February 20, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, May 24

It’s a full, full house. I am standing by the door typing so no one throw open the door.

There is a Girl Scout troop here. I think they are brownies!

It’s Troop 2191. They have done a project for the community and wanted to share it.

Bird houses that are going in community parks. They used recycled materials to build the birdhouses and bird feeders. This is a take action project as part of their journey reward.

Public comment time. Public comment reminder: The village would love if you didn’t curse, scream, ect. at the trustees.

No public comment.

Matt Crider, Ken Cooley and Diana Foltz are reappointed to the Zoning Board. Doug Dahl stepped down and Tami is appointing Curt Harsbarger to the commission. (I hope I spelled that right, apologies if I did not)

The red barn thing on the land on Rt. 150 is going goodbye. The board approved the zoning change for Philo Exchange Bank. They will build on Rt. 150 on the land that has been vacant for about a decade. The administrator said they had two neighbors show up at the zoning meeting.

Approved the ordinance regarding outdoor eating. It gives the village some control over outdoor eating spaces like at Roch’s, El Toro and the Ribcage.

El Toro is here discussing their plans for outdoor seating.

Discussing having a fourth of july parade. A local resident is planning it. #weloveaparade #freecandy #bringyourbucketsandgetsome

They are jumping all over this agenda to try and clear out the room. LOL Apparently people don’t love hanging out at village board the way I do.

Discussing building a building where -I think the storage facilities are- near the rail trail. The building would be the new home for St. Joseph Overhead Doors. It was sold four weeks ago.

Discussing Elm Street and Douglass Street projects.

Northern Utility Expansion Study time. The study was approved.

The bids for the sidewalk and street repair were approved.

They are going to do a metal roof on the concession stand and shingles on the shed.

Discussing banning smoking at the park. A lot of the board members aren’t fans of government overreach.

But they previously discussed fines for tall grass so I don’t really understand what the difference is other than they can enforce the tall grass ordinance with letters and mowing I guess.

Lawyer Marc Miller is saying you could have a progressive fine.

Lots of villages have smoke free areas.

Some board members feel unless you come to speak at the village board meeting its really not that big of a deal to you.

An actual question: if you reach out to your representative and speak about it should that count?

Golf Cart registration issues. People aren’t re-registering.

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