The Charleston City Council voted upon an ordinance that changed the amount of people in certain positions held in the police department. 

The ordinance specifically changes Title 1-8(A)-1 for the Police Department in which “the City of Charleston Police Department may consist of the chief of police, two (2) deputy chiefs of police, four (4) lieutenants; five (5) sergeants, and twenty–four (24) patrolmen.” 

Now there will be five lieutenants and four sergeants on the force. 

An ordinance was approved for a conceptual plan proposal for a Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center Storage Building Located at 1000 Health Center Drive, Charleston, Illinois. 

The proposal is for the project as shown to the council during the Corridor Review Committee public meeting on June 28, 2021. It is a one-story building about 720 square feet in size. 

Two further ordinances approved authorized the acquisition of real estate both at 1000 Douglas St. and 910 Polk Ave. 

This will be to make sidewalk improvements on the south side of Polk Ave. that will extend to Douglas Street, requiring the City to purchase land from those living there. 

The purchase will be no more than 10 feet of property from those individuals.  

A bid award was granted for the Sister City Phase II Earthwork and Grading to Omni Earthworks LLC of Huntingburg, IN. 

It is for the development 35 acres of city property and the funding for this project is currently in the FY 22 budget. 

A final resolution voted upon was for approving a master agreement for traffic signals with the Illinois Department of Transportation for Highway 16. 

This will be in effect until 2031 and will outline IDOT’s participation in the maintenance and operation of the traffic signals on state routes. The agreement is reported to not have changed much since the last agreement. 

Two raffle licenses were approved, one for a gift card drive for Make-A-Wish Foundation at 4 p.m. on Aug. 7, 2021, at the Make-A-Wish Truck Convoy Event. 

This will be in Charleston as well as held on Facebook to “enhance kiddos waiting for a wish” according to the application form. 

The second raffle license was for Coles County Fair Grandstand at 7 p.m. on July 25, 2021, to raise funds for the Coles County Fair Queen Pageant. 

Theo Edwards can be reached at heedwards@eiu.edu.