CRESTON — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Creston Village Board of Trustees saw officials sworn in following the April 1 election.

Sworn in for four-year terms following their reelection were Village President Tom Byro, Trustee Curt Ward and Village Clerk Jennifer Payton. Trustee Greg Hopkins was also sworn in for a two-year term following his reelection. Justin Hibshman was also elected to a four-year trustee term on April 1 but was absent Tuesday and will be sworn in at a later date. Hibshman takes the seat of Steve Katzman, who did not seek reelection.

The board voted unanimously to appoint Reid Elliot to serve as a trustee for the next two years. Elliot was previously appointed to the board but his seat was not voted on in the April 1 election.

Storm sewer

Village Engineer Kevin Bunge said during the meeting that bids will be opened on May 9 for an upcoming storm sewer project in Creston.

The project will consist of 36-inch storm sewer pipe being put in to replace broken drain tile and improve drainage in Creston. The storm sewer work will consist of adding pipe on both sides of the railroad tracks, but the current phase of it will not go under the tracks. The work was suggested due to issues with stormwater overflow. Bunge said the project has seen eight interested contractors. The board will vote to approve a bid next month.

The work will likely begin in the summer. Bunge has estimated in the past that the project could roughly cost $180,000-200,000. The project will likely take around six weeks. The preliminary storm sewer project work involved securing easements from property owners in the area of it.

Water

The board heard a report from Bunge on recent analysis work done on Creston’s water system in an effort to alleviate rust issues that residents have been seeing. Bunge said the rust issues are likely due to four-inch mains with not enough capacity.

Trustees asked Bunge to bring back a proposal on water main work on West Street. The work would likely be the first phase of a multi-phase project.

"Let's see if we can get something going here," Byro said. "It's going to be a busy summer. I hope we can get all this work done."

Bunge also provided an update Tuesday on a planned water tower cleaning and inspection project to also help with rust issues.

After it was originally expected that the project would be started as soon as weather allowed, the contractor recently provided a start date of Aug. 20 and Bunge has been unable to get a sooner start date provided. Back in December, the board unanimously approved a proposal from KLM Engineering for $16,836 to complete the work by July 1.

Bunge and trustees said Tuesday they would consider going with another bid for the project if they can't get a sooner start date.

Subdivision

Village Building Inspector Aaron Moore said during the meeting that work on new sidewalks has started in the Creston Commons subdivision. Moore said that three temporary occupancy permits have been issued to the residents of new homes in the subdivision that are nearing completion.

Ten total new homes are slated for this year, two of which are being built by private owners. The rest will be built by Hayden Real Estate, which closed on the ownership of the subdivision at the end of December 2023.

The subdivision will also see new water lines run to lots, and work done on parks in the area, including fencing for a potential dog park, a Jack Kerns Community Garden, playgrounds, and trees and landscaping.

Sealcoat

Trustees unanimously approved measures Tuesday for sealcoating work this summer in Creston. The cost will be $98,715.66 and engineering for the work will be handled by Ogle County for four percent of the project cost. Helm Civil will perform the work, which will be funded by motor fuel tax funds.

Library

Village officials said Tuesday that the new Creston-Dement Public Library will hold a grand opening on Saturday, May 10. The new library has been open since March.

The project broke ground March 15, 2024 at the corner of Main and Cederholm Streets. A referendum passed in June 2022 that allowed the Creston-Dement Public Library District to issue $2.2 million in bonds to build a new library building on the land that was donated years ago for just that purpose. The main reason for the desire for a new building was the library outgrowing its previous space at 107 S. Main St.