Tolono Public Library seeks volunteers

TOLONO - The Tolono Public Library is looking for volunteers to help with their efforts in maintaining a valuable resource in the community.

Thirty years after its start in 1967, two generous Tolono library patrons provided enough money to fund a new 7,950 square foot building. The cost were also supplemented by a Live and Learn Grant from the Secretary of State. Now the library offers close to 40,000 titles, including audiobooks, large print books, DVDs, and video games.

Residents interested in volunteering with the Tolono Public Library are encouraged to contact Amy Wildman at awildman@tolonolibrary.org or call (217) 485-5558.

Village of St. Joseph board meeting agenda this Tuesday set

The St. Joseph village board meeting will be held this Tuesday at the Municipal Building at 7pm.

After the motion to approve minutes from April 13 and pay Village bills, trustees will consider approving six items on the April 27 agenda.

The following items are up for discussion and approval:

• A MFT Resolution for Maintenance
• Approval a contract with Jamaica Fireworks
• Approval of the bid for directional boring for the streetlights conduit
• A motion an ordinance and policy prohibiting Sexual Harassment
• Review and approval a resolution and the employee manual with a drug and alcohol policy
• Approval of a resolution accepting the low bid for drainage improvement at Meadow Circle

The board will also hear a report from the Finance, Personnel, & Economic Development Department on the current budget and filling the newly created Village Administrator position.

Members of the community are welcome to express their input. If you plan to attend the meeting, only the side door which enters directly into the Village Board room will be open. The rest of the building will not be accessible during the meeting. Guests are required to observe social distancing guidelines. If you have something that you want to bring up at the Village Board Meeting but do not want to attend in person, you may email the information to tasmetzer@gmail.com. Please include your full name, phone number, and address in the email.

Members of the community may address the Board/Committee by completing the information requested on the Attendance/Oath Sheet prior to the start of the meeting. After state their name and address for the record, speakers will have the floor for a maximum of five minutes to address the board.

Village Crier: December 23, 2020

Dairy Barn pick up December 28

The Sidney Dairy Barn online shop is open for business at sidneydairybarn.com. While the location is closed for indoor dining, new online orders will be available on Monday, December 28, from 3-6pm. Tire Swings, Tornado home kits, freezes, shakes and more are available.

Go-Fund-Me to help April set up

Subway manager Adam Porter created a GoFundMe page for assistant manager April Patton, who suffered a stroke last week.

"I started this campaign because I know she is going to miss a lot of work and I wanted to try to relieve some of the stress financially," Porter said. "I hope that we are able to help reduce some of her stress and help out her family."

Contributions and donation to help the mother of three while she is unable to work and for medical expenses can be made here: April Patton GoFundMe.

Lil Buford's Wednesday's special

Today's special is a breaded or grilled tenderloins with hand cut fries at the 102 N Long location in Tolono. Meals are available for dine in or carry out. Call for more information at 217-485-5500.

Tolono garbage pick-up will run as scheduled

Chris' Service Company be picking up on Friday, Christmas Day, as normal. For more route information call (217) 684-2465.

RC Fest set for next summer

RC FEST: CREATORS OF CHAOS will be held at Tolono's East Side Park July 31 through August 1. The event features radio controlled car races to raise awareness for donating blood. All proceeds goes to Community Blood Services of Illinois.

2020 was the tenth year of the event created by Tolono resident Adam Munds.

"I got the idea because there was a need for a RC event and I needed platelets when I was born. So blood donation was very close to me," Munds said.

Munds' event this year had 186 entries. With competitors coming from Detroit, Michigan and North Carolina. He said he is expecting teams from Massachusetts, North Carolina and South Dakota to take part in this summer's fest.

Mean Mugz Bar & Grill offering spicy deal

Mean Mugz at 121 Sout East Ave in Ogden has a hearty Po'Boy meal deal for today and tomorrow, December 24. Order a Classic or Cajun burger, a chicken or steak Philly sandwich, or a catfish and a 64oz Rigg's Growler-to-Go for just $20. Call (217) 582-8029 to order for carryout or more information.

Health permits suspended

Permits for two Sentinel area eateries were suspended by Champaign County public health officials for operating in defiance of the state's pandemic mitigation efforts. Lil Buford’s at 102 N. Long in Tolono, and Billy Bob’s at 105 E. Broadway in Ogden join Merry-Ann’s Dinner in Champaign; the American Legion Post 71 in Urbana; Apple Dumplin’ at 2014 N. High Cross Road, U; Not Too Far Bar at 203 Chapin St., Ivesdale; and Red Wheel restaurant at 741 Broadmeadow in Rantoul on a list of county bar and restaurant operations cited for continuing indoor service despite warnings multiple warnings.

Philo Tav announces holiday hours

The Philo Tavern will be closed for Christmas Eve and Christmas but reopen for normal business hours on Saturday.

According to their Facebook page "... due to COVID and public health regulations, we are unable to provide our usual Christmas Eve special of free fried chicken. This was hard for us to do, as this year is the year that our customers deserve THE MOST appreciation for all you’ve done for us."

"We know that without you, we wouldn’t exist and for that, we sincerely thank all of you and wish you all to have a fun and safe holiday!"

SJCOC to hold Christmas Eve services

The St. Joseph Church of Christ host Christmas Eve services at 4:00p, 6:00p, and 11:00p. Each serivce will include a candlelight ceremony in the service. Masks are strongly encouraged, especially as you are making your way to your seat, and seating will be at recommended social distance. The 4:00p service is almost full, according to the latest post on Facebook. There is still ample space in the 6:00p and 11:00p services. The 6:00 services will be live streamed. Interested worshipers can find the link on the SJCOC Facebook page.

Keep your friends and neighbors informed

The Sentinel believes an informed community is a stronger, more vibrant community.

Reaching more than 500 readers a day, The Sentinel is mission is to keep people we care about informed by sharing local news and views to the readers in the communities we serve. We encourage village board and committees, school superintendents, and local organizations in the six villages we cover to send us your press releases, latest news and special event announcements.

To the village government and civic organizations who have put us on your contact list, thank you and keep the news coming. To the schools that have proudly send us honor roll and National Honor Society announcements, a high-five.

Email press releases, meeting agenda/minutes and your letters to the editor to editor@oursentinel.com.

From the Mayor; Share those welcoming smiles

Dear Village of St. Joseph Residents,

Over the last three months our community along with the rest of the world has experienced something that none of us could have ever imagined. Each of us will remember this time in different ways.

For some it’s been a time to reflect on where our life priorities should be and may have been able to enjoy the time to slow down their pace of living, but for others it’s been a troubling time either for health, financial, business survival, or concerns of living in a free society. As we navigate our way through the next few days, weeks, and months ahead please be patient with each other.

You will begin to see many things begin to open to the public. To allow some of our businesses to take advantage of the Governor’s announcement to move into Phase 3, the village has worked out a plan to give them some space temporarily in our downtown.

Unfortunately, our downtown has limited parking, but accommodations have been made to try and make the best of the situation. Please take extra precautions as you drive through the downtown on Lincoln Street. This portion of Lincoln Street will remain one way while we allow outdoor seating for those businesses. Our community has done a great job so far to give the village’s businesses their support.

I encourage you to continue to shop local, support the curbside services, take advantage of some outdoor dining and be sure to thank those business owners for doing an extraordinary job serving our community during this time. St. Joseph is fortunate to have every one of them. The Village is continuing to monitor the guidelines set forth by the State of Illinois to open the parks slowly and safely.

Beginning next week, we can allow practices at the ball fields, the tennis courts will be open and within the week we will open the restrooms. The pavilions and picnic tables are available for use, but large gatherings and the playgrounds are still prohibited. The Municipal Building will open to the public during regular business hours but renting the meeting room will still be limited.

We encourage our community to continue to follow the guidelines set forth by the State and Local Public Health Departments. I also wanted to thank our village residents for taking the time to complete your Census response. The Village of St. Joseph has a comfortable lead in our response rate. Currently we hold the lead at 81%, the best in the County. Great job, St. Joe!

Thank you for being such a great group of residents. Continue to share those welcoming smiles, lending a helpful hand, saying a kind word and please work with us as we make those steps to bring our lives back to a healthy and safe normal. God Bless and Enjoy your summer.

Tami Fruhling-Voges, Village President/Mayor

Village of St. Joseph office closed to the public until further notice

While there has been only one confirmed case of the Coronavirus in Champaign County, following the lead of government offices around the state, village officials have closed their physical office in St. Joseph to the public.

There was no indication on the village website when they might reopen at this time.

Residents can, however, still interact with the village and leaders by phone or email during normal business hours. Staff members will be available to answer phones, respond to email and process all payments as usual.

Sewer payments are asked to be made by using the night box on the left hand side of the building. While checks and money orders are the preferred methods as they leave a paper trail to verify receipt, cash payments will be accepted by the village and a receipt will be mailed as soon as possible.

For more information contact the village office by phone at (217) 469-7371. Questions or concerns can be emailed to office manager Julie Hendrickson at julie.quednau@stjosephillinois.org or Debbie Routh at debbie.routh@stjosephillinois.org.

Christmas tree pick-up schedule for St. Joseph set

The Village of St. Joseph offer a community-wide Christmas tree pick-up during a special collection dates starting on January 13 through January 17, 2020.

Village officials ask that all decorations be removed and that trees be protected from the elements until the pick up. Residents must place unwanted trees on the curb and any plastic slip cover used to protect the tree prior to pick up be removed.

Village brush pick-up ends this week

After a suspension of service, the Village of St. Joseph announced public works employees will pick brush left on village curbs until June 21 today.

As long as weather conditions allow it, the village will remove brush currently placed curbside that conforms to guidelines until this Friday.

Despite recent issues, the board would like to have some sort of regular brush removal program for the community.

"The village sees the value in providing this service to our residents," says a media release from the village received earlier today. "Due to some of the issues that have evolved over the last several years, we will need to make some revisions to our policies."

After Friday homeowners will be responsible the removal of their own yard waste and brush disposal until further notice.

"I know residents have made recommendations on Facebook with different companies," said Debbie Routh, Treasurer for the village. "We are not advertising any companies at this point."

In addition to policy changes, scheduling issues will be addressed by village trustees.

"The board will review the current policy and man hours spent to provide this service," states the release. "It is our goal to continue to provide this courtesy to our village residents."

Items that are not allowed during this week pick up includes whole trees, bags of clippings weighing over 30 pounds, mulch, stump grindings, dirt and topsoil, plastic trash bags, and trash. Brush should be no longer than 6 feet in length and 10 inches in diameter. Employees will not take yard waste left in trash cans or landscape timber.

Residents are asked to leave 18 inches between each pile left on the curb.

For more information contact the Village of St. Joseph during regular office hours Monday thru Friday from 7:00am to 3:30pm. The office is closed for lunch between 12:30-1:00pm. Inquiries can also be made by phone at (217) 469-7371.

Ogden Village Board to transition to new accounting firm

In a split decision during their regular session on January 3, the Ogden Village Board voted to retain the services of Royal Accounting in St. Joseph to handle their accounting and bookkeeping functions effective in February.

The change comes after an independent audit questioned how some Village assets were classified in recent financial statements by the current vendor.

"I think the Village should seek other options," said Trustee James Haan, who said he was former Certified Public Account while reading a prepared statement to the board before the call to vote.

During his presentation he highlighted his concerns and his personal commitment to ensuring Ogden received the best services it can from its vendors. He then introduced Mary Schmitz, President of Royal Accounting, LLC, who gave a brief presentation and fielded questions from the trustees.

In the discussion following Schmitz presentation, Trustee Sue Esposito lobbied for the board to continue its relationship with Puzey & Wright since it was a business local. Trustee Kelly Cooper echoed Esposito's position and was not a proponent of using a vendor outside the local business community.

"I don't think our bookkeeping has been getting the quality that we should be getting," Trustee Haan responded. He told fellow board members that his purpose was "... to protect the people I was elected by to protect."

After considerable dialog about the possible annual savings in accounting fees, Schmitz's experience in public accounting and the advantages of moving to a direct deposit payroll process, the Board voted 4-2 to discontinue their relationship with Puzey & Wright and retain the services of Royal Accounting.

On a related agenda item, the board ratified a motion 5-1 to diversify the Village's investment of liquid assets. Instead of investing in a single certificate of deposit for $300,000, the trustees agreed to equally split $225,000 into three 12 month certificate of deposits earling 2.5%. The move would mitigate penalties and fees should the Village needed to access funds due to an unforeseen emergency.

The trustees also unanimously agreed to purchase a new handheld device for the public works department to read meters.