Community News
Future of former bank site in Benld is in question
While the Benld City Council approved a maintenance contract for the city’s water tower and voted to enact an ordinance calling for a $500 fine when residents reconnect water services the city previously disconnected, it was a lengthy discussion about the former site of the Benld National Bank that dominated Monday night’s council meeting.
Derrick Tibruzi, along with his parents, Dennis and Susan Tiburzi, appeared before the council to again seek an extension on the deadline for establishing a permanent business building on the former site of the First National Bank of Benld in the 200 block of East Central Avenue. Derrick Tiburzi was the successful bidder in April 2022 to acquire the site from the city a month after the city had the former two-story brick building razed and removed. Under the terms of the contract, Tiburzi agreed to pay $6,000 down and retire the remaining $24,000 by making monthly $1,000 payments for two years. The contract also bound Tiburzi to establish a permanent business on the site within three years or forfeit whatever money he had paid the city and surrender the property to the city.
At the time, Derrick Tiburzi said he planned to build a barbecue restaurant on the site.
The contract reportedly allows for the city to authorize extensions on the construction requirement in the event of “extenuating” circumstances.
The Tiburzis on Monday night said they’ve since discovered the land was not adequately compacted to support a commercial building after the old bank was demolished, an assertion the city contests. In previous meetings with city officials, Derrick Tiburzi contended a concrete contractor he hired to pour a slab for the building refused to guarantee his work, citing improper compaction. Likewise, excavator Mike Ranger reportedly confirmed the site will not support new construction.
Citing extenuating circumstances, the Tiburzis reportedly sought an indefinite extension while they attempt to resolve the issue with the property’s condition. In lieu of such an extension, Derrick Tiburzi offered a proposal under which the city would refund a portion of the money he paid for the property once the entire $30,000 had been paid. Under that proposal, the city would return $19,245 to Tiburzi, while retaining the remaining $10,765. Tiburzi said he arrived at the numbers by applying an average price for Benld real estate of $1.48 per square foot and deducting the footprint of the former bank building.
Ald. John Balzraine reported Monday night he had talked to Mark Ranger, another local excavator, who said he has equipment to drill and staggered grid of 18-inch holes to a depth of three feet and fill them with water. “He said that property will drop within six months,” Balzraine said.
“Will he guarantee that is the solution to my problem?” Derrick Tiburzi asked.
“I don’t see how drilling to three feet is going to help when they excavated to seven feet,” Dennis Tiburzi commented. He alleged that below seven feet, the area was backfilled with construction debris, including loose bricks.
Balzraine disputed Tiburzi’s contention, saying the contractor that razed the building excavated to a depth of only five feet, which was the depth of the existing basement, and removed all debris from the demolition before filling the pit with clay and compacting the soil.
City Attorney Rick Verticchio said the brick debris below seven feet apparently is from a previous structure that no one knew about.
“Then that’s even more of a problem,” Dennis Tiburzi said.
Derrick Tiburzi said his concrete contractor told him that bringing the site up to standards for commercial construction would cost upward of $98,000.
“We can’t do that,” Tiburzi said. “I’d end up spending a quarter of a million dollars and I’d never see a return on my investment.”
Verticchio insisted that Tiburzi has a “contractual obligation” to build on the site. “The bank building stood on that site for 100 years and never had any structural problems with the foundation,” he said. “If you were going to build a four-story brick building, you might have a problem, but I think you could build a one-story building on a concrete slab on that site with no problem. If you don’t want it, you can walk away from it, we’ll keep the money you’ve paid so far and start working with the next guy.”
Derrick Tiburzi said he has paid about $26,000 toward the acquisition of the property at this time.
“We want the property,” Susan Tiburzi said. “If that’s the issue, I could write you a check for it tonight.” But she confirmed the family has no immediate plans to build while the stability of the site remains in doubt.
“The contract says we’ll give you a ‘reasonable extension’ for unforeseen circumstances,” Verticchio said. “If you think a ‘reasonable extension’ means you’d never have to build on it, then we’d probably have to go to court on that issue.”
“We would probably already have had a building-up if not for unforeseen circumstances,” Derrick Tiburzi insisted. “My whole plan was do do something good for the city but, unfortunately, plans have changed due to the circumstances we’re in. We have two experts who say the site is unbuildable. We would never have been here if it had been compacted appropriately.”
“I want something in writing from Mike Ranger saying the property is not buildable,” Ald. Jerry Saracco said. Verticchio agreed, saying the city would need written statements from the Tiburzis’ experts before it could consider altering the contract or releasing them from it.
Tiburzi pledged to “reach out” to Mike Ranger for a written opinion.
“Please don’t think we’re trying to do anything against the city,” Susan Tiburzi told the council. She said the family was attempting to protect her son’s interests while doing something to benefit the city.
While the lengthy, sometimes emotional, discussion reached no resolution, Mayor Jim Kelly encouraged Derrick Tiburzi to sit down with him and Mark Ranger to “see if we can work something out.”
POST OFFICE LEASE
The council again tabled action on a contract with the U.S. Postal Service to lease the Benld Post Office for another five years. The council delayed action last month, citing a provision calling for the city to include snow removal in the lease agreement. Verticchio said Monday night he discovered the snow removal clause was in the previous lease, although the city never provided snow removal services during the term of the lease.
“They say we accept the terms of the previous lease, or they don’t want to renew,” Verticchio said.
The current lease does not expire until the end of this year.
The new lease proposal would increase payment to the city from $25,000 to $25,500 per year. Upon accepting the proposal, the city will owe the brokerage firm that handles post office leases a commission of $1,500.
WATER SERVICE RECONNECTION
On Verticchio’s recommendation, the council authorized him to draft a proposed ordinance to implement a fine of $500 against property owners when disconnected water services are illegally reconnected. Verticchio said the Macoupin County State’s Attorney’s office has declined to pursue criminal charges in such circumstances because the city cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a specific person is responsible for reconnecting the services.
The new ordinance will provide the city with an avenue to collect damages without having to prove criminal responsibility in court.
In a somewhat related matter, the council voted unanimously to file a lien against a property at 404 South First Street for about $3,500 in unpaid water bills.
“After a year, you’re allowed to foreclose on the lien, sell the property and keep the $3,500 you’re owed,” Verticchio advised.
NEWMAN COMMENDATION
Council members voted unanimously to send a letter of commendation to Mary Newman, director at the Frank Bertetti Benld Public Library, for 25 years of service to the community. The action followed a report from Ald. Norm Emmons, the city’s representative on the library board of directors, indicated the board had recently presented Newman with a plaque in recognition of her years of service.
“She has done a fantastic job,” Emmons said.
FIBER OPTIC INSTALLATION
Ald. Balzraine asked about the authority for crews installing fiber optic cables in the city limits for internet service.
Verticchio said the crews are authorized by state and federal law under legislation to boost rural access to internet services.
“They have a right to lay lines,” Verticchio said. “They can’t lay lines on top of any existing utilities, like water and sewer lines. I can tell you from the experience of other municipalities, they don’t pay any attention to that. They lay line over a water line, so if we have a water main break, we’re going to hit their line. What we need to do is to document that so we know where their lines are.”
City Clerk Terri Koyne said the company is supposed to provide a map showing the location of their lines.
Responding to a question, Verticchio further advised that one the company starts adding subscribers and connecting homes to the line, the city will have a right to impose a franchise fee.
CHICKEN ORDINANCE
The council declined to take any action toward amending the city’s zoning ordinance to allow residents to maintain more than six chickens on residential properties in the city. Last month, Travis Darling approached the council about expanding the number of chickens allowed to 15, saying he wanted to raise more chickens for meat and eggs to feed his family.
Verticchio said another option for Darling would be to petition the Zoning Board to rezone his property for agricultural use.
WATER TOWER MAINTENANCE
the council voted unanimously to contract with CorrPro, Chesterfield, Mo., to perform a routine annual inspection of the city’s water tower at a cost of $925. The inspection will include replacing bulbs in warning lights atop the tower. CorrPro has performed the annual inspection for the past several years.
BUSINESS LICENSES
The council unanimously approved a business license for Grace VanDoren, owner of Bells and Whistles, for a food truck to be permanently located at 301 Central Avenue. The business serves coffee and currently operates in various locations in the city and county.
The council, however, deferred action on a business license application from Anthony Girdner for Chunx Food Truck. Gardner said he was hoping to acquire a truck to serve snow cones and ice cream but had not arranged for a permanent location.
“We have a food truck ordinance,” Verticchio pointed out. “You don’t need a business license for that.” Verticchio said the ordinance requires the food truck operation to be certified by the Macoupin County Public Health Department and to pay a fee of $100 for one day of operation, plus $24 for each additional day. He said a business license would only be required if Girdner establishes a permanent location from which to operate.
TRUCK REPAIR
In other action, the council authorized payment of $6,647.84 to Area Diesel Service, Carlinville, for repairs to the city’s dump truck.
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Community News
Gillespie Council establishes penalty of late lake lot lease payments, green lights programs to display banners honoring local veterans
After several minutes of discussion and debate, the Gillespie City Council on Monday night adopted a resolution that enables the city to collect a $100 late fee for lake lot lease payments that come in after the April 1 deadline. Council members also endorsed a privately funded program proposed by two sisters to purchase and display banners on Macoupin Street to recognize individual local military personnel.
Lake lot lease-holders are required to pay their $750 annual lease payment on April 1. Under the new policy, the city will impose a $100 late fee. If the lease remains unpaid after May 31, the city will terminate the lease.
Debate centered on whether or not a new leaseholder would be responsible for the unpaid late fee. City Attorney Rick Verticchio wrote the resolution to attach the fee to the lot rather than the lease-holder, meaning a new owner would have to redeem the late fee to rent the lot. Ald. Janet Odell-Mueller, however, said such a policy would be unfair to the new lease-holder.
Verticchio said he wrote the resolution to prevent families or friends from transferring lots from one to another without paying for the previous year’s lease. He said a person could conceivably default on a year’s lease, transfer the property to a family member or friend who could do the same thing a year later. “This is to prevent ‘sweetheart deals’,” Verticchio said, where a group of friends or family members could retain a lot indefinitely without ever paying for a lease.
Ald. Landon Pettit pointed out, however, that lease-holders are required to pay a deposit equal to a one-year lease. Meaning the city will get the lease payment when the lease-holder forfeits the lease. At that point, Odell-Mueller said, the lease-holder would not be transferring the lease. Instead, the city would have control of the property.
Verticchio said he was not aware of the deposit issue and suggested he could reword a portion of the resolution to indicate that in the event the lease is terminated the deposit would be applied to the balance due and the penalty would be waived. Essentially, the penalty applies only if the delinquent lease-holder chooses to retain the lease by paying the penalty plus the annual lease.
At one point, Mayor John Hicks suggested referring the resolution back to committee to hammer out the final language, Ultimately, however, the council voted unanimously to adopt the resolution with the changes Verticchio suggested.
MILITARY HEROES BANNERS
On a motion by Ald. Wendy Rolando, the council voted unanimously to give permission to Jennifer Carter and her sister, Jodi Carpani, to purchase and place banners honoring local military personnel on Veterans Day. Carter said the women hope to have the banners on Macoupin Street in time for Veterans Day this year.
“We would like the city council’s permission to recognize our community heroes,” Carter said, addressing the council, “and we would like permission to ask the community to join us in honoring them sponsoring a banner.”
Carter said there are 20 brackets currently available on Macoupin Street to mount the banners. The banners are two-sided, meaning the pair could honor up to 40 veterans at the moment. She said the number of banners could be expanded if some of the broken brackets are replaced.
The banners cost $80 each, and the sisters plan to seek the support of community members to pay for them. Carter said they will not profit from the project.
“We will bear the responsibility to organize and solicit our community to sponsor a local veteran with a hometown heroes banner to be hung every year on Veterans Day,” Carter said. “My sister and I will be responsible for hanging and removing the banners each year.”
She said the banners will be similar to those currently displayed in Wilsonville, Edwardsville and Bunker Hill. The project will not interfere with Miners flags that are displayed on Macoupin Street during football season.
“My fear is that we will have more people wanting banners than we have brackets for,” Carter said. She said they will approach the Benld City Council for permission to hang banners in that community if a significant number of people want to honor Benld veterans.
Mayor Hicks noted that there will be more poles available for displaying banners when the city’s Streetscape project is finished.
Last month, Ald. Rolando received the permission of the council to solicit donations to buy new American flags for Macoupin Street. She said she can work with the sisters to see if the banners can be displayed on the same pole with the flags, or possibly have the flags on alternate poles along the Main Street.
WATER BILL POLICY
After a lengthy discussion, Mayor Hicks asked the Public Works Committee to work on establishing a policy for collecting delinquent water bills when a residence is sold to a new owner. The discussion stemmed from concerns voiced by Jack Taylor who recently purchased a vacant home with the intention of renovating it for resale. After closing on the real estate, he learned there was a $200 delinquent water bill he was required to pay before having the water turned on.
“Had he come up to city hall and asked them to check that address, they would have told him about the outstanding bill,” Verticchio said.
Taylor complained that he had a title search completed but the city had not placed a lien against the property. “If someone buys a house, they’re going to do a title search. No one is going to come up here and check the water bill,” he said. “I’m just saying it’s unfair to the buyer.”
Verticchio said filing a lien on a $200 water bill would not be practical. The city would have to pay him for his services plus a $81 filing fee. “At that point you’ve doubled the bill,” he said. “All of sudden, $200 is $400.” Most municipalities, he said, do not file formal liens until the delinquent bill reaches $500.
City Treasurer Dan Fisher said the city cannot waive delinquent water bills because of money the city received from USDA for its water infrastructure project completed two years ago. “We have a loan with the federal government. Under the terms of that loan, we have to collect all bills,” he said. “We have to be able to collect that money to uphold our end of our agreement with the federal government.”
Fisher recommended that the Water Department shut off water service for delinquent customers sooner so excessive bills do not accrue.
Hicks recommended that the Public Works Committee work on a policy regarding delinquent water bills. One possible solution, he said, would be to remove water meters from vacant homes with delinquent bills.
“That way, the buyer would have to call the Water Department to have the water turned on, and they would tell them that there’s a bill against it,” he said.
He told Taylor he would look at the bill and see if there were late fees or interest that could be waived.
STOP SIGNS
The council approved an ordinance to place stop signs at the intersection of LJ Avenue and Oak Street to facilitate rerouted bus traffic resulting from Community Unit School District 7’s decision to convene and dismiss school at the same times for all its buildings.
Ald. Odell-Mueller questioned whether the safety of elementary students crossing the road would be jeopardized by the rerouted buses.
Fisher responded that the school district is working with the city to apply for a safety grant to install sidewalks in the area of BenGil Elementary School to address safety concerns.
OTHER ACTION
In other action, the council:
- Ratified the Mayor’s appointment of Dave Tucker, Kelley Hatlee and Katie Drummond to the Gillespie Public Library Board of Directors.
- Agreed to accept a bid of $15,500 from Cahokia Township for the purchase of a surplus dump truck, and a bid of $5,000 from Kinney Construction for a surplus vacuum truck. No bids were received for a street sweeper that also was declared as surplus property last month.
- Accepted a total bid of $760 from Jim Feeley to remove trees in the 800 block of Frey Street, the 600 block of Adams Street and at Big Brick Park.
- Voted to establish a separate checking account for funds generated from the city’s second Tax Increment Financing district.
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Meeting in special session Monday night, August 26, the Gillespie City Council voted 5-2 to purchase a brick building at 124 N. Macoupin St. to house the growing Gillespie Police Department.
On a motion by Ald. Dona Rauzi, seconded by Ald. Bill Hayes, the council agreed to buy the building, which formerly housed the Gillespie Chiropractic Clinic, for $69,000. Mayor John Hicks said the city expects to spend up to $200,000 to remodel the structure to house the Gillespie Police Department, currently located at 109 W. Pine St. The fate of the 109 W. Pine address was not discussed, nor was a timeline for moving the police department into new quarters.
Ald. Rauzi, Hayes, Wendy Rolando, Bob Fritz and Janet Odell-Mueller voted in favor of the purchase. Ald. Dave Link and Frank Barrett cast dissenting votes. Ald. Landon Pettit, who advocated for the purchase during the council’s regular monthly meeting two weeks ago, was absent.
At 2,270 square feet, the new building will nearly double the square footage available for the Police Department. The building is located on a 15,000-square-foot lot, compared with 9,000 square feet at the current location, meaning there will be ample room for parking and/or to build onto the existing structure.
City Treasurer said the building owner listed the property for $80,000. The city offered $60,000 and settle at $69,000 after further negotiations.
Fisher said modifications to the building will include replacing stairs to the basement with ADA-compliant stairs, which will make the basement accessible for storage and securely holding evidence.
“We’ll probably change the entryway to make it a double-lock entry,” Fisher said. “We’ll have to make some changes but basically the inside won’t change very much.” Current exam rooms can become individual offices with little or no remodeling. The lobby area will probably be divided with a new wall to create a waiting area for visitors.
For the past two years, the council has investigated the possibility of remodeling the space vacated in the Civic Center when the Fire Department moved to new facilities in East Gillespie. Cost estimates for that project, however, came in at $600,000 to $700,000. Buying and remodeling 112 N. Macoupin St. will cost approximately half of what was estimated for the Civic Center alternative.
“We’ve been talking about doing something here for a couple of years,” Ald. Link said. “How many thousands of dollars have we spent on engineering for here?”
Fisher replied that engineering fees for the Civic Center project total about $5,000, but some of the planning for the Civic Center location should translate to the 112 N. Macoupin site.
“We’re thinking we can use some of the plans we had done for here for the new building,” Fisher said. “We hope we can use some of those plans to spec out the other building without making much modification.”
Hicks said a larger facility for the Police Department is needed because the size of the Department has expanded in order to service police protection contracts with surrounding communities including Benld, Eagarville, Mt. Clare, Sawyerville, East Gillespie and Wilsonville.
“We’ve got more people working for us,” Hicks said. “We have more people coming in,” Hicks said the city also wanted to have the Police Department located on the city’s Main Street.
“I still think the dentist office would be a better place to put it,” Ald. Barrett commented, referring to the former location of Smiles Plus Dentistry, 709 Staunton Rd. “The square footage is more and the basement is finished.”
“What you’re talking about is $130,000,” said Ald. Rolando, “plus there’s more parking space with this place.”
Monday night’s special meeting of the council was held immediately prior to a committee meeting during which the committee members directed Fisher to apply for a federal grant to defray the cost of buying two police patrol cars sometime after Oct. 1, and recommended setting 6-8 p.m., Oct. 30 and 31, as trick or treating hours. Committee actions do not become official until approved by the full council.
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The Bunker Hill Area Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual Fall Festival on September 14 in the downtown area beginning at 10 am.
The event will feature vendors, food, beverages, a bounce house, an interactive Illinois Department of Natural Resources booth, music, a car show, a burnout contest, and a fireworks display sponsored by the Bunker Hill United Community Bank Community at 8 PM. City Heat band will perform from 12-4 and Rock Bottom from 6-10.
The Speed Demons host the car show and burn-out contest. The entry fee is $20, and the event runs from 10 to 5, Mark Flieger, the group spokesperson, said. Registration for the car show starts at 8 am. Enter on Highway 159 at Park Street. Car Show Awards will be presented at 4 pm.
The Burnout Contest starts at 5 pm. Cash and Custom-made Trophy for the 1st place winner. Kids Power Wheels Drag Racing from 12 pm – 1 pm and 100 goodie bags to the first 100 cars that enter the 2024 Car Show.
For further information, contact Jill Chapman at 618 223 9043, Lisa Webb at 618 407 2513, or Mark Flieger at 314 210 6254.
