South Jacksonville Hears Potential of Cell Tower, Trustee Resigns Abruptly, Water Rates Tabled

By Benjamin Cox on March 3, 2023 at 11:14am

The Village of South Jacksonville received three different pieces of news at last night’s monthly Board of Trustees meeting.

Village President Dick Samples started the meeting by informing the present board members that Jackie Killion-Bridget had resigned her post from the board prior to the meeting. Bridget had left a letter of resignation with Samples earlier in the day as she was moving out of the village immediately due to changing circumstances. Bridget thanked the board and said she truly enjoyed learning and working with everyone.

During the meeting, the board of trustees voted to table the proposed water and sewer rate increases in lieu of providing more information to customers. WLDS News will have further information on what’s to come with the village’s water utility in an upcoming story.

Village Trustee Todd Warrick brought good news at the end of the meeting during old business. Warrick says he had been in correspondence with the senior real estate and construction manager for AT&T in Illinois about getting a cell phone tower in South Jacksonville. Warrick says he received good news that a possible location had been selected: “[AT&T] has made great progress with a candidate in the area. We are in the process of having the landlord review our proposed location, and they are also reviewing our lease terms. I would expect that we would be submitting a zoning application at the end of March or early April. I look forward to meeting with you in person and having a solution for this area for cellular service.”

Warrick said during the meeting, warning some in attendance who were concerned about the issue, that it would take an official proposal for zoning to the village and then likely a year or more for the tower to get constructed. He said though that it is a step in the right direction and thanked everyone who had made complaints and phone calls to the company to get the lack of cellular coverage in the village resolved.