The Charleston City Council approved the annexation agreement for Luxury Homes to build a subdivision named “20 Acre Woods” just west of Charleston.

The council passed the building plans with variances during the June 16 meeting. The variances were brought through the Board of Zoning and Appeals on June 25 and came back to the council Tuesday for final approval.

City Planner Steve Pamperin said the variances included allowing a flag lot, specifying the ration size for the flag lot and allowing an out lot to be created without having access to Route 16.

Mayor Brandon Combs said the council has been talking about the “20 Acre Woods” subdivision for the past several meetings, which is why no debate came up during the public hearing prior to Tuesday’s meeting.

The three ordinances approved Tuesday will allow Luxury Homes to go forward with development. One recognizes the annexation agreement; another is to officially annex the property and the last is for zoning the final plat of the subdivision.

With the annexation of the 24.72 acres of land, “20 Acre Woods” will be considered part of the city and have access to city services like water and sewer systems along with the fire and police departments.

The city’s expenses will be $17,550 for water and $1,300 for materials, and the developer will be responsible for construction costs.

The council approved new prevailing wage rates established by the Department of Labor.

The document approved includes the base wage rates, overtime requirements health and welfare insurance status, pension, vacation and training for various trades in Coles County starting in July 2015.

Some of the many trades listed include truck driver, electrician, carpenter, tile layer and tuck pointer.

Charleston is required to establish prevailing wage rates each year under the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. These rates are developed by county each year by the Illinois Department of Labor.

These new rates will be in effect from this July until June 30, 2016.

Also approved on the council’s agenda was a raffle license for the Newman Catholic Center to raise funds at 8 p.m. Nov. 14.

The next City Council meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. July 21 in City Hall.

Stephanie Markham can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].