Water main break on Sciota

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Repairs are being made to a water main in the 600 block of Sciota Ave. Residents in the surrounding areas many experience temporarily discolored water. The discolored water poses no health or safety risk and should clear up in a few hours. There is NO boil order in effect. If you have any questions or would like to request iron remover for stained laundry, please contact the Water Department at 309-686-2375, ext 1.

Board gets first look at the fiscal year 2022 budget

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The Peoria Heights Village Board got its first look at the fiscal year 2022 budget this week, along with a status report on the current year’s finances. “Encouraging” may be the best word for it, given the circumstances of the last year.

The proposed operations budget is balanced and anticipates spending and revenues at right about $4.1 million.

The budget blueprint for the coming year arrives on the heels of an FYI 2021 budget with a projected surplus topping $600,000. That is remarkable given the Village’s dependence on sales tax revenues, in a year when the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered many local businesses for periods of time. That result is due, in part, to constant budget monitoring and fiscal discipline, but in fact revenues have significantly outperformed expectations for this year.

All in all, expenditures in 2022 look to go up about 2.7 percent – fundamentally a cost-of-living increase – over the current year’s actual spending. The biggest increase is in the fire department, owing to the first-ever employment of a paid fire chief and weekday on-call firefighter. The largest part of the budget, about 47 percent, continues to be the police department, followed by general administration at 18 percent and the street department at 14 percent.

Over the last three years, the Village has made significant progress in building up its fund balances, a cushion against future financial crises. Indeed, cash on hand is expected to top $1.9 million in 2022. That’s about six months of annual spending, which puts the Heights in the “best practices” category.

In a definite assist to that bottom line, the Village will see a sizeable increase in grant funding from other governmental bodies, rising from about 1 percent to 5 percent of the total budget.

Meanwhile, the Village intends to begin squirreling money away for some major upcoming capital projects, specifically a couple of large water mains. The whole idea is to move forward on some critical capital needs without accumulating debt.

“We have to start working on the Village infrastructure,” said Trustee Brandon Wisenburg, adding that what’s appropriate for homeowners in stressing the importance of maintaining their private properties also holds for the Village in terms of investing in public property.

“Small improvements add up to big improvements, especially sidewalks and streets and parks,” he said.

Other trustees agreed, arguing for an ongoing capital budget that puts curb and sidewalk and streetlight upkeep on a regular schedule.

“Because of being good fiscal stewards, we are getting ourselves into a position where we can start talking about ... a sidewalk program or doing more improvements to the water infrastructure,” said Mayor Michael Phelan. “As policymakers, we need to identify some bigger capital projects that are four to five years out.

“We’ll get there and we’re on our way,” said the mayor, who along with trustees had high praise for those who crafted the budget, specifically Village Administrator Dustin Sutton and Village Bookkeeper and Clerk Stephanie Turner.

The budget blueprint unveiled this past week is a draft, which means changes can yet be made. A final Village Board vote will come later this spring. The 2022 fiscal year begins on May 1.

Prospect Road to be blocked for community events

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This coming spring will see Prospect Road closed through Peoria Heights’ downtown on two occasions, both for community events that draw a significant number of visitors.

Heights officials will barricade Prospect between Seiberling and Marietta on Wednesday, March 17, otherwise known as St. Patrick’s Day. Downtown’s main artery also will be off limits to vehicles between Glen and Seiberling on Saturday, May 22, the date of the Heights’ Fine Art Fair.

Traffic will be rerouted to Columbus, where the speed limit will be reduced. Residents in the neighborhoods affected will be notified in advance. Signage will redirect traffic. Additional police will be out and about.

The festivities were canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic but had proved popular in previous years.

Closing off Prospect entirely “is the safest way,” said Village Administrator Dustin Sutton. A partial closure during the Fine Art Fair in 2019 did produce some safety issues, he said, which Village officials would like to avoid this time around.

St. Patrick’s Day will be “a scaled-down” event this year due to ongoing COVID-19 mitigations, said Billy Blasek, co-owner of W.E. Sullivan’s Irish Pub, who is working closely with the Peoria County Health Department. Capacity will be limited
inside the bar, but also outside, where entrances will be limited and staff and extra security will be monitoring the crowd size with clickers, said Blasek.

“Once it gets to a certain point, we can’t let anyone else in,” he said. There will be plenty of tables and chairs and free roaming will be discouraged in an attempt to comply with physical distancing guidelines, he said.

“We do understand what kind of crowds these bring,” said Sutton, especially in a year where there is likely to be a lot of pent-up demand due to the pandemic. “Even though we’re all excited about the event, we don’t want it to get out of hand.”

Meanwhile, the Village will donate $5,000 to the Peoria Heights Arts Collaborative, which will go toward various Fine Art Fair basic expenses.

Heights requiring doors on home garages

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From here on out, all residential garages in the Village of Peoria Heights must have retractable, overhead doors.

The Village Board amended the code to require garage doors at its meeting on Feb. 16, predominantly expressing concerns about public safety. Doorless garages can be unsightly and an invitation to animals and other potential nuisances, according to the majority. Trustee Sherryl Carter cast the lone dissent.

Existing garages without doors will not be grandfathered in, said Village Administrator Dustin Sutton, though enforcement will be complaint driven.

“We will work with them,” Sutton said. “We understand it’s a little bit more difficult to have a garage door installed ... We’d give them the same courtesy we do with any new ordinance.”

The new regulation does not apply to carports.

“It is an issue,” said Sutton. “Believe it or not, we do receive a lot of complaints on it ... It’s an ordinance I support.”