The Taylorville City Council held a one-hour meeting in regular session Monday night, and before getting down to business on a number of motions, Mayor Greg Brotherton and council members honored the Taylorville High School wrestling team and coaches that were in attendance, for an outstanding season. Mayor Brotherton told the audience that under 3rd year head coach Lee Mateer, this year’s T-H-S wrestling team won the Central State 8 Conference championship, the Illinois State High School Association regional they participated in, the sectional, and qualified to participate in the state finals. Brotherton added that 8 wrestlers from Taylorville, were named to the Central State 8 All-Conference team. The team and coaches were given applause for their accomplishments this school year.
Taylorville aldermen Monday night addressed a number of contentious issues during their one-hour session, with one of them being whether or not a sweet gum tree should be removed from the boulevard at 310 Richmond Street. Some residents in the neighborhood asked city crews to take the tree down, saying the sweet gum balls were clogging the storm sewer basin in that area. The issue went to the Taylorville Tree Board, which voted to leave it up. Then it went to the city council street committee, which voted 2 to 2, so the issue then was brought to the full City Council for a vote. After long discussion, a motion was made to take the tree down, with the full Council vote being 4 to 4 Monday night, and Mayor Greg Brotherton voted no, asking that the request be sent back to the Tree Board. Some aldermen are concerned that there isn’t a specific city policy for taking down existing trees on Taylorville’s boulevards.
The Taylorville City Council Monday night voted 6 to 2, to approve applying for an Illinois Community Development Assistance Program, or CDAP, grant, to help pay for separating storm and sanitary sewers along East Main Cross.
The vote wasn’t without a lot of discussion, with some aldermen saying other larger projects the city is facing, should take priority. While the CDAP grant provides 80-percent funding for the total project cost of 150-thousand dollars, the City of Taylorville has to come up with the remaining 20-percent, or 30-thousand dollars. Alderman Martin Vota was one of 2 Taylorville aldermen that voted no, telling Regional Radio News that much larger projects that may be forced upon the city, are on the horizon.
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Alderman Earl Walters, who made the motion to seek the grant, said that while he understood the concerns of aldermen who want other wards of the city to benefit from city projects, this one will benefit several areas of the city.
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The motion to apply for the grant passed 6 to 2.
During his mayoral comments Monday night during Taylorville’s City Council meeting, Mayor Greg Brotherton came out in support of the April 9th ballot initiative to raise sales tax in Christian County, one-percent to benefit construction and maintenance of school buildings in school districts thru-out the county. Mayor Brotherton told Regional Radio News, that children are our future and that’s why he’s supporting the referendum.
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The initiative will be on ballots thru-out Christian County on April 9th.
Taylorville aldermen acted on a number of motions that came out of committee, in their Monday night meeting at City Hall. The council OK’d a cabin cleaning services contract with Carole Howell for lake cabins this year; they amended the enterprise zone agreement with the county; they raised water rates for industrial users inside the city limits of Taylorville; they OK’d the sale of some personal property owned by the city; and voted to send a letter of support for the C-E-F-S Economic Opportunity Corporation’s Home Buyer Assistance Program.
Taylorville City Council members Monday night voted 7 to one to repair an existing pump near the Taylorville prison costing some 42-hundred dollars, they purchased a new lawn tractor for Oak Hill Cemetery costing just over 64-hundred dollars after trade, and directed city attorney David Fines to amend an existing ordinance regarding the maximum fee that can be charged on a qualified enterprise zone project, to 50-thousand dollars. Taylorville aldermen approved working with the Taylorville Tree Board for plans to landscape the Municipal Building, they accepted Waste Management’s bid for trash hauling for the next 2 years; they OK’d directing city attorney David Fines to change the ordinance regarding tree pruning to state that that there must be 14 feet of clear space above a street or sidewalk instead of the present 8 feet; they OK’d a bid from Phil Tullis Excavating to clean an existing storm sewer catch basin in the East Park Street viaduct costing some 35-hundred dollars; and voted to move some funds in order to have monies available for further home demolition when the city condemns property.
