Over the past few years, the Village, like most municipalities in the State of Illinois, has kept a close eye on expenditures. While we continue to allocate our available revenues very carefully, we have chosen to update some areas of the Village Park. The first major update was to the iconic wooden playground near the pavilion. This equipment was considered for removal after the wood began showing serious signs of aging and the area around the playground became less and less appealing.

After considering the cost of installing a new playground, it was decided to attempt refurbishing the current wooden playground and hopefully give it a few, or many more years of life! The photo below shows that the former wooden, worn surface has been coated with a truck-bed liner. This coating has essentially sealed the wood, leaving a fresh new look to the equipment. In addition, after hearing safety concerns from parents, we have added additional bars so that a small child cannot walk off of the playground as easily as they could have in the past. We have also dug out the area around the playground and installed new pea-gravel. We hope to do more to make this area even better, but the improvements so far have made this area look much better.

Other improvements are currently underway or in the works. Some of the updates include: restrooms are being re-painted and cleaned, walking path sprayed for weeds and edged, trees being trimmed or removed, landscaping around the Gazebo being refreshed and trimmed, and filling holes through-out the park.

Do you have an idea for the park? If so, hit the “submit a request” button above and let us know. By the way, did you know you can reserve the pavilion right here at this website? Click above where is says “Reserve the Pavilion”. We will receive your request and respond in a couple of days!

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Due to the primary elections on March 15th, the Village Board meeting for March has been rescheduled. The meeting will held on Tuesday, March 22nd, 2016.

It is hard to believe we are at the beginning of a New Year! Here is an update of what is going on in Oreana. 2015 was a good year in the Village of Oreana. As we look back at the last year, we are proud to report that we have launched our official Village Website at OreanaIL.com. The website is designed to connect residents with Village Officials and provide quicker access to public information. I am hopeful that the website will continue to be developed in the coming year.

This year, the Village also took a big step in re-activating the Village Police Department. This has allowed the Village to directly hire part-time officers to focus solely on the needs of the Village. So far, officers have focused mostly on traffic violations. As the new year begins, officers will be expanding their focus to the enforcement of the Village Ordinances. Officers will specifically be addressing nuisance ordinance violations such as the storage of inoperable vehicles, excessive junk and debris, etc.. As a reminder, officers are dispatched by the Macon County Sheriff’s Office at 424-1311. As always, call 9-1-1 in the event of an emergency.

As the New Year begins, it is a good time to remind residents that the Village Board meets the 3rd Tuesday of every month at 7:00pm in the Whitmore-Oreana Community Building at the Oreana Park. Every regularly scheduled meeting features a public comment time for residents to address the board.

As always, please feel free to contact me at mayor@oreanail.com or leave a message at the Village Office at 468-2476.

The Agenda for the October 20th, 2015 Board Meeting has been posted on the Minutes and Agenda Page.

At the July 21st Village Board Meeting, Trustees approved an ordinance to prohibit semi-trucks from using South View. This ordinance is in response to area residents complaining of semi trucks using South View as a shorter route to County Highway 20. The ordinance goes into effect immediately, and will be enforced by Village Officers, with offenders facing a fine ranging from $75.00 – $750.00. This ordinance will not apply to campers or deliveries being made within the Village. Signs will be erected at both ends of South View as soon as possible.

We have added a new photo gallery on this web site for Oreana, Illinois.

[button link=”http://oreanail.com/photo-gallery/”]>> View Photo Gallery[/button]

Do you have a photo that you’d like to have considered for inclusion in the Photo Gallery?

Contact Mayor Aaron Keathley
mayor@oreanail.com