CATLIN — Village engineers are continuing their preliminary assessment of a proposal to extend 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. It is more than a quarter-mile from the new store.

Catlin Village Board members voted on Oct. 4 to have Sodemann & Associates Inc. of Champaign perform preliminary engineering on the project, for a cost of up to $3,200.

At Tuesday's meeting, board member Brock Taylor said the engineers expect to present their preliminary findings to the board in November. At that time, the board may vote to spend between $5,000 and $7,000 for further design engineering, which would include bridge design and sidewalk plans, easement documentation, preparing bid documents and making a construction schedule.

In other business, the board voted to have James Webster of Urbana appraise the value of the police station building, for a cost of about $1,000.

The village purchased the 1,200-square-foot building at 106 E. Davis St. — a former 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, 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, and board members said they were interested in leasing out or selling the building.

Mayor James Robinson said the village must sell the building for no less than 80 percent of the appraised value.