MCLEANSBORO — The McLeansboro City Council heard from Rod Martin, an engineer with Shawnee Professional Services , concerning the city’s water tower project at Tuesday’s meeting.

Martin provided the council with digital copies of all the water and sewer maps currently held by Shawnee from previous projects in the city and explained the current situation with construction of the new water tower.

According to City Clerk Fred Vallowe, the Illinois EPA and EPA have reviewed and approved the applications. The USDA is still reviewing “front-end” documents, but approved the paperwork from Peoples National Bank for the loan to cover the beginning work – prior to the USDA loan kicking in. The USDA provides for the intermediate loan in its budget.

Vallowe says Shawnee is working with Rend Lake Water Conservancy District for a commitment of a minimum of 40 years water supply, arrangements for the connect at the RLWCD ground storage tank – currently located next to the city’s existing water tower – and how the power source for the metering site will be arranged.

Shawnee expects first bids to be published in May with some concrete work to begin as early as June. Hamilton County Rural Water District is still interested in an emergency interconnect with the city.

In other business, the council approved the TIF reimbursement request for Bill Wuebbles for property located at 505 West Market Street for $137.74.

The council however tabled the TIF reimbursement request by Don and Ann Burke due to uncertainty over proper tax coding for the property. City Attorney David Garavalia will speak with county officials to clarify the request.

The TIF application for Jerrod and Lois Vauple for property located at 105 East Main was approved.

The council gave approval for Zoning Administrator Pat Stevens to purchase a property for demolition at 609 East O’Henry and to bid on three properties at the trustee’s tax sale.

The council also accepted the Zoning Board of Appeals opinion to allow Jerrod McGill to repair a trailer and restore utilities at 511 East Hull Street.

The council tabled renewing an intergovernmental agreement with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office for central dispatch.

The council approved purchasing an augur truck and the addition of a holding bay for the electric department was approved.