The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The Oquawka Village Board held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, January 7th. Present were Trustees Don Rice, Brock Miller, Tammy Bundy, Troy Jern, Shawn Hurt; Village President Pro Tem Scott Ray; Village Attorney Andy Youngquist, Village Clerk Callie Thacker-Matsko; and Village Water Clerk Carey Thacker. Village President Lori Lipes was absent.
Ray announced to the board that he had received a letter from Lori Lipes stating that, due to an unforeseen change of address, she would be resigning her position effective January 31st, 2025. It was noted Lipes term was due to end in May and she had not filed a petition to run for reelection.
Carey informed the board water bills based on consumption usage have been mailed out. She noted average consumption is between 3000-5000 gallons. She noted bills have been estimated up until now and the total estimate for the entire Village had been around 400,000 gallons per month and the actual usage for the previous month was close to 1,000,000 gallons. Rice suggested they consider raising the minimum billed usage from 1000 gallons to 2000 gallons in order to lower water bills. After a long discussion Engineer Mike Greenlief noted they used the current water rates in order to secure the IEMA loan which is 50% forgivable.
Youngquist gave some direction to the board on how to proceed after Lipes resignation. He stated the board would need to appoint a temporary President to fill out Lipes term at the February meeting.
It was noted the overgrown property across from the Sheriff’s office was close to being completely cleaned up. The board instructed Streets Supervisor Jeff Petersen to start cleaning the Holly Bruan property when they were finished.
Mike Greenlief announced the low bid for the new water well installation. They have a bid from Grosch Irrigation for 48% of the estimated cost. The estimate was $285,000 and Grosch’s bid was for $148,000. After doing some research on the company, Mike suggested they accept Grosch’s bid. All members voted to accept the bid.
Mike then stated they had received only one bid for the other part of phase two of the water project. Laverdiere Construction submitted a bid of $797,000. The bid is 8% higher than the estimate which was $734,000. All members voted to accept Laverdiere’s bid. Phase two is set to start in early April.
A total of 12 building permits were issued in 2024.
Jeff Tee
River Rat news
“Just the facts, Ma’am”