Brockmeyer's badge, firefighter number to be retired
James Brockmeyer was one-of-a-kind. The Chester City Council, in collaboration with the city's police and fire departments, is making sure it stays that way.
During Monday's meeting of the council, the city aldermen approved retiring the fallen Chester police officer and volunteer firefighter's badge number (CH09) and firefighter number (No. 17).
"It's something the staff wanted to do and I thought it would be good to do it in a formal resolution," said Chester Police Chief Ryan Coffey, who attended the meeting.
Coffey said Brockmeyer's badge number went unassigned after the October 28, 2016 accident in which the 22-year-old officer was fatally injured during a police chase along Palestine Road on Chester's north side.
Seth Buch, who transitioned from a part-time officer to full-time to fill the vacancy left by Brockmeyer's passing, has badge CH10.
During his report to the council, Mayor Tom Page highlighted the upcoming service and dedication of the Chester Memorial Park on Oct. 28, the one-year anniversary of Brockmeyer's accident, and encouraged the city's aldermen to attend.
The service will begin at 11 a.m. and is expected to last about an hour, according to Page. It is open to the public.
Alderman Donnie Clark said that people, in general, are quick to criticize, but not to praise and wished to thank all those who have donated services and resources toward the construction of the park.
"I want to thank everyone who donated their time, their effort and their labor," he said.
In other news, the council discussed and ultimately approved a pay estimate of $146,487.45 from Red Dot Construction and Equipment Rentals for the Buena Vista Street resurfacing project.
Both aldermen Robert Platt and Ray Allison asked the city's engineer, Harold Sheffer, of J.T. Blankinship, for more detail in the reports when it comes to pay estimates and the amount of material being approved.
Sheffer said he could include a copy of the engineer's logs, but cautioned that they are of significant length (20-30 pages).
During discussion of an agenda item regarding a change order on the Buena Vista Street project, Sheffer stated the city is responsible for about 20 percent ($10,000) of the cost to lay down a temporary rock surface that will allow residents in the area to come and go as they please during the upcoming winter.
"We did receive a pretty good bid on this project, so it's not like we're looking to add money," said Sheffer, who noted that the Illinois Department of Transportation stops counting working days on Nov. 15 for a winter shutdown that typically lasts until April.
ROUNDUP
The council approved the payment of bills in the amount of $182,229.12 and two invoices from J.T. Blankinship for miscellaneous engineering services ($700) and engineering services for the Buena Vista Street project ($39,004).
Collette Powley spoke during public comment on some upcoming programs at the Chester Public Library.
The council approved the sale of the following pieces of city-owned property that had been previously put up for bid: 314 Church Street (Sam Crane, $500); 253 Young Avenue (Tyson Choate, $305); 136 Market Street (Ricky Berkbuegler, $5,000); 1149 George Street (Mark and Patricia Hunt, $9,500) and 818 Valley Street (Dave Elam, $1,601.01).
The council approved a resolution for Chester Memorial Park to be named Chester Memorial Park.