Community News
Benld Council eyes development at former Benld school site
Meeting in a relatively brief session Monday night, the Benld City Council briefly discussed the future development of the former Benld Elementary School site as a sports park and recreation area, approved $6,150 in masonry repairs at the Civic Center and directed City Attorney Rick Verticchio to write to Gillespie Police Chief Jared DePoppe regarding a potential issue with the city’s police protection contract with the Gillespie Police Department.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources recently announced the award of a $600,000 Open Spaces and Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant to develop the 11-acre site formerly occupied by Benld Elementary School. The City of Benld is acting as the sponsoring agency for grant purposes. The Benld Sports Association will be in charge of developing the site, as well as ongoing maintenance. Construction, with much of the labor provided by volunteers, could begin as early as this summer.
On Monday night, Mayor Jim Kelly announced the city is waiting for grant guidelines from IDNR, and that he is appointed Ald. John Balzraine and Association Chair Anthony Kravanya as point persons for the property. Balzraine and Kravanya will bring specific issues to the council for approval as development gets underway. Officially known as the Benld Family Sports Complex, plans for the site include construction of a baseball field, a softball field, a soccer/football field, basketball courts, a walking trail and playground.
The site was the location of the Benld Elementary School, which was destroyed by mine subsidence beginning in 2009. Community Unit School District 7 declared the property surplus after building a new elementary school in Gillespie and demolishing the old school. The Board of Education later reached an agreement to transfer the property to the City of Benld for development as a park.
Mayor Kelley also announced that the architect who voluntarily drew up plans for the park has volunteered to help the Sports Association and city council through the process of fulfilling the grant requirements.
Council members also unanimously voted to approve Balzraine’s motion to spend $6,150 for tuck-pointing and other masonry repairs on the back wall of the Civic Center. Balzraine said he was able to obtain the bid from Josh Marinacci.
Council members voted unanimously to have the City Attorney contact the Gillespie Police Chief about the amount of time a Gillespie officer is sitting in Mt. Clare. A few minutes of debate followed a report from Police Committee Chair Ald. Mickey Robinson stating he had talked to the Police Chief about the city’s concerns. At issue is whether or not the Gillespie Police Department is fulfilling its obligation for 24/7 police protection in Benld since the Mt. Clare location is outside the city limits. Mayor Kelly said the city is aware Gillespie police routinely drive through Mt. Clare during shift changes but the city wants to make sure it is getting the police protection it is paying for within the Benld city limits.
The council table voted to formally sign a trash contract with Republic Services pending receipt of a revised contract. Verticchio said the contract Republic provided appeared to be the company’s standard contract which included some items that were not in the city’s old contract and which omitted some specifics. He said he wrote to the company to point out the discrepancies and recommended tabling action on the contract until the council’s next regular meeting.
On a motion by Ald. Jerry Saracco, seconded by Balzraine, the council voted unanimously to have the City Attorney file ordinance violations against the owners of property located on South Second Street.
Saracco also questioned the continuing court actions against some derelict properties in the city. “We don’t want the fines, we want the property cleaned up,” he said. “How do we get them to clean up their properties?”
Verticchio said the only thing he can do in most cases is to keep going back to court and increasing the fines. About the only way the city can get an emergency order to clean up a property is if the property is deemed a hazard to public health or safety. Verticchio and the council discussed the status of actions against the owners of about eight properties in the city which have been cited for ordinance violations of declared public nuisances.
Tilashalski asked if the city needed to again advertise for sale the location of the old Doggie’s Tavern since the property description incorrectly described it as the old bank building. Verticcho said he would rerun the ad at his expense if the city wanted but it technically was unnecessary since the property address and parcel number were correct. No bids have been received for the property, but Verticchio said that since the property has been declared surplus and advertised for sale, the city can accept any bids from this point forward.
On a motion by Balzraine, seconded by Ald. Dustin Fletcher, the council voted to have the property owner pay for the cost of a 40-foot, 12-inch culvert that recently collapsed, with the city to pay the cost of installation. The damaged culvert is located at the end of North Fifth Street and was originally installed to keep the road from washing out.
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Gillespie voters will have an opportunity to vote on whether or not the City of Gillespie can impose a one percent retail sales tax for Public Safety purposes as a result of action taken by the city council Monday night. Council members voted unanimously to approve a resolution prepared by City Attorney Rick Verticchio to put the question on the April 1 consolidated election ballot. The question will be presented in conjunction with the election to choose the mayor, city clerk, city treasurer and three aldermen.
The council discussed the issue of seeking a Public Safety sales tax during the council’s regular meeting on Dec. 9 and during a continued meeting on Dec. 23, at which time there was speculation the city could implement the tax via resolution only without seeking voter approval. The resolution presented Monday night confirms that voters can weigh in at the ballot box on whether or not to impose the tax.
“This is just a resolution so we can have that question on the ballot,” Verticchio told the council.
During the December meetings, Treasurer Dan Fisher said the city agreed to seek the tax during collective bargaining negotiations with the police officers union. The expected $200,000 will help cover additional costs associated with local police joining the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund system for retirement benefits, as well as the cost of adding additional police officers to cover police protection services in satellite communities. Benld Ald. Jerry Saracco told the Benld Council last month that satellite communities also were being asked to consider seeking a Public Safety sales tax to help defray police protection costs, but there appeared to be no interest on the part of the Benld Council to follow Gillespie’s lead.
In addition to the tax question and city officials, the consolidated ballot also will include elections for three Community Unit School District 7 Board of Education members, as well as township officials.
POLICE STATION PROGRESS
On a motion by Ald. Dave Link, seconded by Ald. Dona Rauzi, the council unanimously voted to release $59,199.26 to contractor John Watson, Gillespie, to pay subcontractors for remodeling work at the new Gillespie Police Station at 124 N. Macoupin St., the former location of Gillespie Chiropractic directly across the street from City Hall.
Rauzi reported the city had paid Watson $9,000 to start the remodeling project. The additional money will be used to pay various vendors such as Glass Cutters, Carlinville, and Carpani Computers for installing computer networking and internet systems.
The council also approved a $1,998.85 change order request for the project to cover the cost of reopening exterior stairs that the previous owner had enclosed. The additional money will cover the cost of siding, framing, lighting and replacing stairs that were removed when the entry was enclosed.
In a related matter, the council formally declared as surplus property a desk that the previous owner left behind and to transfer the desk to Watson. Rauzi said the desk had little value and that no other city office had a use for it. She said the options for disposing of it were to either give it to Watson or store it at the Civic Center.
With the same action, the council declared as surplus unused roof trusses which will be offered for sale via sealed bids.
GRANT MANAGER BILL
On Fisher’s recommendation, the council agreed to pay Fuel Growth Group’s bill of $137,550 for billing and consulting services associated with grant management services related to $3 million in federal grants and $1 million in state grants awarded to the city for its downtown streetscape project. Fisher said the agency’s bill is based on an hourly rate totaling 7.5 percent of the $4 million in grant awards.
Verticchio said he plans to contact the vendor regarding its new contract due to concerns he has about some of the contract’s wording. He said the contract calls for an hourly rate up to $257,000 after the first installment of 50 percent is paid.
“I don’t have any great problem with the contract,” Verticchio said, adding that he wants to revise the contract so the city does not owe the balance if the billable hours do not reach $257,000. “In all probability, we will get to that amount, but I want to make sure that if we don’t reach $257,000, we won’t owe them the full amount.”
EXECUTIVE SESSION
No action followed a brief executive session requested by Ald. Frank Barrett, Lake Chairman, to discuss personnel. While the nature of the discussion was not specified, it is likely the closed-door session focussed on replacing Gary Thornhill, long-time Lake Manager who recently resigned to take another job.
In a related matter, Barrett told the council he is getting pricing from Carpani Computers for a new point-of-sale computer and printer for the Lake Store.
“When Gary left, we were using his computer and printer at the store,” Barrett said, explaining the need for new equipment.
COMMUNICATIONS TOWER
Council members briefly discussed the status of a new communications tower, construction of which is likely to start this year. The council previously entered into a franchise agreement to lease property for the tower, which will provide services for AT&T cell phone transmissions and other providers. Ald. Wendy Ottersburg said the company revised its plan to add 20 feet to the tower’s height to expand its range.
Water Plant Operator Dave Pickett said he is eager for the tower to be completed as it will allow the Water Department to implement a computer program enabling the Department to control water flow from the pumping station to the Water Plant without having to physically travel to the pumping station.
“It will be a huge savings for us,” Pickett said.
AUDIT ACCEPTANCE
Upon Fisher’s recommendation, the council voted unanimously to accept the city’s official audit. In a departure from past practice, no representative of the auditing firm appeared before the council to present the audit findings. Fisher said the audit showed the city to “be in the black” but did not mention whether or not the auditor made any other findings.
COUNCIL RADIOS
Mayor John Hicks reported that two-way radios previously issued to city council members are unaccounted for and asked aldermen who might still have a radio to return them to City Hall. He said the radios were issued to aid with communications in the event of an emergency.
“Somewhere along the line, some of them disappeared,” he said.
SNOW REMOVAL
Ald. Bob Fritz, answering criticisms voiced on social media, clarified that the city does not have responsibility for removing snow on sidewalks. He said people were upset because city workers did not remove snow on sidewalks in the area of CUSD 7 schools.
“Those are not our responsibility,” Ald. Rauzi noted.
Ald. Landon Pettit said that when he worked for the city, city workers were advised by the city’s insurance provider to leave sidewalks alone.
“The insurance company told us not to do that,” he said. “Once we clean them off, any liability for them is on us.”
CEJA MEETING
Fisher told the council he plans to meet with CEJA grant partners at 6 p.m. Thursday at City Hall to discuss CEJA expenditures and closing out the grant. The federal Climate and Equitable Jobs Act grant of $1.1 million was awarded last summer. The City of Gillespie retained $70,248.57 with the remainder allotted to various local units of government, including: Village of East Gillespie, $51,654.72; City of Benld, $58,721.50; Village of Eagarville, $50,684.28; City of Staunton, $80,929.61; Gillespie Public Library, $70,248.57; Benld Public Library, $58,721.50; Gillespie Township, $73,458.48; Cahokia Township, $69,004.42; Community Unit School District 7, $98,167.33; North Mac CUSD 34, $98,584.12; Gillespie-Benld Ambulance Service, $133,202.60; Village of Royal Lakes, $51,038.87; City of Bunker Hill, $60,102.51; Village of Mount Clare, $51,878.67; and Brushy Mound Township, $53,919.08.
The Climate and Equitable Jobs Act is a federal program to mitigate against economic conditions that result as the nation moves away from fossil fuels to embrace renewable, “green” energy sources. The local grant award is related to job losses resulting from the idling of Shay Mine No. 1, formerly Monterey Mine No., 1. Each entity was awarded $50,000 plus additional funds based on “job loss” and “revenue loss” factors.
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FELONIES
Ronald R. Arnold, 35 of Gillespie, is charged with aggravated battery in a public place in connection with a December 28 incident.
Kenneth E. Ray, 39 of Bethalto, is charged with aggravated fleeing while involving the disobedience of two or more official traffic control devices, fleeing/attempting to elude officers, speeding 25-34 mph over the limit, and driver’s license expired more than a year in connection with a December 19 incident.
Jacklyn M. Wichman, 30 of Decatur, is charged with possession of methamphetamines (< 5 grams) in connection with a December 30 incident.
MISDEMEANORS
Levi R. Ladendorf, 31 of Staunton, is charged with battery/causing bodily harm in connection with a July 17, 2023 incident.
Demian E. Ellis, 46 of Benld, is charged with battery/making physical contact in connection with a December 30 incident.
Steven D. Lewis, 33 of Virden, is charged with two counts of violation of a protection order in connection with a December 30 incident.
TRAFFIC
Jason A. Keffer , 28 of Standard City, is charged with canceled/revoked/suspended registration in connection with a December 23 incident.
Daniel R. Gooding, 36 of Carlinville, is charged with driving on a suspended license and operating an uninsured motor vehicle in connection with a December 28 incident.
Douglas D. Davis, 27 of Benld, is charged with driving on a revoked license, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and expired registration in connection with a December 26 incident.
Brandon E. Swarringin, 26 of Carlinville, is charged with driving on a suspended license in connection with a December 21 incident.
DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE FILED
- Terry L. Lumma versus Robert L. Lumma
MARRIAGE LICENSES
- Pietro Lentini of Carlinville and Anna Jean Triplett of Greenfield
- Morgan Barber and Emilee Bridgwater, both of Benld
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Summer Repertory at Carlinville is pleased to announce the return of a comedy play to the stage. Performances of Ripcord will be held January 17 and 18th at 7:30 PM and January 19 at 2 PM at Blackburn College Bothwell Auditorium.
Ripcord, by David Lindsay-Abaire, is based in the Bristol Place Senior Living Facility. The rivalry of odd couple roommates Abby and Marilyn, results in high stakes comedy of conflict for control of territory.
Cindy Rice and Joe Hardy bring their combined experience directing the small cast of seasoned actors.
Rice, who has directed place and musicals In Illinois and Texas, spent 15 years co-directing musicals at North Green high school.
Hardy, who began acting at age 7 with notable roles in Summer Repertory Theatre’s Shrek The Musical, The Little Mermaid , and Suessical, has also performed at several Springfield, Illinois, theaters. He has a BA in Theatre Performance from SIUE.
Tickets for Ripcord may be purchased at the door only. Ripcord is rated PG-13. For more information, see Summer Repertory Theatre at Blackburn College Facebook page.
