Toulon council approves $45,000 for well repair

By JOHN A. BALLENTINE
For The Prairie News

TOULON – The Toulon City Council on Monday passed a motion to hire Peerless Well and Pump, Inc., of Dubuque, Iowa, to perform necessary repairs on the city’s No. 1 well.

Total cost is not to exceeed $45,000 for Peerless to pull the well parts out, including the pump, and replace it with a new one if required.

During the council’s May meeting, Mayor Larry Hollis said an immediate repair was required for a leak in well No. 1. At that time, an estimate was to be obtained for the cost of a crane to remove the well’s piping and associated pieces.

No cost was provided Monday for use of a crane, but evidently it was included in the possible $45,000 expenditure. After repairs, the parts and pump will be reinstalled.

“The leak is progressively getting worse,” said Matt Forstrom, a city employee.

In a disputed agenda item, Hollis told the council that secretary to the council Brad Milburn will be archiving old city paper records into electronic files.

“I would like see us increase Brad’s pay a little bit,” Hollis said.

Council member Mitch Hulsey responded, “We are supposed to give pay increases once a year. This (pay increase) keeps coming up every other monthly meeting or so.”

Added council member Donna Lefler, “He is getting paid. What difference does it make what he is getting paid? If he’s got that much time left over to do this (archiving). … In other words we have to pay him more to work harder?”

At this juncture, Hollis dropped the issue without any action and moved on to the next agenda item.
Milburn was also appointed through an approved resolution to become Toulon’s agent for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund. IMRF representatives will only communicate with a designated agent from a city.
The council also discussed selling a 3-acre piece of city land just southeast of Toulon across the creek from the cemetery. The council decided to have the land appraised, as opposed to having bids on it. City Employee Matt Forstrom, who lives near the property in the Arrowhead subdivision, wants to purchase it and build a shop on the property.

Bids for the new water tower project were postponed until June 16 because the bidding contractors have asked for additional information.

The Illinois Department of Transportation continues to dispute Toulon’s submitted Motor Fuel Tax application for work on city streets. This has delayed the MFT funding for this project for this year.

The dispute, according to Toulon’s city engineer Justin Reeise, is between IDOT officials. IDOT Auditor Deb Baxter told Toulon it was okay to change part of last year’s MFT submission but IDOT’s permit technician and the field engineer say Baxter was incorrect in giving such permission.

The council discussed an agreement with Robert Boatman concerning his 223 E. Greenwood St. property. Boatman must officially sign the agreement in order to have the city remove a burned camper and debris from his property.

Several months ago, the city employees demolished the house just west of Boatman’s house but left an unattended debris pile that had been burned and was believed to be extinguished. The fire reignited and spread onto Boatman’s land, burning his camper and some of his unoccupied house.

In other action, the council approved spending money to renovate the former Faith Baptist church building at 310 E. Vine Street. It was donated to the city by the former church and will be used for city meetings and other activities.

Also approved was buying six water meters for an amount not to exceed $2,400 . A $1,000 donation was approved for the annual St. Jude Run that starts in Kewanee and goes though Stark County and into Peoria County.
Approved was vacating an east-to-west alley between South Franklin and South Henderson streets. Possession of the vacated alley will be split between two property owners.

Newly hired Toulon police officer Scott Waldrup presented a breathalyzer equipment purchase. The new unit is required by the state to be compliant with DUI regulations. Toulon’s present unit is outdated and not legal. The cost of the new unit is $3,640 and was approved on a split vote. Ryan Kelly, Lefler voted against the measure while yes votes were was cast by Hulsey, Connie Jacobson, Brandon Simpson and Michael Schott.

Finally, the policy updated its Open Meetings Act policy concerning video participation. The new policy allows members of a board or council to attend a meeting remotely when certain specifications are met.