The City of Washington has some options to repaint a railroad bridge on one of the town's busiest roads.
The Toledo, Peoria & Western (TP&W) Railroad bridge crosses U.S. Business Route 24, the city’s main east-west commercial corridor. The bridge, owned by parent company Genesee & Wyoming (G&E) Railroad, once was stamped with the words “fast freight service.”
City council members point out exposed rebar and flaking rust that makes the structure covering one of the town’s busiest roads undesirable.
Planning and Development Director Jon Oliphant presented a plan for the city to undertake the project at Monday night’s committee of the whole meeting. All together, after costs for an application with the railroad, materials, labor, insurance, traffic control, and possible sandblasting, Oliphant gave the council an estimate of more than $100,000.
But there are other options.
“We got a call [Monday] morning from Scott Weaver, [Washington] Township Highway Commissioner,” said Oliphant. “And he passed along some information to us that he has been in contact with both the railroad, as well as IDOT [the Illinois Department of Transportation] over the last six to 12 months, and that he has actually applied for the painting of the bridge.”
City Engineer Dennis Carr said the township’s plan would run on donations of money, materials and machinery, some of which has already been secured. The partnership would include the Washington Historical Society. The proposed painting is a mural, celebrating the city’s bicentennial in 2025.
“In front of you, I guess, is not just the option to go it alone, but also there is the option to kind of extend more talks with the township and to work through that the best way we can on kind of getting this thing to look a bit better and not as much of an eyesore,” said Carr.
Broadly, the council supported moving forward with the township partnership. Some members had reservations.
“I don’t want to pay $100,000 for it, but it definitely needs to be painted,” said alderperson Bobby Martin. “I’m not a fan of putting a mural on it, but I want, I would like it to be painted.”
Alderperson Brian Butler said he’s concerned about including a date as part of the mural design.
“It might be 25 years before it’s painted again, so that, to date, it might not work out that well in the future to have it dated and remind us that it’s been that many years,” he said.
Carr also clarified to the council that the railroad would likely only permit painting the sides of the bridge and no further improvements would be allowed.
The council will discuss the project again at next month’s Committee of the Whole meeting.
Term limits
City staff provided some clarification on a proposed ordinance to introduce term limits for Washington council members and mayors.
The ordinance, originally proposed at the city council’s December meeting, would limit elected representatives to three four-year terms. It would not include the city clerk and city treasurer.
City Attorney Derek Schryer said the limit would also not apply to partial terms.
“So, if somebody were elected in 2025, resigned, and somebody was appointed in 2026, they would have to run for a two-year term in 2027,” he said. “And, with the proposed ordinance in its current form, they would be eligible then to run for three full four-year terms.”
Some council members expressed reservations about the proposal, questioning if enough people ran for public office in Washington to make term limits viable.
The first reading of term limit ordinance is set for next Monday’s city council meeting.
Amphitheater project open house
Alderperson John Blundy raised concerns about the format of the open house for community members to ask questions of the Hengst Foundation and partners about their proposed Dee Amphitheater project.
The amphitheater project has been a topic of frequent discussion in public comment since its introduction.
Blundy suggested hosting a “town hall type meeting” in addition to the open house.
“It’s something that could be where there would be a record of this meeting that happened, there be a video recording,” he said. “And I think people within the community, then they could hear the questions that are going to be asked and answered by, you know, other community members.”
Mayor Gary Manier told Blundy that a town hall meeting, like an open house, would not require the attendance of the city council. He said many people have asked him questions in person, leading him to believe the “one on one” nature of an open house was a better fit.
Manier also said he expected there to be a report published on the questions and answers at the open house, similar to the way Illinois Department of Transportation open houses functioned.
City Engineer Dennis Carr had his own reservations about a town hall, including the potential for a lengthy meeting.
“A lot of the town halls that I’ve been on, they turn very quickly into ‘let’s get the pitchforks and let’s go,’” he said. “And they’re not meant to spread information as much as they are to back people into corners and kind of push them where they feel like they should go, as opposed to just trying to get true answers.”
The format discussion ended without any specific direction from the council, Manier said they would talk about it further if the open house “doesn’t work out.”
The open house is scheduled for 6 to 7:30 pm in Banquet Room A at Five Points Washington on Wednesday, Jan. 22.