Good news dots Pittsfield council meeting
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By BETH ZUMWALT
The Pittsfield City Council received several items of good news at their Nov. 4 meeting.
“We were able to save 8.7 percent on our our workmen’s comp and property insurances,” Gary Mendenhall, mayor, said. “We paid $197,287 last year and this year, we will pay $1887,500.”
Part of the savings was the city’s nine pavilions or shelters at the city parks and lake.
“We have a $5,000 deductible on those,” Mendenhall said. “If we were to get a tornado, we could rebuild them ourselves for less than that.”
The mayor also announced he had met with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Agency regarding the city’s airport.
“We get $150,000 a year for the airport,” Mendenhall said. “For several years, that money went unspent and if we don’t use, we are going to have to pay it back.”
Mendenhall said an electrical vault has been moved from the office building to an outside structrure and they city hopes to finish the runway lights project in 2026. The removal of trees that improve visibility for pilots has also been completed.
“They are going to try to help us find funding to add a hanger,” Mendenhall said. “We have a waiting list for people who want hanger space.”
By adding hanger space, the city could increase the number of planes registered to the airport. To receive accreditation, an airport must have 10 planes registered. Currently, the city has the minimum of 10.
The city also learned it has survived the second round of the OSLAD grant process. An announcement of municipalities receiving the grant will be made after the first of the year. The city plans to make a zero entrance at King Park Pool and add an outdoor gym, also at King Park.
The city also decided to put a stop sign at the intersection of Kellogg and Madison with Madison Street north bound traffic stopping. Madison Street ends at Kellogg.
Nov. 24 will be the closing of the lake for the winter.
Cody Piper, the current tenant of the city’s farmland at the airport, will assume approximately 20 acres in the new industrial park. The entire amount of airport ground and industrial park ground will be up for rent in 2027. The city has taken sealed bids for the property in the past.
