DANVILLE — The Danville Village Council elected Todd Didinger to serve as council president for 2007 and assigned various committee assignments at its Monday meeting.
Council discussed a resolution to renew its contract for engineering service with Bird & Bull Inc. Council again examined whether it would be possible under the contract to use other engineering firms for other village projects. Council decided to drop the proposed resolution and draft a new one for its next meeting, adjusting the language in order to allow council to use Bird & Bull for some village work and also secure another firm for other work if council so chose.
Council also discussed parking problems during local high school sporting events. Council members talked with police representatives regarding residents who are disregarding parking regulations. Council brought up the possibility of raising the village’s parking ticket fines, which are currently $5, in order to help enforce the laws.
“We need to update our parking violation fees,” said Mayor Bob Dile. “I think they are definitely outdated.”
Council resolved to examine the current parking ordinance and discuss the issue further at its next meeting.
In other business:
•Councilman Gary Moreland informed council that a number of junk vehicles remain in the village and that the language in the village ordinance must be changed in order to crack down on the “blight” and preserve property values in the village. Moreland added that he has researched the way other municipalities have dealt with the problem and studied the language of their resolutions, hoping to incorporate some of their ideas into the village plan. The matter will be further discussed in the village planning commission meeting Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.
Moreland reported on a solid waste complaint in the village that has been investigated by the Knox County Health Department, and also discussed the problem of village residents who are refusing to pick up their mail in order to avoid getting registered letters from the village regarding trash complaints. Attorney Noel Alden suggested obtaining “certificates of mailing” for the problem mailings; the certificates would confirm that the letter was delivered without requiring the resident to certify it.
Council thanked Moreland for his efforts to help clean up the village.
•Dile told council that the portrait of Shamus Gore, a Danville soldier who lost his life in Afghanistan in June 2005, has been hung outside the library in the Municipal Building. Local artist Bryan Yankulov presented council with the portrait. A sheet soliciting contributions from the community to help Yankulov recover some of the costs of the supplies he uses to draw the portraits was also placed in the Municipal Building for the public to see.
•Due to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, Jan. 15, council set its next meeting for Monday, Jan. 22, at 8 p.m. following the planning commission meeting.