Graham Vet Clinic purchases Vine Street property

(Speed limit reduced from 25 to 20mph near sections of North and South Vine Street)
At the opening of the most recent Village Board meeting, Mayor Rod Randal gave an update of the recent COVID cases in Douglas county. From December 27 through January 2 there were 218 new cases. “It seems to be getting worse and growing rapidly,” he stated.
Randal also informed the board that the new design of the Arthur website was up. “It is not quite complete yet. It still has the same address (https://arthur-il.gov/) and still needs a lot of things added and changed,” he said.
It was also noted that the property for the Arthur Homes project was closed on. Bidding for the project may not begin until late February or sometime in March.
Trustee Jim Flemming commented that the park had a nice display this Christmas. “It takes a lot of work to put that up,” he said. Many of the other trustees agreed with Flemming.
Treasurer Mike Hilgenberg reported $36,066.60 in expenses for December 2021.
For the first order of new business, the board members discussed the final approval for the sale of the village-owned property at 528 N Vine Street which was purchased by Nick and Heidi Grooms for the new facility of Graham Veterinary Clinic. Heidi described to the board that plans for the clinic include it being a metal side to side navy-blue building with stone on the outside and a white roof. She is also hoping for an attached porch. The entryway will be closer to the church with a lot of windows around the lobby. General parking will be located in the front of the building with employee parking in the back. The new facility also will have an area for larger animals. Heidi said they are building the new facility with hope to also expand more in the future. Presently, there are plans to begin building in May and the project could take up to a year to complete. Once they are moved into the new facility, there are plans to sell the old building. At the current time, there are three full-time veterinarians and seven support staff. The board made a motion and approved the vote to enter into a contract with Graham Veterinary Clinic in the amount of $28,000 with the provision that they file for a building permit and construction starts within the next 12 months. “We are excited,” commented Randall. “It will be a great addition to the community,” he added.
The next point of business was to discuss the speed limit reduction ordinance for sections of North and South Vine Street. The village had been approached by someone from the community that they would like to see the speed reduced further out of the business district from 25 to 20 miles per hour-especially around the school and Morton Community Bank. Businesses have expanded and the street has begun to get busier within the district. Speeds need to be slower around the bank and school. From Logan to Fourth Street, the speed needs to be reduced to 20 miles per house all the way through. A motion was made and passed to update the speed limit.
Before the board wrapped up its regular meeting, Trustee Christy Miller commented during the general discussion portion that she noticed that some of the kids had been crossing the street by the bank instead of at the crosswalk where the crossing guard was after school. “They haven’t been using the crosswalk. They are just walking across the street and not paying attention,” she said. Police Chief Goodman assured Miller that the police department and the school had been on top of the issue. “We are working with the school to ensure the kids are going where they are supposed to,” he informed.