After much discussion among the Chenoa City Council and members of the public, no action was taken Tuesday night on a jurisdictional transfer for Division Street, also known as County Highway 19.
During the regular Chenoa City Council meeting, Mayor Chris Wilder said he does not believe the city can vote on this yet as it needs to be approved at the county level. Once the city receives an official offer from the county, a closed session would be warranted to negotiate the contract.
The county offer revealed at the meeting was a flat amount of $225,000.
“We’ll take a look at it and we’ll keep going,” Wilder told Mclean County Highway Engineer Jerry Stokes who was in attendance.
The transfer was initially turned down by the city council but the county has since offered to help pay for the replacement of a water main, according to the mayor. Work would involve resurfacing Division Street north of Route 24, drainage improvements and upgrading ADA ramps at intersections. The last time Division was paved between Routes 24 and 66 was in 1988.
“It is time for resurfacing,” noted Stokes. “We are going to take two inches off and put two and a quarter back on.”
A road mix similar to what is used on other county highways would be utilized for this.
“This road ought to last 20 or 25 years,” Stokes added.
Some city residents attending the meeting questioned how to pay for another project down the road and wondered what kind of maintenance would be required in the future. Stokes does not anticipate much maintenance to the road except filling some cracks in at the 10-year mark.
“This is a difficult decision but it’s not one we just decided to pull out of a hat and run with,” acknowledged water and sewer commissioner Lee Reinhart.
“We all know preventative maintenance is a plus and we’ve got the perfect opportunity right now,” said streets commissioner Dwayne Price.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, Marion Shier appeared before the council representing the Silliman Trust Committee. He presented proposals for new restrooms at the city park which would be ADA compliant. Fixtures would be wall mounted for ease of cleaning and a water heater would be included.
Shier presented two possible floor plans – one which is a three restroom configuration with a utility room in the back and the other a four restroom design with restrooms in the corners and utility access in the middle.
“It’s a more efficient use of space,” said Shier.
These are single use restrooms intended to have one person in them at a time and numerous local residents have donated time and supplies for the construction work. Since most of the labor is provided, that greatly lessens the expense. The biggest issue for the city would be digging the foundation, installing plumbing fixtures and man hours.
The new restrooms would be placed by the horse shoe pits and the existing restrooms would stay where they are at.
A resolution was approved imposing weight limitations for trucks and commercial vehicles on the portion of County Road 3000 North which is now in the city’s jurisdiction. This road was resurfaced with wind farm funds and the township plows the road for the city. The restrictions will resemble those of current county highways.
“It will be the same exact weight limits and time frames,” said Mayor Wilder.
Council members also approved the March 9 regular meeting minutes and allowed the bills and payroll.
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