SUBLETTE – For the last year or so, the Village of Sublette has been working on a plan for repairs and renovations for Richmond, Virginia, and Reeve Street.

Along the way, a few more projects have stacked on top.

At the Village of Sublette Board meeting on Monday, Sept. 9, four proposals are going a step further as a meeting is planned to price and blueprint each agenda.

“We set up a meeting with Willett & Hoffman Associates to go over four different projects in the drainage, water main, and street work on Richmond, Virginia, and Reeve Street, sidewalk replacement plan, storm tile under Rt. 52, and the 2025 motor fuel project,” said Sublette Board President John Stenzel. “We have a lot of stuff to cover. We keep expanding the Richmond, Virginia, and Reeve project. They gave us an engineering price. But since we’ve added to it, we have to figure out what the cost would be now and if we need to pull back on some of the expansion. The figure we were told before was before we expanded the plan.

“We are hoping to have more information on Rt. 52 tiling because there have been conversations with the Illinois Department of Transportation. With the sidewalk plan, we may want to have an engineer involved because the sidewalks are close to lot lines, handicapped accessibility when crossing streets, and there are a lot of other regulations you have to follow or we’ll be ripping the sidewalk out right after we put it in.”

The motor fuel money, approximately $29,000, has to be allocated for a spending plan in 2025. Stenzel said the village has to hire an engineer for any of the spending because it’s a mandate when dealing with motor fuel funds.

The village message board was spoke about at the meeting as the 14-year-old sign is approaching its life expectancy as parts can no longer be purchased.

Other intangibles have come into the conversation such as location, expenses, and ownership of the property it stands on.

“We’re going to look to see what the price of a new one would be. I suggested maybe we should look at buying two new signs and putting them on two different ends of town,” Stenzel said. “That way, it will be on village property and not the property of a business owner, the sign would be on the village’s electricity bill not someone else’s, and we wouldn’t have to worry about leasing property.

“We’re going to get prices and get back to the idea. We have to price the sign, price the electricity, and the installation cost.”

The information gathering for the IEPA water service line grant was completed and it’s in the review process to see if Sublette will receive $30,000.

The agreed two-year electricity contract with MC Squared Energy Services, LLC was signed, approved, and went into effect Sept. 13. The agreement is 7.65 cents per kwh.

The April 2025 election will have five Village of Sublette Board positions up for grabs in the village president, village clerk, and three village trustees. The filing period is November 12-18.

Famer’s Markets have continued to take place on Tuesdays in Sublette and have drawn great crowds.

The next Village of Sublette Board meeting is 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 14.