The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Jeff Tee, Special For The Quill
The Oquawka Village Board held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, December 5th. Present were Trustees Don Rice, Brock Miller, Scott Ray, Shawn Hurt; Village President Lori Lipes; Village Attorney Andy Youngquist; Village Clerk Callie Thacker; and Village Water Clerk Carey Thacker. Trustees Tammy Bundy and Troy Jern were absent.
Next year's board meeting schedule will be the first Tuesday of every month except for the January meeting, which will be held on the 9th of that month. Village Hall will be closed Friday, December 22nd through January 2nd for the holidays.
Youngquist stated he has done some research on the legality of homeowners removing survey stakes that the Village workers have been placing to mark existing water services. He went on to say that it is a Class A misdemeanor under Illinois law to remove the stakes. He directed Police Chief Tim Edwards to arrest anyone caught removing the stakes.
Mike Greenlief addressed the board to announce Laverdiere Construction has been notified that they won the bid for phase one of the upcoming water project. Laverdiere may begin construction anytime they choose but the project must be completed by September 23, 2024. Greenlief also noted the Village will borrow $880,000 at 1% APR for the water project and will be granted $430,000 loan forgiveness.
Greenlief later asked if the Village had received Rebuild Illinois funds from the Government. He went on to say most Villages in Illinois had received $30-50,000 to be used for infrastructure and must be spent or returned. Mike will look in to the Rebuild Illinois funds further.
Lipes stated she has been informed that there is food left in a refrigerator at the ball diamond. Lipes will get in touch with Mike Cook to get the rotten food removed. Streets supervisor Jeff Petersen noted they had removed all tattered flags along with all banners from the ball diamond.
Lipes stated she hasn’t heard back from the DNR about questions she has for implementing a campground on the old Palace II property. Rice mentioned he has talked with Doran Jones about installing a dump station on the east side of the 2nd Street. Jones will speak to the health department and get back to Rice. Miller stated he has been in contact with someone from IEMA about the campground. He was told a campground is an acceptable use of the property but there will be some initial paperwork required before they can start construction. Miller will speak with IEMA again to determine how to move forward.
Meeting adjourned.
Jeff TeeRiver Rat News
“Just the facts, Ma’am”