Look for 3% increase in June water, sewer bills

The price of everything is going up, from milk to gasoline, as inflation grips our national economy. Mayor Tom Page explained the cost of making the Mississippi River drinkable was through the roof as well.

Page said chemicals for water treatment have more than doubled from their previous costs and Chester has tried to maintain the cost to consumers.

Chester water customers currently have lower rates than most neighboring municipalities. But faced with the ever rising costs, the Chester City Council amended the ordinances relating to increasing the water rate inside and outside the city, including their intergovernmental agreement with the Department of Corrections.

The increase will be seen in June water bills and will amount to about a 3% rise in cost; this action will also allow an annual 3% increase in each of the coming years.

In addition to the water increases, the sewer rates will rise by 3% due to the rising costs of returning waste water back to the river. Those rising costs were on display as the council gave approval to pay Korte Luitjohan for a 5% down payment of $51,258.15 for the lime silo project.

In an unrelated matter, the council accepted the resignation of Danny Valleroy as Water Distribution Superintendent. Valleroy is moving on to a position with Randolph County. Joe Clark was named as the interim superintendent. Clark will have a six-month probationary period and receive a $10,000 increase in pay.

City Engineer Harold Sheffer explained the final TIF project to the council. The city began work last year on another access road to Chester Center. This road would come off Brenda Street behind Ace Hardware and attach to the parking area of the Center.

According to Sheffer, because the project began in the last year of the TIF, the city is allowed by the state to complete the project using TIF funds.

A single bid was received by Red Dot Construction & Equipment Rentals for $488,447.19 for the road and water and sewer improvements. Red Dot has agreed that all costs related to the Chester Center entrance road will be deleted from the contract by change order pending approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation.

A Dollar Tree store was originally going to be built near this location, but those plans changed. Plans for construction of a Dairy Queen are underway near the Center.

The fire department was given approval to purchase new Jaws of Life equipment for $35,000. According to Fireman Charlie Bargman, the department recently was involved in an extraction where another department's equipment had to be used because Chester's equipment could not get through some of the stronger metals used in newer vehicles. Bargman added that with this approval, it will be six to eight months before the city receives the new equipment.

Chief Marty Bert will have a new auxiliary firefighter in his department. Chasten Hecht, who recently returned to Chester after serving 10 years with the United States Marine Corps, was named to that position.

In other action: The council approved the annual lease of the Cole Park house. They gave their approval to increase the pay of part-time police dispatchers to $19.50 an hour and part-time police officers to $21 an hour. Approval was given for the proposed budget and statement of estimated income for FY2023 and authorization was given for a public hearing of the Appropriations Ordinance for the coming year on July 5 at 5:30 p.m. The next regular council meeting will be July 5.