The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Jeff Tee, Special for the Quill
The Oquawka Village board called to order their regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday October 2 with the Pledge to the flag.
Trustee Scott Ray was absent.
OPEN DISCUSSION
Donna Dunn spoke as a representative of the fire district. She asked the board if they had gathered the deed to the fire station that she needed to move forward with the purchase.
Mayor Eldridge said they are working on it and that he had been talking with the city attorney about it. Village clerk Jacqui Smith said she should have the paperwork together this week.
MAYOR & STAFF REPORT
Mayor Eldridge thanked all involved for putting on the Schuyler Street Stroll. He noted the weather wasn't perfect but said it was still a good turn out for the car show, vendors, and the Civil War re-enactment.
The board accepted a bid to buy a new copier from J&S Computers for $1650 along with a maintenance contract for $250/year.
ATTORNEY REPORT
Village attorney Andy Youngquist said Trustee Nancy Bundy had asked him to review the water tower painting contract The painters came last summer to power wash and paint the tower.
After they were done washing, they said they were ready to have the tower drained so they could paint. Village workers knew nothing about draining the tower ahead of time and weren't prepared to do so.
The painters said they would come back in October to finish and they would charge a set up fee since they couldn't complete the job the first time.
Youngquist said he saw nothing in the contract that stated the tower would need to be drained and nothing pertaining to a set up fee in the event the work couldn't be completed in the original time frame.
STREET & WATER REPORT
Mayor Eldridge stated the village had received a bid from Lox Tree service to remove a tree from in front of the fire station for $500. The bid is to drop the tree and the city crew will then clean the tree up.
Tammy Bundy made a motion to accept the bid. Howard second the motion. Motion passed with all members voting yes.
Eldridge then asked if the board would like to purchase a tree to replace the one being removed.
When asked why, he stated there had always been a tree there and he thought they could plant a tree in honor of Huck Lumbeck who had lived across from the fire station for many years and had been a member of the fire department for many years as well. After some discussion it was decided to table the idea of planting a new tree until spring.
ZONING REPORT
Zoning officer reported 4 permits issued in September.
The first was for a new house at a value of $230,000. Permit fee $966.
The second was for a concrete driveway.
Third was for moving a house from one side of town to another location. Last permit was for a 18x24 building. Cost $4000. Permit fee $62.
Zoning officer stated he wasn't sure how to assess the permit fee for moving a house.
He stated if you charge by the square foot then it would be $102 per square foot.
So in the end he took the price of what it cost to move the house plus the cost of concrete footings and used that total which was $11,400.
Permit fee of $102.
Shawn Lain asked if there was a purchase price for the house.
Zoning officer stated he was not given a price and had discussed the issue with trustee Scott Ray.
Lain said he did not agree with the permit fee.
Mayor said the permit has been issued and couldn't be reassessed.
Lain said he thought it needed to be addressed in case this comes up in the future.
Mayor said it could be discussed at the next regular work session.
Nancy Bundy stated she received a letter from the courthouse stating The State of Illinois is doing a state and federal mandated 911 dispatch software system.
She said the village needs to act on this as far as the numbering system for houses.
She asked if there could be a special work session called on Thursday, October 11 to address this issue, and if the zoning officer could attend and help out with this.
I asked for those of us that live along the river, would this mean we would get a new street name because it's now called "North Front Street Alley" and UPS, Fed Ex, USPS etc., would not recognize that.
She said she had looked into that, and residents along "North Front Street Alley" would be getting a new street name.
Mick Olson asked if a lot of existing house numbers would be changing and was told there would be a lot of changes in order to comply with the new system.
Special work session to discuss this will be Thursday, October 11 at 6:30 p.m.
POLICE REPORT
Police Chief DeJaynes reported 18 speeding tickets along with numerous other citations written for various violations.
Mayor Eldridge thanked him for splitting his shifts so that he could patrol during the morning bus routes.
Attorney Youngquist said DeJaynes had been a witness in two trials the previous Monday.
One was for dog running at large. The other was for yard junk and debris.
Youngquist went on to say that the Don McVey yard junk and debris violation was set for trial.
PARKS AND RECREATION
Nancy Bundy said part of the dock was built and was stored at village garage. She thanked city employees Jeff and Henry for helping to clean up for the Schuyler Street Stroll.
Eldridge thanked the scouts as well for their efforts. Bundy said the next event will be the Christmas parade on December 1st but the actual start time had not been set yet.
FIRE REPORT
Chief Jern reported 10 emergency calls in September. He said despite the cold weather they had one of their best days ever for pork chop sales during the Schuyler Street Stroll.
He said next week was fire prevention week and the department would be at various locations talking about fire safety.
He also noted the Ladies Auxiliary would be having a chicken noodle dinner on October 13 at Faith Bible Church.
He said October 28 would be the annual Fire Department village wiener roast at the levy 5 p.m. -7 p.m.
November 3rd the department will have a toy drive breakfast at township hall 7 a.m.-11 a.m. Jern said everything at the fire house was in working order.
NEW BUSINESS
Ordinance #889 would be tabled so there can be discussion at the next work session.
Ethan Lafary, a representative from CGB, was present at the request of the village board.
Lain addressed Lafary to say the village had put in a new main street about five years ago and maintenance was starting to become a problem due to the volume of grain trucks that use it.
He stated they were happy to have the business in town and understood the drivers supported local business such as gas stations and restaurants and employ several people from town.
But he went on to say the village gets very little direct revenue by way of tax dollars from CGB and asked if CGB would consider donating money to help with costs associated with street repairs.
It was noted that ADM in Keithsburg donated to the town to help with repairs.
Nancy Bundy said they had come up with a resolution in the past and CGB had put down gravel at the levy parking lot but the gravel hasn't been kept up and now when the trucks use that as a staging area it tends to chip the edges of the concrete where they pull in and out of it.
Lafary said he was there tonight to hear the village's concerns and he would report to his manager and get back to the city at the next regular work session.
MEETING ADJOURNED
Jeff Tee
River Rat News