Porter Avenue truck route in La Salle eliminated

The La Salle City Council voted Monday to eliminate, effective July 8, the truck route on Porter Avenue that has permitted trucks to and from the warehouse owned by Carus LLC.

The elimination of the truck route was a unanimous vote by the City Council, after the city’s Streets and Alleys Committee also voted unanimously to recommend the elimination.

After Alderman Bob Thompson suggested removing the truck route, Carus LLC announced June 19 it would discontinue use of the warehouse and remove all remaining equipment and spare parts stored in it. Thompson said the warehouse has been emptied, except for forklifts, tanks for the forklift and shrink wrap. He said he is going to take a tour of the building Tuesday.

The warehouse, located north of Porter Avenue and east of Zinc Street, already had all chemicals removed from it this spring, the company said.

About a dozen residents attended Monday’s meeting and raised their hands when asked if they were in favor of discontinuing the truck route. Deputy Clerk Brent Bader also said the city received three emails in favor of getting rid of the truck route. The city received no objections to eliminating it.

The warehouse, located north of Porter Avenue and east of Zinc Street, already had all chemicals removed from it this spring, the company said. Most of the non-hazardous chemicals removed from warehouse were transported to Carus’ La Salle manufacturing plant to be used in production, while a small portion was moved to the Lotz Warehouse in Ottawa, the company said. Although the company said there are no longer any chemicals stored in Apollo warehouse, Carus still will submit the 2023 Tier II Report in March of 2024 since there were chemicals stored in the warehouse until March 3.

The elimination of the truck route prevents vehicles 26,000 or more pounds, or those with a tractor-trailer apparatus from traveling on Porter Avenue, with the exception of garbage trucks.

Carus to donate air quality monitor to city

Carus LLC agreed to donate an air quality monitor to the city of La Salle in a recent meeting its leaders had with La Salle aldermen Thompson and Jordan Crane.

Thompson asked the City Council on Monday if members preferred to have the air monitor bought by Carus, then donated, or if it would rather receive a check to make the purchase itself. Council members agreed they would prefer the donation. Alderman Joe Jeppson was tapped to handle the coordination of working with Carus, the Sierra Club and also working with Illinois Valley Community College, to get the monitor set up.

Alderman Crane to head task force

Thompson also said Crane will take the lead on putting together a task force of local officials, community members and Carus employees to develop a new, comprehensive community response plan to emergencies. Retired fire chief Andy Bacidore, Fire Chief Jerry Janick and resident Eric Dyas are among those interested in participating on the committee, Thompson said.

Residents communicated after the Jan. 11 fire there was an insufficient community emergency response plan. In this case, residents were looking for a specific notification system that, should there be an emergency in the community, everyone is notified in multiple ways – sirens, text alerts, radio, social media, or phone calls with specific guidance about what to do, such as shelter in place, the company said.