Nashville City Council Approves Purchase Of New Skid Steer
By Alex Haglund
The Nashville City Council approved a few purchases at their first regular meeting of the month, held on Thursday, July 6, including a skid steer and new heating and air conditioning for the police department.
The street department presented bids to the council for a new skid steer, along with a number of accessories.
There were two quotes were for New Holland and John Deere model skid steers, as well as a jackhammer attachment, a 30-inch cold planer, 48” pallet forks, and a bush grapple.
The quote for the New Holland model, an L 234 from Diedrich Implements of Nashville came in at the lower price, $82,343.88 total, down to $74,913.88 after the trade-in of the city’s old skid steer, a 1998 John Deere 4475.
The skid steer, particularly with its attachments, is a valuable tool not only for the work that the street department does, but for the city’s utility department as well. Utilities superintendent Blaine
Middleton said that the jackhammer attachment allowed them to access gas lines quickly if they need to.
Nashville Police Chief Brian Fletcher told the council that the air conditioner at the police department had given out, and the old furnace was not compatible with a new air conditioner.
There were two bids put in for the spur-of-the-moment replacement, the lower bid came from J&R Appliances who installed a new furnace and air conditioner at a cost of $5,070 including labor,
Fletcher also told the council that an officer had tendered their resignation. The council authorized Fletcher to advertise for applicants to fill the position.
Homecoming
The council approved plans to hold the NCHS Homecoming parade on St. Louis Street, IL 15, on October 6.
The street will be closed of from 12:45 p.m. to 2 p.m., with the parade scheduled to begin at 1 p.m.
The council approved a resolution to approve the parade.
Passing the resolution, rather than just approving the request, was a requirement, as the resolution must be sent to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Other Items
The council approved Ordinance 2017-3, which updates the city’s Liquefied Petroleum and Gas ordinance.
Three people were approved to be appointed to the Nashville Public Library Board – Palma Stiegman, Rodney Ibendahl and Mary Kania.
Advanced Vision Care will be holding a patient appreciation dayand vendor showcase on August 11 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. They had asked the city to be able to block off three parking spots in the city lot in front of their building to allow their vendors to set up tables and pop-ups. After making sure that none of the spots being requested were handicap spots, the council approved the request.
A parcel of land near the Best Western in Nashville was brought before the planning commission, and zoning commissioner Rich Schuette said that there were inconsistencies that had come up when redrawing property lines. Parts of parcels were outside of the city limits as well. The planning commission voted to annex the various parts in question into the city, and then rezone all of the assorted pieces into a B1 district, business.
In June, the city’s recycling service was used by 243 residents and took in 13,180 pounds of materials.
Mike Hawkins resigned from the water and sewer department as of July 14. Hawkins was the city’s JULIE locator.
Danny Schmitt was promoted to fill Hawkins’ position, and he will receive a $0.50 per hour raise for taking over the responsibilities as JULIE locator.
In the gas department, filling Schmitt’s now vacant slot, Stephen Reuss was promoted from part time to full time.
Middleton told the council that there was going to be some gas work to be done on the 100 block of W. Adams Street on Monday and Tuesday, July 10 and 11. By the time this edition of the paper has gone to print, the work should already be complete.
The annual Nashville city employee picnic has been scheduled for Friday, September 1.
