AMBOY – Amboy City Council meetings usually ask and answer a lot of questions.

One of the first queries came because of the storms the area has suffered in June and July. Could the Amboy Community Building become a shelter?

To do so, Amboy Mayor Frank Stenzel and the council know they need some power.

“We have applied for a grant to purchase a generator to make sure there was power in the building if anything happened,” Stenzel said. “If anything were to happen because of a storm, the generator would make sure there are lights, heat, and air conditioning.

“We thought about this idea years before the storms we have had in June and July. You never know what is going to happen with thunderstorms in the summer or the weather conditions in the winter. Some people may be out of power for two or three days and may need to relocate for a couple of days.”

The need for a grant comes because a generator big enough to power the building would cost approximately $65,000.

Even if the grant Amboy could receive would be a match grant, Stenzel said the city would jump at the opportunity.

As the Depot Commission gets ready for Depot Days, it is trying to get the building prepared.

While they do so, more and more need for repair is being recognized. The combined cost to fix everything needing some tender loving care would be too much, but to break it down into mini projects would work just fine.

First up is the roof.

Dave Shaw, the depot chair, also reported Joe Flessner completed the replacement of the windows in the freight house.

Another project Amboy recently completed is the tar and chip patching of roads both downtown and in residential areas.

“The city crew filled in a lot of spots to try to keep the roads in good shape,” Stenzel said. “The process is similar to one Mendota uses. It keeps water out and keeps the road from deteriorating. We rented the equipment, and the city crew did a great job going up and down all of the Amboy streets and taking care of what they could.”

A long conversation began during the audience concern section of the meeting.

“We have some landowners who wanted to know about the ending of their 20-year abatement,” Stenzel said. “It was when we secured the dump and annexed all of them. They all signed and now it’s coming up. They’re saying it’s pretty expensive and they want us to see if we can relieve the city taxes on the property.

“We’re going to revisit it. The agreements were signed and now the contract is expiring. There was a lot of discussion. We told them we’d look into it and see if there is anything we can do. We also told them it would take time and lawyers.”

There was also a vote on whether or not to purchase a property in efforts to cut down the number of abandoned decaying properties in Amboy.

This could be the first of many if residents and owners don’t take care of the property first.

“We voted to relieve some money to try to purchase a property located on North Blackstone Avenue. We would like to buy it for a reasonable price and then we would take control of it and have it demolished,” Stenzel said. “There is a grant out there in Lee County. We have to own the property to receive the money.

“The council did approve the spending of money to purchase the property for demolish costs. It’s abandoned. The daughter lives in Pennsylvania. She comes out here, but there are taxes and other expenses associated with the property. She doesn’t want anything to do with it. It’s a mess and needs to be taken care of.”

Stenzel said the council is hiring a firm to check out a few more properties for the same process. He added it will cost money, but it will clean up the city.