By JOHN A. BALLENTINE
For The Weekly Post
ELMWOOD – The Elmwood City Council approved transferring its Tax Increment Financing (TIF) accounts from Farmers State Bank to Elmwood’s Morton Community Bank at its Feb. 4 meeting.
Council members noted that Fred Paige, one of the developers of the new subdivision, is also an officerat Farmers State Bank. Transferring the TIF accounts to MortonCommunity Bank would avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest in having the TIF accounts with the developer. Council members stressed that there has been no impropriety, but the council has decided to avoid any question of having TIF accounts remain with the bank of the developer. All council members voted in favor of transferring accounts except for Bob Paige, who abstained, because his daughter works at Elmwood Community Bank and his brother is Fred Paige. A total of $163,900 in a joint agreement between the City of Elmwood and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for the Illinois Route 78 detour project was anticipated to be received earlier this week. The City council voted to place the$163,900 into a certificate of deposit for 12 months. The council explained that the Route 78 bridge replacement west of Elmwood would begin in May and should be completed in the late fall. The following spring of 2021 would be targeted for rebuilding of the roadway at that site. Discussion/action regarding the hiring of a full-time water and sewer department employee occurred, with three applicants having been interviewed. The council decided to offer one candidate the position, but did not reveal that person’s name to allow the candidate to resign from his/her current employment. Salary was not specified, but is within the range of what was advertised.
Elmwood Economic Development DirectorAmy Davis reported that she attended numerous meetings concerning Elmwood’s development. She said that May 2 is the 160th celebration of Lorado Taft’s birthday and will feature events designed to honor the famed sculptor, who was born in Elmwood. June 6 is Elmwood’s Annual Strawberry Festival that features wares for sale, as well as, strawberry desserts and local entertainers. The council discussed and decided to remove from the agenda a proposed engineering study for the water/sewer system because the council wants more documentation and information concerning this item before formal approval. During the public commentportion of the meeting, Democrat Gabe McLeod who is a candidate for the Peoria County Clerk’s position spoke to the council. McLeod said he has been with the clerk’s office for 12 years and has been instrumental in introducing high-tech digital programs to the clerk’s office that have reducedthe amount of timeit takes to process record requests. As an example, he said a marriage license that used to take 35 to 45 minutes, now takes approximately 10 minutes. Rachael Parker is McLeod’s opponent on the Democratic ticket and was appointed to the clerk’s position last year after R. Steve Sonnemaker’s death. The primary is set for March 17 –there is no Republican candidate.
