The Creston Village Board of Trustees honored Village Attorney Dave Tess for his 27 years of service Tuesday, Dec. 2.

The longtime Tess, Arnquist & Wilt partner will be stepping back from the village attorney role, which will be fully taken over by Andrew Wilt.

Tess spoke about his experience over 27 years and thanked village officials and residents. He was presented with a plaque by Village President Tom Byro.

“I wish to thank everybody for the opportunity over the last 27 years,” Tess said. “It’s been my pleasure. Some of you have been here for 27 years with me. I hope the village understands all of the effort that you have put into this. It’s an honor, but it’s also a great responsibility to take on.”

Tess thanked Byro, and former Village Presidents Wayne Williams and William Heal for their leadership.

“I can’t tell you how many hours we spent together,” Tess said. “Houses out of code, cars parked in yards, farm leases, and the expansion and the future closing of the landfill. There were so many hours. Hours that we could never bill for. Hours that we just did what we thought was right. I worked for these village presidents. But my oath was to the citizens.”

Byro thanked Tess for his years of dedication and contributions to the village.

“We deeply appreciate all you have done for this community and its residents,” Byro said. “Your hard work will have a lasting impact on this village for years to come.”

Water main

The board unanimously approved a $198,955 bid from Martin & Company Excavating with an up-to-10% contingency for project changes for water system work on South Street.

The project is being done in an attempt to alleviate rust issues in Creston that would include upsizing 4-inch mains, shutoff valve work and hydrant work including removing dead-end lines.

The work will likely start in March and will take up to 20 working days to complete. Byro said the contingency funds were put in place due to the village desiring larger valves, among other things. Creston will work with the contractor on the changes.

“It’s going to cost a little more money,” Byro said. “We’re going to get it done right and we won’t have to go back into that intersection again in 10 years and change things.”

Engineer

Byro said during the meeting that Village Engineer Kevin Bunge of CES Inc. has resigned from his position. The village will be seeking proposals for a new engineering firm in the coming weeks and will be working on the return of its utility inventories, maps and documents from past work from CES.

“There are a number of good engineers around and we’re going to go out for four to five proposals and look for a new one,” Byro said.

Levy

The board unanimously approved its 2026 tax levy, which will amount to $26,861. That averages to about $42 per person in Creston, which has a population of 626, Village Treasurer Penny Payton said.

The village did not need to hold a truth in taxation hearing for the levy due to it being below a 5% increase from last year. The increase was 1.49%. The levy funds will be used to pay for salaries of hourly village employees, Payton said.

Insurance

The board unanimously approved its yearly insurance renewal with Crum Halsted Insurance. Its general liability and property insurance amounted to $15,458, up 6.5% from last year. Its worker’s compensation insurance amounted to $3,022, which stayed “flat and in line with the market,” Adam Heal of Crum Halsted said.

“Nobody likes any increases, but if I could tell all my customers they were only getting a 6.5% increase this year, we’re doing pretty good.” Heal said.

Tower

Byro said work on installing a mixer in Creston’s water tower will not be completed until the spring due to the weather and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency permitting.

The mixer installation project was put into motion following rust issues that have been seen in Creston’s water system. The village found difficulty hiring an electrician for the project and approved an $11,725 bid for the work. The electric work will be done in coming weeks and will involve new lighting and an electrical box up on the tower.

“We’re not shutting off people’s water in the middle of winter,” Byro said. “It’s going to be put on hold.”

Sidewalk

Trustees again held discussion on a potential sidewalk replacement program in Creston in the future with dedicated funds each year.

Village Trustee Mark Hibshman has said in past meetings that “most of” the sidewalks in Creston need replacement. Any sidewalk that hasn’t been replaced in the village since its installation will need replacing to meet ADA requirements.

The top of the village’s sidewalk replacement plan list is work in the area of Depot and South streets, along with Main Street.

“We’re sitting on some money and we need to put some money into the village,” Hibshman said. “We have a liability with some of these broken sidewalks here. We need to get downtown and Main Street all fixed up. Let’s move on this and get it bid out.”