DECKER APPOINTED to Roodhouse Ward 3

By Editor | March 31, 2026 |

City Clerk Dawn Weckman, left, administers the oath of office to Sharon Decker, right, as the new Alderman in Ward 3 in Roodhouse. The seat has been vacant for almost a year. The council has rejected prior attempts of Mayor Jim Riley to appoint someone to the seat. Decker was one of those prior appointments. After three attempts and rejections by the council, the mayor has the option of appointing whoever he wishes to the seat. While her appointment still needed the advice and consent of the council, she didn’t need their approval. The vote was 3-2 against her appointment. (Carmen Ensinger/River County News)

By Carmen Ensinger

After being vacant for almost a year, the alderman seat in Ward 3 in Roodhouse was filled Wednesday night, March 25 in Roodhouse by Mayor Jim Riley’s appointment of Sharon Decker to the seat, albeit it was without the approval of the council.
For the last three months, the mayor has put forth a name for the seat, which the council has rejected. Per Illinois State Statute, on the fourth attempt, whether the council approves or not, the mayor can make an appointment of his choice.
City Attorney Todd Parish was on hand for the meeting and when Mayor Riley put forth Decker’s name and asked for a motion for the approval, Alderman Steve Speeks said he didn’t think he need a motion since at this point, he (Mayor) could make the appointment since it would be only temporary until the next election.
Parish said that they still needed the advice and consent of the council. When it came to a vote, Aldermen Speeks, Gabe Giberson and Steve Pope voted no while Aldermen Rusty Henline and Ernie Henline voted yes.
However, regardless of the vote, Decker was appointed and took the oath of office.
Ben Spreen with Benton Engineering informed the council of an upcoming grant opportunity through the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for the construction of water and sewer projects.
“This is for construction only and they really gear it towards shovel-ready projects,” Spreen said. “They are awarding up to $1.5 million for each project chosen.”
Spreen said that typically they have $17 to 18 million worth of funding each year to go towards projects, but this year they have two years’ worth of funding so they have between $34 to $35 million to go towards projects.
“I just wanted to come down here and make the city aware of this grant opportunity and see if you have any projects in mind, you could use the money for,” he said. “For instance, if you wanted to pursue water main replacements, they take about 60 days to get approved and the applications are due in late August. If we wanted to pursue that we need to get the ball rolling on those.”
Spreen said it was a 100 percent grant and the city would not have to put up any sort of matching funds. However, the grant would only cover construction. It would not cover any design costs or anything other than construction. Plus, any amount that ran over the $1.5 million would be on the city.
“If the project is over the $1.5 million, we would have to have those dollars secured before we submit the application,” Spreen said. “There are a lot of details within the program but if you have a project you want to pursue this funding for, we would work through the details.”
Utility Superintendent gave an update on updates being made on the dog pound located at the sewer plant.
“I have the guys doing some rewiring at the dog pound and putting in some poles to get the 240 service out there to work on the hot water situation out there,” he said. “I also have a quote from LaCrosse Lumber on some materials needed. We have some used tin from the South Shop that we are going to use to put a roof over the kennels. We also contacted a pest control to get rid of the pests down there. I think we have ticked off all the boxes now.”
Malin reported that his guys have dealt with several water leaks and over the past month and the water plant has had to work double time lately.
“At one point we were supplying water to rural White Hall and Greenfield as well as all of our customers,” Malin said. “So, our guys were kept busy keeping the water plant up.”
Several old houses have been, or are in the process of being taken down within the city.
The city has been talking for years about what to do with the old city hall. The cost of tearing it down has always been the reason why nothing has ever been done as far as taking it down. Malin said he met a guy who moved to town who has a different vision for the building.
His name is Anthony Harris and he restores antique cars. Before it was a city hall, the building was actually a car dealership. Harris said he has been looking for a building to store his stuff and after looking at the old city hall building, while the outside may look rough, the bones of the building are still pretty good.
“I looked at it today and it is a steel structure and I think, given time, it could be pretty cool as far as it being a historic building goes,” he said. “It would take time, but I would start on the front – it would be cleaned up and it would no longer be an eyesore. It used to be the Roodhouse Motor Company and I think it still says that under the old City Hall sign.”
In his report to the city, Police Chief Kyle Robison said his department is ramping up their efforts on ordinance enforcement.
“The biggest thing I want to highlight is our city ordinance enforcement is kicking up,” he said. “We are trying to get ahead of it and I would say right now we’re in full blown city cleanup mode.
Robison said they are working on several properties and given notices to the owners of those properties to clean them up or face ordinance violations and possible fines.
City wide cleanup has been set for June 1-6 to help people get rid of the junk.
He also said his officers have spent time in Jerseyville with Jerseyville and Jersey County officers on training.
“I can’t emphasize how good that training was for us,” he said. “If I can add training every month, I am going to do it. If you are going to go into this profession, then you are going to train for it. For a small town police agency, we spend a lot of time training and I think a lot of that.”
Discussion was held about the need for repair to pump number three at the water plant. According to Malin, back in the fall, they started losing some flow on well pump number four. That pump was pulled and a full rebuild was done at a cost of about $36,000.
“During this time, they started feeding White Hall and Greenfield and needed more water and we started alternating between wells three and four every 24 hours,” Malin said. “When well three would kick on, it was sending out a heat alarm saying it was getting hot and after speaking with Richardson Electric they believed it was a bearing going bad.”
If that was the case, a simple rebuild would be $2,500. However, if it was the seals, it would be an additional $4,500. A new motor is $9-$10,000.
“I have been talking with Chris (Ford) and that motor weighs between 800 to 1,000 pounds and we would have to have a crane to pull it,” Malin said. “Brotke has the equipment to do that and the last time we had it done it cost $10,000 because they charge $490 an hour. I want to get a quote from Lambs in Greenfield before I ask for approval.”
Malin also wanted to get one or two more quotes on a new breaker panel at the water plant.
“A month or two ago we began having an issue with the power where the pumps wouldn’t kick on,” Malin said. “So, Richardson came out and looked at the main panel and noticed a couple main breakers had gotten hot but found an issue of why things were not kicking on as Ameren was dropping the voltage. He gave a quote of $19,700 so I want to try and get a second or even third quote on that as well.”
Malin said that with the South Shop guys taking on the mowing this summer and the possibility of one or two guys retiring soon, the previous council had approved hiring at least one new employee and he wondered if that was still possible.
“I am trying to prepare and get ahead and get guys trained,” Malin said. “I want one to learn the water plant and help mowing and then get one certified in gas. But my main concern is making sure to get another guy to operate that water plant as good as Chris.”
Apparently, the previous council had taken applications and had candidates. However, Alderman Speeks made a motion that they take new applications and this council vote on who is to be hired. Starting pay would be $17.50 an hour and would increase to $20 after the 90-day probationary period.