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City Council approves Cole Park seeding

Posted March 21, 2016 11:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Staff Writer

The re-purposing of Cole Memorial Park took a step forward on Monday.

By a 5-1 vote, with alderman Ray Allison voting "no" and aldermen Dan Geisen and Russ Rader absent, the Chester City Council approved spending $250 to seed the infield of the ball diamond at the park.

The Cole Park item was initially combined on the agenda with another proposal to seed the grass at the Cohen Complex for the total price of $1,250. After much discussion, the council members agreed to individually vote on the two items.

The proposal to seed the Cohen Complex for $1,000 passed unanimously.

"The meat of this is do we want to seed the infield of Cole Park to make it more of an fairgrounds/event venue?" Chester Mayor Tom Page asked the council.

The ball diamond is considered valuable because it is the only location within the park that features an open space of flat ground.

It also has two sheltered bleacher sections, along with a concession stand/press box and a batting cage beyond the left field fence.

The prominence of the five fields at the Cohen Complex has also made the Cole Park field obsolete.

As he did two weeks ago when the issue was first brought (and later tabled) to the council, Page noted that Cole Park - which contains the closed Chester Municipal Pool - is without a purpose and he would like to see an event similar to the Popeye Picnic there.

"I think we're missing the boat on what we can do at Cole Park," he said.

Page noted that the Cole Park diamond was not scheduled for any games both this year and last year and if the council approved the measure, the fence would remain - but a gate would be added to accommodate larger vehicles.

"I think there's still a reservation out there of do we need to take the infield out," said alderwoman Nancy Crossland.

Lorin Mott, a member of the city's maintenance department, told the council he has been in contact with Dennis Barron, sales manager with Advanced Turf Solutions, about seeding at both venues.

Advanced Turf Solutions is the same company that helped renovate the infields at the Cohen Complex. The city already has the seed, enough for spring and fall applications, but it may need to purchase seven bags to account for any problems.

Mott said if the city chose to seed the facilities with city employees, rental cost would be $750 for the tractor and the seeder.

"But, we would have one day to use it," Mott said, adding that the project would be a two-day job. "He would be back the next day for it."

Page asked the council what the argument against the seeding was. Alderman Bob Platt said it was so that children would have a place to play pickup games.

"They can still have pickup games," Page said. "They'll just be playing on grass instead of dirt."

In other action, the council approved Tax Increment Financing (TIF) accounting for both the Kipp Redevelopment Project and Chester Center Inc.

In regard to the Chester Center, a balance of $31,118.94 was reimbursed to the Chester Center, leaving an amount of $881,634.39 in qualified project costs.

The Kipp Redevelopment Project will be reimbursed $15,089.76 in project costs, leaving an amount of $199,488.42 remaining.

Chester's TIF district expires in 2020.

The council also approved an agreement with CourtMoney for processing payments using credit/debit cards.

City Clerk Bethany Berner explained that in February, the state treasurer's office merged with Illinois National Bank, which charges a maintenance fee of $12 per month - plus 10 cents per transaction.

"We can take credit cards in our office now, which we had never been able to do," she said.

Roundup

Bills were approved in the amount of $34,158.78.

Two invoices from J.T. Blankinship Inc. were approved. One in the amount of $7,500 for the Route 3 water main replacement and the other in the amount of $12,415.50 for engineering services on several projects.

Alderman Mike Blechle noted that the city's oil and chip program was capable of doing "small blocks" of work. The state is current on payments to the city's motor fuel tax fund, unlike its utility payments.

"We can still do some street and alley work," Page said.

In regard to the mounting backlog of overdue utility bills to the state, Page said it was "status quo" in that he was continuing to discuss the issue with state representatives.

In her Economic Development, Chamber and Beautification Committee report, Crossland stated that the farmer's market will be moving to the Chester Welcome Center.

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