Knox Officials Attempt to Secure Funding Assistance for Wastewater Treatment Plant Project

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Knox City officials are once again applying for a Community Development Block Grant through OCRA’s Wastewater Drinking Water program to help fund an improvement project at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The Kankakee Iroquois Regional Planning Commission (KIRPC) is serving as the grant writer and administrator for this project. KIRPC Community Development Planner Emily Albaugh attended Tuesday night’s Knox City Council meeting and presented some information during the public hearing over the grant application.

She informed council members that this grant application will differ from the initial one since they’re now permitted to apply for even more funding. Continue reading →

Volunteers Needed for Knox Peppermint Parade, Planning Meeting Set for November 7th

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

If you’re interested in being one of “Santa’s little helpers” during this year’s Peppermint Parade in Knox, be sure to attend the planning meeting scheduled for later this month.

When the city council met last Tuesday, Mayor Dennis Estok announced that a meeting to coordinate volunteer efforts event will be held at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, November 7th in the Nancy J. Dembowski Center.

Estok noted that the Peppermint Parade will take place on Saturday, December 1st. He added, “That’s when Santa Claus comes to town and then we go to the park to the Santa Claus house and he greets the kids. We give out hot chocolate and s’mores.” Continue reading →

Internal Controls Training Covered at Knox City Council Meeting

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

During his report at Tuesday’s Knox City Council meeting, Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston discussed some internal controls training that’s required annually.

Houston explained, “This is where people working for the city are watching to make sure that there isn’t any kind of waste, fraud or abuse going on, that the accounting is being done correctly, that things aren’t being stolen or anything like that. The state has some training, it’s about 30 minutes, you watch a film.” Continue reading →

Tonight’s ‘Bluegrass Jam’ Event in Knox Will Help Assist Hungry Starke County Citizens

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Community members are invited to bring non-perishable food donations to the Nancy J. Dembowski Community Center tonight in order to gain access to the Country Music and Gospel Bluegrass Jam event hosted by the City of Knox.

The event will begin at 6 p.m. and wrap up around 10 p.m.

Earlier this week, Mayor Dennis Estok told city council members and meeting attendees that there will be a few bands that typically perform during this annual event. However, he noted that it’s open to community musicians as well. Continue reading →

SCILL Center Students to Rake Leaves for Knox Residents in Need of Assistance

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

The SCILL Center is once again teaming up with the City of Knox to provide some fall time lawn care assistance to senior citizens and physically disabled residents.

At Tuesday night’s Knox City Council meeting, Mayor Dennis Estok issued a reminder about this opportunity. He noted that the SCILL Center is only able to accommodate 15 residences and the service is provided on a first come, first served basis. Continue reading →

Knox Crosswalk Work to Take Place This Week

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger

Long-awaited crosswalk work in the City of Knox may finally get done this week. Mayor Dennis Estok told the city council last week that the installer would try to be in Knox this week, but the work depends on the weather. “A 50-degree day at daytime is fine,” he explained, “and then as long as it doesn’t get below freezing or something too many days in a row.”

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Knox Fire Department Offers Educational Outreach, Smoke Detector Help for Fire Prevention Month

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger
 

The City of Knox is recognizing Fire Prevention Month. Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston discussed some of the planned activities with the city council Tuesday. “The fire department will start having classes with Little Lambs and Head Start on Wednesday and at the elementary school with the children on Thursday,” he said. “And I think it’s important to teach our kids, ‘Don’t play with fire.'”

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John Street Residents Ask Knox Officials to Add Speed Limit Sign

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger

Speeding vehicles are drawing concerns from residents on the east end of John Street in Knox. Linda and Dave Metz told the city council Tuesday that there are no speed limit signs on eastbound John Street past Williams Street, and some drivers seem to think they may go as fast as they want. They said that with the number of children who live in the area, along with turkeys and deer in the woods along the street, there’s a high risk of an accident.

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Knox City Council Members Meet Tonight

Posted on Author Jacque Ryan

Knox City Council members will meet in a closed executive session with City Attorney Leslie Baker before their regular meeting at 7 p.m.

In addition to the usual reports from Mayor Dennis Estok and Clerk-Treasurer Jeff Houston, there will be time set aside for citizen comments and council items. Other than those items, the agenda for tonight’s meeting has nothing else listed. Continue reading →

Knox Splash Pad Closed for Winter

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger

Fall is here, and that means the end of splash pad season in the City of Knox. Mayor Dennis Estok told the city council that the splash pad was shutting down for the season earlier this week. “We were going to let it ride until over the weekend, but the weekend’s supposed to get cold,” he said. “And right now, you’ll see maybe one or two people on it and that’s about it. So we are going to be shutting down a little earlier than what we thought.”

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Knox City Council Approves Purchase of Tax Lien Certificate for Parkview Property

Posted on Author Michael Gallenberger

Long-term efforts by the City of Knox to buy up available land in Parkview Heights took a step forward Tuesday. The city council authorized the purchase of a tax lien certificate, at the request of Mayor Dennis Estok. “It’s a property down in Parkview Heights that went through the tax sale,” he explained. “Nobody bought it. It’s a burned-out house. We did get the owners of that to clean the house up. They did leave the foundation and all that. They have no intentions of redeeming the property through the tax sale, and that’s where the county can transfer it. We can buy it for $35 off the certificate sale.”

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