The Charleston city council passed the 2010-11 city budget at Tuesday’s meeting.

The budget was introduced during the March 23 meeting and has since been available for public inspection in City Hall and the Charleston Carnegie Public Library.

The projected expenditures are $27.17 million and the projected revenues are $27.71 million.

The council amended the budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year, which was approved last year, to reflect the correct numbers the city is ending with for the year.

“We have had to hack quite a bit out of the current year’s budget,” said Mayor John Inyart.

The council also passed the increase in the city’s water rates.

All metered users, including off campus Eastern students, will now be charged $11.14 for the first 1,000 gallons or less and $10.65 per 1,000 gallons for the next 9,000 gallons.

Eastern will be charged a flat rate of $10.72 per thousand gallons.

“This is part of our annual rate adjustment,” Inyart said. “We had placed this on file during last week’s meeting and have had very little concern about it.”

Following the water rate increase, an increase in the city’s ambulance fee was introduced.

The rates for Charleston residents, including Eastern students, for basic life support will increase from $265 to $372.40.

“We are trying to keep base with the cost it actually takes to provide this service,” Inyart said. “We have taxes to make sure the ambulances are available, but the people who are going to ride in them are going to pay for them.”

The fee will be available for public inspection until the May 4 city council meeting.

The ordinance to amend special use alcohol licenses was approved by the council.

This ordinance aligns the special use permit with the other liquor licenses available within the city to allow the sale of alcohol on Sundays.

A bid award for a mandatory process for the water main replacement beneath 18th Street was given to the single bidder, Bryant Construction, of Harrisburg, for the amount of $63,200.

The state does not allow deconstruction of state roads for city projects, and the city’s water main replaced under 18th Street must be placed under Route 16.

The process, called jack and bore, includes drilling holes on either side of the street and pushing the pipe through instead of laying it, as will happen down the rest of the street.

At the beginning of the year, the city applied for a two-year grant from the Illinois Housing Development Authority.

The city accepted the grant in the amount of $337,000, and will use the fund to improve the level of housing for low-income homes.

The loan will be put in the books as a forgivable loan, meaning the loan payment will not go into affect until 10 years after the upgrade, and if the owner stays in the house, the payment will not be paid back.

The council approved three tourism grants to be awarded the Coles County Modified Racing Association for the 2nd Annual North West Summer Nationals, to the Eastern Athletic Department for the IHSA State Track Meets and to Eastern’s Department of Kinesiology for the IHSA Badminton Championships.

The tourism grants are given from a fund, which is accumulated by the hotel and motel tax within Charleston.

The three groups will be hosting events, which have the potential to attract overnight guests to the area.

“The tourism fund is doled out to different groups to help organize events that promote over night stays,” Inyart said.

The grants range from $500 to $1,000, which will help the groups pay for advertisement.

The council also approved the Bed and Breakfast city code amendments.

The amended code was introduced during the April 5 city council meeting; however, minor changes were made to the ordinance since.

“The ordinance is no longer in complete aggreeance with Zoning Board’s recommendation,” said City Attorney Brian Bower.

It compiles the information regarding bed and breakfast establishments within the city and clarifies definitions used within the ordinance.

Finally, the city council approved an agreement with Charleston for the execution of the Comprehensive Plan and Capital Improvement Program.

The plan is done by geographical information system, which records the different road, water and sewer utility systems onto a map.

“I believe this has benefited both sides,” said Eric Wilber, the student adviser on the city council.

Kayleigh Zyskowski can be reached at 581-7942 or kzyskowski@eiu.edu.

Mayor John Inyart discusses the items on the budget at the Charleston City Council Meeting Tuesday evening at City Hall.(Audrey Sawyer/The Daily Eastern News)

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