Pow Wow Days a great success, trustees learn

TISKILWA — This year’s Pow Wow Days in Tiskilwa were better than the past several years of the annual celebration, according to those involved with the festival.

Trustee Ron Behrends told the Tiskilwa Village Board at its meeting Tuesday night that all of the vendors he talked to were extremely pleased.

Behrends is also a member of the Tiskilwa Community Association, the group that plans many of the activities held during the annual festival weekend in Tiskilwa, which this year took place the first weekend of August.

On another matter, Village President Randy Philhower said he told a real estate agent representing the owners of the former Tiskilwa High School building, who bought the property recently and have an office in North Carolina, that the property needs to be cleaned up in the next several weeks.

Trustee Matt Sears Kauffman said he would like to resurrect the Tiskilwa Economic Group to help new businesses coming into town.

He also wants to compile some data on the possibility of installing solar panels to power village-owned properties currently receiving electricity either from Corn Belt outside the village limits and Ameren inside the village limits.

In other business:

• After a 50-minute executive session to discuss evaluation of village employees, trustees voted to give Rick Funderberg a 50-cent-an-hour raise.

• Philhower reported that repairs were done to a catch basin on Main Street and Brewster Street; and the roof, doors and ceiling were completed on the water plant.

• Village employees will install sewer to the East Park restroom project in the next week with TCA members staining the restroom’s exterior this weekend and installing a roof on the project in the future.