There have been personnel changes in the township’s trustees. John Powell was appointed to replace Marsha Miller after her move to Galena that resulted in her resignation. Kelly Abraham announced that she is retiring from her position and will be replaced by Carolyn McCarter.

The City of West Peoria recently hired two new part-time code enforcement officers; both have many years’ experience with code enforcement and will work with the city in putting strong efforts towards the enforcement of the City’s codes. The code enforcement office will be dividing the city into sections and will inspect each section for code enforcement violations. These violations include but are not limited to: inoperable vehicles, structures, alleys, trash, peeling paint, debris and brush cleanup. The city wishes to be able to work amicably with property owners in an effort to create positive relations.

A cooperatively written grant from the Department of Justice has been awarded to the Sheriff’s Department and is being used for West Peoria. On Jan. 5, a daytime additional officer was assigned to West Peoria. Deputy James Middlemas, a former West Peoria Community Officer, is our new officer, the result of the success of this grant.

Anyone wishing to report a code violation can either phone City Hall at 674-1993 or report it to the city website: www.cityofwestpeoria.com. Complaints are kept anonymous.

Petitions for the sidewalk replacement program must be filed at City Hall by Sept. 30, 2015. The new website for the city is: www.cityofwestpeoria.com. Information is available there.

The Neighborhood Watch is pleased that Deputy James Middlemas is now serving as the day officer for the City. The daily presence of a community officer helps deter criminal activity and speeding. Self defense, disaster preparedness, internet safety and what to do in case of home invasion will be topics for upcoming Watch meetings. The next Neighborhood Watch meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Feb. 11 in City Hall. Everyone is welcome.

The West Peoria Senior Citizen/Retiree Group will meet 1 p.m. Feb. 26 in City Hall. Fun games and refreshments for all. Plan to attend and bring a friend. The West Peoria Residents’ Association will next meet 6:30 p.m. Feb. 19 in City Hall. Program to be announced.

Are you using the improved Sterling Hill? It was a long time coming and involved much commitment and work on the part of our city officials. The City acquired jurisdiction of Sterling Hill, a much-traveled road (over 15,000 vehicles daily) from Farmington Road north. Road deterioration necessitated a complete tear-out and renovation. The planning began in 2004 with the help of the city engineer in order to determine financing. The City is a member of PPUATS (Peoria –Pekin Urbanized Transportation Study) that oversees federal funds for road projects. It is a competitive process for limited funds. A first attempt to get the funding failed. The following year, the City was awarded $3.17 million, to cover two-thirds of the project. Availability of funding was not realized until 2014 as this is part of a long-term transportation plan for the tri-county region. The West Peoria Street Department maintained the road during this time, while the city engineers were also engineering the job. IDOT approved a bid of $1.88 million for Stark Excavating for the project. City staff and engineers met with the businesses that would be impacted by the work in an effort to meet their business needs. The actual work began June 24, and progressed quickly because of the good weather during that time. Work continued into December with the hill reopened on Dec. 16. Enjoy this fine new road that will serve us all well for many years. It is an example of good government and governance. Federal, state and local government cooperated and succeeded in serving the citizens of West Peoria and the region.

West Peoria lost a committed volunteer and community member with the passing of Chief Robert Stecher. Stecher retired from his volunteer position as Chief in 2012 after serving the community for 25 years in various capacities within our fire protection district. He also held many offices in other regional and state firefighting organizations. Because of the extraordinary amount of hours he volunteered, our fire department excels in taking care of our citizens. Members of the Stecher family have devoted countless hours to make the living best to the west of Peoria. An honor for Chief Stecher was a procession of fire trucks representing districts from a multi-county area that lead the funeral procession to St. Joseph’s Cemetery.

My respect and thanks to all the members of our fire district.