Marine PD To Start Enforcing Leash Law

By Ellen Proctor, Reporter

Marine police chief Chris Singleton told the village board on November 6 that his department will issue citations to dog owners in Marine who violate the village ‘leash law.’ Per the ordinance, the police will issue tickets for $100.

This crackdown is in response to an incident where a large dog who had been let to run off- leash bit a four-pound Yorkie and its owner. The police chief said that this wasn’t an isolated incident. Reports of dogs at large have been occurring two to three times a week, Singleton said.

“God forbid a kid riding a bike gets attacked ,” Singleton said. “We need to tighten up and enforce this ordinance.

Parks Department chairman Mark Voigt opened sealed bids for the construction of the new pavilion to be built in Village Park. Southwestern Construction Services bid lowest, at $56,000.

The trustees took a roll call vote with all in favor of awarding the contract to Southwestern. Mark

Frey, the company owner, was present at the meeting. Voigt said he would contact Frey to begin work when the footings are ready.

Also presenting bids were: TRL Contractors of St. Peters, MO, $75, 390; Poettker Construction, $69,000; LRB Construction, $65.449. Voigt also reported that the trees have been cut down in the park and the stumps would soon be ground down in preparation for laying footings. He said that weather permitting, his goal is to have everything ready with the solar panel construction project including lawn grass “a month or two before the Marine Homecoming.”

Other sealed bids that were opened were for a pump and a John Deere tractor.

Donnie Maine sent the only sealed bid for the pump, for $25.03.

The highest bidder for the John Deere was Tad Frank, coming in at $1,210. Other bids were:

Dave Fruh, $1,101; Rich Anderson, $657.10; Donnie Maine, $532.07; Carl Franks, $500.

A roll call vote was taken to replace the second office computer with an estimated cost of $470 and to install Quickbooks, for $189 plus labor.

The board discussed the condition of the village Christmas lights. Village Clerk Amber Kapp said that the decorators are no longer allowed to plug in the lights, but that the old plug-ins had been “grandfathered in.” Mayor John Molitor said that many of the electrical boxes on the poles were no longer functional. Additionally, the decorations are aging with many missing bulbs.

The clerk told the board members that wattage for the decorations through Ameren would be a yearly flat rate, but she did not yet have the cost of setting up the electric for unmetered service for the decorations.

The board members decided to “make do” with the existing system for this season.

“Our best bet is to just do what works,” the mayor said.

The board also discussed the merits of purchasing a new utility truck as opposed to fixing the existing truck. The trustees listed estimated repair costs such as $5,000 for the electrical system, $2,000 to fix a cam phaser issue and potentially $7-8 K for oil pressure repairs. Voigt, who owns Voigt Racing at 511 West Division Street, said that he had run new wires once already, and that the truck has been “Band-Aided” for years.

The mayor said that state bid pricing for 2019 models should be available soon.

With the first Wednesday in January falling on New Year’s Day, the board voted to move the

January, 2020 meeting dates to January 8 and January 22.

The trustees also voted in favor of giving the village employees a half-day with pay for

Christmas and New Years Eve.

Treasurer Lesley Frazier reminded the trustees that the quarterly finance committee meeting would take place at the village hall at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 20 prior to the regular board meeting.