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Oquawka Village October Meeting

The Oquawka Village board held its regularly scheduled meeting on October 3rd. Present were Trustees Don Rice, Brock Miller, Tammy Bundy, Troy Jern, Scott Ray; Village President Lori Lipes; Village Attorney Andy Youngquist; Village Clerk Callie Thacker; Village Water Clerk Carey Thacker. Trustee Shawn Hurt was absent.

 PUBLIC SPEAKING

Resident Barry McClintock addressed the board to follow up on the RV sites in residential areas topic from last meeting. McClintock presented the board with an ordinance that he drafted.

Some of the items in the proposed ordinance are ‘No RV shall be used for living, sleeping, etc. unless it is parked in an area approved by the village’ and ‘visitors to a residence can park an RV on a residential lot for a period not exceeding 14 days per Calander year’.  No decision was made on the matter.

PARKS & RECREATION

 Zoning Officer John Newton thanked the Parks and Tourism Committee for advertising the horseshoe tournament during the Schuyler Street Stroll. He stated they had a very good turn out with people coming from as far as Galesburg and Ottumwa to play.

Lipes stated she thought the Schuyler Street Stroll had a great turnout. She mentioned she had met the Mayor of West Point, IA while they were in town for the Stroll.

She went on to say that she met a man at the car show that had a suggestion.

He told her they drive their cars to town for the car show and then they don’t have transportation to get around to get food or check out the rest of the events.

He told Lori he had walked to the United Methodists church to get food.

He suggested having people volunteer with golf carts to give people rides. Lipes said she would mention the idea to the Parks and Tourism committee.

Lipes stated, because a lot of the little kids have school and have to go to bed early, she would like to have trick or treat on Sunday the 29th. Jern and Bundy both said they wanted to have it on Halloween. Bundy made a motion to have it on the 31st. Second by Jern. All members voted yes. Trick or treat will be on October 31st from 5-8 pm.

OLD BUSINESS

Ray didn’t have the final bill so the vote to pay for half the sidewalk was tabled until next month’s meeting.

NEW BUSINESS

Donna Dunn, representing the Oquawka Fire Protection District, addressed the board to say the concrete approach at the fire station was in very bad shape to the point that she felt it could be a dangerous tripping hazard.

She stated it was Village property and asked the Village to resurface the concrete. Youngquist disagreed that it was Village property. Dunn asked that her request be put in the minutes of the meeting. Miller will do some measuring to see where the property line is. 

Lipes stated the backroom of Village Hall gets water in it during a heavy rain. There was some discussion on possible solutions.

The Village workers will install a French drain to resolve the issue.

Meeting adjourned.

 Jeff Tee
 River Rat News
 “Just the facts, Ma’am”