7/28/2009 4:08:00 PM
Galena City Council decides to sell bricks
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by Richard Clark
GALENA-When is a paving brick historic? Apparently the Galena City Council has decided that the approximately 130,000 "pavers" recently uplifted from Broadway/Dewey Avenue don't qualify.
At the direction of the council, City Engineer Andy Lewis investigated the market for used paving bricks, and advised the council that, once cleaned and stacked on pallets, such bricks sold for 75 cents to a dollar apiece, with discounts for large volume orders.
Alderman Todd Lincoln questioned the need for cleaning the bricks. Lewis explained that people interested in buying large numbers of bricks generally expected to have them stacked on pallets so they could be moved by forklift vehicles. He also said that bundling bricks on pallets made inventorying and keeping track of the numbers of bricks sold much easier.
Lewis suggested that, if the council decided to sell the pavers, city staff would investigate both the most efficient system for cleaning and palletizing the bricks, and the current markets for brick pavers.
In his memorandum to the council, Lewis had recommended selling 100,000 of the bricks, and reserving the remaining 30,000 bricks for the city's possible use later.
Alderman Charles Fach strongly objected to selling the pavers.
"You're selling part of our history," Fach told the council. "I hate to see these going out of town. If there's ever a move to restore part of a street, you're going to pay dearly to replace them. I think we should hang onto them and find a way to store them for possible future use."
The bricks are currently stored in the city's old landfill site in School Section.
Council action
At the beginning of the discussion, Lincoln had offered a motion, seconded by Alderman Robert Hahn, to approve selling the bricks.
Alderwoman Sue Cording, Alderman LaVerne Greene, Hahn, Alderman Terry Murphy, and Mayor Terry Renner voted in favor of the motion; Fach and Lincoln voter against the motion.
The motion did not make any reference to reserving part to the 130,000 for the city's use.
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