Small Town News

Bank withdraws request to use street for drive-up

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A local bank has withdrawn its request to alter the traffic flow on West Illinois Street to facilitate the relocation of its drive-through banking facility.

Village President Ron Kingery on Monday told the village board that Joe Monahan of The First National Bank of Areola has asked the board to take no action on a request he made during the December 21 board meeting.

Arthur Community Bank, a branch bank of The Firt National Bank of Areola, had proposed moving its drive-through facility from the back (alley) side of the building to the north side. The move would have required the village to allow the bank to use a portion of West Illinois Street and to change the street to westbound traffic only.

Also Monday Kingery reminded trustees and the public how important the upcoming U.S. Census is to municipalities that receive funding based on population and for determining districts for state legislative and federal congressional representation.

"It is very important that everybody fill out and turn in the Census form," he said. "We need 100 percent participation to get the benefits of these programs."

He said residents should expect Census forms to arrive by mail in February. The forms will consist of about 10 questions and should be turned in by sometime in April.

The village president also announced that procedures for obtaining documents and information concerning the village under the Freedom of Information Act are now posted on the village website, arthur-il.gov.

The new "Freedom of Information" section on the main menu links users to directions for how to request information, how to obtain a form, who to contact, and how long the request will take.

Kingery encourages ev eryone to check out the website.

"Sue Perrine has done an excellent job of putting the site together and assembling the information, especially for FOIA," Kingery said.

Trustee Matt Bernius reported that Central Power Products located a used die-sel-powered generator that could replace the one at the city's well site northeast of town.

Bernius said the unit would cost anywhere from $6,950 to $12,500 depending on how it is set up. The trustee said he would turn the information over to Jeff Mercer of the water department to determine whether the generator would meet the department's needs and to get final pricing.

The six-month contract with Realtor Kaye Dick that gives her exclusive right to market lots in Meadowview Subdivision will soon expire. The board unanimously approved extending the contract another six months.

The board approved requests for paying registration fees to send water and sewer department employees to two conferences.

The village will pay the $125 per person registration fee to send Jeff Mercer, Steve Peterson, and Gary Jent to the Illinois Rural Water Association 2010 Technical Conference that will be held February 16-18 in Effingham.

The employees will commute each day Total cost of registration to be paid by the village is $375.

The village will pay the $160 per person registration fee to send Mercer and Jent to the Illinois Section AWWA 2010 Joint Water Conference to be held March 16-18 in Springfield. The employees will again commute each day. Total cost of registration to be paid by the village is $320.

Kingery explained the employees learn valuable information at the conferences and participation counts toward their certification.

Two village clean-up days will be held again this year. Clean-up day for residents on the Douglas County side of Vine Street will be Saturday, May 1. The day for residents living on the Moultrie County side of the city will be Saturday, May 8.

Details will be announced later.

According to Kingery, Veolia will provide packer trucks at $910 each. This is an increase over last year's cost, which was $865. If the village uses the same number of trucks as last year (eight), total increase in cost for the village will be around $500.

The village president explained that clean-up days are funded through the tax levy.

Monday night's meeting was the shortest village board meeting in months. It lasted approximately 18 minutes from opening gavel to closing gavel.

Next village board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, January 18. Meetings are held in the Board Meeting Room at the Municipal Building, 120 East Progress, and are open to the public.



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