The Charleston City Council approved funding for resurfacing roads at its meeting on Tuesday.
According to the resolution, the city identified ten parts of city streets, totaling around 3.45 miles, that need resurfacing. The project is estimated to be around $1,159,000.
The Illinois Department of Transportation gave the city a grant for the project totaling $975,000. This leaves the city only paying $184,000.
A bid was accepted for the city’s recycling of landscape waste, known as tub grinding, from Whispering Pines Greenhouse & Mulch, which is located in Humboldt.
According to the resolution, the company submitted the lowest bid at $42,000.
The council approved the refitting and replacement of electric actuators at the wastewater treatment plant.
According to the resolution, the refitting is needed to have safe and reliable operation of the treatment infrastructure.
The work is being done by the Hydro-Kinetics Corporation of St. Louis, which specializes in the services. Charleston Mayor Brandon Combs said the cost of the work is $123,101, and the company that was chosen is the only one that would be able to do the service due to the specialized process and equipment required.
Charleston was awarded a grant of $50,000 from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for a lead pipe inventory.
As part of the grant, the city needs to enter a professional services agreement for the inventory, with the company being the Farnsworth Group. The services have a fee of $5,000.
Contracts for various technologies were approved by the council.
A three-year term with Insight Direct USA Inc. was approved. This provides a subscription to the software VMWare Horizon for hardware desktop replacement at a cost of $12,233.64, according to the resolution.
The city purchased 20 user licenses for Microsoft Windows 11 Professional and Microsoft software products from CDW-G, costing $9,589.
According to the resolution, the city will enter an On-Premise Microsoft Exchange with the county with 152 users. This allows for easier communication. The cost is split with the county, and the first-year cost is $13,188.02, according to the resolution.
A memo with the Embarrass Area Water District was approved. According to Combs, the memo is for cooperation in looking into a water supply arrangement.
Combs said that the memo does not bind the city into any agreements but allows for Charleston to see if it can supply more source water to the EAWD.
The memo allows for the review of areas where the city water lines could extend to connect to EAWD lines.
The EAWD supplies water to parts of Coles, Douglas and Cumberland Counties.
The council put on file a scavenger license resolution for Rumpke Consolidated Companies Inc. A temporary license for the company was previously approved at the City Council meeting on Aug. 5, 2025. Eastern Illinois University currently contracts with the company.
Combs said the city can grant four licenses, three of which were already in use by Coles County Sanitation & Recycling, Premier Disposal, and Waste Management. The fourth spot became open last year when the holder, Morgan Disposal, was sold to Waste Management.
The resolution will remain on file for public observation until the next City Council meeting, which will be on Feb. 17.
A grant to partially pay for the benches at the Linder Sports Complex pickleball courts was accepted. The grant from the National Association of Realtors is $7,500, and the total cost for the benches is $9,200.
Jason Coulombe can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].
