The Minonk City Council agreed to support a "City Beautification" program by purchasing the
paint needed to spruce up the city prior to Minonk's Sesquicentennial Celebration this summer.
Organizer Christie Ruestman presented the beautification program to the council at its normal
Monday night meeting.
Ruestman said that the purpose of the program is to make Minonk look
its best for the Sesquicentennial Celebration when thousands of visitors will be coming to the
city. She said that the city has been divided into 95 blocks. Each block will have a family to
be the block ambassador. The ambassador would coordinate efforts to have people in the block
tidy up their block by painting street sign poles, stop sign poles, fire hydrants, and yellow
curbs. Ruestman said that she is planning to have one big block party on the weekend of May 15-16 to
allow time to clean the city before the sesquicentennial celebration on June 11-13.
Ruestman said that she was tired of the negativity that people read about in our communities. She
feels that Minonk is a good place to live and raise a family. She wants to project a positive image
on Minonk so that people and companies will want to locate and live here.
The council agreed to pay $624.24 for 96 quarts of paint needed to "paint the town".
Food pantry building approved
The council approved a plan devised by the Minonk Township to construct a building to house the
Food Pantry operations. The building would be an addition to the back of the ambulance shed.
In addition, there would be a door between the building and the council chambers to allow distribution
of the food in the council chambers. The new addition would also serve as an EMT lounge for the
fulltime EMT's that will be coming onboard in May.
City Administrator Trent Smith said that the Minonk Township Board has committed $20,000 for the construction
of the building. Smith said that the city would contribute 25% of the cost towards the construction.
The council approved $8000 as an initial limit on its contribution towards the building.
Alderman Bill Koos said this is a good solution to the Food Pantry location. Koos said that the city
doesn't want to own or buy any more buildings. He said that the Food Pantry will be located on city property.
He added that if the Millennium Committee eventually builds a community center that could house the Food Pantry,
that there could be other uses for the building.
Reverend Dan Gansch-Boythe said the the Food Pantry committee was delighted with this solution to house
the Food Pantry. He said that the food pantry was running out of room at the St. Paul's church. He said,
however, that the meals on wheels and the community meals for senior citizens still have not found a place.
Heritage Manor is preparing meals to be delivered to shut-ins at $3.00 per meal. Gansch-Boythe asked the city
if it could help subsidize this program since money is running out. Mayor Mark Spencer said that the city
has already approved $2,000 in its budget for the meals-on-wheels program.
Reverend Gansch-Boythe said that unless there is an influx of money from another source, the community
meals for seniors will be discontinued until the economic situation improves or until another solution is found.
Tennis courts to be resurfaced
The council approved a bid of $24,489.00 to resurface the tennis courts this summer during the Chestnut Street
resurfacing project. The Parks and Recreation Committee told the council to go ahead with the project after
being asked by the city for a recommendation. The city agreed to put up signs forbidding skate boarding
on the courts. City Adminsitrator Trent Smith said that the new courts should last 15 years before any
cracks appear.
Other news
City Administrator Trent Smith said that there have been 3 applicants for the advertised fulltime
positions for EMT's on the amublance squad.
Sesquicentennial Committee Chairman Cathy McKay asked the city to see if it could get sesquicentennial
signs from the state for placing at the entrance to the city. McKay said the sesquicentennial committee
will be meeting on Monday, March 29, at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall. The public is invited to attend.
Christie Ruestman thanked the city for shoveling snow from the sidewalks in the downtown business district this winter.
