CRESTON — At its monthly meeting Tuesday, the Creston Village Board of Trustees heard a report from Village Building Inspector Aaron Moore on the building of new homes that has been taking place in the Creston Commons subdivision.

A temporary occupancy permit has been granted for the first home that began construction on South Pierce Street, Moore said, and only sidewalk and yard work remains for that home which must be completed by May 1. Five other homes are currently under construction and another new house permit has been requested for 525 Roberts St. The new homes have all been sized around 1,600 square feet.

Hayden Real Estate closed on the ownership of the subdivision at the end of December 2023. The village has hoped in recent years to see clean up, new homes and a new agreement with the subdivision's ownership. 

Construction work on the homes is still taking place amid the winter weather. Trees were also recently planted in the subdivision and eight new water lines have been pushed for new homes. Water will need to be made available to the new Roberts Street home. The village is working with Rochelle Municipal Utilities on repairing street lights in the subdivision area that have not been working.

Library

Moore also provided an update on the ongoing new Creston-Dement Public Library project. Finishing work is ongoing at the location.

"It looks like they're still working on all the HVAC and ductwork," Moore said.

The project broke ground March 15 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 is the library outgrowing its current space at 107 S. Main St. The library board hopes for a fall 2025 opening.

Water

During the meeting, Village President Tom Byro read a report sent to him by Village Engineer Kevin Bunge, who was not present Tuesday. The report said the village has completed contracts for work on Creston's water tower and work could start soon. Last month, the board unanimously approved a proposal from KLM Engineering for $16,836 for the cleaning and inspection of Creston’s water tower. The work will be completed by July 1, 2025.

Trustees expressed a desire to look into the water tower cleaning in recent months when discussing rust issues that have been seen in the village's water system. It's been estimated the water tower hasn't been cleaned in 4-5 years. Village officials are also investigating other potential fixes for the village's rust issue, including hydrant flushing and changing the layout of Creston's water system.

Bunge's report also said Tuesday that he has researched where rust issues have been seen and matched them with bellies in Creston's water system. He will be bringing potential fixes to the board, Byro said.

"We'll see what he comes up with," Byro said. "I'm a little leery about spending a whole bunch of money and not getting squat out of it."

Sewer

Bunge's report also said Tuesday that he is working to set up a meeting for residents that will be impacted by a planned storm sewer project in Creston

The project is currently in the easement negotiation stage. The next steps will be the meeting with the involved property owners, getting easement agreements signed, finalizing plans and going out for bids in February or March. 

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.

The work will likely begin in the spring or summer of 2025. Bunge has estimated in the past that the project could roughly cost $180,000-200,000.

Roads

The board voted unanimously during the meeting to sealcoat roads with steel slag this year on the south side of Creston for an estimated cost of $96,000. The board also considered using soft rock for $82,000 or harder gravel for $84,000 for the sealcoating of those same roads on the south side of Creston.

Village Trustee Curt Ward said the steel slag material involves more years of life, causes little to no dust after application, and the roads remain black. The method has been used in other area municipalities such as Franklin Grove, Ward said. Creston has used rock in years past.

Kerns

Byro memorialized Jack Kerns during the meeting. The longtime Creston resident passed away Jan. 3 at the age of 82.

"He was a great guy," Byro said. "He did a lot for this town. He's going to be missed. He was a good friend of mine and everybody here. When someone needed something, he'd help them out. And he'd do it that day. We're going to miss him."