The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Christy Kienast, The Quill
The La Harpe City Council met on Monday, August 25, at the La Harpe City Hall. Dan Gillett reported that the Smithsonian project (Hometown Teams) is coming along smoothly. The exhibit will be in the old Twaddle Furniture building in Carthage the entire month of November thru December 14th.
It was reported that the Main Street intersection work to make corners handicapped accessible is delayed due to waiting on permits to be finalized. The impound lot being used by the police department has been designated behind La Harpe City Hall.
A bid for $2500 to fix the shelter house in the city park was accepted from Shores Construction. The bid consisted of fixing lighting, removing and replacing the rotted soffit, removal and replacement of the guttering and downspouts along with some painting.
Much thought is being given on what to do with the deteriorating mausoleum. The historical society has a list of 8 or 10 names of bodies that are still in the mausoleum. According to the Hancock County Records, the city is the owner of the crumbling building. City Attorney Kurt Dittmer is looking into this matter further.
Concerning flowers at the cemetery after talking to the group that mows the cemetery, if flowers placed on cemetery plots get blown away or moved and they cannot figure out which one they go back to, they will be thrown away. September 15th thru the 30th is cemetery cleanup days. All items should be removed before the 15th.
A bid from Southern Masonry for $18,753 to tuck point and replace some bricks on the City Hall building was accepted as long as the project and payment can be spread over a 2 year period. This year's budget has $10,000 appropriated for it.
On the Illinois Institute of Rural Affairs project - MAPPING THE FUTURE OF YOUR COMMUNITY - Mayor Brown will talk to Dustin Berg, Director of the Hancock County Economic Development group to see about holding a public meeting and bringing a representative to come and explain about this project.
A motion was passed to have the trees and bushes sprayed for bag worms around the Veterans Memorial in the city park. And a motion was passed to have a coated galvanized culvert installed at 6th and Archer Streets.
The next regular meeting of the La Harpe City Council will be at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, September 8th, 2014. Meetings are the 2nd and 4th of every month and are open to the public.