CATLIN — Village officials voted Tuesday to have preliminary engineering done to help determine the feasibility of extending a sidewalk to the Dollar General store on the Catlin-Tilton Road.

The current sidewalk on the northeast part of Catlin only goes as far as North Street, ending more than a quarter-mile from the new store.

Mayor James Robinson said he has heard estimates of $80,000 for extending the sidewalk to the store, but that no engineering has been done to back up those estimates.

Board members voted to have Sodemann & Associates, Inc. of Champaign perform preliminary engineering on the project, for a cost of up to $3,200. The work will include a topographical survey, obtaining a permit or approval from the Illinois Department of Transportation for the sidewalk and a possible bridge over a creek, and general design work for a pedestrian bridge.

Board member Brock Taylor favored the plan.

"Let's go forward with the preliminary phase, and find out what the project will entail," he said. "It is time to address this."

In other business, Catlin Village Board members said they wanted to get quotes from area appraisers to determine the value of the police station building.

The village purchased the 1,200-square-foot building at 106 East Davis Street — the former home of a laundry — in June 2003, to serve as a police headquarters.

Last month, Police Chief Cash Cook said that since the purchase, the Catlin Public Library moved out of village hall to its own building at 101 Mapleleaf Drive, and the second-story room was vacated. Cook said there is plenty of space in the village hall to accommodate the police department's needs.