Members of the Benld City Council on Monday night voted unanimously to approve a motor fuel tax resolution authorizing expenditures of up to $90,772.65 for next summer’s street maintenance program. The vote followed a brief presentation by Doug Ratermann of HMG Engineers, Carlyle. The new resolution exceeds last year’s by about $16,000, and is subject […]
Holiday Sparkle returning to downtown Gillespie; Council approves $410,000 ARPA spending plan
Holiday Sparkle, an annual Christmas season tradition until the Coal Country Chamber of Commerce dissolved about five years ago, is returning to downtown Gillespie this year through the efforts of several local business owners. During the regular monthly meeting of the Gillespie City Council Monday night, city aldermen agreed to waive the rental and cleaning […]
McGartland captures County Treasurer office, Incumbent re-elected as County Sheriff
For the first time in 50 years a Republican will hold an executive office in the Macoupin County courthouse. Lilian Amber McGartland, Republican candidate for County Treasurer, toppled Democrat Roger Anderson’s bid to be elected to the office to which he was appointed following the retirement of long-serving treasurer Ann Boehm, also a Democrat. McGartland […]
Benld city officials host open house, dedication for newly remodeled events center
With upward of 50 local residents attending, Benld city officials hosted an open house and dedication for the newly remodeled Benld Civic Center, now renamed the DeStefane Events Center, on Saturday afternoon at the renovated facility. Benld native Rick DeStefane, 64, Creve Couer, Mo., who financially subsidized the project, was a guest of honor. “I […]
School board approves GMS A/C project, signs off on annual financial report
Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education on Monday night approved a $1.8 million project to replace the heating, ventilating and air conditioning system at Gillespie Middle School, contingent upon the State Board of Education releasing funds to pay for the project, and voted to accept the district’s annual financial report. […]
Benld Council eyes water tower painting project, sets open house for newly renovated civic center
Members of the Benld City Council voted unanimously Monday night to enter into a contract not to exceed $40,025 for HMG Engineering to develop bidding specifications and supervise work associated with a project to repaint the city’s water storage tower located north of City Park. Justin VonderHaar, an engineer with HMG, told the council his […]
Gillespie Council eyes bids for sewer re-lining project
Members of the Gillespie City Council on Wednesday night gave Mayor John Hicks power to act on accepting a contractor’s bid to re-line sewer mains in downtown Gillespie as a first step toward an extensive streetscape project to improve the appearance of the business district and stimulate economic growth. The council also approved new contracts […]
Benld will seek $600,000 grant for park development
Meeting in special session Wednesday night, the Benld City Council approved a resolution to apply for a $600,000 Open Space Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant to develop an 11-acre park on the former site of Benld Elementary School. OSLAD is a federally-funded grant program administered at the state level by the Illinois Department of […]
School board adopts $18.5 million budget, votes to ban parent from school functions
Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education members voted on Monday night to adopt an $18.5 million budget for the fiscal year that began July 1, and voted unanimously to ban a local parent from attending extracurricular activities on school property for the remainder of the 2022-23 academic year. The board voted unanimously to […]
Benld Council eyes lagoon maintenance, votes to accept annual audit report
Benld City Council members voted unanimously Monday night to spend more than $11,000 to determine the volume of sludge settled at the bottom of the city’s sewage lagoon and determine the best course of action to deal with it. The council also voted to accept the annual city audit following a brief meeting with the […]
Gillespie Council accepts $100,000 bid for fencing
After years of delay, the Gillespie City Council on Monday night accepted bids totaling more than $100,000 to erect fencing around the city’s water treatment plant and adjacent solar panel field. Collins and Herman Infrastructure Solutions, St. Louis, was the sole bidder for the projects. On a motion by Ald. Wendy Rolando, the council voted […]
Davis to visit Gillespie to discuss streetscape grant
U.S. Representative Rodney Davis is scheduled to meet with city officials at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 7, at the Gillespie Civic Center to discuss a $3 million federal grant he shepherded through Congress to help fund the city’s ambitious downtown Streetscape Project. Spearheaded by city officials and the Grow Gillespie organization, the Streetscape Project will […]
Gillespie voters will consider supporting retirement plans for city workers
Gillespie voters will vote on whether or not to pay a higher tax rate to fund a retirement plan for city employees but the referendum will be next April instead of this November, and the question will be whether or not to fund a retirement plan for all city employees covered by collective bargaining agreements […]
Benld Council hires new sewer operator, increases rental rates for city facilities
The Benld City Council on Monday night ratified the Mayor’s hiring of Ethan Martin as the city’s sewer system operator and voted to approve adjustments to rental rates for city facilities. The action to hire Martin followed a 35-minute executive session to discuss personnel, legal issues and contracts. Martin will replace Randy Gross, who resigned […]
School board hikes substitute teacher pay
During a relatively brief meeting Monday night, members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education voted to increase payment to substitute teachers to be more competitive with other school districts in the area, and voted to make the tentative 2022-23 district budget available for public review, but tabled a measure to buy […]
CUSD 7 board hires Highland educator as GMS principal
Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education voted 4-1 Wednesday night to hire Patrick McGinthy, O’Fallon, as Gillespie Middle School Principal for the 2022-23 school year. McGinthy steps into a vacancy created when the board hired form GMS Principal Tara Cooper for a newly-created assistant principal’s position last week. The board […]
Gillespie Council approves FOP contract, considers tax-supported police pension plan
Gillespie city aldermen voted unanimously Monday night to authorize the Mayor and City Clerk to sign a new contract with the Fraternal Order of Police which authorizes substantial wage increases for city police officers. Additionally, the council set a special meeting for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Aug. 16, to vote on whether or not to submit […]
Board names Cooper assistant principal for district
Meeting in special session Wednesday night, members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education voted 6-1 to hire Tara Cooper as the district’s assistant principal for the coming academic year. The board also voted 6-1 to accept Cooper’s resignation as Gillespie Middle School principal and to post a vacancy for a building […]
School board considers procurement process for air conditioning units
Members of the Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education on Monday night tacitly authorized the administration to explore the possibility of acquiring new air conditioning units at the Gillespie Middle School through a procurement group in lieu of a formal bidding process. Meeting in regular session, board members took no formal action on […]
Benld Council adopts $2.1 million appropriation for fiscal year
Members of the Benld City Council voted unanimously Monday night to adopt an annual appropriation ordinance limiting expenditures for the current fiscal year to $2,144,662. The appropriation for fiscal 2023 is nearly double the typical appropriation for the City of Benld primarily because of a $640,000 sewer improvement project expected to get underway later this […]
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