Pec Board adjusts meeting schedule

Art Club shares talent on windows
Pecatonica High School Art Club painted holiday themed windows for the Pecatonica Chiropractic Center on Saturday, Nov. 21. The theme was “The Grinch who Stole Christmas.” The students were very proud of their work!

By Christopher Johnson

REPORTER

A schedule set by the Pecatonica Village Board as it relates to the access of shared information has been limited lately and Covid19 still seems to be the biggest reason.

Because of the continued rise of numbers of reported infections statewide, multiple regularly scheduled meetings have to be set aside. That requires the Board to do a lot more, when they are allowed to congregate.

Case counts continue to climb with over 200 confirmed cases reported out of the thousands of tests completed, according to Village President Bill Smull.

“We’ve roughly had about 2000 tests done with the numbers for our zone over 20%.”

The case count does not reflect the village of Pecatonica alone, it impacts the entire 61063 zip code. Meetings have to be adjusted, as explained.

Generally, on the first Thursday and third Tuesday of each month, Trustees and Village President Bill Smull gather at village hall, with the needs of the community being addressed.

Lately, however, schedules had to change with meetings being set aside until deemed absolutely necessary. This Thursday, at 6:30, the Pec Village Board was scheduled to meet in a Committee of the Whole capacity, with a Special Meeting of the Board of Trustees required after completion.

Modifications in that approach have been made and it has meant officials aren’t as accessible, in a public setting.

Citizens can still contact officials with the Village Board or for varied public safety or public works needs. Phoning and emailing are the best ways, as described, to receive the required assistance.

Wearing a mask or not wearing a mask in public seems to still be a hot button topic for citizens across the State of Illinois with no requirements being made at the Chief Executive level to force usage.

It is encouraged though and Pecatonica Trustee Paula Hachmeister said it needs to be an automatic decision for people, who choose to venture into public places.

“Just wear our masks. I see so many people in this community who don’t wear one or wear it down off their nose. We have to take this seriously.”

Smull said there is no directive explaining how citizens in the State must act and that’s an influencing factor when it comes to local action.

“Mitigation is getting worse across the State. There is not a stay at home order, but we could be pretty close. There is a lot of stress about the holidays and wearing face masks.”

The impact of Covid19 goes well beyond the municipal level, businesses in the village of Pecatonica also have reported a lot of challenge in keeping things going, like they used to go. Changes have occurred and others could follow.

In the State of Illinois, as of this past weekend, 712,936 cases were reported with 12,137 deaths caused by Covid19.

Over 10,000,000 tests have already been administered with a recovery rate of 97% being reported by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Residents who would like additional information on hot spots and how the disease is spreading are encouraged to log on to the IDPH website, dph.illinois/gov/covid19.