The Charleston City Council approved a $40,520.82 purchase of three acres of land from Christ First Church on Tuesday night. 

The purchase is three additional acres of land that are part of the phase two of the Athletic Field Complex Improvements project, which is south of Sister City Park. 

The city originally purchased this land from the church in 2016 and is exercising an option from the original contract to purchase extra acres. 

In the fall of 2021, this option from the original contract was exercised and led to an additional purchase of two acres from Christ First Church, reaching a total of five acres which have been purchased by the city within the past calendar year. 

The city council unanimously approved the spending of $5,000 to cover tourism funds for the red, white and blue days that are held on July 3 through July 4.  

The amount will not only cover the tourism expenses but will also cover different entertainment expenses over the two-day period.  

The mayor’s appointment of Darlene J. Greathouse for five years on the board of zoning appeals and planning was approved by the city council unanimously.  

The council voted yes to the seven items on the consent agenda Tuesday night. 

The consent agenda consisted of different items such as: the minutes for the regular and executive city council, the bills payable dated Feb. 18, the payroll regular pay period ending July 29, 2022, the comptroller’s report in January of 2022, the proclamation of Feb. 19 through Feb. 26 as the National Future Farmers of America, or FFA, week, a resolution authorizing the release of close session meeting minutes and a resolution authorizing the destruction of audio or video recordings of posts.  

Justin Levesque can be reached at 581-2812 or at jmlevesque@eiu.edu.