Carthage City Council considers improvements, parking restrictions; Safe Routes to School grant plans explained to council

The Carthage city council heard about possible uses for program called Safe Routes to Schools.

The grant for $250,000 focuses on money for classes and programs teaching children about safety in walking and biking to and from school. It also includes money for infrastructure improvements for sidewalks, bike paths, and other things.

The highly competitive grant is being applied for by Carthage Community Developer Brenda Pyatt, County Economic Development Coordinator Kristin Huls, and Sherry Merry of the University of Illinois- Hancock County Extension Center, and Kathy Brown from Extension's McDonough County office. Numerous school officials were also involved.

There are several ideas for programs. One is to have a designated safe route to school. This route would be marked by signs and include good sidewalks. Children would be encouraged to use this path. Some homeowners along the route would be asked to serve as a kind of safe house where children would know to go if they had any trouble.

Other ideas included a spring bicycle rodeo to teach safety, class competitions for walking/biking the most in a given period of time, and giveway bags with educational materials and things like reflective decals and pedometers.

The infrastructure part of the grant would help with construction of three main areas of sidewalks: one new sidewalk along the south side of Miller Street from Adams to Washington streets; a new sidewalk along Hansford Street from Dallas Road to Madison Street; and an expanded sidewalk along the west side of Washington Street from Miller Street to Buchanan Street (Rt. 136).

The estimated cost for the three sidewalk projects is $231,000. All new sidewalks are hoped to be six feet wide as opposed to the three to four foot wide sidewalks now in place around Carthage. It is hoped to have enough room along the boulevard for a width of six feet.

The grant application also asks for money for a speed trailer, which shows drivers the speed they are traveling as they drive by it. It is portable, and police chief Gary Waddell already has several spots identified he would like to post it if the grant is approved.

The other infrastructure improvement is lighting at the cross walk at the corner of Rt. 136 and Washington Street.

A stop light was looked at earlier this year for Buchanan Street (Rt. 136) for middle school children crossing the highway, but Illinois Department of Transportation officials said the wait to cross was not long enough to warrant a stop light. It is estimated there are 1,000 crossings each day.

Pyatt said a survey of parents of kindergarten through eighth grade students found that about 8 percent of children walk or bike to school each day. The goal of the Safe Routes to School Program is to increase that number in each community receiving the grant money.

The council approved new rates for fire department responses outside city limits. The new rates are $450 for the first hour, and $400 an hour for each hour thereafter.

The council recently approved the fire and police department no longer assisting in moving people out of their homes/ apartments unless it was for a medical emergency. If fire or police personnel are injured, the city pays the medical liability.

Mayor Jim Nightingale received a notice from Methode Electronics that 14 non-union workers are losing their jobs by Jan. 30.

The Welcome to Carthage sign planned for the north entrance to Carthage was deemed to be a few feet too close to the highway by a state official. The two posts already in the ground are being moved to another, lawful location. The other two signs on the east and west entrances to Carthage are installed.

The city's no-interest loan through the Western Illinois Rural Cooperative earlier this year was voted as the project of the year by the coop. Officials are being interviewed this week about the project for a presentation at an awards banquet and a feature story in its trade magazine.

The loan was used to pay for water and sewer lines to the future location of Memorial Hospital.

Rich Sealock of T.E.S.T. reported that Carthage had two watermain breaks for all of 2008 so far, a significant decrease from previous years.

The police department is anticipating starting the D.A.R.E. program in Carthage schools in January.

In other news, the council:

n Passed a 5 percent levy ordinance, estimated to bring in about $188,000.

n Passed an election resolution to publish caucus locations

n Approved giving city employees a Christmas bonus of $100 in Carthage Cash to full-time employees and $25 in Carthage Cash to part-time employees.

n Approved a payment to Hoppe Construction of $73,097.33 for sewer work to the future location of Memorial Hospital

n Approved amending an existing ordinance to not allow parking on the square or on one-half block of the northwest entrance from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. for snow removal.