Aside from the development of Section Six and the Caroline Development there are other things that can be done to improve Minonk. Any business located downtown is eligible to receive a TIF grant to fix up their building through the facade improvement provision. I urge those businessmen who own a downtown building to contact the City Administrator Trent Smith to learn how the city can help finance the improvement of your building.
I repeat my assertion that the city should try to work with the new owners of Section Six to make the path to the old coalmine north of town into a nature trail and to work with US Waste Management in developing the jumbo into a recreation area.
I also wish to repeat my request that the city get on the owner of the former Young's Garage at the corner of Sixth and Chestnut to clean up the building both inside and out. The outside of the building is unkempt and an eyesore. The inside of the building is crammed to the ceiling with junkie old furniture which makes it a fire hazard. This is not the type of building that belongs downtown and, along with the unsightly marquee on the Minonk Foods store, detracts from the quaint appearance of the older downtown buildings.
Finally, I wish to pass on some advice to Minonk residents who are complaining about their high water bills. The water bill at the IOOF building where I have my office doubled this past summer. I couldn't understand why and so I called City Hall to ask why my bill doubled after remaining fairly constant for 3 years. They told me that many high water bills are due to a toilet that leaks water through a faulty flapper in the tank. They suggested I put some blue food dye in the toilet tank and let it set overnight. If the water in the bowl the next morning has turned blue it indicates that water is leaking through the flapper and causing the toilet to run in water every so often. I took their advice and, lo and behold, I found blue water in the toilet bowl the next morning. I put in a new flapper and the water bills went down again. Wouldn't it be nice if all problems could be solved that easily.