Kankakee Times

City of Watseka Code Enforcement Committee met Feb. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

PRESENT: Aldermen Garfield, Miller, Barragree, Cahoe, Marcier, Alderwomen Rohlfs and Musk and Mayor Allhands

GUESTS: Resident Jeff Seipp, Building Inspector Eric Brandt and Code Enforcement Bill Walver

Alderman Miller opened the meeting at 6:56 pm. Resident Jeff Seipp spoke during public comment about the residence at 520 N 2nd St. Mr. Seipp stated the current owner is having health issues and Mr. Seipp who also is having health issues are requesting more time to clean the property up.

Building Inspector Eric Brandt reported on the following:

IDNR Flood Mitigation: The agreement has now been signed by all parties, and the IDNR admitted they were having problems on their end but now that has been remedied and they have promised a check to the city by the end of February. Eric stated he has signed an affidavit to release the funds.

Ordinance Citations: 4 citations and 3 warnings have been issued

502 E Ash St: nothing new to report here, this is still an ongoing elevation Façade Grant: No new applications have been turned in

904 N Chicago St: Attorney Cainkar is still working on this with the contract seller and contract buyer.

Community Rating System: This is still a work in progress. Eric is in the process of getting deeds from the DNR and once those are received it will help with the CRS rating which in turns helps increase the discount that homeowner who have flood insurance get. It could go from a 10% discount to a 15% discount.

Mayor Allhands stated he would like to talk about 520 N 2nd St. It was stated that someone is living in the garage, and there is a hole in roof, and the residence needs siding. Currently the residence is in foreclosure because the homeowner has ignored all of the citations that he was given. The committee is in agreement to keep moving forward with the foreclosure.

Code Enforcement Bill Walver reported on the following:

Crime Free Rental: 2 not in compliance. There have been 3 more crime free seminars that were put on. 1 more inspection was done and 105 licenses/stickers have been sent to those in compliance. It was stated 1 of those not in compliance is in legal proceedings. Inoperable Vehicles: 3 letters of intent to tow, 8 vehicles have been removed, and 5 owner notification letters have been sent out, towed 4 vehicles to the impound lot. Bill stated that city now needs to file a for a junk certificate through the state. This will put on an additional 3-4 months to get rid of vehicles, at the present time 3 have been sent in.

Alderman Cahoe stated he is tired of hearing about all of the negative things that happen in the city and he shared with the committee a list of new businesses that have opened up or will be opening up soon. He also stated the city has a great fire department, police department, and all good employees. He also stated the city should be proud for the street program that is in place and the new well that will be happening soon. The committee thanked him for bringing these good things up.

Alderman Miller makes a motion to adjourn at 7:22 pm and Alderman Garfield seconded. Roll call carried 8-0.

https://www.watsekacity.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/code-enforcement-2-14-23.pdf