January 20, 2026 Local Stories in and Around St. Joseph, Illinois

Live at St. Joseph Village Board, Sept. 24, 2024

I am watching on Zoom so you don’t have to. (I was sick today or else I would be in person.)

They are discussing pickle ball, which has basically exploded, in St. Joseph. They had 41 teams at the competition they held during the festival.


Thanks to Mx Electric for sponsoring our live blogs btw. If you need electrical work they are the ones to call!

They want a message board on the outside of the gates to list upcoming tournaments, ect.

Tennis courts aren’t in the best shape. Discussing ways to make it better. Mayor saying it is a village responsibility to maintain the facilities they have and pickle ball is bringing people to St. Joseph. She is discussing how parks financing is difficult right now because there are projects that also need funding. Discussing timeline for resurfacing and how long they have before it has to be done. Discussing it could maybe be concreted.

Discussing a lot how pickle ball is bringing a lot of people to St. Joe via tournaments and how lots of people are participating. Consensus is to make Kolb Park “useable” for pickle ball.

Tami is explaining how there is really no funding source for the parks.

Angela thanking them for buying gift cards locally to give out as awards for their tournaments.

Discussing lawn mower maintenance/purchase

Discussing looking at out sourcing mowing again.

They are looking at a feasibility study on the former church renovation feasibility. – Presented by ReifSteck. Its the former baptist church that was gifted to the village.

Basically, the building isn’t in bad shape. There are some code violations that have to be addressed.

One option would include putting in an elevator.

Basically, they want to keep as much space for a community space as possible- meaning a meeting room. This is for village hall, not a community building.

I will get a copy of this. It’s kinda hard to follow without having it in front of me.

Tami saying it’s going to be very expensive and she wished the cost was half of what it was.

“Building a new building like this I am guessing would cost even more than this,” she said. Angela Page saying that the current plans are “alot” and is suggesting a scaled down version. “It’s great,” she said.

“We know what it would cost,” Tami said. “I think we need to take our time and look at all of our options.”

She is saying they need to consider office space and the community building at the park, ect.

Saying she is disappointed this may not work out for the village. Angela saying she would never vote for it because they could build a bigger building with more offices for a better price.

Basically, it’s an older building that was built to be a church not a village hall so it would be costly to make it into a village hall. “I don’t foresee this being an option for us at this time,” Fruhling-Voges said.

OCTOBER 26 IS THE COSTUME PARADE!!! This is my favorite event.

The village will also be working on the Christmas Tree Lighting. #iwillhelpbecauseimchamberpresidentanditsmyduty


Heres the staff report from the administrator:


Elm Construction Project:
Construction on the Elm Street Reconstruction and Sewer Interceptor project will begin in the next month or two. We have already put a notice on Facebook regarding the traffic interruptions, but staff will be walking and hanging door notices on the houses that will be directly impacted. If you have a citizen reach out to you with questions or concerns, tell them that I am happy to talk to them anytime.


ARPA, Champaign County ARPA, and DCEO Grant Status update:
We have been drawing down allocated grant funds on the Monroe Phase 1 project. We have roughly $60,000 left of Village ARPA money, and that will be fully drawn down upon the next payment to Stark Excavation.

Design of Downtown Wayfinding Signage:
A final version of the Wayfinding Signage will be completed in October.
WWTP Solar Project: The first WWTP solar payment is in the Bills for 09.24.2024 meeting. I anticipate the second payment sometime within 5-6 weeks after that.


Development Project with Taylor Construction:
We are awaiting the first subdivision layout from Taylor construction, and will attempt to do this subdivision concurrently with the sale of the property. More information to come.


Removal of Boats from Commercial Property:
We are awaiting final confirmation from the Conservation officer regarding the boats. However, we have identified a volunteer who is willing to assist the Village with the disposal of the Junked Boats. This will allow Public Works to focus on the brush and debris.

Discussing possible Christmas decorations. For the light poles.

meeting adjourned.




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