Alluvial contract, water line replacement discussed at Carlinville council meeting

By ERIN SANSON
Enquirer~Democrat Reporter

The Carlinville council voted to approve the water supply contract with Alluvial Regional Water Company Feb. 20. As more communities joined Alluvial the contract required language changes to accommodate those communities. All members of the Alluvial Company were given new contracts with the updated terms to sign.

The council also approved the motion to ratify the signatures of the Alluvial addendum which was signed in November.

According to the contract, the current estimated water rate will be $4.30 per thousand gallons, though the rate may change once construction is complete. The estimated water usage per day for Carlinville is 737,797 gallons with an annual average of 269,296,000 gallons a year. Dan Held told council members that since more members have joined Alluvial the city will only have to spend around $1.69 million to equally spread out the closing costs instead of the $2.5 million originally estimated.

Tree Removal

The city received a bid from Emmons Tree Service to remove a large tree and stump located on Pine Street. There has been some question as to who owns the tree. Held says that it is difficult to tell if the tree is on city property or not. Alderman Kim Harber said about the tree, “if it is on our property… I have no problem taking it down. I have a real issue with assuming responsibility for trees that are not on our property.”

Alderman Doug Downey suggested the city contact Nail Land Surveying to survey the area. Mayor Sarah Oswald suggested someone go to the courthouse to look at the land records there before contacting a surveyor.

The tree in question is on the corner of Pine and Church Street. Some council members were unsure of whether the south side of Church Street was an actual street or an alleyway. The city does not perform upkeep on the alleyways and while some alleyways could be city property, not all of them are, depending on how the land was deeded.

It was decided to table the issue until further information on the area could be found.

Website Improvements

Several ideas for improvements on the city website were made by Joe Direso in an e-mail to the council members. Direso suggested the contact information for the elected officials should be updated, and that the zoning and economic development information should be updated and the public works reporting form be put back on the site so people can report potholes and non-emergency items.

Direso also suggested a new ward map with clear boundary lines be uploaded as he feels the current map found under the zoning tab is not legible.

Harber said that a meeting with IT would be held soon to update the website.

Water Line Replacement

A home on Gowin Street has a water leak, which public works believe is in the water line. The line has not been fixed because they have not bee able to find the shut off to the line. Held explained the situation to the council saying that to fix a “number of situations down here.” He requested pricing to run a four inch water line down the alley and put a flushing hydrant at the end of the line.

The water line is currently a two inch line. Held is requesting the two inch line be replaced with four inch line, a flush hydrant and two taps. The estimated cost of the work would be around $33,700. The council approved the water line repair.

Other Business

During public comment, Alderman Randy Ober discussed citizens leaving furniture on their curbs for extended periods. Ober suggested the furniture be left on the curb for three or four days at which point if nobody had collected the furniture, the homeowner should contact a trash collector to remove the item.

Council members approved the purchase of three 25-foot flag poles to be purchased from The Flag Loft. The budget allowed for up to $10,500 to be spent on the project. The price for the flag poles comes in around $8,300 and the city will be seeking bids to install sleeves and do any necessary electrical work.