Carthage recycling pick-up now on Tuesdays

The Carthage city council approved setting Tuesday as the new recycling curbside pick-up day.

The approval was given to help cut down on truck traffic on city streets. Recycling was being collected on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays each week.

Area Distributors said they are picking up commercial accounts at an earlier time, but are still not beginning any residential routes until 7 a.m.

The council approved parking restrictions on West Main Street near a curve in the road. The issue was looked into a few months ago after the Carthage Clipper Fire Department said they had trouble negotiating the curve with larger fire trucks if vehicles were parked too closely to the curve.

The council approved a bid by 5 Star Roofing Company to replace the roof at city hall. Richard Albertson from 5 Star Roofing Company, and Kevin Cook from KC Construction, each addressed the council on their plans for the roofing project before the vote.

The vote was 5-1, with Sean Campbell voting “no.” The vote stipulated the city wanted the 30-year guaranteed process for an extra $2,000, which includes another layer of material.

The 5 Star Roofing Company bid called for a seamless, multiple layered process. The layering process includes aluminum chips which help reflect the majority of sunlight. This process helps with both cooling and heating costs.

Albertson said his crews never leave Illinois and can respond to problems in one to three days. They are currently replacing the roof at the Illini West High School building.

KC Construction submitted a bid for a rubber roof. Cook stressed he employed local people and the company was located in Carthage so they could respond quickly to problems.

The council found out they do have a firm completion date of Oct. 1, 2010, on the overlay project on Wabash Street scheduled to start in the spring. A water and sewer line project will be completed before the overlay project begins.

Rodney Clark introduced himself as the new president of the Carthage Industrial Development Corporation. He invited council members to attend CIDC meetings, which are held on the third Friday each month at noon at city hall.

Work continues on the future home of the Chargers Center. Carl Sandburg College has committed $2.4 million for the new Chargers Center. Fundraisers are planned for the future.

The project is estimated to be completed in the summer 2010.

A list of nine trees was submitted to be cut down. The city plans to solicit bids for all nine trees. Money is not paid until all the trees are cut down to the city's satisfaction. A person will be assigned to review the list and make sure all trees needing to come down are on the list.

Ethan Zekirovski, the new manager at the Plum Tree Supper Club, applied for a new liquor license for the business. The license will be pro-rated for the rest of the fiscal year and granted upon payment.

Council member Gary Smith plans to work with the local Girl Scouts to stripe the parking lines on the square, weather permitting.

The council approved the Police Department ordering new uniforms. The order will put them $250 over budget for uniforms for this fiscal year.