Nicole Borders, the general manager of Good Ole' Days Restaurant in New Baden, addressed safety concerns they have at the establishment during the Village of New Baden meeting on Monday, Oct. 5, at the New Baden Municipal building.
Borders said they are trying to work on more access for handicap parking. She knows that is an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) issue, but was wanting the board to work with her and IDOT to find a solution.
Borders also wanted to make the crosswalk more visible.
"Safety is our major issue right now," Borders said. "We are having a lot of issues with people not wanting to cross the street, especially elderly people. Our first and foremost worry right now is what we can do to up the safety for Good Ole' Days."
Mayor Bob Oster said there is nothing the board can do for Borders because it is a civil matter between Good Ole' Days and the owner of the old city hall and that has nothing to do with the board.
The issue stems from concerns over parking near Good Ole Days.
When the Village of New Baden owned the former village hall, it also owned the adjacent parking lot, which was shared by the village and Good Ole Days restaurant.
Since then, the village has sold the former village hall to a private owner. The parking lot is now under new ownership as well and has been taped off, eliminating the parking spaces that had previously been available to restaurant patrons.
Borders talked to the board about the crosswalk. She knows that the village painted the curbs yellow, so she was wondering if they could get yellow lines on the crosswalk.
"We just need something more presentable where people might stop," Borders said. "It was a shared parking for a very long time, and we were very grateful for that. Right now, we are just trying to find a way for the whole community to come out and visit, especially the elderly. That is our main goal right now."
Oster said he would talk with the public works director to see about painting the lines of the crosswalk. He said any issues with getting handicap parking would have to be between herself and IDOT because it is a state highway.
Randy Linthicum touched base with Oster about some concerns they had talked about a couple of months ago. He said the doors at the Civic Center still aren't open at 7:30 a.m. like they had agreed. Linthicum also agreed to purchase two flashing lights for crosswalks and wanted to proceed with that. Linthicum said he would do two full crosswalks on both sides. If the village would start enforcing the rules and making people stop at the flashing lights, Linthicum would entertain the idea of two more flashing lights. There are four flashing lights in town that aren't done.
"I will pay for two, and if you can show me some enforcement and people getting pulled over for running through the flashing lights, then I would entertain doing the other two," Linthicum said.
Oster said the village can't have police officers sitting at the crosswalks all day.
"If our police officers see them run through the flashing lights, then our police officers will pull them over," Oster said. "If we see it, we do enforce it."
Linthicum asked how many tickets had been issued for people running through flashing lights. He was told that traffic stops have been made, but they don't know if the stops resulted in tickets or warnings.
Trustee Larry Thoeming asked Linthicum where he was going to put the two sets of flashing lights. Linthicum said now would be as good as time as any to put the flashing lights in front of Good Ole' Days. Oster said the flashing lights can't be put in the middle of a state highway, they have to be on a corner.
Luke Robinson talks about putting a gaga ball pit at the New Baden Community Park as part of an Eagle Scout project during the Village of New Baden meeting on Oct. 5. During the community coordination committee portion of the meeting, Luke Robinson talked to the board about putting a gaga ball pit at the New Baden Community Park as part of his Eagle Scout project. The pit is 26 feet by 26 feet and is tournament style. The location will be just south of the new playground. The board approved the installation of the gaga ball pit. The pit hopes to be completed in the next couple of months.
The Community Economic Development committee met on Sept. 16 and talked about the market feasibility studies for possibly a hotel. It would be a demographic and feasibility study. The cost would not go against the village; it would be for the business district or the TIF district to pay for the costs.
The committee talked about the creation of a new business district to extend and expand the Interstate 64 corridor.
The New Baden Park Boosters approached the Community Coordination Committee about installing a new concession stand at the park that will replace the existing concession stand. They are working on putting the final details of the project together and then will bring that to the village board for a vote.
The board approved an ordinance increasing the number of Class F video gaming cafe liquor licenses available for issue.
The board approved a resolution referring a proposed amendment to the Village of New Baden comprehensive plan to the planning commission for public hearing, review and recommendation. The amendment updates a lot of the demographics, and it looks at the development opportunity area map.
The board went into executive session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body. No votes or action were taken after executive session.
