Village raises permit fees

HILLCREST — At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees discussed ongoing water tower repair work and Water Trustee Dan Potter said the work is nearing completion.

Pittsburg Tank & Tower Group began work to repair the water tower after a leak was noticed in recent months. Two pressurized tanks to maintain water pressure for village residents during the work were placed at Village Hall and the Masterbend building.

The cost for the leak repair is $26,605 and Pittsburg planned to perform some of the other work to the tower it recommended in the past. The estimate on the total amount of the rest of the work needed for the water tower is $384,370, but not all of it will be done by Pittsburg. The village approved money for water tower repairs at its April board meeting.

"All of the work that has been done just needs to be buttoned up, and then we can get rid of the pressure tanks and go back to business as usual," Potter said. "It's just tying up loose ends now and it should be all good for the next 10 years at least. They did everything that needed to be done to it."

Village Trustee Tim Ball praised the work on the tower that he said didn't cause any impact to residents.

"No one ever even knew that their water was turned off then started on those tanks," Ball said. "Nobody felt anything that happened with the cleaning of the tower. I can't thank you enough as a resident. That transition was one of the most impressive things I've seen in my 18 years here. Thank you."

Permits

Trustees voted unanimously to increase permit fee rates in the village for the first time in 15 years. Minimum fees were previously $50 for residential, $75 for commercial and $75 for industrial. Those fees have been changed to $75 for residential, $150 for commercial and $150 for industrial. Village President Rick Rhoads said that previous fees were not covering the costs of the village's building inspector.

"We've looked at what we're paying the building inspector and what we're charging and the last time we raised them," Rhoads said. "I think this is an appropriate amount. It costs us money to have this service. This is just to cover what we're already paying."

Engineering

Village Engineer Kaitlin Wright of Baxter & Woodman presented an engineering update at the meeting. She said final plans for Hillcrest's Priority 1A Water Main project will be sent to trustees by early October and the bidding process is planned for the start of November. Trustees approved the project to move forward last month.

The project plans to replace mains along portions of Scott Avenue, Errett Road and Erickson Road in the southern and oldest part of the village.

The cost estimate is currently roughly $2.3 million. An IEPA loan is being reserved for the village and Hillcrest is eligible for 50-percent principal forgiveness. The work could be completed by fall of 2024. The project has been on the village's radar for a number of years. A greater water main replacement project was considered in the past, but was trimmed down to the areas of greatest need.

Ordinances

Rhoads said the village is currently looking at hiring a part-time ordinance enforcement officer to address ordinance violations in the village. Issues he mentioned Wednesday included the burning of garbage and construction waste (yard waste is the only allowable burnable material) and campers that are illegally parked.

"Ashton just hired somebody to enforce ordinances and we're looking at what they're doing so we can maybe model it," Rhoads said. "There's no need to reinvent the wheel if a village like us has already done it. We're looking around for that."