The City Council will vote on an ordinance that would waive the building and plumbing fees that come with building a single-family residence at Tuesday’s meeting.
Mayor Brandon Combs said the city is seeking to promote residential growth within Charleston with this program.
If approved, this temporary program would start Wednesday.
“Waiving these fees can help local developers and developments save some money on the initial process (of building a house),” Combs said.
Combs said waiving these fees would also make it easier for citizens to build homes in the city. Since it is a new program, the council will evaluate and see if the program should be continued in the future.
Another item on the agenda is changing the ordinance on alcoholic beverages.
Two items on the agenda are focused on taxes levied for 2015. One item concerns the previous upgrades to the water treatment plant.
Combs said instead of passing the cost of renovating the plant onto the citizen’s property taxes, the city pays for it out of the water/sewer fund.
Everyone that pays his or her water/sewer bill each month is helping to pay for the cost of the renovation of the water treatment plant.
The other item is about Charleston Rotary Aquatic Center. Instead of taxing the citizens of Charleston for renovation Aquatic Center, the city uses the other general fund income.
A street closure request is on the agenda, made by Charleston resident Dawn Drake. The streets between the Immanuel Lutheran Church and the Grand Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union will close for the Drake/Hendrickson Wedding Ceremony on June 11.
The Housing Outreach Prevention Education of East Central Illinois will be requesting two raffling licenses at Tuesday’s meeting.
One of the days for raffle licenses will be on Feb. 23, 2016, for their annual Bowls of HOPE Raffle at 7 p.m. at the Wesley Methodist Church.
They also are requesting a permit for the Children’s Committee Raffle on August 16, 2016, with the time and location to be announced.
The purpose listed on the raffle license form is to raise money for their domestic violence programming.
The St. Charles Borromeo Council #4024 Knights of Columbus is requesting a raffling license for weekly drawings from Feb. through Dec. 2016, to raise funds for operating and charitable expenses.
The Charleston American Legion Post #93 has also filled out a request form for a raffling license, on April 7, 2016 at 7 p.m. at VFW Post #1592, 1821 20th St., to raise funds to support Post #93 Honor Guard and other Legion Programs.
Another requested raffle license on the agenda is for a benefit for Chris Cox. This event will be at 7 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2016 at the Panther Paw Bar & Grill, 1412 4th St.
The County Council on Aging is requesting a raffling license, for tickets to be sold on Feb. 12th and 13th for the Murder Mystery Fundraiser at the LifeSpan Center.
Combs will be re-appointing Nora Pat Small to a 1-Year Term as Ex Officio Member of the Charleston Historic Preservation Commission.
Lynnsey Veach can be reached at 581-2812 or at lmveach@eiu.edu
