Members of the local tax bodies met on July 7 as a Joint Review
Board to discuss the proposed TIF district for the planned raceway park
north of Minonk in Section 6. Members of the Fieldcrest School
District, the Woodford County Board, the Minonk Township, the Minonk
Fire District, the Minonk City Council along with, City Administrator
Trent Smith, Mayor Bill Koos and TIF consultant Bob Rychlicki met to
review the TIF III plan and eligibility report. Scott Hillenburg
was nominated as the public member to sit on the committee. Mayor
Bill Koos was nominated as Chairman of the committee.
Mr. Rychlicki noted that the TIF area had 3 "stand alone" factors
that permitted it to be eligible to become a TIF district. The
factors were the abandoned railroad, mine, and landfill. The
biggest factor is the abandonded mine covering about 50% of the area.
The proposed TIF will be established for 23 years. Should the
budget of $5,000,000 be reached before the expiration of the 23 year
period, the TIF would be done unless the Board approves an increase in
the budget.
There were no objections to the formation of the TIF III district
and the Joint Review Board approved the formation and conditions of the
TIF district. The next step is to conduct a public hearing on
August 17th at a special meeting of the city council. Then, at a
regular meeting of the City Council on September 6, the three
ordinances comprising the TIF could be passed if the Joint Review Board
has no objections.
Facade improvement funds approved
The council approved an application from Roger Janssen to allocate TIF
funds to replace the facade on his grain storage building located on
North Oak Street. The estimate for the work is $5,045.62.
Plans are to replace the facade with a with a dark burgundy metal on
the bottom and a medium metallic gray on the upper wall. The
council approved a full rebate of the annual TIF real estate tax paid
on this property to a maximum of $1,000 over the life of the TIF for
facade repairs to the building located at the north end of Oak Street.
Chestnut Street goes to alley garbage pickup
The council approved a motion to have the garbage pickup for the west
side of Chestnut Street to be in the alley beginning August 16.
Alderman Sean Cunningham asked why not go to alley pickup for the whole
city as it will improve the appearance of the city on pickup
days. City Administrator Trent Smith said that the conditions of
the alleys in the winter may be too bad for garbage pickup.
City Adminstrator Report
Surveyors from Farnsworth Group will be surveying the Carolyn
Development and Locust and 4th Street areas to determine grades for
proper drainage and to develop definite options for the projects.
The city has located a 10 inch tile that apparently goes all the way
west to Crow Creek. This tile is lower than the outlet from the
retention pond at the Carolyn Development and could be used for
drainage which would save the cost of having to do a survey.
The new 15 micron filters are installed at the water treatment plant
and are working beautifully. This is the last step in the
installation of the Tech Kleen filter system.
The Public Works Department is over half done putting in the trail
system connecting Millennia Park with Suttons Park and Veterans
Park. The project is under budget. It was determined that
it is cheaper to use concrete rather than paving with asphalt since the
city could use its own labor. Once the project is landscaped, a
search will be conducted for a monument to dedicate the trail as
"Miner's Trail" to commemorate the workers that toiled in the
mine up to the early 1950's.
The next major project will be to replace the sidwalk north of the
bakery building on 5th Street and around the corner almost up to the
building along Oak Street.