Full-time police officer hired, start date to be determined

Board welcomes Ed Coller as the new Director of Economic Development for Simply Arthur

By ARIANA R. CHERRY
Staff Writer

Arthur Village Board members welcomed Ed Coller as the new Economic Developer for Simply Arthur at their most recent meeting.

“I was named the Economic Developer for Simply Arthur about a week ago. I have a lot of thoughts, ideas and plans. Some of my immediate plans are to go to as many organization and service club meetings as I can and to meet as many business people as possible. I plan to take a tour of Arthur – even though I’ve been here 35 years. There are some people here that I haven’t met before that are now here. I feel like Arthur is very progressive and future oriented…. It is a humble honor to be a part of something like Simply Arthur,” he stated.

“We are very excited to have you on board and really enjoy your enthusiasm,” commented Village Board President, Rod Randall.

Afterwards, Treasurer Mike Hilgenberg informed the board that there was $28,135.62 in expenditures. “Everything looks to be routine,” he said.

Then the trustees took some time for their reports and to comment on some of the recent news – one being about the snow removal from the recent winter storm.

“Monday we prepared for the snow storm, then we had a water main break on Boise Street, then worked a 14 hour day during the snow removal. We had a total of about 200 man hours between all of our staff to take care of the snow,” informed Grant Corum of Public Works.

“Thanks to Grant and the Public Works department, as well as the police department for all of the extra work you have done. It was very appreciated,” Randall remarked.

Christy Miller also chimed in. “Congratulations to Ed. I look forward to working with him. Thank you to all for the snow removal. I would like to encourage home-owners to get the snow removed on the sidewalks by the school. I saw some kids struggle to walk to school with all of the snow piles,” she said.

“I also echo what Christy said. A path needs to be cleared for the kids to get to school. There were a lot of places for them to climb on. This would encourage them not to climb all the snow drifts on their way to school,” said Police Chief Michael Goodman.

After speaking with the trustees, Goodman moved on to inform the board on the hiring of a new full-time police officer.

“I met with the police committee a week ago and presented to them a candidate to hire a police officer for the village, Dalton Donalds. He lives and is from Tuscola. Donalds has been working as a corrections officer with the Champaign County Sheriff’s Office. Hiring someone right now will help us get a spot with the academy, as we are on their wait list at the moment. The police office would be elevated and possibly get an open seat quicker by having it on the books. His start date is to be determined,” informed Goodman.

“I am eager to get in here and get started,” commented Donalds. Once hired, he will be paid $21.50/hour and then it will be raised to $22/hour post academy. The police department is hoping he can get into the May academy. A motion was passed to hire Dalton Donalds. After the motion, he was sworn in.

Before the meeting was over, members discussed a bid from Burdick Plumbing and Heating in the amount of $401,779 for a sludge press. Three years ago when this was priced, it was $200,000. Board members spoke whether there would be any other additional funding possibilities for the project. While they could apply for a grant, it would put the project on hold and the funding wouldn’t come in until next year. Randall did comment that he believed the village still did have one more payment of COVID relief funding coming in. After their discussion, a motion was passed to approve the bid.