Mayor Tyler Scott announced that the village was awarded a $370,000 grant from IDOT, which will be used for phase I engineering plans for downtown streetscaping on Commercial Street. He credited Trustee Tim Hunter as instrumental in getting the grant, and thanked Village Clerk Maureen Johnson for helping with the grant application. This is a separate grant from the OSLAD grant, which the village is still applying for through IDNR.
Scott said engineers will design the streetscape such as sidewalks, lighting, and planters to create a more inviting feel, adding that downtown Atkinson just completed a similar project. Phase II will include applying for an ITEP grant and implementing the project.
“We’re very excited and appreciate everyone involved,” Scott said of the grant. “After listening to the community and where they want resources and attention, we executed these steps from our comprehensive plan. For a little town like us to see progress, we have to go after funding. We’re fighting for your tax monies to get support and funding for our projects. We’re a highly taxed community and we’re leveraging it with grants.”
More information regarding the project, along with informational meetings and webinars, will be announced as they start the planning process.
The board next discussed whether to apply for a state tourism grant to light up the historic bridge, with three lighting options provided. Scott said the village donates money year after year for Christmas lights on the bridge, but they’ve been discussing more permanent lighting options. Permanent lights will increase the aesthetic nature of the bridge, incentivize tourism, and provide a neat backdrop for the community.
They received three quotes from a reputable company in the Quad Cities to consider: lighting style #1 was $60,000 to install lights 700 ft. down and back, style #2 was $19,000 for lights mounted to the bridge and more visible on the upper 17 crossbeams, and style #3 was $17,275 for up-lighting, like a spotlight shining from the concrete pylons. Scott said this option is the cheapest and easiest but also more robust. All lights are coloring-changing which they can program for holidays or sports recognition or match the bridge for a rustic look.
The village survey last year had high marks for “allocating more resources for beautifying the Lyndon Bridge Park area for residents and visitors.” Scott said the 1800s-era bridge is a tourism draw for the community, especially as a backdrop for photos. The application deadline is November 3rd, and Dan Pepin of Community Funding & Planning Services provided a bid of $2,000 to write and submit the grant application.
The State of Illinois Tourism Attraction Grant provides a 50% match for equipment upgrades and exhibit creation. The village could also expand the project scope to include bridge planks, kiosks, and installation. If they went with bridge lighting option #3 plus a historical kiosk, installation, and design, and 140 replacement planks for $20,000, the total project would be $42,275, with the village’s cost at $21,137.50. It was noted that there are 750 planks on the bridge.
Trustee Hunter provided photos of the pylons and areas where rebar is sticking out, saying there’s a few issues and they should also repair those. The bridge is structurally sound with stringers of wrought iron, though it needs some concrete work on the pylons. “If we’re going to do it, we should do it all instead of ten years down the road when we’re having issues,” he said. The board agreed to go for the grant using money from the Village Infrastructure Improvement Fund. Clerk Johnson was also credited for locating the tourism grant.
Consent Agenda & Action Items
The board approved minutes from the September meeting, accounts payable, (noting a missed treasurer’s payment from Sept. 2024), and Sept. 2025 Treasurer’s Report.
Whiteside County Sheriff John Booker provided a brief monthly report, saying there’s “nothing out of the ordinary, everything is going well.” They’ll have a deputy in town during trick-or-treating, which will be Friday, Oct. 31 from 4–7 p.m.
An auditor with Lauterbach & Amen walked the board through the 2025 audit. She first thanked Village Clerk Maureen Johnson and Treasurer Alicia Wetzell for the teamwork and assistance in providing everything. Lyndon’s Financial Report received the “cleanest and highest level of assurance” thanks to sound internal controls. The ending fund balance was $235,000 in the General Fund, and negative $29,000 in MFT and $365,000 for garbage. The auditor noted that budget to actuals was the most important part.
Attorney Matt Cole said the board approved an extended appropriation ordinance after their purchase of a new garbage truck last year. Treasurer Alicia Wetzell said they use the working budget and not the appropriation ordinance, so they could change that for next year. They knew MFT would be over budget and used the rest of the payment from general funds.
The auditor also reviewed IT security awareness, emerging risks, internal control recommendations, best practices, and standard announcements. She removed check write-off and segregation of duties from the to-do list since it was addressed. A capital investment and asset policy and a few other policies still need to be implemented. Upcoming standards for the next audits include risk disclosures (2026) and financial reporting model improvements (2027).
The board next approved spending up to $500 to purchase a cabinet to start up a Little Free Pantry, which will be located outside of the Dominion Christian Church in Lyndon. There was no news on new “Welcome to Lyndon” signs.
The board considered the addition of gWorks Front Desk to allow for automatic credit card and ACH payments, as well as digital account management for water and garbage customers. When asked if service fee charges will be $3 each, Clerk Johnson responded that the credit card service charges are on a sliding scale, so many credit card users can pay anywhere from $1.50-8.00, depending on the amount charged. The board permitted the one-time $1,000 set-up and training fees for Front Desk, and the annual subscription fee of $840.
In final action, the board voted in favor of switching streetlight and well pump ComEd accounts to new suppliers through Rock River Energy Aggregate to protect them from upcoming increases from ComEd’s rates. They approved a 36-month contract with Constellation for the streetlight account at a rate of .04264, and a 24-month contract with Dynegy for the pumping accounts at a rate of .08748.
Department Head Reports
Public Works Supervisor Mike Fisk said bills have been sent to Stichter Construction for the roadwork in the village, with the company keeping to their original bid amounts. Dog waste stations have been installed at Richmond Park and the bridge.
Wetzell is working to complete the MFT reporting requested by IDOT. Johnson reported that the migration of data to gWorks billing software cloud is in progress to update their system, and to clean up the village’s data.
Attorney Cole said the Mull property has been transferred to the Village officially. There are two options to sell the lot: have it appraised and sell for at least 80% of the value or post a public notice three times and accept bids for the purchase of the lot. The board can decide how to proceed when they are ready. Surveys for the railroad property purchase and possibly a small craft boat ramp are still in progress.
Board of Trustees Reports
Trustee Sharon Kelley reported that there are significant lifts in the sidewalk around the park and asked for a solution before someone trips. Scott asked public works to paint the cracks immediately for safety while they determine what strategy for repair is necessary.
The next regular meeting of the Board of Trustees will be on Tuesday, November 11th at 6 p.m. at the Village Hall.
