With Mayor John Hicks looking on, former Ald. Jim Alderson embraces Dona Rauzi shortly after she was sworn in to be seated as his replacement as the council representative from Ward 1. Alderson resigned his seat last month.

Members of the Gillespie City Council voted unanimously Monday night to seat Dona Rauzi as Ward 1 alderwoman, replacing former Ald. Jim Alderson who resigned from the council last month. The council also took action to resolve the long-standing controversy over the sale of a city-owned lot in the 200 block of South Macoupin Street, and heard complaints from neighbors in the 300 block of Oak Street who said their homes are being invaded by cockroaches because of a heavily infested house in their neighborhood.

Katina Weller, who read from a prepared statement to the council, said she and her husband have lived at 307 East Oak for 15 years. “We never had any problems with cockroaches until four years ago,” she said. That’s when new tenants moved into a rental property owned by Tim Loveless at 309 East Oak. Three years ago, Weller said, the house was treated by a professional exterminator and the contractor told her husband “the infestation was so bad that the cockroaches were eating the drywall.”

Weller presented the council with photos of the residence, including some showing cockroaches clinging to the windows, along with a petition signed by other residents living in the neighborhood. Several other neighbors attended Monday night’s meeting but did not speak. She said neighbors want the city to hold Loveless responsible for eradicating the roaches. “I don’t know how much he’s getting for rent but maybe he should take some of that money and help” neighbors pay for extermination services.

Some neighbors have taken to boring holes in their walls and pouring in boric acid in an effort to keep the roaches at bay, she said. She recounted a recent incident when she and her husband were entertaining guests “only to open the grill and have a cockroach run out of it. We were mortified and had to explain that they were not our roaches.” She said she has to limit where her grandchildren play when they are outdoors and insist that toys taken outside stay outside. “I’ve been in tears over this. We are not comfortable in our own homes, and we have done all we can do,” she said. “It’s time to hold Mr. Loveless responsible.”

Weller said she contacted the Illinois Department of Public Health and was told it was a municipal issue. The Macoupin County Health Department agreed that the neighbors’ best recourse was to demand action from the city. She said she also contacted the Department of Children and Family Services “not because I want anyone’s children taken away from them but because there are children in the house and this is an ongoing problem.”

She said she had talked with the neighbors in question and learned they were eager to keep the landlord from exercising a clause in their contract allowing him to enter the residence. They reportedly indicated they would do what they could to control the infestation in lieu of having Loveless enter the house. She said Loveless did treat the exterior of the house himself. “But he is not a professional exterminator,” she said. “It was like throwing a teaspoon of water on a five-alarm fire.”

Under terms of the rental contract, Weller said the tenant is required to pay for extermination services when required and that the landlord has a right to enter the house to check the condition of the property. “He should be required to enforce the terms of his own lease,” Weller said.

Ward 1 Ald. Jerry Dolliger said he contacted Loveless and asked him to hire a professional exterminator.

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“He said ‘no way,’ and said he would do it himself,” Dolliger reported. “He went over with a gallon sprayer and sprayed it, and all that did was run them over to the other houses. I asked him to go in and check the home inside and he said he wouldn’t do that either.”

“When did you talk to him?” City Attorney Kevin Polo. Dolliger said he talked to Loveless last week. “He’s had a change of heart since then,” Polo continued, adding that Loveless called him an hour before Monday night’s meeting and agreed to have the residence professionally treated.

“I’m thankful he’s willing to spray, but one spray is not going to take care of it,” Weller commented. “We’ve been living with this for four years.”

Polo said the conditions Weller described could be considered a public nuisance, in which case the city could compel Loveless to rectify the issue. If he failed to correct the issue, he said, the city could be authorized to hire an exterminator and send him to the residence along with Bob Lancaster, the city’s building inspector, to ensure the problem was corrected. Ald. Dave Tucker asked Polo to make contact with the exterminator Loveless chooses to hire to get a report on conditions in the home and verification that the roaches have been eradicated.

“I’d like to see this treated the same way as we do tall grass,”  Mayor John Hicks said. “He’d get a chance to clean it up and if it didn’t work, we’d go in and do it and he’d have to pay for it.”

“I’m not sure what the building can do, I’m not sure that the police can do anything,” Polo admitted.

“Actually, this may be a civil matter,” Hicks added.

“That’s another reason why I’m here, if I have to do something like that,” Weller said. She said she has spent $400 on exterminators this year alone and is having an exterminator come back to her home this week. Other neighbors in the area have incurred similar expenses, she said.

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NEW COUNCIL MEMBER

On a motion by Ald. Frank Barrett, seconded by Ald. Dolliger, the council voted unanimously to ratify the Mayor’s appointment of Rauzi to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of long-serving former alderman Jim Alderson. Alderson watched as Rauzi was sworn in and hugged her immediately afterword. “The Mayor made a good choice,” Alderson said.

Alderson was last elected in 2015. Rauzi will serve finish Alderson’s term, which expires in spring 2019, at which time the seat will be open for election.

MACOUPIN STREET PROPERTY

Following a 45-minute executive session during which council members discussed the sale of real estate, a union grievance and other personnel issues, the council voted to sell the property at 214 South Macoupin Street to Adam Tallman for construction of a new insurance office. Tallman presented drawings for the building he plans to construct, which includes batting cages in the back, along with a business plan.

The action resolved a long-standing controversy over the sale of the city-owned lot. Appearing at previous meetings, Dave Link, owner of Lumpy’s Tavern adjacent to the property, objected to selling the property without formally advertising for bids and insisted he had offered more money for the lot than Tallman agreed to pay. Link said he offered $12,340 for the lot, while Tallman agreed to pay $8,000—80 percent of the lot’s appraised value. State law requires taxing bodies to sell surplus real estate for no less than 80 percent of its appraised value.

The ordinance authorizing the sale of the property to Tallman requires Tallman to comply with all city zoning and building codes and offers no promises of zoning variances for the property.

Also following the executive session, the council voted to deny a union grievance filed by a Street Department employee. Polo later told the BenGil Post the grievance was denied “by default” because neither the employee nor representatives of the Laborers Union attended the meeting to present their complaint.

WATER LINE BID

On a motion by Ald. Tucker, seconded by Ald. Barrett, the council voted unanimously to give the city engineers Curry and Associates authority to advertise for bids to undertake an estimated $10 million project to replace aging water distribution lines within the city. City Treasurer Dan Fisher said the city is waiting for authorization from the Illinois Department of Transportation to install lines along Illinois Route 4, which runs through the city, which will complete the easement package for the project to proceed. Once the final easements are in place, he said, the Rural Development Bank, which is financing the project, will sign off on paperwork for the project to start. Since those two items could be completed before the next meeting of the council, Fisher asked for authorization to advertise for bids contingent upon final paperwork being completed.

DUMP TRUCK PURCHASE

Council members voted unanimously to give Mayor Hicks power to act on purchasing a used dump truck from Prairie Farms Dairy in Carlinville to replace one of two aging dump trucks owned by the city Street Department. Public Works Chair Ald. Dolliger said Prairie Farms is offering to sell the vehicle for an estimated price of $3,500 to $4,000, but the truck will need new tires at a cost of about $3,500. Additionally, the city will have to have the bed shortened, which could inflate the final total cost to $15,000 to $20,000.

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Dolliger said the city spent $8,000 in the past year on repairs for the truck the new vehicle will replace.

“What we have now, almost daily it has to go to Quality Motors,” Dolliger said.

“I’d like to see a more firm number” on the price of the truck, Hicks said, referring to the $3,500 to $4,000 price tag on the replacement truck. He also said he’d like a firm estimate on the cost of shortening the bed before committing to the purchase.

GENERATOR MOVE

On a motion by Ald. Steve Kluthe, the council authorized Ald. Dolliger to enter into a contract to move a city-owned generator from the former site of the Gillespie Police Department to the Civic Center, contingent upon what Ameren may charge to update a connection box on the north side of the building. Dolliger said he had secured a bid of $10,000 to move and connect the generator, which is about a third of the previous estimate. The connection box, however, is old and may have to be replaced. Dolliger cited the experience of a local business that recently had to replace a connection box at a cost of about $8,000.

The council’s action gives Dolliger authority to proceed depending on what the cost of replacing the connection box turns out to be. Funding for the project will come from the ESDA fund.

Once installed, the generator will allow the city to offer the Civic Center as a cooling center or heating center in the event of a widespread disaster-related power outage in the city. Hicks said the city has been working nearly nine years to get the generator moved and installed at a price the city can afford.

WHEELCHAIR RAMP EXEMPTION

Council members unanimously approved Ald. Tucker’s suggestion to draft a proposed ordinance amendment to waive the fee for building permits related to the construction of wheelchair ramps attached to Gillespie homes. Tucker said the ramps generally do not alter the footprint of the home and do not create a potential for violating the city’s zoning code. Under the proposal, the city would continue to issue building permits for such projects and would have the ramp inspected upon completion.

City attorney Polo advised that such a measure probably should be authorized by amending the ordinance rather than making an administrative change.

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City Treasurer Fisher noted that the fee for building permits was designed to cover the city’s cost for having the building inspector inspect the completed projects. “I think that’s something you should consider,” said Fisher.

“I think this is something the city could do and should do,” Tucker responded.

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the council:

• Gave permission for the HEIDI organization to purchase and install a handicap-accessible swing at the Big Brick Park playground. Tyler Link, representing HEIDI, said the project would be done at no cost to the city with Knights of Columbus members providing labor. He said the organization was undertaking the project “so every child can have the pleasure of sitting next to their friends on a swing.”
• Gave permission to the Macoupin-Montgomery Shriners Club to distribute newspapers in exchange for donations during one weekend in October, provided they can coordinate with the local Lions Club, which uses a weekend in October for its Candy Days fundraising project. Shriners Club Vice President Matt Rolando told the council the Shriners sponsor several children’s hospitals that provide medical services at no cost to patients “regardless of their ability to pay.” Those facilities are supported entirely by donations. The newspapers distributed during the fundraising effort will describe the services provided by the hospitals and how the Shriners fund those services.
• Approved a lake lot lease transfer from Diane Knowles to Jeffery Sneed, East Alton. Lake Committee Chair Ald. Barrett said Sneed plans to use the cabin at 11 Circle Drive as a part-time residence with the possibility of it becoming a permanent residence at a later date.
• Agreed to pay for sending two part-time police officers to Police Academy training starting in September.
• Agreed to send Treasurer Fisher to an Illinois Municipal League convention in Chicago next month at a cost of $650.
• Referred to committee an application from the Canna Community Church for a facade improvement grant to assist with a project that includes tuck pointing, roof repair and the addition of a bathroom.

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