she would have liked to see different contract rates once the current contract was up. This new contract will take effect on July 1.

In other board news:

• An in-person committee meeting will be held to discuss the upcoming budget.
• UBmax billing software is up and running. Stenzel said that there is a place where residents can log in and set up a user name and password and have access to their personal water account. He added that they are still working out how to send out delinquent letters.

The next Sublette Village Board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 8.