Stronghurst Village Board 

Stronghurst Board Approved 1% Sales Tax Ordinance

By Shirley Linder, Executive Quill Editor

At the Village of Stronghurst board meeting held on Tuesday, March 3, the trustees passed an ordinance allowing them to receive 1% on all groceries sold in the village. Previously they had received this automatically but now municipalities must apply for it.

Ronnie Gittings reported there were two motors in need of replacement at the water plant. A motion was made by Janice Smith, seconded by Nathan Harden to replace the motors and the motion passed.

Gittings also reported the well is slowing down and only pumping 80 gallon per minute, therefore they are having to haul more water.  Gittings said, two septic tanks had been repaired, one on Oak Wood Drive and another on Division Street. 

He informed the board when the tanks were installed the ground was not packed down and as the tank sunk it pulled the pipe out of the septic tank. Jones Septic Service did the repair and also removed the tree roots which had grown into the tank.

The police report for February included: 16 hours worked; 20 miles on squad car; 2 service calls; and 10 business courtesy checks.

Janice Smith, head of the zoning committee, told the board March 18 was the next zoning meeting and they were going to delve into the issue of cleaning up the town.

Mayor Brendan Schaley gave an update on the new well project. He stated they were hoping to get approval for the grant soon. As soon as the grant comes they can then let the bids. The pipe that will be laid into town will now be an 8” as opposed to the original 6” pipe. Apparently the larger pipe will save some on electricity bills.

Village Attorney Mariah Wallace is still working with LRS to get the contract cancelled.

A council resolution of support for a community project’s funding application with Congresswoman Mary Miller for the water system improvement project, was passed by the trustees. The funding would be a 50-50 split if any money was received.

In other business the board approved:

*a new copier lease

*receiving quotes on upgrading the village’s tractor, due to the steering wheel being held on by PVC pipe and wiring

*heard several street lights are out in the village 

Nathan Harden brought up for discussion whether the village needed to investigate bringing in another convenience store since FS is closing their C-Store in May.

The board entered executive session 6:35 p.m. to discuss personnel. Entering open session again no decisions were made.

The next regular scheduled meeting will be April 6 at 6:00 p.m. 

Present were: Mayor Brendan Schaley; Trustees, Mike Bohnenkamp, Janice Smith, Paige Torrance, Amanda Van Arsdale, Mike Swisher, Nathan Harden; Employees, Brittany Smith, Ronnie Gittings, Arbry Vancil; Guests, David Kuntstrom, Randy Jarvis, Dennis Day, Shirley Linder.