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JOHNSTON |
Belle Center Mayor Teresa Johnston, who is returning to office after a four-year hiatus, said Wednesday she laid out some of her priorities in the first village council meeting she presided over this week.
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Topping the list is a plan to build a water tower that was put on hold in 2014 by a voter referendum that was soundly defeated in November. The vote paves the way for the village to take out an approximately $1 million loan to build a new water tower to replace the 80-year-old existing structure.
Council voted Tuesday to authorize Mayor Johnston to act on the village’s behalf to enter into contracts regarding the loan.
“It should be finished by the end of the year,” the mayor said of the construction of the tower.
The 100,000-gallon elevated tank is being designed by Poggemeyer Design Group and will be installed at Murray Griffin Park.
Second on her to-do list is seeing to the completion of the historic train depot in the village. Mayor Johnston was in office when the historic depot was purchased in 2010 and restoration work began.
Although work has been slow and driven mostly by volunteers and donations, it has been secured and partially restored.
The mayor said that she told council in her brief “state of the village” remarks that she would like them to support the completion of the project.
“I will ask council to appropriate money to finish the depot,” she said. “That will be good news when we get that done.”
What most likely won’t be on her first year to-do list but may appear again before the end of the term are storm water system improvements.
Read complete story in Thursday’s Examiner.
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