The Vandalia City Council took care of several new business items during its meeting Tuesday night. The board gave authorization for bids to be sought for sidewalk replacement. The council was presented with four different lists of sidewalks from Building Official Dan Barenfanger with one indicating sidewalks near schools, a general list of sidewalks needing replacement, one that was put together from resident complaints and another that indicated sidewalks that were eligible to be fixed using TIF funds. City Administrator LaTisha Paslay explained to the council that a representative from the Illinois Municipal League recommended doing the sidewalks near schools first followed by sidewalks on the list compiled due to resident complaints and then the general sidewalk list that was compiled. With there not being enough money in the sidewalk replacement budget to complete all of the lists in this budget year, the council approved to seek bids for the replacing of the sidewalks near the schools that were listed as well as the sidewalks that could be paid for with TIF funds.
Also at the meeting, the meeting, the council approved reducing the number of Class E liquor licenses for restaurant from 9 down to 8. The reduction is due to the Capital View liquor license not being needed due to the fire that destroyed the restaurant.
The council also gave its approval to a new lease agreement with Pitney Bowes for postal services and a new machine. It was noted that the new agreement is a slight increase for the previous agreement but the new machine the city will be receiving has more capabilities than the previous machine.