CRESTON — At its Tuesday meeting, the Creston Village Board heard an update on its grant application for an overhaul of its downtown area. 

Creston applied for a Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Rebuild Illinois Main Street & Downtown grant for $780,000, $195,000 of which would be matched locally by the village. It would include reconstruction of its downtown including new water mains and storm sewer, reconstruction of the street, all new sidewalks, curb and gutter, parking and more.

Village President Tom Byro said Village Engineer Kevin Bunge was unable to attend the meeting, but did update the board and said the application was submitted and he’s waiting to hear the result. At previous meetings, Bunge has said the grant application process will take a year and if selected, Creston wouldn’t start construction or have to pay any costs until the latter part of 2023. 

“We haven't heard anything yet,” Byro said. “No news is good news. I guess they haven't told us no. That's the way I look at it.”

Quiet zones

After the board discussed its desire to get its railroad crossings considered “quiet zones” to alleviate train horn use in the village at its last meeting, Byro said Tuesday that Bunge has also been tasked with formulating a cost estimate for the project.

“As soon as he can get some information, he's going to get back to us,” Byro said.

Train horns are one of the ongoing complaints the village receives from residents and recent sidewalk work improved crossings and made quiet zones more feasible.

Localities desiring to establish a quiet zone are first required to mitigate the increased risk caused by the absence of a horn. Raised medians are often placed between lanes in front of both sides of the tracks to prevent the possibility a vehicle could attempt to go between lowered gates. 

The village would have to make all three of its railroad crossings quiet zones. They include Woodlawn Road, Main Street and Transit Street. Transit Street would likely have to be made a one way due to it being narrow. The other two crossings would have center medians installed. 

Water meter update

After receiving new water meter equipment in recent months, Village Clerk Jennifer Payton said a water meter reader has been hired and the village is doing interviews to hire a second. 

Due to not having equipment and an employee to read meters, Creston has been charging estimated water rates recently and asked residents to read meters themselves. 

“I am going to get ahold of our vendor tomorrow and find out when they can come and do the training,” Payton said. “Things are rolling. We're going to get it up and running and I'm hoping the next set of billings will not be estimated and that will be fantastic.”

Water mains

The board discussed the idea of replacing water mains in the future. Creston was recently awarded $89,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds that it has three years to spend. Water mains are an eligible expense for that money.

The board discussed giving Bunge a list of water mains it wants to replace and having him create a cost estimate. The project would have to be sent out for bids after that. Village Trustee Curt Ward said it’s likely in the future that the EPA will mandate improvements to the village’s water mains.

“We need to identify the ones to replace so we know exactly what we're talking about,” Byro said. “I'll tell him we need to get started on that. It could be 4-5 weeks, then get a bid. It could be next year before we get it done, but we need to get the process going.”

Hourly rates

Following meeting in executive session, the board unanimously approved raising part-time employee hourly rates from $13 an hour to $16 an hour.