The Minonk City Council awarded the contract for the demolition of the former Kent Lumber building to Fredericks Construction of Minonk for $17,920.  The building at the corner of Oak and Sixth has been empty for over a year and will become the property of the City this year.  Two other bids for $18,100 and $36,250 were submitted.  Harold Tjaden, of Tjaden Construction, offered to remove the building in exchange for the property.  Tjaden did not put in a bid before the original deadline of February 3, so his request was not eligible to be reviewed under the bid conditions.  The price of the land at the going rate of $0.60 per square foot would have made the land value equal to $18,000 based on a lot size of 30,000 square feet.  The bid specifies that all metal scrap be removed from beyond the city, that the brick and concrete can be dumped in the pond behind Zivney Cheese, and that the fill over the basement must have 12 inches of top soil.  The acceptance of Frederick's bid was unaminously approved after a motion by Alderman Sean Cunningham.

Tif funds approved for facade repair on IOOF building

The Council approved the payment of TIF funds for facade improvement on the IOOF building at 168 West Fifth Street.  Dave Uphoff, owner of the building, plans to replace the seven second story windows and also paint the tin cornice and facia at the top of the building.  Uphoff estimated that the cost of the windows and the rental of a lift to paint the roof line would be $2,871.89.  The council approved the payment of $957.29 for the improvements which is the maximum allowable under the TIF guidelines.

Spring Cleanup Day

City Administrator Trent Smith said that the Spring Cleanup date this year will be on April 26 and 27.  Smith said this date will follow the spring city-wide garage sale by a few weeks.

Public Works department receives awards

City Administrator Trent Smith said that the Illinois Department of Public Health has given the public works department an award recognizing and commending our community water system for maintaining perfect compliance in 2004 for 12 consecutive months.  This is the eight year in a row that the department has received this award.

The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) sent a notice to the City concerning their 2004 Public Water Evaluation report and thanking Charlie McGuire and the city staff for the good work they continue to do at the water department for the City and its residents.

The Western Illinois Police Training Institute has advised that Officer Mike Luedtke has completed the first module fo his PTI training with a score of      %92.  His test score was the highest in the class.