Steeleville firehouse complete
The new Steeleville firehouse on North Sparta Street is finished, according to Steeleville Village President Bob Sutton.
The project, which was built through the Steeleville Improvement Association, adds four vehicle bays onto a section of building that served as Steeleville's firehouse for more than 40 years.
It also served as the town hall from 1941 to 1982 before offices were moved into the current building.
Sutton said the project came in 71 days ahead of schedule and more than $64,000 under budget. The original estimated price was $1,525,700 and the final price tag came to $1,461,038.
"That's quite something for a public building," Sutton said.
A grand opening date has been tentatively planned for June 24, but the Steeleville Fire Department was anticipating beginning the moving process this weekend.
In other news, the village board approved the purchase of two mowers during its Monday meeting.
"We had traded an older Exmark for a rear-discharge Exmark for just under $6,000," Sutton said. "We traded a year-old John Deere for a brand-new John Deere for just under $1,000."
The price for the new Exmark was $5,995 from Coleman Lawn Equipment. The price for the John Deere was not available by the Ledger's press deadline.
When asked about the resurfacing project on State Route 150/4, which was supposed to start on Monday, Sutton said it had been delayed by recent rainfall.
"What they were supposed to start was working on the curbs," he said, referring to the curbs on James Street that need to be made ADA-accessible. "We've got some curbs that are not handicap accessible and they were going to start work on those first.
"It's my understanding that they won't start patching until Monday."
Sutton also updated the board on the village's fiscal year 2018 budget. He said projected revenues, including funds on hand, were $2,783,194. Projected expenditures were $2,405,121.
"We're projecting a positive balance of $378,073," Sutton said. "We definitely try not to spend it all, but we have to budget it out.
"We're not sure what's going on with the new federal law with overtime, we're not sure on (compensation) time."
<strong>ROUNDUP</strong>
<ul>
<li>Steeleville Village Clerk Becky Kiehna swore in the newly-elected trustees Cindy Sickmeyer, Larry Ruebke and Tim Eichenseer. Sickmeyer and Eichenseer won reelection in the April 4 election.</li>
<li>The village board approved the appointment of firefighter Daniel Schroeder and tabled the appointment of a part-time cook.</li>
</ul>
"We're hoping it's next month," Sutton said of the cook position. "We've had a couple of people inquire about part-time, but they haven't made the determination if they're ready to do it."
<ul>
<li>The village board approved the appointments of 2017-18. The village has a new fire board of two citizens, Lyn Thies and Leonard Lampe, Fire Chief Rich Reitz, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Armstrong and past fire chief Carlos Barbour.</li>
<li>The village board approved setting the date and time of its July meeting for Thursday, July 6 at 7 p.m.</li>
<li>The village board approved a recommendation from the Zoning Board of Appeals for a bulk area variance for Rex Conway.</li>
</ul>
"They had recommend he be able to build a garage on a piece of land and it was just a matter of us approving the recommendation," Sutton said.
<ul>
<li>The village board approved some personnel policy changes.</li>
</ul>
"We needed to clean up a couple of policies," Sutton said. "It's just some things that get handed down to us from the state we have to change.
"One was an OSHA requirement and the other had to deal with equipment."
<ul>
<li>Sutton noted that he and the village's TIF administrator, Mike Armstrong, had attended a TIF conference in Springfield April 19-21.</li>
</ul>
"We always find something there that works for the village," Sutton said. "You always find something new at those things."