A former lumber and coal company on Galesburg’s south side will be subdivided to allow for the potential sale of the retail portion of the property.
Aldermen on Monday unanimously approved a minor plat of the People’s Lumber and Coal Company Subdivision, 468 E. Berrien St.
Owner Steve Hawkinson is proposing to subdivide the properties into three parcels. Proposed Lot 1 will be approximately 2.10 acres. Proposed Lot 2 will be approximately 1.08 acres. Proposed Lot 3 will be .15 acres. The property is currently zoned M1, Light Industrial.
The Planning and Zoning Commission also unanimously approved the minor plat at its May 21.
Hawkinson tells WGIL People’s will continue to use a portion of the property for its smaller Stihl retail/rental store, along with storage for rental equipment. He said he will explore the sale of the larger retail building.
Peoples Do It Center closed its retail hardware and lumber store at 468 E. Berrien St., on Oct. 31, 2022. Peoples expanded d its rental division and also moved its Stihl Outdoor Power Equipment Sales & Service across the street to 465 E. Berrien St.
Peoples had been in business in some form continuously since 1902.
Steve’s father Lloyd Hawkinson acquired Peoples — then a fuel and coke company — in 1945, and turned it into a lumber yard 10 years later. Peoples evolved into Galesburg’s original retail home center in 1965, and became a Do It Center in 1983.
Aldermen in agreement
Aldermen voted on 12 agenda items Monday, and approved them all by unanimous 7-0 votes.
Among the agenda items passed were:
- Purchase of properties from the Knox County Trustee. The city purchased the vacant lots in the middle of downtown Galesburg with hopes of redeveloping the brownfields into “a viable and productive use.” The three-parcel brownfield located at 332 E. Ferris St. and 57 N. Kellogg St. — site of the former Knox Laundry — came under the control of Knox County Trustee in 2008 and 2009.
- Allow parking on East Ferris Street east of Kellogg Street on Sundays only. A request was brought to the Traffic Advisory Committee by Trinity Lutheran Church to address on-street parking availability for members of the congregation. Currently, there are four on-street parking spaces in front of the church on the south side of Ferris Street. Parking is restricted on the north side of Ferris Street in front of the church. The Traffic Advisory Committee discussed that there are other locations in the City where street parking is allowed on Sundays only near churches. It is anticipated that traffic volumes will be lower on Sunday, and additional on-street parking spaces on the north side of Ferris Street near the Kellogg Street intersection would not have a negative impact on traffic. Therefore, the Committee recommended that two additional street parking spaces be allowed.
- Vacating alley located between Lincoln Street and Nelson Avenue
- Purchase of three dump bodies/snowplows/salt spreaders. Total cost is $316,845 from Monroe Truck Equipment (Monroe, Wisconsin). The anticipated date when all the three units will be delivered and put into service is July of 2025. The current dump trucks will be used during the 2024-2025 winter season and traded once the new units are received.
- Replace Brooks Street Fire Station generator
- AFSCME Contract & Salary Schedule. The agreement is for a three-year term. It provides a 4% cost of living adjustment in year 2024, 2025 and 2026.
- Approve purchase of Electronic Citation (E-citation) and Electronic Crash reporting (E-crash) software and hardware for use with the current police records management system through ProPhoenix. Total cost of the project is $102,644.29 which is a shared cost between the city and Knox County.
The next meeting of the City Council is June 17.
