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News
Montgomery gets state road repair funds : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, Illinois Montgomery gets state road repair funds
| Village awarded $635,000 to fix several downtown area streets
| by John Etheredge
| 11/26/2009
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Several streets in the Village of Montgomery's downtown area will be repaved and improved with funds from the State of Illinois, village board members were notified Monday evening.
Mike Pubentz, the village's director of public works, said the village has been awarded $635,000 through the state's Emergency Repair Program (ERP).
Pubentz said the ERP funds were appropriated under the previously approved state capital improvement program. The program is financed with federal economic stimulus funds.
Pubentz credited State Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia, D-Aurora, for securing the funds for the village. Chapa LaVia's district includes a portion of the village's east side.
Pubentz said the ERP funds will provide a tremendous boost to the village's annual street maintenance program.
"This will give us about two to three times more the amount of money we would have been able to put in (for street repairs) this year," Pubentz said.
He said the following streets are targeted for improvement work:
Railroad Street from Mill Street south to its terminus at the old AT&T Western Electric plant site just south of U.S. Route 30.
-Mill Street between Railroad and River streets.
-Pearl Street between Clinton and Taylor streets.
-Taylor Street from Pearl to River streets.
-Madison Street from Main to Pearl streets.
Pubentz said most of the work will involve patching and re-surfacing.
"We're going to look at some possible concrete work on some of (the streets)," he added.
Chapa LaVia told the board it was not easy to secure the funds for the village and said she appreciated the support of both the board and Village President Marilyn Michelini.
Chapa LaVia added that she will continue to seek additional funds to improve streets and highways in the village, including near the Wal-Mart store at U.S. Route 30 and Orchard Road which is located outside her legislative district.
"People ask me, 'Why are you doing this since that area is not your district?' she said. "But you guys are in my district and if we can clear-up (traffic congestion) in one area, it will help clear up the congestion over in Aurora. We all have to work together."
Michelini noted the streets targeted for repairs and improvements are located in and around the site of a proposed downtown Metra Park-n-Ride lot. A few months ago, the board approved a study that called for the siting of the Park-n-Ride on a portion of the block bounded by Main, Railroad, Clinton and Webster streets.
"Improving the streets will help us with commuters going back and forth and with parking," said Mera Johnson, assistant to the village manager.
Johnson added, "Improving the streets around this area, improves the downtown as well."
Later during Monday's meeting, the board passed two separate motions to authorize engineering work for the street work and to enter into an agreement with the village's engineering consultants, Engineering Enterprise, Inc. (EEI) of Sugar Grove, to prepare engineering plans for the improvements.
The agreement lists EEI's proposed fee for its services at $63,500.
In a memo to the board, Pubentz noted the village will use state reimbursed Motor Fuel Tax funds to fund the "design engineering associated with this contract."
Board member Andy Kaczmarek cast the lone negative ballot on the motion to approve the agreement with EEI.
Approve special use for
church in old village hall
In other business Monday evening:
Board members approved a special use permit for the Genesis Community Church to locate in the former village hall at 1300 South Broadway Avenue.
The board voted last month to sell the building to the church at a cost of $453,300. The purchase contract negotiated between the village and the church call for the sale to close by Jan. 15.
Chet Albright, a church representative and former City of Aurora alderman, said the church is still known for legal reasons as the First United Presbyterian Church, but will be called the Genesis Community Church in its new location.
Albright noted that the First United Presbyterian Church operated for over a century on South Lake Street in Aurora.
He added that many long-time Montgomery families once attended the church at its former Aurora location.
Albright said the church is currently meeting at Fox Chase Elementary School in Oswego.
"We're excited about it," Albright said, referring to the church's new location.
Albright added that the church will bring the old village hall up to current village codes as required.
"It bothers me a little bit that you people were able to use it all those years out-of-code, and now we're coming in and we'll have to bring it up to code, but these are all life-safety issues and we don't have a problem with that," he said.
Albright encouraged board members to contact the church if they see a need in the community.
"We feel that is one of the missions of our church," he said.
"A community has to have good schools, good churches, good social agencies and a good business area to support everything else," Albright said. "We hope to fill one of those niches."
Michelini said she is pleased the church will locate in the village.
"We're going to be good neighbors," she said.
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