Dear Village of St. Joseph Residents,
Over the last three months our community along with the rest of the world has experienced something that none of us could have ever imagined. Each of us will remember this time in different ways. For some it’s been a time to reflect on where our life priorities should be and may have been able to enjoy the time to slow down their pace of living, but for others it’s been a troubling time either for health, financial, business survival, or concerns of living in a free society.
As we navigate our way through the next few days, weeks, and months ahead please be patient with each other. You will begin to see many things begin to open to the public. To allow some of our businesses to take advantage of the Governor’s announcement to move into Phase 3, the village has worked out a plan to give them some space temporarily in our downtown.
Unfortunately, our downtown has limited parking, but accommodations have been made to try and make the best of the situation. Please take extra precautions as you drive through the downtown on Lincoln Street. This portion of Lincoln Street will remain one way while we allow outdoor seating for those businesses.
Our community has done a great job so far to give the village’s businesses their support. I encourage you to continue to shop local, support the curbside services, take advantage of some outdoor dining and be sure to thank those business owners for doing an extraordinary job serving our community during this time. St. Joseph is fortunate to have every one of them.
The Village is continuing to monitor the guidelines set forth by the State of Illinois to open the parks slowly and safely. Beginning next week, we can allow practices at the ball fields, the tennis courts will be open and within the week we will open the restrooms. The pavilions and picnic tables are available for use, but large gatherings and the playgrounds are still prohibited. The Municipal Building will open to the public during regular business hours but renting the meeting room will still be limited.
We encourage our community to continue to follow the guidelines set forth by the State and Local Public Health Departments.
I also wanted to thank our village residents for taking the time to complete your Census response.
The Village of St. Joseph has a comfortable lead in our response rate. Currently, we hold the lead at 81%, the best in the County. Great Job St. Joe! Thank you for being such a great group of residents. Continue to share those welcoming smiles, lending a helpful hand, saying a kind word and please work with us as we make those steps to bring our lives back to a healthy and safe normal.
God Bless and Enjoy your Summer, Tami Fruhling-Voges, Village President/Mayor.
