The Gillespie City Council voted Monday night to approve a new ordinance to govern the burning of yard waste, and inked a long-awaited agreement to continue providing police protection services to the City of Bend. Additionally, Council members approved a conditional use permit for a proposed 40-acre solar energy field on Henderson Road but declined to override the Zoning Board’s decision to deny a petition to rezone a property on Southern Street from residential use to commercial.

The new burning ordinance supercedes all previous ordinances regarding public burning by city residents. The new ordinance bans the burning of household trash, agricultural waste or garbage. Landscaping waste can be burned during daylight hours, roughly 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. depending upon the season, any day except Sunday, Monday and federal holidays. Landscape waste may be burned only upon the premises where it was generated; burning on city streets, rights-of-way, boulevards or ditches is prohibited. Residents may not burn landscape waste during times when it could cause visibility issues on city streets. Further, the Police Chief and/or Fire Chief may ban burning during times when open burning would pose a hazard.

The ordinance requires all fires to be supervised by a person 18 years old or older, and requires all such fires to be extinguished by sundown.

Violating the new ordinance could result in a fine of $100 to $250.

Mayor Landon Pettit has pushed for the new ordinance for at least the last two months, noting that the city code book contained a hodgepodge of regulations aimed at open burning, some of which conflicted with one another.

The new ordinance does not prohibit recreational burning, such as fire pits.

BENLD POLICE CONTRACT

On a motion by Ald. Dona Rauzi, seconded by Ald. Frank Barrett, the council voted unanimously to approve a new two-year contract to provide police protection services to the City of Bend at a cost of $350,000 for the first year of services. The cost for the second year is subject to negotiations between the two parties, contingent on the City of Gillespie providing documentation of increased cost for providing the service.

Under the new contract, Benld will pay $29,167 per month—$9,000 more than the $20,000 the city paid under the former five-year contract that expired April 30. Both parties agreed to extend the old contract to July 30 while negotiations continued between the two cities. Part of the increase is related to requiring Benld to subsidize a pro-rated portion of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund contributions for officers assigned to Bend. The contract also provides for the scheduling of meetings between the two parties to resolve issues arising during the course of the contract. It also provides for renegotiating pricing mid-term if Gillespie chooses to provide police protection to additional satellite communities.

The new contract is effective Aug. 1, assuming the City of Benld also approves the agreement at its July 21 meeting of the council.

PLUM STREET IMPROVEMENTS

The council gave Mayor Pettit power act in regard to entering into an agreement with Community Unit School District 7 and the City of Gillespie to make improvements to Plum Street between Kelly Street and Western Avenue. The street has been somewhat controversial since last August when the school district rerouted bus traffic onto Plum Street in order to facilitate synchronizing starting and ending times at all three attendance centers. The increased bus traffic, however, resulted in significant degradation of the street, which was not designed to withstand heavy vehicle traffic.

During its June meeting, the CUSD 7 Board of Education voted to commit nearly $90,000 in anticipated Climate and Equitable Jobs Act grant money to cost-share the Plum Street project with the City of Gillespie. Mayor Pettit said city crews have already replaced a troublesome culvert with a dual culvert better equipped to handle the volume of water. During that project, it was discovered that there was at least five inches of fall available, enabling the city to reconfigure the ditch and alleviate drainage issues on school property.

Earlier estimates estimated the cost of the Plum Street improvement project at nearly $250,000, which would include removing existing surfaces, increasing the thickness of the base and resurfacing.

Pettit said the project is not likely to be done by the time school opens next month, but buses can temporarily be rerouted to other streets so the school district can retain an synchronized class schedule district-wide.

In a related matter, on a motion by Ald. Wendy Rolando, the council voted unanimously to apply for an Illinois Department of Transportation Safe Route to School grant. Former City Treasurer Dan Fisher said the two-part grant program includes a 100 percent grant for infrastructure plus a cost-share grant for programative costs. Fisher said the city would have to retain an engineer to design the project if the grant application is successful.

The project would include ADA-compliant sidewalk improvements and other amenities to “create infrastructure that makes it safer for students to walk or bike to school.”

After several months of discussion, the council also approved an ordinance to ban parking on the west side of LJ Avenue from Broadway south for a distance of 200 feet. The measure is expected to reduce congestion and improve safety, particularly during CUSD 7 sporting events. The measure eliminates parking in the vicinity of a vehicular entrance and pedestrian entrance to the school’s athletic complex.

Earlier in the meeting, City Librarian Steve Joyce addressed the board about the condition of the Chestnut Street in front of the the City Library.

“That’s the worst block in the city,” Joyce said. “You have a public building in a high traffic area. It’s kind of embarrassing.”

Both Mayor Petit and Ald. Bob Fritz, who chairs the Street Committee, said the street is a priority.

Fritz said he wanted to do the street during last year’s Motor Fuel Tax program but opted against it because of potential sewer improvements scheduled under the street. “I didn’t want to spend all that money and then have to rip it out,” Fritz said. Pettit noted street improvement also has been delayed by pedestrian crossing on all four corners of the nearest intersection are awaiting a project to make them ADA-compliant.

ZONING ISSUES

Following a presentation from Margaret Blum, representing Sol Source Power, the council unanimously approved a conditional use permit to temporarily rezone agricultural land on Henderson Road as commercial land. The measure paves the way for development of the 40-acre Willis Solar 1 solar panel array.

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Located at 16678 Three-Mile Road near Henderson, the project will comprise 10,416 solar modules and generate 10,400,000 kilowatt hours annually—enough to power more than 866 homes.

With a new mayor and a newly appointed alderman in place, the Gillespie City Council on Monday night voted 5-1 to approve the city Zoning Board’s recommendation to issue a conditional use permit for Sol Source Power to develop a 57.5-acre solar energy field located southwest of the city.

Sol Source Power, with offices in Troy, New York, and Chicago, plans to build solar field on land leased from property owners Larry and Susan Willis at 16678 Three Mile Road. Willis Solar 1 will have 10,416 solar modules and generate 10,400,000 kilowatt hours every year—enough to power more than 866 homes. Though the property is technically located outside the city limits, it is within a 1.5-mile buffer zone subject to municipal zoning codes.

Construction is expected to begin in October and continue through February 2026.

Council members also voted unanimously to concur with the Zoning Board’s recommendation to make the commercial designation for 206 W. Spruce permanent. The city previously approved a conditional use permit for the site of The Barracks Restaurant. The owner has the property up for sale and asked to make the temporary permit permanent to facilitate the sale of the property.

“I don’t foresee that that property will ever be used for residential again,” Mayor Pettit said.

The council balked, however, at a request to rezone property at 201 Southern Street from residential to commercial. Property owner Jake Taylor had begun a PowerPoint presentation to argue that the zoning change to allow him to build self-storage units would benefit the city, when City Attorney Rick Verticchio interrupted to point out the Zoning Board had recently rejected Taylor’s petition.

Verticchio reported the previous owner told Taylor the property was zoned for commercial use when Taylor bought the property. Several neighbors reportedly attended the Zoning Board meeting to object to the zoning change.

Taylor argued that it’s unlikely anyone will build a house on the vacant lot located behind the Dollar General Store. “If someone was going to build a house there, they would have done it by now,” he said. He said he currently pays $268 in property taxes on the parcel but, based on taxes collected on other nearby properties with storage units, taxes would increase by $1,380—benefitting the city with additional revenue. Moreover, he said there is a need for more storage units in the city. Existing storage units are full and the nearest alternatives are located in Litchfield.

“That’s my ward,” Ald. Bill Hayes said. “All the people I talked to, they don’t want a storage unit in their neighborhood.”

“For this council to go against the Zoning Board and go against our residents, that doesn’t make good sense,” said Mayor Pettit. “I want to do everything I can to bring in new businesses but not at the risk of angering residents.”

The council was silent later when Pettit asked for a motion to rezone the property.

OSLAD GRANT

Council members voted unanimously to again apply for a $6,000 Open Spaces Land Acquisition and Development (OSLAD) grant from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to fund improvements at Welfare Park. An application filed last year was unsuccessful. Since that time, the city has made some improvements, including new bleachers and playground equipment, that were included in the original grant application.

The original grant application also sought money for a new ball diamond, sidewalks and a dog park.

Fisher told the council the city should contact IDNR to see how the agency scored the application last year in order to tweak the new application to improve chances for the grant to be awarded.

SURPLUS PROPERTY SALE

With one alderman voting “present,” the council agreed to sell a surplus one-acre parcel at the north end of Frey Street to Larry Schmidt for $5,000. The landlocked parcel, once the site of the Gillespie Elevator Co., was once a part of the Schmidt family’s 150-acre agricultural field. Neighbors on either side of the parcel had no interest in buying it.

The measure was approved with Ald. Rolando voting “present.”

The council also voted unanimously to acquire a lot at Clinton and Oak streets at a cost of $6,500 for the Street Department to use for materials storage.

NEW LAKE LOTS

The council voted 5-1 to create five new lots at the Old and New Gillespie lakes. Lake Chair Barrett originally proposed adding 10 lots, with at least four at the New Lake and five at the Old Lake.

“Before you start, I’m 100 percent against out there,” Mayor Pettit said. However, he said, the locations Barrett proposed actually did lend themselves to additional lots.

Barrett argued that additional lots are needed, in part, because there is a waiting list of 18 applicants wanting to lease lake lots. Demand for lots has been exceptionally high, he said, since the COVID pandemic.

Barrett initially moved to add up to 10 new lots, but amended his motion when Pettit recommended reducing the number to five.

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Alds. Barrett, Rolando, Hayes, Fritz and J.Q. Halteman voted in favor of the measure while Ald. Dona Rauzi cast the sole negative vote. Alds. Dave Link and Janet Odell-Mueller were absent.

PUBLIC COMMENT

In addition to Blum, Joyce and Taylor, Stacey Hart appeared before the council to again register a complaint about blockages on public sidewalks in her neighborhood on Park Avenue. She said the last time she complained to the council, she was told to contact the police.

“I did that and they basically laughed at me,” she said.

Police Chief Jared DePoppe asked for the name of the officer she contacted. “You say he laughed at you?” DePoppe asked

“Well, he giggled,” said Hart.

DePoppe said he would investigate because he would not condone officers treating citizens disrespectfully, but he also pointed out Hart has contacted police 338 times and “we have responded to each and every one.”

Hart, who is disabled and uses a motorized scooter for mobility, said she encounters cars parked on sidewalks, debris on sidewalks and damaged sidewalks. The officer reportedly told her to report it every time she encounters an obstacle. “I don’t know how you do that when there’s something every two feet,” she continued.

Mayor Pettit said he would give Hart’s photos to the Police Department for further action if warranted. In the meantime, he said the city is working to make sidewalks and crossings ADA-compliant citywide. “To make everything ADA compliant at the same time would take our whole appropriation for the next two years,” he said. “We have until 2037 to become compliant citywide. It’s going to take some time.”

Hart said she has a spinal disease that eventually will require her to use a wheelchair. In the meantime, she said she enjoys being outside and walking her dog. “I’d like to enjoy my time while I have it,” she said.

Pettit agreed to discuss the matter with police but reminded Hart, “a lot of the time, people don’t get the response they want.”

Council members also heard from Eric Jenkins who announced that he and his wife plan to open an ice cream and hot dog shop in the former location of Jewelry, Gifts and More. He said he is working to get the building ready and has rented an upstairs apartment to a tenant.

“We’ll take all the Main Street businesses we can get,” Pettit said. “Those old buildings were built at a time when business owners had their businesses downstairs, and the family lived upstairs. That doesn’t happen anymore, so what you’re doing is exactly what we want to see.”

OTHER ACTION

In other action, the council:

• Approved expenditures totaling $1,528 for Ageless Apparel to create and install new signage on the new Police Station and move an existing sign from its former location.

• Approved a $4,850 change order for work being done by Watson Contracting on the City Hall/Civic Center complex.

• Approved the expenditure of $500 from the Municipal Band Fund to pay for entertainment for the Dec. 7 Seniors Christmas Dinner at the Civic Center. Ald. Rauzi said she is working with a musician who plans to donate the fee to the VFW.

• Agreed to sponsor a hole during the Gillespie Fire Department annual golf tournament at a cost of $100.

• Approved the purchase of an oxygen meter for the Sewer Department at cost of $2,362.65.

• Agreed to donate $500 to Kid Kare, a local organization that provides book bags and school supplies for underprivileged students. “I wish we could do a whole lot more,” Pettit said.

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