The Minonk City Council approved the appointment of Trent Ruestman, shown at the left, as alderman for Ward 2 replacing Ronald "Corky" Marshall who resigned last month. Mr. Ruestman is a Minonk native and currently lives in Minonk. He has a Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Bradley University and is employed as the Assistant County Engineer for Livingston County.
In other business the council approved the appointment of Jerry Welch as a temporary zoning enforcement officer since the city does not currently have a city administrator who had that responsibility.
Olan Morris and Katie Davis were on the agenda to express their concerns about a petition against their dog. However, they did not show up at the meeting. Apparently, their neighbors have started a petition to remove their dog from their residence at the corner of Lincoln and Eighth streets because of the dog attacking people in the neighborhood.
In public comments, Minonk resident Ted Munzie asked why he was required to make a $175 water deposit when his new neighbor did not have to make a deposit. He said he has been after the city for years to address this situation and is now planning to sue the city. Alderman Russell Ruestman said that said if he is on title he would not have to pay the deposit. Our code is clear if you are a tenant/renter you are required to pay deposit.
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Mr. Munzie also stated that he sat on his porch at 403 Walnut street and saw 5 cars run stop signs and asked why the city's police aren't enforcing the law of running stop signs. The Minonk police officer at the meeting told him that the police cannot be everywhere to catch every traffic violation. The officer suggested that Mr. Munzie call the police when he notices someone running a stop sign. Mr. Munzie said he was not getting paid to report traffic violations adding that "if you pay me to do that I will report it".
Minonk resident James Liner said he was informed by the manager at Dollar General across from city hall that if he parks his car in their parking lot for city council meetings, she will call the police to have his car towed. She said when there is a large crowd at city council meetings, the Dollar General parking lot is filled up and leaves no space for her customers. Mr. Liner said he thought the city had an agreement with Dollar General that allowed people to park in their parking lot for city council meetings.