Steeleville water bills going up

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Steeleville water and sewer users will find an unpleasant surprise on their February bills. The Steeleville Village Board of Trustees last week approved a one dollar rate hike for minimum residential usage of both water and sewer.

The move is expected to raise the monthly cost for 3,500 gallons or less at just under $20 and generate $23,000 for the department which owes the general fund approximately $100,000 and last month spent $10,000 to repair leaks.

The rate hike is a first step in required increases over the next few years for the department to get out of the red, according to Alan Dyke, Steeleville's project coordinator.

The board accepted Red Dot Construction's low bid of $4,300 for removal of the Tracy Steele residence on Jefferson Street, per court order. The village is in the process of filing a lien against the property in hopes of recovering the cost of the project.

In other business:

The board appointed Administrative Assistant Beth Kriete as Freedom of Information Act Officer.

Pay raises of 3.25 percent were approved for full-time village employees; part-timers will see a raise of 2.5 percent.