Jerseyville City Council hears information about Concert Series

By Editor | May 18, 2022 |

By Carissa Sitki

The Jerseyville City Council met on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. where Michael Ward, of the Jerseyville Economic Development Council, was present to discuss the upcoming Rock the Block Concert event to be held on Friday, July 1.

Following the Council’s approval to close West Pearl Street, from State Street to Washington Street from 3 p.m. to 12 a.m. that day, Ward shared a little bit about the event.

The concert will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. with food available from local businesses, Los Tres Amigos, Pig on a Wing who will have a food truck, and the U.S. Veterans Foundation who will have hamburgers and hotdogs available. Additionally, Jem Bar will provide drinks that will be served in plastic cups.
This will be the second of four Rock the Block events taking place in Jerseyville this summer. The other concerts are still being planned, with dates and details to come. According to Ward, these events are intended to bring visitors into the community.

“We have great restaurants in our city and we want people to experience all we have to offer,” said Ward. “These events aren’t about highlighting any one specific business, they’re aimed to highlight the community as a whole.”

The entertainment for the evening will be a St. Louis band called Borderline which has a fanbase of 16,000 people online. They are known for performing country and 80s music.

Also during the meeting, Jerseyville Mayor Bill Russell told the Council that the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) paid a visit to Jerseyville. The city has put in a grant with DCEO that is being reviewed and the purpose of the visit was to talk about that, said Russell.

The grant that the city applied for is a $3.3 million dollar grant for development on the west side of downtown.

“They were impressed by everything we’ve done so far in our city and downtown,” said Russell. “We’ve invested some of our own money into the project, which they said looks good and shows we’re taking initiative.”

The city won’t know whether or not they get any grant money until sometime in the middle of the summer, according to Russell.

In other business, the Council approved:
■ Bills as presented for May 17
■ Fire Pension Treasurer’s report as of March 31
■ Police Pension Treasurer’s report as of March 31

Additionally, Mayor Russell made a proclamation recognizing the month of May as Motorcycle Safety and Awareness Month.
The Jerseyville City Council is scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, May 31, at 6 p.m. at 115 East Prairie St. in Jerseyville. The meeting can also be accessed over the phone by calling the teleconference number at 618-639-3334 and entering the pin number: 02088.