City makes offer on land near city garage
In a special meeting on Thursday, the Vandalia City Council voted to make an offer on property just south of the city garage.
The city is offering to pay Tri-County Petroleum Inc. $112,500 for the property, which is a little more than 1 acre, according to Keith Schaal of Schaal & Associates Real Estate in Vandalia.
Public Works Director John Moyer said after the meeting that the city needs to purchase the property in order to ensure that it can continue to get the department's trucks in and out of the garage on the west side of the property.
The property that the city is wanting to purchase also houses the fuel tanks used by the city.
Moyer said that the land currently owned by the city at the public works site includes only the apron and about 5 feet south of it on the west end.
The land on which the city is making an offer was formerly owned by Pioneer Oil, and Moyer said the city had an agreement with the owners of that firm that allowed the city to use the land on the north end of Pioneer's property as long as they maintained it.
Moyer said that he would eventually like to use the facilities at the new property for the storage of road salt, and use the building currently housing salt to be used for the storage of equipment.
Gottman said the city will use Tax Increment Financing funds to purchase the property.
Under state law, new property taxes generated through improvements within TIF districts go into the city's TIF fund. The city may award TIF grants to developers within a TIF district for improvements, or may use some of the funds for such things as infrastructure improvements or land purchases.
Also at Thursday's meeting, Mayor Rick Gottman reported that representatives of the Illinois Liquor Commission recently issued citations to three Vandalia businesses for serving alcohol to minors.
Gottman said that Old Capitol View Restaurant, Los Amigos Restaurant and Vandalia Bowl were issued citations by the state, and that the city will also be issuing its own citations.
The council also tentatively approved the replacement of the transmission on a 1997 Chevrolet pickup truck used by the public works department
Alderman B. John Clark, chairman of the council's streets committee, said that Moyer received six estimates and recommended that the city purchase the transmission from Hosick Motors in Vandalia for $2,395.
While it was not the lowest estimate, Clark said, Hosick offered the best warranty, five years and 100,000 miles.
The council will formally approve the purchase at a future regular meeting, but gave its preliminary approval so that the transmission could be replaced as soon as possible, due to the fact that the truck is used daily by the public works department.
