Materials could arrive soon for Toulon sewer

By JOHN A. BALLENTINE
For The Prairie News

TOULON – Toulon’s City Council received another update on the sanitary sewer Prairie Street lift station in a written report submitted by Farnsworth Group representative Ed Andrews. In addition, Andrews and Toulon Mayor Larry Hollis spoke prior to the Feb. 16 council meeting.

“Stark [Excavating] has the [sewer] piping that they’ve been waiting on, so they have received materials,” Hollis said. “Now it’s just a matter of getting them up here” from Stark’s Bloomington offices.

Andrews also wrote that manholes and manhole covers should be released by manufacturer Leman Precast “within the next few weeks.”

The council approved a pay estimate for $31,500 that will be released after additional contract certifications are completed. The expenditure pays for the piping material according to Andrews’ report.

As of last week not a shovel’s worth of dirt has been turned for this project that has a March, 2022 completion date.

“We’re at the last month before it’s done – is there going to be any kind of penalty for them being past due?” council member Ryan Kelly inquired.
Hollis said, “I anticipate they’ll ask for an extension because they couldn’t get materials.”

Also in Andrews’ report was an update on the Uptown Sidewalk Project, which merely says that “North Central Illinois Council of Governments has submitted an application for a grant” for this project, in January.

Additionally, Andrews wrote that the Water Treatment Plant (WTP) aerator work has been rescheduled for March 2.

“When they do that, they’ll have to shut the water off [to the city],” Hollis said.

He said there will still be water in the tower to supply the city.

The Motor Fuel Tax concerning the Washington Street resurfacing project was briefly mentioned at the meeting, but work on it will not occur until the weather is better.

City Attorney Kate Carter reported that a few chapters remain to be processed into the new codifications book. Once those are completed, the updated manual will be available to the public.

Approved was a $500 expenditure for an application for a planning grant that concerns running sewer lines into non-sewered parts of Toulon – mainly the northwest quadrant of the city.

­­Two agenda items were tabled. Purchase of a spreader for the city’s pickup truck will wait until the large dump truck is inoperable again. The cost of the spreader is between $5,800 and $6,000 currently, with inflation increasing the cost daily.

The other tabled item was Jason Musselman’s resignation from Toulon’s city council. Hollis said that he has yet to receive the written resignation, which has to be notarized. Once Hollis receives it, the resignation will be official. Musselman’s term expires next year, so Hollis would likely appoint someone to fill out the term.