Citizens Asked To Keep Lawns Mowed, Mayor Notes Improvements

By Alex Haglund

Mayor Erik Rolf asked the Nashville City Council to take a brief moment of silence in memory of Sandra Kolweier at the start of the council’s second meeting of the month, on the evening of Thursday, May 17.
“Sandra was Ray’s (Kolweier, former mayor of Nashville) wife and was the first lady of Nashville for a long, long time,” said Rolf. Sandra Kolweier passed away on Sunday, May 13.
Council member Josh Fark and Rolf spoke about the city’s efforts to crack down on messy, unkempt or nuisance properties.
Fark stated that Nashville Police Chief Brian Fletcher was continuing to talk to people around town about their properties regarding code and ordinance violations.
“People, keep your grass mowed, please,” Fark implored. “We are going to enforce our ordinances, take heed.”
“Not everyone has taken heed,” Rolf stated, “ But some have. I’ve been driving around a lot and I have seen some folks who have put in a ton of work getting their properties into shape. It’s good to see.”

Video Cameras

Another issue related to messes being made (and cleaned up) was the dumpsters outside of the city street shed, which are being brought inside at night after a large amount of refuse was left in and around the dumpsters just before the council’s last meeting.
The city had received a quote for a security system which would have two cameras and a connected DVR for $1,978.
However, Fark asked street department superintendent Rich Schuette if taking the dumpsters in at night had been an issue for him or his crews, and Schuette said since they emptied the dumpsters at the end of the day anyway, it was almost no extra work.
Rolf and council members also reported that residents who used the dumpsters for disposal had been very understanding of the situation.
The council decided to take no action on the security system. For the time being, they will continue to do what they have been – taking the dumpsters in at night. They stated that in the future, they may begin to leave the dumpsters out overnight again, on a trial basis, but time would tell.
The city council did vote to purchase a camera system for the police department interview/interrogation room. The item had been tabled at the May 3 meeting so that more information could be gathered.
The camera system will cost $6,679 total, from Nelson Systems, and comes with a one year warrantee, which would cover all equipment. No service contract or software expenses will be required during the warrantee period.
After the initial year, the police department would have the option to enroll in a maintenance and software agreement, at their discretion.

Sewer Pipe Replacement

A sewer main pipe, one which crosses IL-15 at the east side of Nashville needs to be replaced.
“The sewer pipes is under Zapp’s down there,” said council member Doug Hargan. “It’s deteriorating.”
“It is a cast iron main under there,” said city utilities superintendent Blaine Middleton, who stated that they had crews inspecting the pipe when they found the deterioration.
“Now is the time, since the crossing is deteriorated, to move the line around the garage and to abandon that section of main underneath the building,” said Middleton.
Middleton added that they would be running a tap out to the garage as well, to hook them up “for when they have problems. From what we have seen, in time, they will.”
The motion approved was to authorize Middleton, through city engineers Curry and Associates, to seek bids to replace the main.
Middleton was asked if that meant that the work would be done by a subcontractor and not city crews.
“Oh yeah,” he answered. “Those lines are about nine-feet deep.”
Middleton was also authorized to seek quotes for a new utilities truck. The city had hoped to purchase one via sealed bid from Jefferson County, but the city’s bid did not win.
Once that truck is purchased, the tentative plan is to send the utilities department’s oldest vehicle to the golf course.
The council also authorized seeking quotes for a new utilities superintendent’s vehicle, to replace the old one, a Chevy Blazer that Middleton said “is about 14 or 15 years old.”
“It’s in need of a lot of maintenance,” said council member Dennis Kellerman. Kellerman told the rest of the council that the new vehicle would likely be a pickup truck of one sort or another, which would be able to carry a crew and some gear as well.

Other Items

Schuette told the council that he had received word from IPRF that the city had been approved for a safety grant that had applied for. The money should be received in a few weeks.
There will be a zoning board of appeals meeting that will be held on Thursday, May 31, at 7 p.m. at Public Works.
There is also a vacancy on the zoning board. Mayor Rolf told the council members that if they know anyone who might be interested, to have them get in touch with him.
Schuette told the council that he had received quotes for the tractors and wheel loaders which were discussed at the earlier May meeting. Rolf said that a committee meeting would need to be held in the near future to determine what to do next with regards to any possible purchases in that vein.
Rolf also stated that a police committee meeting would need to be held soon, to discuss a school resource officer for District 49.
Updating the rest of the council about golf course business, Hargan stated that the course might need to be looking into a rough mower soon. This was likely something that would need to be purchased new, because, “they use rough mowers until they drop, so you usually can’t find a used one.”