City council to vote on $200,000 bike path resolution

Zoë Donovan, Staff Reporter

The Charleston City Council will vote  Tuesday on a resolution of $200,000 from the Motor Fuel Tax Funds into the resurfacing and striping of the Lincoln Prairie Pedestrian and Bike Trail.

The trail goes from the City of Mattoon to the City of Charleston, spanning 12.9 miles.

The council will also vote to decide on a resolution for a Do Not Self Deploy Agreement between the cities of Mattoon and Charleston.

The agreement states that the City of Charleston will not provide support or volunteers to Mattoon until after the city of Mattoon has requested assistance, and vice versa.

This has been done in order to prevent the city from being overwhelmed by volunteers, and to ensure that individuals entering areas of disaster to provide aid are properly trained in the aid.

The passage of this resolution would prevent self-deployed or unaffiliated volunteers from entering disaster areas.

Volunteers will be required to be associated with an established organization. The site must have been deemed safe for volunteers to be within and travel to.

Opportunities for those who wish to volunteer have been identified, positions have been assigned and volunteers are equipped with and are in proper safety gear before being deployed to the disaster site.

Two ordinances involving Ameren Electric and Gas will also be voted on at the meeting.

Ameren Electric is seeking to receive permanent easement to lay electric cable from South Douglas Street across Reasor Park to Lovers Lane.

The second ordinance involving Ameren asks the council to facilitate permanent easement to place gas facilities on city right-of-way near North E. Street.

Charleston Mayor Brandon Combs will also be making a proclamation to declare the week of Sept. 9-13, 2019 as Chamber of Commerce Week.

According to the proclamation, the reason for the Chamber of Commerce Week is “the Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce works with businesses, merchants and industry to advance the civic, economic, industrial, professional and cultural life of the city of Charleston.”

The council will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Zoë Donovan can be reached at 581–2812 or at zedonovan@eiu.edu.