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Wells Street water issues discussed at council meeting

DU QUOIN - Mayor Guy Alongi informed the city council Monday night that residents had aired their concerns to him via Facebook about excess water on Wells Street creating potholes and that the water was being pumped into the street by owners of the Midwest Inn motel.

"We are fully aware of the problem," Alongi said at the meeting. "I am hoping that we can resolve this problem within the next couple of weeks."

One resident, Jean Ann Mathis, described on Facebook that the water issue was an "eyesore" and said the water makes her car dirty "no matter how slow you drive, and it has become dangerous because people swerve to miss the potholes."

Alongi explained that it is a "much more complicated" problem to fix as the water is coming from a sump pump out of the basement of the motel.

Resident Crystal James Rogers said she doesn't pretend to know anything about sump pumps and how much water can be under a building, but believes there is a strip cut under it.

"The water never stops pumping from that building," she said. "The dip in the road was actually fixed and was holding up nicely until all this started. I hope it will get resolved soon,"

The mayor said tracks indicate that a motorist may have intentionally run over the pipe pumping the water, crushing it and creating further issues.

"Believe me, we are working on it," Alongi said.

In February, construction work began on the condemned motel. Owner Charlie Patel said at the time that he was wanting to convert the motel into apartments. Patel was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

In other council news Monday, commissioners:

Approved a resolution authorizing the use of Motor Fuel Tax funds in the amount of $4,816.61 to resurface U.S. Highway 51 parking lanes.

Approved a resolution authorizing the use of Motor Fuel Tax funds in the amount of $5,630.38 to widen and resurface Sunset Avenue.

Approved the appointment of Ted Harsha to the Police Pension Board. Alongi said that Harsha would not be reappointed to the Fire Pension Board once his term expires in order to avoid a conflict of interest.

Heard from City Treasurer Stephanie Cravens that the city now has approximately $2.1 million in all city funds combined, an increase of about $200,000 from the end of last year. The vast majority of the revenue would be categorized as restricted funds, meaning that such funds are earmarked for special infrastructure projects like water line repair and replacement, business development and health insurance.

Before adjourning, Alongi encouraged the community to attend the Croessman Square dedication at 7 p.m. Thursday in honor of longtime Du Quoin Call newspaper editor, John Croessman.