The Creston Village Board of Trustees voted unanimously Tuesday to hire Willett, Hofmann & Associates as its new engineering firm.
Last month, the village put out a request for qualifications for a new engineering firm. At the board’s December meeting, Village President Tom Byro announced that previous Village Engineer Kevin Bunge of CES Inc. had resigned from his position. The village will also be working on the return of its utility inventories, maps and documents from past work from CES.
Village officials held interviews with Willett, Hofmann & Associates and one other firm for the position. Byro said the new firm will have similar pricing to CES and will handle engineering work such as sidewalk, water system, streets and grant-writing projects.
“I was very impressed with [Willett, Hofmann & Associates],” Byro said. “They know what they’re doing. They do a lot of projects with Rochelle. I think they’re the company we need to go to. They’re on the ball. They have people for every type of project. They do grant writing, which I think is something we could improve on. They impressed me.”
Sidewalks
Trustees voted unanimously to budget $150,000 each year for an annual sidewalk improvement program in Creston. The funds will come from yearly village interest income.
Trustee Mark Hibshman has said at 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. Hibshman said he plans to work with Willett, Hofmann & Associates on a sidewalk project for this spring.
Booster Days
Byro said during the meeting that Creston Booster Days will be held the weekend of Oct. 3-4 this year due to a scheduling conflict with Skinner’s Amusements, which historically has provided rides and games at the event. Creston Booster Days is typically held the second weekend in September. Hibshman said fireworks for the weekend were able to be rescheduled to the new date.
“[Skinner’s Amusements] had an offer the same weekend for a bigger event,” Hibshman said. “There was one other date in July that they offered. Everyone figured that weekend would be too hot. The organizers looked at other amusement companies and weren’t able to find anything comparable.”
Each year the event includes rides, games, bingo, tractor pulls, bands, a parade, a kitchen, a beer garden, a pancake breakfast, an auction, fireworks and a 50/50 raffle.
Tower
Byro said during the meeting that a new mixer installation project on Creston’s water tower will be completed in the spring. The electrical work on the tower that saw conduit and controls installed for the project was recently completed.
“They have everything done. All they have to do is come back and put the mixer in and then hook the electricity up and they’re done,” Byro said. “As soon as the weather changes, the project will be done.”
The mixer installation project was put into motion following rust issues that have been seen in Creston’s water system. The electrical work on the project cost $11,725.
Water main
Byro said an Illinois Environmental Protection Agency permit application was recently submitted for an upcoming village water main project on South Street.
Trustee Curt Ward has been working with Martin & Company Excavating on needed changes to the project. At its December meeting, the board unanimously approved a $198,955 bid with the contractor. The project is being done in an attempt to alleviate rust issues in Creston and will include upsizing four-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. Contingency funds were put in place due to the village desiring larger valves, among other things. Ward took on the task of working with the contractor on changes as the village was without an engineering firm.