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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

With upward of 60 residents crowded into the Gillespie Civic Center, city officials tried to allay concerns over the city’s water supply and warned that correcting the issues will take time. The hour-long confrontation took place during the regular meeting of the city council on Monday night. Residents complained about discolored water coming from their […]

In a relatively brief meeting, the Benld City Council on Monday night accepted a $16,785 bid to replace the sidewalk around the Benld City Hall, agreed to a one-time plan to pick up storm debris from residences, and dealt with a minor controversy over the purchase of five concrete planters. City Property Chair John Balzraine’s […]

Members of the Gillespie City Council on Monday night approved a $14 million appropriation ordinance for the current fiscal year, hired a new city police officer, and accepted the resignations of two city employees. Totaling $13,933,250, the annual appropriation covers anticipated spending for the fiscal year that began May 1 and nearly double last year’s […]

With a new city attorney in place, the Gillespie City Council on Monday night voted to draft a resolution dealing with public nuisance properties and heard from a group of Gillespie Middle School students advocating for volunteerism to address community issues. Early in the meeting, Mayor John Hicks introduced Rick Verticchio as his appointment to […]