Aging Water Tower Gets Du Quoin Council's Attention

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Du Quoin City Council Monday engaged a Chatham, Ill. water tower consulting company to renovate the city's 300,000 overhead water tower.

The tower was constructed in 1992 at the outset of the John Rednour administration and--like most cities--has received little maintenance since. City administrator Blaine Bastien, with the advice and consent of the council, decided that needs to change or the city will be at risk of losing the pricey quarter-million dollar piece of equipment.

Utility Services, Inc. will charge the city $65,806 in each of the next five years (about $330,000 total) to clean and refurbish the tower, make any necessary repairs, upgrade the tower to OSHA safety standards, and make sure all of the tower's key operating components are working properly. Consultant Darin Clark said doing so will essentially make the tower "last forever" in his words. At the end of five years, the city will drop back to an annual maintenance agreement of $23,102 and at the end of that term the tower will be once again cleaned and repainted by the company for free.

It was a little corny--yet funny--when one council member told Clark "tanks a lot" for putting together the easy refurbishing payment plan.

Administrator Blaine Bastien, at the top of his game despite ongoing medical treatments, told council members the annual stipend is already being set aside to make sure the work is done and paid for without the need for bond indebtedness. The council also approved an ordinance amending Schedule E of the current code in reference to "No Parking" restrictions on South Madison Street, Onstott Ave., and South Peach Street. No parking signs will go up on the west side of South Madison and South Peach streets from South Street to Poplar and on the east side of Onstott Ave. from South Street to Poplar.

The action was approved as a matter of safety to allow ambulances and fire trucks to access emergencies on those roadways.

The council voted to extend the Perry County Enterprise Zone (Pinckneyville, St. Johns, Du Quoin, and Perry County Governments) sales tax abatement program on construction materials in that zone for another 10 years.

The council tabled an agreement with Perry Ridge landfill to accept leachate (captured landfill runoff waste water) at the Du Quoin wastewater treatment plant until details of the contract renewal are completely understood by both the city and the landfill.