Mattoon council approves boat dock lease agreement

MATTOON/CHARLESTON — The cities of Charleston and Mattoon simultaneously held city council meetings last Tuesday.

In Mattoon, the City Council unanimously approved a lease agreement with G&H Services for the construction of a boat dock at Lake Mattoon’s marina.

The 20-year agreement allows the company to construct a dock with 20 boat slips for the general public to rent boats and to rent to individual boat owners. Under the agreement, the company will be responsible for the construction costs including infrastructure for the docks. According to documents obtained from the city, the city of Mattoon will not be providing any financial assistance for the project.

The costs of maintenance and upkeep of the docks will also be covered by G&H Services to the city’s standards. The agreement also allows for the company to construct 40 more boat dock slips in two additional phases.

The council also approved four parades, such as the July 4th parade, over the 2025 calendar year. A $3,500 grant for St. John’s Lutheran School to host their archery tournament was also unanimously approved. The tournament will be held at the Emerald Acres field house on February 14 and 15. The $3,500 grant will cover the cost of hosting the event at the facility. The grant will come from funding from the city’s hotel and motel taxes.

Down the road in Charleston, the City Council unanimously approved Mayor Brandon Combs’s appointment of Eastern Illinois University President Jay Gatrell to the city’s Liquor Advisory Board.

The Charleston City Council also approved an ordinance variance for the Home Church property for the church’s new addition. The ordinance variance would allow the removal of the fire lane on the east side of the property and allow the church to move the required buffering landscaping to other parts of the property.

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Jacob Hamm

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I am a college senior at Eastern Illinois University. I cover a wide variety of topics across Central Illinois such as protests, artistic and cultural events, local economic development, and the occasional column.

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