Kankakee Times

City of Watseka Public Works Committee met Feb. 9.

Here is the minutes provided by the committee:

PRESENT: Aldermen Cahoe, Maricer, Barragree, Rushbrook, Miller, Alderwoman Ulfers, Mayor Allhands 

ABSENT: Alderman Garfield 

GUEST: Public Works Supervisor Marvin DeLahr, Rusty Maulding with Unit 9 School board and Unit 9 Superintendent Dave Andriano 

Alderman Cahoe opened the meeting at 7:15pm. There was no public comment. 

Officer Mark Harris stopped by the meeting with his riot gear on so the committee members could see it. Chief Douglas was still in attendance and stated all 11 full time officers and the 3 part time officers all have the riot gear with them at all times. The department also has one extra set.

Public Works Supervisor Marvin DeLahr reported on the following projects: 

Sewer Lining: The surveying work and soil boring have been completed for the W. Locust St section. The permit application with Union Pacific has been started. Marvin gave the committee a spreadsheet from 9 years ago that shows a 10 year projection of infrastructure projects. Alderman Cahoe stated this is why he is in favor of a gas tax for the pump only. He stated he has talked to Attorney Cainkar and there are lots of communities that have gas taxes. Alderman Cahoe stated Gilman and Onarga both have a gas tax. These taxes are from $0.03 to $0.08 in the communities. It was stated some of the streets that were mill and overlay a few years ago have deteriorated so bad they would now be considered complete rehab. Alderman Cahoe stated the way to collect the tax would be from the receipts from the gas delivery trucks. There will more discussion about a gas tax at future meetings.

IEPA Projects: The application for the Elm St. water main project will be submitted this week to IEPA. The application for the Kay St. storm & sanitary sewer separation project will be submitted within the next couple of weeks. These preliminary application packets are part of an informational submission detailing the need for the projects and outlining the scope of the projects.

Old Auxiliary Building: The trucking company Marvin contacted has decided not to take on the project. Marvin placed calls to other companies to haul the debris to the landfill and Morrison-Benoit will be available. Public Works has removed the doors and everything inside of the building. The next step is for Nicor to disconnect the gas line.

Impound Yard Fence: The fence materials were delivered to A Plus Home Improvements. The next step is to wait for the frost to be gone.

Equipment: The new backhoe has been ordered. There has been some minor breakdowns on the snowplows but Public Works has managed to make the necessary repairs to keep them on the road. The VacCon truck is at EJ Equipment in Manteno for repair. Marvin hopes to have it back in the next couple of days.

Mowing Contract: Marvin is going to break the mowing into 4 separate contracts. 1. Parks 2. City owned properties 3. City owned lots (DNR & Others) 4. Private property Marvin met with Rusty Maulding last week and he gave Marvin a copy of the mowing contract Unit 9 uses for their bidding purposes. Marvin will use that as a template for the City bid document.

W. Park Ave: Marvin is still waiting on the legal description and exhibit from Robinson Engineering and then the attorney can draft the required documents for the ordinance. 

Snow Removal: Public Works has been busy over the last month with snow plowing, salt spreading and snow removal. Due to the frequency of the snowfall they have used a lot of road salt. Marvin placed the last order today with Morton Salt. A short discussion was had about getting a part time list for people that would be interested in plowing part time for the City. 

Property Acquisition: Eric Brandt informed Marvin that there was a miscommunication regarding the property north of North St and west of the railroad that the City was going to get from the County. This property was for the IEPA storm & sanitary sewer separation project. It slipped thru the system somehow and was sold for back taxes to another individual. So when the project does happen we will need to get an easement from them.

Miscellaneous:

a) Marvin gave the committee a current list of projects

b) Marvin has received the preliminary information that Robinson Engineering had put together a few years ago for the Ernest Grove Parkway storm sewer extension. Marvin will go thru it and bring it back next month.

c) Public Works installed about 2/3 of the new signs before the weather stopped them. More will be installed after the frost is gone

d) Public Works had to stop the annual cleaning of the storm sewer catch basins throughout town due to the weather.

Unit 9 school board Rusty Maulding and Unit 9 Superintendent Dave Andriano gave a presentation regarding the upcoming proposed referendum for a new school building.

Alderman Cahoe makes a motion to adjourn at 8:32 pm and Alderman Miller seconded. Roll call carried 7-0.

http://www.watsekacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/public-works-2-9-21.pdf