City of Pittsfield City Council met April 17.
Here is the minutes provided by the Council:
The regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Pittsfield, Pike County, Illinois, was held on Tuesday, April 17, 2018, at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was held at the City Council room at 215 North Monroe Street. The following officers were present: Mayor John Hayden, City Clerk Cindy Prentice, and Aldermen Kevin Ketchum, Ed Knight, Paul Lennon, Robert Ritchart, Bill Scheiwe, Robert Wilson and Robert Wood.
Absent: Alderman Kevin Wombles
Mayor Hayden presided.
Alderman Ketchum moved to approve the minutes of the last regular Council meeting.
Alderman Knight seconded the motion.
Roll Call:Yea:Ketchum, Knight, Lennon, Ritchart, Scheiwe, Wilson, Wood (7)
Nay:None (0)
The motion carried.
Alderman Wood moved to approve the Treasurer’s Monthly Report for the month of March 2018.
Alderman Ketchum seconded the motion.
Roll Call:Yea:Ketchum, Knight, Lennon, Ritchart, Scheiwe, Wilson, Wood (7)
Nay:None (0)
The motion carried.
Mayor Hayden announced the new committees for fiscal year 2018-2019.
Casey French, Marketing & Public Relations, and Tom Allen, C.E.O., of Cass Communications Management Inc. addressed the Council on the fiber to home upgrade they will be starting April 30. They will be increasing internet speeds from 10/25/50 to 60/110/225/1g and upgrading customers at no cost. They will also be looking at options for cable television. They will be working on one section of town at a time, with more techs in the area than normal. Residents may see Irving Truck Company trucks in the area while upgrades are being done. The main construction phase will take approximately two to three weeks, but individual household upgrades will several months since a tech will have to come into homes. Lines will be almost all overhead.
City Clerk Cindy Prentice read a Small Business Proclamation proclaiming April 29 to May 5, 2018 as National Small Business Week.
Mayor Hayden stated he ordered 300 coins in celebration of the City of Pittsfield’s 125th anniversary. They should arrive in a couple of weeks and we will probably sell them at a small cost. They were ordered from the same company as the Fire Department coins, which were a good quality. The coin is 1 7/8”.
Mayor Hayden addressed comments he was shown on Facebook regarding Pittsfield Lake. Comments included statements that since the trees were harvested it looks bad out there, the money won’t be spent on fixing up the lake, the road needs repair and is just graveled, the money was spent on the handicap fishing dock, the softball field looks bad, no one up here making decisions knows anything about the lake, etc. Mayor Hayden commented that he agrees the trees look bad at this time; however, once they are cleaned up and the leaves are on them the area should look better. The City went with the recommendation of the Department of Natural Resources Forestry recommendation to thin out the trees. The Boy Scouts have been given permission to help clean up the area. The $200,000 received from the tree harvest has been placed in a separate line item and will be used for the lake. The road was the first item on the list of repairs for the lake and will be oiled and chipped from the first entry and around the west side to the north end later in the season. The handicap boat dock was in the works for quite some time but the tree harvesting money will help pay for it. Hopefully there will be $50,000 or so left which will also go back into lake improvements. The City employees went out to work on the ball diamond and the brand-new rake from last year has been stolen. In response to the comment that no one up here knows anything about the lake, Mayor Hayden said the aldermen work hard up here and the topic of the funds from the harvest was discussed heavily and the Lake Advisory Board is comprised of residents who are also campers and fishermen.
Mayor Hayden reminded the Council the ribbon cutting for the new Ace Hardware is tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. The is a lot of dirt left out there but far less that there was.
Alderman Ketchum thanked all involved in the trout fishing at the lagoon and thanked the sponsors for their donations for the 107 kids in attendance.
Mayor Hayden said grant monies are available that could possibly be used to clean up the lagoon and tennis courts. He has been told that if the lagoon was deeper and cooler the trout would stay longer. Economic Development Director Megan Newman, Alderman Kevin Ketchum and MECO Engineer Max Middendorf will be working together to see what the grants can be used for Alderman Ritchart moved to approve the Finance Committee Report and the Clerk be directed to issue the claims thereon.
Alderman Ketchum seconded the motion.
Roll Call:Yea:Ketchum, Knight, Lennon, Ritchart, Scheiwe, Wilson, Wood (7)
Nay:None (0)
The motion carried.
Chief of Police Kenny Yelliott said last week was National Telecommunicators Appreciation Week and he asked Mackenzie Carsey to attend tonight’s meeting to take a message back to her co-workers that the City appreciates all they do as telecommunicators.
Pike Press Reporter Beth Zumwalt said they have also had several calls at the Pike Press about the lake, so she is glad the Mayor addressed the subject. Pike Express Reporter Jim Filbert said he had driven around the lake once it was open and noticed how many of the big trees were rotten at the bottom. MECO Engineer Max Middendorf stated as on other projects, the soil needs to dry up or there will be more harm done than good.
Alderman Knight moved to adjourn this meeting at 6:25 p.m.
http://www.pittsfieldil.org/government/agenda-minutes/minutes-council-meeting-04-17-18
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