Dist. 300 residency required for most of city staff

The Du Quoin city council Monday began formalizing residency requirements to be able to work for the City of Du Quoin.

An ordinance that once existed was apparently lost in the recodification and publication of city ordinances a few years ago and Monday night's action was simply a matter of housekeeping.

Generally, the rule is that if you are an employee of the City of Du Quoin you must live in the geographical boundaries of Du Quoin Community Unit District 300, which wraps around Du Quoin but extends to an area outside of the corporate limits.

The rule applies to any future hirings, and the city CAN grant residency waivers to parttime employees like auxiliary police officers or paid-on-call firefighters who live outside the District 300 boundaries.

Fulltime city staff members want to live in close proximity to the work they perform. Two staff members , who shoulder the unique and highly specialized jobs of managing the city's water systems, are residents of Pinckneyville. Their jobs and residency are grandfathered in. They will not have to relocate.

Part of the thinking is that if you are going to get a paycheck from the taxpayers of Du Quoin you need to pay your share of taxes to the city and to our schools.

Guests of the meeting were Bill Asbury and Paul Melzer of Special Olympics who extended their appreciation to the city for their support of the indoor softball series. This will be the seventh year for the tournament. Asbury said 390 teams from across the country and Canada try to get into the tournament each year.

The Council finalized the intergovernmental agreement with Dist. 300 schools that will rebate $39,027 in each of the next 15 years that represents funds the city contributed for infrastructure work when the new Du Quoin High School was built. Some of that money will help pay for Du Quoin swimming pool renovations.

The city council authorized the sale of properties by sealed bids on North Chestnut Street once owned by the Robert Armstrong family.

The council approved a four-year agreement with the Arthur Galligher Agency, which represents the city in risk management insurance matters.

Economic development director Jeff Ashauer gave a report to the council on recent actions of the Du Quoin Zoning Board. They include actions that largely prevent things like soup kitchens from opening in downtown Du Quoin and rezoning acreage around the new Fenton Custom Collision Center to conform to the needs and purposes of that area.

The council put on public display the 2016 budget. Details appeared in Tuesday's edition of the newspaper.

The council approved construction of a shallow handicap accessibility ramp alongside a new gun shop opening in January at the corner of East Main and South Division streets.

The ramp will not interfere with pedestrian traffic on South Division Street.

The council gave final approval to the sale of a vacant lot at 130 South Division St. to Alan Porter. The purchase price was 80 percent of the appraised value, which adheres to the guidelines for a sale of property owned by a municipality. A house on the property was torn down this summer. Transfer of the property was one of the conditions of demolition.

The council approved a $10,000 stipend to the Pinckneyville-Du Quoin Airport Board. The stipend increases from $5,000 to $10,000 to assist the airport board with its local share of money needed to pay for construction of a new airport office and hangar building. Construction could begin next spring.

Mayor Alongi advised the council of his plan to revamp the city's liquor ordinance, providing a measure of fairness, standardized enforcement practices and safety for police, bar owners and patrons. Details of that plan were published in Wednesday's edition.

The mayor said the City of Du Quoin is beginning to receive some of the motor fuel tax and gaming monies withheld by the state during the four-month state budget dispute.

The council accepted a generous contribution of $2,500 from Loren and Priscilla Craig of Pitchford Professional Services. Details of that gift were contained in a story on Tuesday.

The gift brings to over $62,000 the monies earmarked for Du Quoin Swimming Pool renovations.

A final estimate on the cost of those renovations should be available within the next 30 days.

The meeting ended on some positive notes, thanking everyone for their work on a balanced 2016 budget, comments of the beauty of downtown Du Quoin during the holidays an expressing appreciation to the city staff and residents for their cooperation on some challenging issues during the past year.

Merry Christmas wishes were extended to everyone.