The Morton Fire Department will start charging nursing homes and assisted living and independent living residences for some lift assist calls the department receives from those facilities.
The Village Board recently approved a charge of $350 for the lift of a resident or patient at those facilities who does not require emergency medical treatment or transportation to a hospital.
Morton Fire Chief Joe Kelley asked for the charge. He said it's needed to cut down on calls from those facilities to help someone who is not injured get to the bathroom or in bed, for example, or get in a wheelchair to go to dinner.
Kelley said his department responded to 363 lift calls last year, mainly from nursing homes and assisted and independent living facilities, and 112 were for someone who was not injured or needing transportation to a hospital.
Kelley suggested that a $75 charge be assessed for an uninjured person needing a lift assist at a private residence, but board members rejected the idea.
"That's a public service," said board member Craig Hilliard. "We shouldn't charge an elderly couple when one can't lift the other."
The East Peoria Fire Department has a $350 charge in place for a lift assist of an uninjured person at a skilled nursing facility.
"People who live in those facilities pay thousands of dollars a year for services. They should get those services," said East Peoria Fire Chief Bobby Zimmerman. "When we're called for a non-emergency lift assist at a skilled nursing facility, that takes away resources the general public may need during that time."
Morton's new police chief is sworn in
There's new leadership in the Morton Police Department.
Chief Shawn Darche, Deputy Chief Steve Brock and Patrol Sgt. Aaron Rowe were sworn in at a recent village board meeting.
Darche joined the police department as a dispatcher in 1996 when he was 19.
He became an officer in 1999 and rose through the ranks to deputy chief. He served in that role the last three years.
Darche replaced former chief Jason Miller, who retired at the end of 2023.
Brock joined the police department in 1999. Rowe has been in the police department for five years. He spent eight years in the U.S. Army with two deployments.
Wastewater rates rise to pay for $36 million in improvements at Morton's two plants
Morton must make improvements at its two wastewater treatment plants. The cost is approximately $36 million.
The village board recently approved wastewater rate increases for customers to help cover the cost. The rate increase customers will notice the most, said Public Works Director Craig Loudermilk, is the monthly service charge, which is increasing for the first time since 2014.
The service charge was raised to $7.15 starting last month. The charge will remain the same until May 1, 2026, when it will go up to $7.25. The charge will go up again to $7.35 on May 1, 2028.
The service charge was $1.74 starting Jan. 1, 2009. It increased by 5% annually until Jan. 1, 2014.
"We're looking to get financing from the IEPA (Illinois Environmental Protection Agency) to fund the wastewater plant improvements," Loudermilk said. "The financing would be a 20-year low-interest loan that essentially equates to a $2 million loan payment annually by the village over the 20 years.
"The rate increases for customers will raise our revenue about $2 million annually to make those payments."
The improvements at the wastewater plants are needed so Morton can stay in compliance with its NPDES (National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) permits that are issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Each wastewater plant was originally constructed in 1976 and has been upgraded a few times since then.
Wisconsin-based McMahon Associates was hired by the village board to design the $36 million in improvements for a not-so-exceed cost of $1.74 million.
Morton ordinance violation fines go up for the first time since 1999
The minimum fine for a Morton ordinance violation is now $150 instead of $50. A violator who does not show up for an adjudication hearing will be charged $100.
Those changes to the fine structure for village ordinances were approved recently by the village board. The minimum fine had been the same since 1999.
Also approved by the village board were increases to the fine structure for tobacco-related ordinance violations.
The minimum and maximum fines for a first, second and third offense are now $75-$250, $100-$300 and $150-$350, respectively. The minimum fines were increased from $20, $50 and $100. There previously were no maximum fines.
The minimum and maximum fines for the sale of a tobacco product, electronic cigarette or alternative nicotine product to a person under age 21 are now $100-$300 for the first offense and $200-$750 for subsequent offenses.
There wasn't formerly a maximum fine for the first offense.
Contractor for Morton landscape waste drop-off site on board for two more years
Morton's popular spring and fall landscape waste drop-off at the wastewater treatment plant at 2625 S. Fourth Ave., will continue operating for at least the next two years.
The village board recently approved a new two-year contract with longtime contractor R&R Services of Illinois of Argenta to do on-site grinding of landscape waste into mulch and hauling away the mulch.
R&R Services will be paid $42,752 in 2024 and 2025, a 6% increase over the previous contract price. Morton will again cover about half the cost of hiring R&R Services with an annual recycling grant it receives from Tazewell County.
