City Council approves agreement with Coles County

Corryn Brock, Associate News Editor

The Charleston City Council approved the authorization of a contract between the city and the Coles County Regional Planning and Development Commission along with four other action items.

The city was recently awarded a Community Development Block Grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in the amount of $499,941 to rehabilitate 10 homes, and the commission will be handling the funding and projects from the grants.

The commission will be responsible for administering the grant in accordance with the provisions of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity grant agreement, acting as a coordinator for financial management services, inspection of activities requirements, equal opportunity/minority business enterprise/utilization monitoring, audit compliance assistance and preparing and submitting all necessary documents requested by the DCEO.

The commission will be paid a maximum of $72,641 for their work, with the payments being made on a time and material cost basis that will be agreed on by the city and the commission. The payment will come from the grant itself.

City Planner Steve Pamperin said the grant is highly completive.

“It’s a competitive application and we were one of the few funded in the state,” Pamperin said.

Mayor Brandon Combs said receiving the grant was a big deal.

“This is just another big win for our community,” Combs said.

The council also approved providing sensible rehabilitation for Side by Side 614, LLC through Tax Increment Financing in a grant for the amount of $30,893.

Combs said the grant will go toward fixing roofing issues for the property at 614 Jackson Ave.

“This is to remove and replace approximately 30 feet of broken roof rafters and sagging roof deck where a section of the roof has completely failed,” Combs said.

A Concrete Materials contract was awarded to Mid-Illinois Concrete, Inc. for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Recreational Trails Program project.

The contract price is $102.50 per cubic yard for a total of $55,042. The funding for the project will come from the Fiscal Year 2019/2020 budget.

Combs said project will help the Lincoln Prairie Grass trail, which goes from Charleston to Mattoon.

“There are certain targeted trail sides and trailhead parking improvements that need to happen,” Combs said. “By improving the Decker Springs parking and adding two additional dedicated parking facilities, it will allow more users to be able to access the trail, and it will look a lot nicer.”

Community member Gary Henigman spoke to the council about checking the city for intersections where it may be hard to see oncoming traffic.

“In Charleston there are a lot blind intersections,” Henigman said. “In traffic, at an intersection, you can’t see around the corner. It could be retaining wall, bushes, a dumpster, parked cars.”

Henigman said he and his wife were almost hit by a car at the intersection of 7th Street and Harrison Avenue due to shrubbery on the corner causing a blind spot.

Corryn Brock can be reached at 5811-2812 or at [email protected].