Fall leaf-burning rules kick in Friday; Political signs come down Nov. 5

Du Quoin city administrator Brad Myers Monday night reminded townspeople that leaf burning hours change on Friday, Oct. 31.

Ordinances say that all fires must be out between the hours of 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. the next morning from May 1 through Oct. 31. You CAN'T start a fire at 6:59 p.m. and let it burn through the night. Also, there is to be no burning on city-owned streets, alleys, ditches on city-owned property or city-owed boulevards. You can only burn on property that you own.

Starting Nov. 1 and until April 30 burning is permitted around the clock. In other words, there are no set times.

He also reminded political parties and candidates that campaign signs in the city need to come down as soon as the Tuesday, Nov. 4 election is over. In other action, the council acted on the following:

Ordinances

Tabled ordinance 2014-O10-01 authorizing the sale of surplus city vehicles until such time as a larger, more complete list of surplus property has been put together.

Public Agenda

Approved parade permit for Du Quoin Chamber of Commerce Veterans Day parade on Nov. 11.

Approved grant purchase of helmets, gloves, hoods and boots for the Du Quoin Fire Department. The fire department applied for and received a grant in the amount of $15,923. All of the equipment will cost the city only 5 percent of the grant, or $796.

Discussed progress of the Main Street asphalting project. The city was advised manhole covers were shipped to the wrong location and should have arrived at Southern Illinois Asphalt's yard no later than today. Work should start this week, will take two weeks to complete and should not interfere with Thursday's Du Quoin Halloween parade.

A resident of 302 South Division Street--Mr. Blagg--asked the city to level the dirt where the city removed shrubs that were blocking the view of a stop sign. That work will be done quickly.