The city acquired 8.7 acres of farmland in August of last year and recently completed the process to subdivide it into five lots for light industrial use. Grove Street between Washington Road and Esta Drive was closed Monday and Tuesday so contractors could do sewer main work at the site.
The council discussed putting up a sign to advertise selling the lots at the property, but Attorney Matt Cole said Attorney Tim Zollinger is currently in the process of getting appraisals, with the city required to sell the lots for 80% of the appraised value. The council previously agreed to sell the lots at $10,000 each.
Cole said there are two options to sell the lots – by advertising and publishing it three times in the local newspaper, where costs could be a third of the value of the land sale, or the appraisal method, which only requires one publication. It will still “drag out the process for one more month.”
Alderman Ryan Inskeep asked why it’s been “one step forward and two steps back with this property?” The council will have to wait another month until they can vote on the appraisal price.
One lot was sold in July to Chelsie VanDyke, owner of Envy Boutique, and they were hoping to start building by August 1, but that has since been delayed while the city works on utilities.
The council also asked if they could call it something else besides the “Halpin Property,” in reference to former owner Gerald Halpin, with a suggestion of Grove Street Business Park. Cole said it was named the Halpin Property when it was platted out so that is the legal name.
In other action items, the council signed an agreement with Lauterbach & Amen, LLC for auditing and voted to remove Tara Gibson from the FNB accounts while adding municipal secretary Wendy Schultz to have access to the accounts. The bank will make the changes once they receive the official minutes. The council also learned that Casey’s General Store is not considered a truck stop so they’re unable to allow video gaming under that umbrella.
The council tabled until next month payment of $17,500 in TIF funds to Frank Abduli for installation of a new roof and trusses on the old mill building on Railroad Street that he uses for storage. An ordinance will be drafted for next month’s meeting for the funding approval, with the total project cost at $35,000. The TIF account has a balance of $328,000 as of the end of July.
Public Works Director Brian Strike reported that he’s been in touch with the state about releasing property at well #3 now that it’s been abandoned. Strike would need to get a description of the parcels to move forward with the process. Mayor Steve Swanson and Inskeep both stated that they’d rather leave it alone since the city has utilities there. “We might need a road to go down to the state park at some point,” said Inskeep. The council’s consensus was to keep the property as is.
Strike also provided an update on the inventory of lead service connections, saying everything has been turned into Willett Hofmann & Associates and the IEPA. He said public works is done with their part, with 88% of households completed and the rest listed as “unknown.” The inventory is part of Illinois’ Lead Service Line Replacement and Notification Act that went into effect January 1, 2022.
For those who didn’t report their service lines, the homeowner will be obligated to replace the lines from the watermain to the curb to the house on their dime if the lead pipes need replaced. Attorney Cole also added that it will be up to owners of apartment buildings to install filters for those with lead service lines.
In final action, the council agreed to sell a generator that doesn’t get used for $1,200. Strike said the old Detroit generator with a 1960s motor takes up a huge area in the storage building. It’s “huge, very loud,” and was bought as a backup for the water treatment plant but hasn’t been used since purchased. The council voted to list it as surplus and sell it.
Swanson reminded the council about an open house on Friday, August 30 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the new water treatment plant on Buttercup Lane. Food and beverages will be provided, including a Shaw’s MarketPlace cookout with pork chops, water, and chips. “We want to show everyone where their money went to,” said Swanson.
Building permits approved were an accessory shed at 709 Lawrence Lane, roof at 320 Woodlawn Drive, fence at 330 Lincoln St., concrete slab/fence/roof at 342 Washington St., and roofing at 222 Tree Lane.
Reports of Department Heads
Strike noted that sidewalks were repaired on Lafayette St., Park Ave., and Buttercup Lane. Repainting of the curbs and crosswalks was done. The bucket truck back, with crews doing some tree trimming. They changed the downtown banners to the autumn theme. The Grove Street project will be done, and barricades removed later that night. StradaComm is in town and boring pipe for new fiber, with PW working with them and Julie for utilities.
Two buildings that caught fire this past summer will be demolished soon. The water truck got hit and repairs needed, Republic’s commercial dumpster rates have gone up substantially, and there are concerns about increases to energy costs through the aggregate energy contracts. Residents can opt in or out with Dynegy, since there is a 25-30% potential increase for supply. ComEd rates are at 6.9%.
Barricades will be put up for Prophetstown Proud Fourth Friday cruise event on August 23 from 5-7 p.m. and the hydrants will be flushed on August 27, 28, and 29.
Police Chief Jerrod Reynolds reported that Officer Will Lukehart attended a class on “profiling active shooters,” attended a School Resource Officer conference, and began the process to get licensed for the drone. PPD created their own training account so they can start taking classes to test for the state. Two state audits were complete, including one on cyber security.
Jr. Sign Co. helped remove the old flag decal on the windshield of the Dodge pickup since it was faded and cracking, and the gun mounts, prisoner partition, and bed cover were installed. The 2021 Tahoe was taken in for a sensor that needed to be replaced. The 2016 Explorer will be going into the shop due to a water pump or compressor issue. The 2021 Explorer was totaled in a car vs. deer accident while the officer was responding to assist another agency, though the officer was not hurt. Insurance will pay $28,028, minus the $500 deductible, as well as equipment removal and new decals for the new vehicle.
The new computer arrived for the front desk at the Police Department, with a backup and file sharing system being installed to link all the computers once the copy machine arrives. The new computer system for the state, “Central Square,” is not operational until November. All officers have been attending training on how to navigate the program, and it’s been installed on all PPD computers. Part-time officer Brad Johnson resigned and was hired by Sterling Police Department.
The Henry C. Adams Memorial Library has been running smoothly, with story & craft hours, tiny tots story hour, and wits fitness continuing. Winning Wheels wants to set up a library delivery service. The library received a grant for talking books and accompanying tapes for any blind or disabled patrons. Verizon has given the library four new hotspots since their account was available for an upgrade. The new elevator has been operating well, and the next project will be new light fixtures and ceiling tiles on the main floor. The computers were affected by a lighting strike in late July, with repairs made, but some additional work may be needed.
Public Comments
IL-17 Congressional candidate Judge Joe McGraw briefly spoke to the board about why he’s running for office. He’s a retired judge and said he could’ve ridden west on his motorcycle, but decided to run for office as he felt he wasn’t done in his civic duties. He said he wants to “put Americans first” since the “illegals are getting money and we’re an afterthought.” Important issues are national security, the open border, inflation, energy, and the economy, with the average family needing $1,000 more per month for household needs because of runaway inflation. He added that government spending is out of control and more money is spent to service the nation’s debt than the military. He hopes to “go to D.C. to represent your values.”
IL-17 Congressional candidate Joe McGraw speaks to the Prophetstown City Council on Tuesday, August 13.
The next regular meeting of the Prophetstown City Council will be on Tuesday, September 9 at 7 p.m. at the City Hall.
One Response
Does anyone else have an issue that the city knows that the Dynegy aggregation for Whiteside county is 25 to 30% higher than the ComEd price. Why weren’t we informed if this prior to the opt out letters that most of us probably threw out thinking that we were getting a better price through the aggregation!! I know after reading the council meeting minutes here I myself am quite upset!