May 4, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Live at Ogden Village Board, August 4, 2022

Ok so the blog crashed and the convo for the first 15 minutes was pretty heated. But the basic gist of the first 15 minutes is former Trustee Sonja Vickers had a petition with 79 signatures asking the board to revisit their decision to allow Ted Hartke to use the alley near his business for parking. Vickers said it’s not fair to other businesses and blocks access to a door on the mason building.

Jim Acklin is not in favor of revisiting it. He said signatures on a petition don’t mean much to him. Sue Esposito asked if he wanted 80 people to come into the board meeting and he said yes.

Acklin said he doesn’t agree with every board decision but he doesn’t go out and try to gather public support for overturning it. Esposito said she does if she feels strongly about something.

A village employee signed the petition and Vickers asked that they not hold it against him. Ben Smith found it insulting that she would think they would do that.


They are going to invite Hartke back in September to discuss it further but I honestly can’t see it changing.

The NE drainage project went to bid and the bids came back at more than a million dollars. The engineer is saying that means the companies didn’t really want to do it. Multiple companies said since it was funded by federal grant dollars they didn’t want to bother with it. They will put it out to bid again in the winter.

Beautification: Little Library is going to be put up soon. They are discussing a welcome sign.

Back to the petition. Acklin claimed residents had told him they didn’t know what they were signing but the petition clearly states: : The below legally registered voters of the Village of Ogden are petitioning the village of Ogden trustees to reverse the decision to rent two parking spots in the alley between the masonic lodge, 111 S. East Street and Ted Hartkey’s building, 109 S. East St. We believe that public street parking, which is less than eight feet from the front of Mr. Hartkey’s building is more than adequate to serve any parking needs his tenants may have. The ordinance passed was unnecessary and should be reversed.

Vickers collected signatures from July 26 to August 4.

Discussing sewer rates now. Haan is suggesting is adopting the $13 fixed feet and the $1.25 cent rate. Basically, if I remember last time the ordinance and the bills don’t match so this will make them match.

The board seems to think this is too complicated. The board keeps saying it’s a computer glitch but the Clerk is saying it is not a glitch the program is only set up for two costs but needs three or more.

They are discussing spring riders at the park. They need to be replaced.

The board has a lot of questions about things that probably could have been asked before the meeting. Like how the replacement options were chosen or how they came up with this company.

MAPPING OGDENS FUTURE CHECKING ACCOUNT TIME. They want a checking account. St. Joe did MAPPING previously and so did Homer. Is it worth the time? I guess it depends if you implement it or not. Basically, Haan doesn’t want checks made out to him because he doesn’t want to be taxed. This makes it all nice for the audit.




Banner
Related Posts

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, Jan. 23, 2024

January 23, 2024

January 23, 2024

I was just a tad late and they are discussing solar. They are getting a presentation from Keystone who builds...

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, May 14, 2024

May 14, 2024

May 14, 2024

On the agenda tonight: approval of the street, sidewalks, curb and gutter projects and purchasing a mower deck. Reminder for...

Live at St. Joseph Village Board April 12, 2022

April 12, 2022

April 12, 2022

I am here so you don’t have to be. It’s me, Debbie, Mike Sennert, Tiffany and the board. #fullhouse #notreally...

Talk of the Town with Royal Mayor Bob Vilven

February 18, 2019

February 18, 2019

Every week we are going to ask a village official or school administrator to answer three questions. This week it...

Live at Ogden Village Board April 1, 2021

April 1, 2021

April 1, 2021

The board paid some bills and decided to appoint Dekoda Burris to the zoning board of appeals. Discussing the hold...

Acklin named acting mayor of Ogden

November 3, 2023

November 3, 2023

Jim Acklin is the acting mayor of Ogden. Acklin was selected at the Nov. 2 meeting by the Ogden Village...

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, May 9, 2023

May 9, 2023

May 9, 2023

I am here so you don’t have to be. They are swearing in the board members today. #newbutold Jeff Van...

St. Joseph expected to hire interim public works director

March 24, 2026

March 24, 2026

The Village of St. Joseph is expected to hire an Interim Public Works Director on Tuesday night. Public Works Director...

Live at St. Joseph Village Board

October 8, 2019

October 8, 2019

The past few meetings have been packed… not this one. Only two audience members. They approved the minutes, are going...

Village asks residents to complete community survey

January 5, 2022

January 5, 2022

The Village of St. Joseph wants to know what its residents think. The village has created a community survey, which...

Talk of the Town with Mayor Ray Cunningham

August 25, 2019

August 25, 2019

Recently, Homer lost its grocery store and the Main Street Belly Deli. Mayor Ray Cunningham discusses how Homer is hoping...

Email billing to start next month for sewer

July 28, 2022

July 28, 2022

Starting next month St. Joseph residents can get their sewer bills in their email. The paperwork to sign up is...

VeoRide hopes to expand to St. Joseph

February 11, 2019

February 11, 2019

Soon there could be shareable bikes in St. Joseph—if VeoRide has it way. Linda Jackson, spokesperson for VeoRide said the...

Live at Ogden Village Board, May 2, 2024

May 2, 2024

May 2, 2024

Dollar General is here to talk about what their new store layout will look like on the Pink Pig land....

Residents have option to opt out of electrical aggregation and save money

June 14, 2019

June 14, 2019

St. Joseph residents could save money by switching their electrical rate to Ameren. Ameren Illinois has announced a residential electric...

Comments
Leave a Reply