Kimmel Road Residents Angry Over Excavations
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Three resident of Kimmel Road voiced various complaints about damage to water lines and inadequate clean-up efforts by the contractor working on the project to 25 to 26 miles of new water lines and tap into the Rend Lake water system.
C.K. Longshore presented the board with pictures of her yard both before and after the contractor had been through. She said the contractor broke water lines simply because it was inconvenient to work around them, dug up more of her yard than necessary and may have damaged her water meter. She said that after the contractor finished, dirt in the yard made it impossible to mow and dirt clogging the tile in front of her house would cause water to back up into her basement. Danny Queen said his tile was also clogged. Longshore said Queen spent 12 hours moving dirt to prevent flooding problems and allow her to mow.
Longshore asked the board to make sure the contractor does a better job on the remaining properties.
"Race for the Water seems to be just what the contractor is doing," Longshore said. "He's more concerned with quantity than with quality."
Bob Phipps said the Village needs to do a better job of notifying residents when a boil order is necessary. Water Clerk Joyce Mazzarella said she has been putting up signs in the areas where a boil order is necessary, but some of the signs have been stolen. She also notifies the newspaper and radio station.
Future notices will be placed in the "News Now" section of the Du Quoin Evening Call website at www.duquoin.com.
Kendall Odum and Doug Pollex of Southern Engineering were on hand to answer questions about the water project.
Pollex said the contractor will have three months at the end of the project to clean-up all of the yards where lines have been dug. At this time, workers are only back-filling ditches. He has sent workers down to clean some of the dirt from the tiles, but cannot finish cleaning the tiles until it rains.
At the end of the project, the contractor will smooth and re-seed lawns and do other work to return properties to their original state.
As of Wednesday, 16 miles of pipe had been installed and workers had tapped onto the Rend Lake water main. There is still a lot to be done, including building the pump house, installing meter and tie-ins.
Odum presented the board with three bills on the project. The first for $214,395 for the contractor. The other two were for Southern Engineering: $11,775 for inspection work and $3,393 for contract administration. The board approved the bills.
Odum said the drawings on the pump house were sent off for corrections Wednesday.
Village Trustee Betty Roberts said she was approached by Indian Creek Nation Water District about tying into the Tamaroa Water Line. She told Indian Creek to contact Mayor Curtis Stube.
Odum and Pollex said Indian Creek could tie in with little difficulty.
In other business, the board:
tentatively agreed to allow Kent McClurken to hold a motorcycle event in honor of the late Bill Barr in Tamaroa on Sept. 11 with a rain date of Sept. 18. McClurken said Black Diamond Harley Davidson will sponsor the event. He agreed to work with Black Diamond and Tamaroa on the a special events liquor license, dram shop insurance and other insurance for the event. Proceeds from the first few years will be used for Barr's daughter's college fund. After that, they will go to the Heart Foundation. The event will be family-friendly with games for both adults and children.
agreed to pay the bills with the exception of a $550 bill from Perry County for Tamaroa's portion of the upkeep on and use of the Animal Control Building. Each municipality pays for use of the facility, based on population. Village Clerk Cheryl Pelker read a letter from Mazzarella to the Perry County Board complaining about messages left on the Water Department answering machine by Danny Queen, who is the Animal Control officer for Perry County. Queen's messages dealt with complaints about the contractor's work on his property on Kimmel Road. Pelker also read a letter from Animal Control Administrator Tim Russell that said Queen's dispute over his property was a private matter and would not affect his work as a County employee.
agreed to take no action against Kirk Pestka as owner of Pestka's Grocery store. An employee of Pestka's was cited for selling alcohol to minors by the State Liquor Control Commission. Pestka said he was told he would also be cited, but has not received a citation. The state liquor commissioner later told him he would not be cited. Village Attorney Matt Foster recommended that the Village Board be consistent in their dealings with all liquor license holders. In the past, the village has been notified when a business or business owner has been cited by the State Liquor Commission. The village then fined the business owner and/or suspended the liquor license for a period of time. Foster said that the liquor control ordinance does not specify a fine or suspension when an employee of a business is cited. He recommended action be taken only if the business or business owner is cited. Pestka, who is a Village Trustee, said it was up to Mayor Stube as liquor commissioner whether or not to take additional action.
heard from South Central Transit on the services offered in Perry County. SCT is in the process of updating a shuttle route to better serve Tamaroa residents.
agreed to sell Aflac the Duck and Tony the Pony playground toys for $75 each. The toys, along with another piece of equipment, must be removed from the village's play area.
discussed the success of the June 14 Tractor Pull. The Tractor Pull brought in $1,695 in food, t-shirt, raffle and 50/50 proceeds and an additional $830 in advertising. There was $5,642 in the Tractor Pull Fund after the event. There are two additional bills that must be paid $130 for port-a-potties and an unspecified amount for ice. The board talked about using proceeds from the tractor fund for new playground equipment, but decided that a playground equipment fund should be separate. Mayor Stube said the Village Board need to hold dinners and raffles to raise money for new playground equipment.
He also suggested bringing back the Village picnic to raise the necessary funds.
heard from Lisa HayCraft that she has worked with the railroad on a project to install longer arms and new signals at a crossing. The total cost of the project is $486,699. HayCraft wrote a financial hardship letter explaining that Tamaroa cannot pay 10 percent of the project. She asked Pelker to type the letter and Stube to send it. The railroad will pay the full cost of the project, once the letter is received.