Carrier Mills Village Board hopes collapsed building hauled away soon

Village officials hope the collapsed building blocking Oak Street and Clark Street is hauled away soon.

The downtown building, which includes Angel Scent florists, collapsed last month. Parts of the building litter the streets on both sides. The owner of the property, Carol Wheeler, has hired Doc Maier to finish demolition of the building and haul away the rubble. The process - like most similar situations - is relatively slow.

"The latest holdup is the Environmental Protection Agency paperwork is not completely done, so he went on to his next project in Carbondale," Mayor Louis Shaw said at the regular Village Board meeting on Tuesday.

"I'm hopeful in a reasonable period of time the building will be cleared and the street will be open, but it's out of our hands."

Shaw hopes to keep the village out of the demolition and cleanup if possible in order to avoid liability issues and expenses, he said.

Meanwhile, traffic on Oak and Clark Streets is diverted down Railroad Street.

The Egyptian Health Department recently inspected the former Dallas Market building at 100 Oak Street. Board members hope either to see renovation or condemnation at that building.

Four other property owners will be sent letters regarding the condition of their abandoned houses. The houses include the two pink houses on Mill Street, the burned-out house at the intersection of Furlong and Mill streets and a dilapidated house on Friend Street. If the properties are not demolished, renovated or improved substantially, the village may begin condemnation proceedings after Aug. 1.

Abby Reeves of Southeastern Illinois Regional Planning and Development Commission updated the board on the housing rehabilitation grant, and on plans to seek another grant next year.

The state granted $245,000 to rehabilitate seven homes in the grant area. Reeves hopes to expand that grant area in the next round of Community Development Assistance Project grants to include parts of Thompson and Mill streets, from West Walnut Street to Hutson Street.

The new grant application will be for the 2012 grant cycle.

Board members agreed to have an ordinance written vacating part of a street. Randy Ehlers, who owns a home on Carline Street, found the village has an unused, but platted, street that runs adjacent to his property. The street was platted to be an extension of Friend Street to Railroad Street. There is nothing on the property but grass and it is very unlikely the village would ever develop the street.

"It doesn't go anyplace," Shaw said.

Audit

Keith Botsch presented the annual audit to the board. The General Fund is in good shape, he said. The village took in about $58,000 more than was spent out of the fund. The water fund is in similar good shape, showing an overall increase of $23,000, Botsch said.

The only village fund that could be considered a trouble area is the fire department depreciation fund, which had $10,000 more spending than earnings.

"That's common," Botsch said.

The problem lies in how fire departments are often funded. The portion of the tax levy that is earmarked for fire protection is too low. One of these days the state will realize the legal limit is too low and it will be raised, Botsch said. Until then, fire department depreciation funds will tend to run at a deficit.

Board members asked insurance agent Mike Crisel to look into whether or not the village can make substantial improvements in its worker's compensation insurance rates.

Unfortunately, Crisel could not find any policies that offer much savings over the current policy.

"It took a while to get in this situation and it will take a while to get out," Crisel said.

The village has a bad loss history and it will simply take time to get the history off the records. Some loss control or safety programs could offer some rate improvement, Crisel said.

Personnel

Several employees received raises Tuesday night. Most of the raises were 50 cents per hour. Exceptions include a Street and Alley Department employee who is new to the roster; one police officer who is on the roster but not working any shifts; and Steve Gilbert, the street and alley superintendent, who received a bigger raise as a "catch-up" raise to other department heads.

The hours of Sue Thorpe, who cleans the Municipal Building, were increased from six to eight weekly.

Police officer Chuck Rubright will now work eight hours per week.

During the meeting:

-- Board members passed two ordinances, each banning a synthetic substance. One ordinance bans synthetic cocaine, commonly known as "bath salts," in village limits. The other bans possession of synthetic marijuana, also known as K2. Possession of either substance is punishable by fines.

The ordinance proposal is making the rounds - Harrisburg City Council passed a similar ordinance recently.

-- A 2009 Crown Victoria police car was purchased from the Missouri Highway Patrol for $14,750. The vehicle has 54,000 miles.

-- A donation of $7,500 by Dr. Grover and Betty Sloan was much appreciated by board members. The board currently intends to use the money to remodel the Municipal Building kitchen and build a stage for Catskin Days.
The board plans to seek estimates on both projects. Board members also voted to begin the process of acquiring property for the stage. The board has in mind acquiring the ground where James Cleaners building used to stand, Shaw said.

The site of the stage is currently buried under bricks - James Cleaners was next to the downtown building that collapsed last month.

-- Village officials are working with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recoup some of the losses suffered during the flooding and storms in April and May. There may be funds to reimburse the village partially for lost work hours, sandbagging, debris removal, closing streets and steps taken to preserve property within the village during flooding.