The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Shirley Linder, Quill Editor
Board Seeks Liquor In Town
At the July board meeting Amanda Kane asked Village Attorney Bill Rasmussen what was the proper way to get packaged liquor into Stronghurst, if the board had the right to pass an ordinance or if it needed to be placed on a ballot.
Rasmussen said he would look into it but decisions would need to be made as to, would beer be sold on Sunday, time of day, and also if they wanted beer and liquor.
Amanda Kane and Deb Hale were to look into these issues.
At the August 7th board meeting when the item came up on the agenda, Kane said they wanted to adopt the county ordinance, Class C, with package liquor no bars.
Mr. Rasmussen reported that since the issue had been visited before it would need to be placed on the ballot. There would need to be a petition signed by 25 percent of the voters (that would be 140.5 signatures according to Hale).
This would need to be completed 104 days before the election so they could not make the November ballot, but they will have time to get it on the April ballot.
Rasmussen will draw up the petition and have it ready for the next board meeting.
Water Usage Down
Village board members appreciated the way the public responded to the controlled water usage during this ongoing drought. Ronnie Gittings reported daily usage has dropped to around 70,000 gallons per day which is more in the normal range of usage.
The well has been adjusted down so it isn't pumping as many gallon a minute, from 150 to 127 and therefore they are not running out of water throughout the day, according to Gittings.
They hope to have the new well up and going by Labor Day. At present they are waiting on the EPA inspection.
Opening Burning
Also in regard to the drought board members encourage the community to refrain from open burning. A fire could spark very quickly in these dry conditions and should a bad fire occur the water supply would quickly go down causing residents to have a very short water supply.
The fire department will not use the hydrants for a fire unless it is an extreme emergency, they will use from the deep well.
Everyone is encouraged to do their part in keeping fires from happening.
Rasmussen explained to the board that ordinances had to be printed in the paper if they are spending money, for example appropriations or when they are going to levy a fine.
Other ordinances could be published in pamphlet form, with a few words changed, and they would be at city hall for the public to read.
He said it was something for the board to think about, how they would prefer them printed.
Police Report
The police report, given by Arbry, included 160 hours worked in July, 6 traffic stops, 2 verbal warnings, 7 uniform traffic tickets, 7 service calls, 4 agency assists, and 25 business courtesy checks.
Other Business
In other business the board:
Present were board members: Mike Bohnenkamp (serving as pro tem in the absent of Mayor Eric Chockley), Brendan Schaley, Deb Hale, Amanda Kane, Tony Anderson, David Vancil;
Also present were employees: Arbry Vancil, Lou Ann Nortup, Ronnie Gittings, Mike Nelson, Bill Rasmussen; and guests: Doug Hale, Pam Stevenson, and Shirley Linder.