The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
-by Michael Rodeffer - The Quill
It’s a wait and see decision whether the La Harpe Council will reverse their decision to cut down one of the trees they voted upon to remove at the last meeting, and then council reversed their decision to cut down the second tree and will trim it instead.
At the March 13th regular meeting, the La Harpe City Council re-examined their decision on cutting down two trees. Both trees are located on the city’s right-of-way property.
One tree located near the Burlington Avenue and B Street intersection, had been unanimously voted upon to be removed at their last meeting at the landowner’s request.
Mayor Kat Hasten-Reed explained after further information was obtained, she didn’t think the tree was dead and she didn’t think the city should be spending money to remove it. It was discussed to just trim it instead.
Councilman Jim Lenix recommended waiting four weeks or so, when he thought it would be easier to tell if the tree was alive. The Council tabled any action on that tree.
The second tree is located just East of the intersection of B Street and Archer Avenue. That tree was causing issues with the sidewalk cracked and broken up. Dead limbs had fallen from the tree onto the walk. At the last Council meeting it was also voted and approved to have the tree removed, and also to redo the sidewalk.
Mayor Kat Hasten-Reed reported that the homeowner is not happy about having the tree removed as he said it was his only source of shade.
Councilman Greg Wisslead along with the mayor argued that it should just be trimmed as they thought the tree was still alive.
Councilman Dave Clover argued that the tree was a hazard and affected the sidewalk’s safety. Clover also noted that there is quite a bit of traffic on that walk with kids going to and from school.
It was also suggested to leave the tree there and just trim it, and redo the sidewalk to go around the base of the tree.
After a more heated discussion, a motion was made to just trim that tree and not do anything with the sidewalk. The motion passed with 5 voting “yes” and Clover voting “no”.
David Little informed the Council that the Chevy flatbed had been taken to Midwest Express to have the rear brakes worked on.
Mayor Hasten-Reed informed the Council that IMEG engineer Jack Kusek had submitted paperwork to the IEPA to show the sludge at the Reservoir had been approved as is.
The mayor stated IEPA was not happy with Kusek’s assessment of the situation. She said IEPA had contacted her and wanted a plan by Thursday on how the city was going to proceed with removing the sludge at the Reservoir.
Council didnt take any action on the sludge removal at this time because they had to develop a plan to give to the IEPA and then Tim was getting prices on options, and then Council will vote on the project once they have prices.
The mayor also noted that Ramsey Insurance would like an opportunity to bid on the city insurance whenever it comes due again. It was decided to put this on the May agenda.
Councilman Deanna Stambaugh told the council that it had been suggested by a resident to fix one of areas where buildings had been torn down into an outdoor gym. Stambaugh asked if the city had any grant money available for such a project.
The mayor replied that there was no grant money available at this time but there might be in the future.
Brian Frericks from Quincy approached the council. Frericks has been working as a Energy Consultant at QFB Energy for 8 years. QFB Energy is part of the Electricity, Oil & Gas industry. Frericks is working with Trajectory Energy Partners and others and informed the council that he has been talking to the La Harpe Superintendent Janet Gladu about possibly putting solar panels on two parcels of ground that the school owns and where the high school had been using to raise crops for FFA.
Frericks wanted to let the council know about the potential project and he inquired if there were any regulations that the city would have pertaining to the project. Frericks added that he thought it could save the school quite a bit of money and in addition, possibly there could be a savings for community residents, depending on how it was put in.
Mayor Hasten-Reed noted she had been in touch with the school board President and planned a May meeting to discuss it further. She stated that the city might have to pass an ordinance to allow the project. It is in the very early stages of deciding what will actually take place.
In other action, La Harpe Council unanimously approved:
Council present at the March 13th meeting were: Mayor Kat Hasten-Reed, Deanna Stambaugh, Kelly Harkey, Randy Shumaker, Greg Wisslead, Jim Lenix, Dave Clover, Treasurer Monalisa Graves, Clerk Lucretia McPeak.
Also present were City employees David Little, Tim Graves, Dan Carpenter, Trevor Finch, and Police Chief Lynn Hoyt; and guests: consultant Brian Frericks, Todd Stevens (Candidate for La Harpe City Council), Dan Gillett, and Quill reporter Michael Rodeffer.