HILLCREST — At its monthly meeting Wednesday, the Hillcrest Village Board of Trustees unanimously approved the $61,404 purchase of a new Kubota tractor from Johnson Tractor. The village also considered a bid for a John Deere tractor for $62,830.

Village President Rick Rhoads said Hillcrest was in need of a tractor to use with various attachments it has to mow its pond and remove brush and tall grass in its pit. The village will consider purchasing additional attachments to use with the tractor in the future such as a snow plowing blade, a grader, and a brush. The tractor will be delivered next week and will be able to help with snowfall operations.

"Since I've lived here, the equipment hasn't changed," Rhoads said. "We've been using the same broken-down equipment forever. The reason we got rid of the old tractor is because we were planning on buying a new one. And then we had other things pop up. We need to follow through on this. I think it's something that we need that we can use quite a bit."

Trustees held a lengthy debate Wednesday on the purchase before all voting in favor of it. The village also approved the purchase of a Ford F-350 dump truck for $98,190 at its meeting in September.

"I am thinking of the residents when I bring up the concern of, 'Look at all of the other things that we've already bought recently,'" Trustee Dan Potter said. "I'm a very reluctant yes on this."

Roof

The board unanimously approved a $20,495 bid from Tip Top Roofing & Construction for the replacement of the roof at Village Hall. The Tip Top Roofing bid was the lowest of three, and the other two considered were from Boss Roofing ($22,951) and Responsive Roofing ($23,962). Rhoads said the work will likely take place before winter.

Garage

The board unanimously approved the $14,675 purchase of garage doors for its maintenance building from Raynor Garage Doors. Rhoads said the current garage doors had fallen into disrepair. The new garage doors include side-mounted openers with battery backup so ensure the doors work during power outages. The doors are insulated with windows.

Water main

Rhoads provided an update Wednesday on the status of the village's ongoing priority 1A water main project. All houses have been hooked into the new water main. The new water main will be hooked into the village's water supply on Monday. No lead was found during hookups with service lines. Three new culverts will now be part of the project due to needing replacement. Ditch reconstruction has begun after they were disturbed by the work. Rhoads said patching of streets disturbed by the project will not take place until the spring.

The project's contractor is Elliott & Wood, Inc. The project has a $1.2 million total budget and is replacing mains along the full length of Scott Avenue, parts of Errett Road and Erickson Road from Scott Avenue to Jeffrey Avenue, and parts of Jeffrey Avenue from Errett Road to Erickson Road. Those streets are in the southern and oldest part of the village. The project will be financed with an IEPA loan that will involve 50 percent loan forgiveness. The debt service on the project will be $35,000 per year over 20 years.

Thompson

Rhoads said Wednesday that Trustee Joe Thompson has resigned his position due to personal reasons. Thompson was appointed to his position in June 2023 and served as streets & grounds trustee. The village will have 60 days to appoint a replacement and Rhoads said the search is ongoing.