Friday, July 21, 2017
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Draining the water at Circle Drive Tonica looks to remedy the issue By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com
TONICA — Water has stood at Circle Drive for years, but Tonica is narrowing its options to drain it. The village board discussed on Monday an estimate it had received from Lowell Farm Drainage and Excavating, Inc. to reditch the area and redirect the water, which the board has decided should be replaced with a less extensive solution. Sump pumps from three homes are constantly pumping water into the ditch, and it’s pooling up further down
with nowhere to go, creating pools of standing water that will not go away. “They’re dumping it into the right place: It’s going into the ditch; that’s where it’s supposed to go,” Tonica President Kevin Sluder said, explaining that the flow is then disrupted. The current estimate involved reditching all the way down and installing a new culvert, at a cost of $8,612.90. Board members balked at the suggestion. “I think it’s our problem to fix, and we should fix it,” said Trustee Bob Anderson. However, the extent of the work jumped out at him as excessive. “There’s got to be a better way.” The board’s consensus was the village needs to find another way, one that will solve the issue at hand without
the exorbitant work and cost. “If we just want to get the water out of the ditch, we don’t have to do all that,” said Marc Lemrise. “This little bit of water just needs to drain,” Sluder said. He noted the estimate seemed to take into account other factors, such as the flow of water from the field after a heavy rain, which he said the village does not need to alter. It was determined that installing a small tile into the area and connecting it to a nearby larger tile should solve the standing water issue. The board moved to obtain a new estimate from Lowell Farm Drainage and Excavating, one which focuses on the suggested solution, and to allow Sluder to accept the offer
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Another lost anchor Sears in Peru Mall to close By Dave Cook
news@tonicanews.com
PERU — The prospects of Sears have seemingly fallen from the heights of the famous Sears Tower and the impact of that plummet will soon be felt in the Peru Mall. Sears recently announced the impending closure of 43 more retail locations on top of the 265 stores they’ve previously announced. The list encompasses eight Sears stores, including the anchor store in the Peru Mall, the only Illinois closure, and 35 Kmarts. Sears was founded in 1893 as a mail order company, and through their catalogs anything a home could need — including the home itself, could be easily purchased. They began opening retail locations in 1925 and were the largest retailer in the nation until eclipsed by Walmart in 1989. The Peru Mall’s JC Penney store is scheduled to close soon, which, after Sears closes in early October, will leave the mall with only one anchor department store, Bergner’s, part of a small, Illinois-based chain of department stores. “We have had contingency plans in place that we have
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Tonica studies TIF districts By Zachary J. Pratt news@tonicanews.com
Tonica News photo/Dave Cook
Pretty in pink Though Lostant’s Shyan Kroger didn’t win the crown during the Marshall-Putnam Fair Pageant held on July 9, she must have made the judge’s choice difficult when she took the stage in this sparkling pink evening gown. Vol. 143 No. 33 One Section - 8 Pages
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TONICA — Tonica is working on its TIF districts, new and old. While the village prepares to instate its new TIF, the old district has continued to receive attention. The Tonica Village Board resolved on Monday to induce Jeremy Hillyer’s property into the new district, having accepted to change it from residential to commercial last month. “That’ll be one of the next things we need to be jumping on, is to get the new TIF rolling,” Village President Kevin Sluder said. However, the village yet has issues of the current TIF district to sort out, as a new participant would like to join for work he has completed; however, Sluder is uncertain how this situation will work out. Brian Obermiller contacted the village about entering the TIF with some work he had done while it was in operation. In an email, it was explained work done during the lifespan of the TIF should be allowable to be submitted. The suggested agreement raises questions as to Tonica’s end of the deal.
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