The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Shirley Linder, Quill Editor
At the regular meeting of the Village of Stronghurst board on December 3rd, the trustees voted to hold the Christmas lighting contest again this year.
Stronghurst Village Clerk Hollie Allen volunteered to do the judging, which will be performed on Friday, December 21st. Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place.
Finance chairman Mike Bohnenkamp reported the finances were down $21,370.57, due to the previous clerk being behind on the payment of some things.
If this had not happened they would have been down only $5,000 to $6,000. He said this has been rectified and they were on the right tract again.
Chris Cooper of MSA reported all items on the punch list for the new water tower has been completed.
MSA cannot prepare the final documents until the village and Maguire Iron Inc. agree on a final closeout cost. MSA did prepare and send a letter to the village recommending November 26, 2018 as the day final completion was achieved.
Maguire has not been paid since August. In order to assist them in near future negotiations with their subcontractors, they would like to pay them some money.
Therefore, Maguire is asking for a final amount of payment, minus the total project retainage, in pay application 13.
The amount being requested is $11,445.12. The total retainage that would be held by the village until an agreement is reached is $58,568.70.
The board approved paying the requested amount.
Once the village and Maguire Iron come to an agreement on final payment, MSA will begin the preparation of final documentation of the water tower project.
Unless directed otherwise MSA will continue to provide their service to the village to assist in closing out this project.
MSA has been paid the full amount. Any further service will be extra.
Lori Taylor, representing the Stronghurst Booster Club, requested money to help with the expense of the Christmas walk held in November. Jerry Nortrup made a motion (which did not receive a second) to give them $100, due to the tight budget, Amanda Kane suggested $500 and Shane Reed made a motion for $250.
Following an examination of the finances Mike Bohnenkamp seconded the $250 and the vote passed on a 4-1 vote, Nortrup casting the no vote.
Mayor Schaley said in the future they would like to be asked ahead of time and for there to be more transparency as to what the money will be used for.
McDonough Telephone representative Tim Teslicka was present and talked at length with the board regarding the new fiber optic wiring being brought into town.
MDT provides fiber optic, telephone, TV internet, etc. however for the present Stronghurst can only receive internet and telephone service. So far the lines are only laid in certain areas, so not all of Stronghurst residents has access to the service.
The remainder of the town will be done in blocks as people sign up and engineers can determine a route for the lines to be laid.
November police report:
88.5 hours worked; 718 miles on squad car; 2 total traffic stops, 2 verbal warnings; 5 service calls, 3 with county; 2 arrests; 25 business courtesy checks
Clerk Hollie Allen requested and received permission to change the village office hours to 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. instead of 8-4:30.
Ronnie Gittings said he would like to get the old water tower disconnected from the water supply and will do so as soon as they get the parts and the weather is decent.
Mayor Brendan Schaley reported he and the Bank of Stronghurst had negotiated for a 30 x 60 area of property for the newly proposed veterans' memorial. The Bank of Stronghurst has agreed to deed the village the property at no cost to the village.
Mayor Schaley and Clerk Allen had driven to Springfield and delivered the "Safe Routes to School' grant that Hollie had prepared.
Schaley said they will will now wait until March 19, 2019 to see if the state awards them the grant.
The Stronghurst Village board adjourned the December 3rd regular meeting at 6:55 p.m. until the next regular meeting in 2019 on Monday, January 7, at 7:00 p.m..
Present were:
Mayor Brendan Schaley; Trustees, Mike Bohnenkamp, Jerry Nortrup, Shane Reed, Bruce Caldwell, Amanda Kane (David Vancil absent): Employees, Ronnie Gittings, Hollie Allen, Attorney Bill Rasmussen; and Guests, David Knutstrom, Lori Taylor, Chris Cooper, Tim Teslicka, and The Quill Editor Shirley Linder.