The Central City Board of Trustees approved a new contract for a School Resource Officer with Central City School that now has the village paying one month of the officer’s salary while the school pays the other eleven months. Central City Police Chief Jamie Ramsey said that most school districts pay the SRO for all twelve months and Central City School has done the same until now, but he acknowledged that the school district is within its rights to negotiate for different terms. The new contract goes into effect in May.
Public Works Director Shane Swartzlander reported that several telephone poles near one of the baseball fields in Lion’s park were dislodged from the ground in the recent storm. The poles are leaning and at high risk of falling over and need to be replaced before the field can be used safely. The cost of repairs is estimated at $38,000.
The board accepted the low bid for the OSLAD grant project at Lyon Park from Shores Builders. Mayor Neely Reed said the village will need to work out further details with Shores to bring the cost down. Shores gave a bid of $570,000, and the village needs to pay no more than $540,000 to stay within budget.
Reed and the board discussed options for establishing a storm shelter in the village. Central City does not have a designated storm shelter, and the police chief and several board members expressed concerns that having one would create liability risks for the village. The topic was tabled to be discussed again at the next meeting.
The board also discussed the ongoing construction work for the Centralia Water Treatment Plant in Central City. Reed says that the village has been assured that any ground damage that takes place during the construction will be fixed when the project is completed. He asks residents who are having any issue related to the construction that does not get quickly resolved to report it to the village.
The temporary notice for residents with alley trash pickup to use the roadway instead remains in effect. The notice will be lifted on April 15.
