REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING
Lincoln City Hall, Council Chambers
700 Broadway Street | Lincoln, Illinois
Monday, May 18, 2020
The Regular Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by Mayor Seth Goodman at 7:02 pm with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.
Present:
Alderman Tracy Welch, Ward 1
Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1
Alderman Colby Leith, Ward 2
Alderman Sam Downs, Ward 2
Alderman Kevin Bateman, Ward 3
Alderman Ron Keller, Ward 3
Alderman Kathy Horn, Ward 4
Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Ward 4
Staff Present:
City Administrator Elizabeth Kavelman
City Clerk Peggy Bateman
Treasurer Chuck Conzo
Police Chief Paul Adams
City Attorney John Hoblit
Remotely:
Fire Chief Bob Dunovsky
Building and Safety Officer Wes Woodhall
Streets Superintendent Walt Landers
Veolia Water, Andrew Bowns
Christy Crites, CMT
Absent:
Presiding:
Mayor Seth Goodman
Public Comment:
Kirby Campbell called in at 9:02pm to comment on the discussion about reopening the City. He asked what the difference is with the council sitting in a room, distancing themselves, than with people doing the same in a restaurant. The council responded that they didn’t feel there was a difference and that the City is doing everything in their power to return to a sense of normalcy without compromising the entire community as a whole.
Consent Agenda by Omnibus Vote:
A. Payment of Bills
B. Approval of minutes May 4, 2020 Regular City Council Meeting
C. Request from LCHS to permit the closing of various streets for the Homecoming Parade on Friday, October 2, 2020 from 2:30 PM until its conclusion.
Alderman Horn made the motion to approve, Alderman Keller seconded. Mayor Goodman called for discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Kathy Horn, Alderman Colby Leith
Nays: (0)
Abstain: (0)
Absent: (0)
Mayor Goodman moved to other items on the agenda.
Ordinance and Resolution:
A. Ordinance authorizing real estate to go out for bid.
Alderman Bateman made the motion to approve, Alderman Welch seconded. Mayor Goodman asked Mr. Hoblit to comment.
Mr. Hoblit stated that he has acquired the legal description for the property that the council wishes to be put out for bid and has included it in the ordinance so that it may be voted on.
Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Kathy Horn, Alderman Colby Leith, Alderman Steve Parrott
Nays: (0)
Abstain: (0)
Absent: (0)
Mayor Goodman moved to other items on the agenda.
Reports:
A. City Treasurer’s Report for April, 2020
Note: It was difficult to hear Treasurer Conzo through the audio or video recordings. The following was the information that was heard in its entirety.
General fund balance is a little lower than this time last year.
Video gaming brought in $31,641 for waging done in February and reported in March. With gaming stopped, March’s income from gaming is half. The income for April and May will be zero.
Police pension recovered somewhat in April and was up $574,000.
Fire Pension was up $230,549 from last month.
B. City Clerk’s Report for April, 2020
$279,465.88 was received for sewer payments for April. $26,786.99 was collected from Lincoln Correctional. The clerk’s office is still waving the late fee due to COVID-19.
C. Department Head Reports for April, 2020
Reports are either on file for will be soon
Mayor Goodman moved to other items on the agenda.
New Business/Communications:
A. Approval of CMT Invoice in the amount of $11,694.07 for professional services from January 27, 2018 to April 3, 2020 for 5th Street Road Project.
Alderman Welch made the motion to approve, Alderman Hoinacki seconded. Mayor Goodman called for discussion.
Alderman Bateman is concerned with a $500 charge on the invoice for a Monica Patterson. He says she isn’t employed with CMT. He is also frustrated with the continued spending for the 5th Street Road project. He wants a better game plan in place before any more money is spent.
Alderman Keller is also concerned with the fee that Alderman Bateman mentioned and asked for clarification.
Mayor Goodman said he understands the bill to read two $500 charges.
Administrator Kavelman said that the two charges were for the Greenhaven property and the Sheley Group property. She also said that there are individuals listed that no longer work for CMT.
Alderman Bateman feels that CMT hired a third party to negotiate land acquisitions that the City hired them to handle. That third party is billing CMT which then bills the City. He suggests cutting ties with CMT and letting the City handle the negotiations.
Mayor Goodman felt it was unusual that payment be made to Monica Patterson personally, not a company.
Administrator Kavelman will contact CMT and get more clarification.
Alderman Bateman then asked Administrator Kavelman to verify with CMT how much they have paid outside venders to negotiate land acquisitions on behalf of CMT, then on behalf of the City of Lincoln, over the course of the entire project.
Alderman’s Welch and Hoinacki rescinded their motions to approve. Alderman Hoinacki made the motion to table item 9A for further clarification. Alderman Welch seconded. Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Kathy Horn, Alderman Colby Leith, Alderman Steve Parrott
Nays: (0)
Abstain: (0)
Absent: (0)
B. Approval of CSO Clarifier Tank Cleaning
Alderman Bateman made the motion to approve, Alderman Welch seconded.
Andrew Bowns stated that the CSO Clarifier Tank needs to be cleaned out before the project can move forward with CSO upgrades. The work cannot be completed when raining so a completion date is not available at this time. They will work around the weather as needed. They still need to remove another 1000 tons of dried grit and sludge from the tank. Current spending over the last year to clean this tank is $121,000.00. Once removed, a tank inspection will be done.
Alderman Bateman said there is a 3rd vender that may reimburse the city for the cleaning. Mr. Bowns said he is very optimistic that the reimbursement will go through.
Alderman Keller asked where the grit and sludge is taken once removed. Mr. Bowns said to two different landfills.
Alderman Parrott asked why this 3rd vendor would be reimbursing the City. Mr. Bowns said the vendor did not follow through on some overtures that were made to the IEPA. There is documentation that squarely places the blame.
Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Kathy Horn, Alderman Colby Leith, Alderman Steve Parrott
Nays: (0)
Abstain: (0)
Absent: (0)
C. Approval of agreement for Professional Services with Farnsworth Group for Engineering Services for Mill & Overlay Project in the amount of $22,000.00 and Scarification Oil & Chip in the amount of $20,800.00
Alderman Keller made the motion to approve, Alderman Hoinacki seconded.
Superintendent Landers said this covers all services for 2020 which include documentation prep, contract administration, construction engineer, material testing and documentation, and oversight on the project.
Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Kathy Horn, Alderman Colby Leith, Alderman Steve Parrott
Nays: (0)
Abstain: (0)
Absent: (0)
D. Approval of Preliminary Scarification Oil & Chip Targets with additional Mill & Overlay Targets
Alderman Welch made the motion to approve, Alderman Downs seconded.
Superintendent Landers stated that per the council’s request, he brought targets back to the council that would have road repairs done in each ward. Plus two additional targets on 4th Street and Decatur Street where the sewer repair was done in December.
Alderman Keller wanted to reopen the discussion to repair Heitmann Dr. instead of the targets on the agenda. He fears putting off those repairs could cost the city more next year.
Mayor Goodman would also like to see Heitmann Dr. repaired this year. He said people have hit potholes on that road and had a flat tire as result.
Alderman Parrott also agreed that Heitmann Dr. needs repaired soon.
Superintendent Landers mentioned that there is a new program through IDOT called Rebuild Illinois that will be paying the City of Lincoln close to $1M in multiple payments over the next 3 years. Those funds cannot be used for maintenance. This money could be put towards Heitmann Dr. which is a complete reconstruction.
Alderman Bateman suggested creating an account for Heitmann Dr. and depositing the IDOT checks into the account.
Administrator Kavelman wanted to remind the Council that she was hoping to use some of these IDOT funds for the 5th Street Road project.
Alderman Welch suggested using the 5th St Road reimbursement funds for the Heitmann Dr. Project.
Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Kathy Horn, Alderman Colby Leith, Alderman Steve Parrott
Nays: (0)
Abstain: (0)
Absent: (0)
Mayor Goodman moved to other items on the agenda.
Discussion:
A. Discussion of Veolia 3.06% ($37,911.26) increase for Sewer O&M contract resulting in an annual total cost of $1,278,741.26 for the FY2020-2021
Andrew Bowns said this is a contractual increase that is built into the contract based on the water sewer trash indexes. They divide out a 3 month and 15 month index before the contract starts and get the Consumer Price Index increase.
Alderman Bateman asked if this increase was built into the FY20/21 budget. It was not, the city did not receive the increase in time for budget discussions.
Andrew Bowns said that the numbers used to figure the increase are not available until a certain time due to dates written into the contract.
This item will be placed on the next voting agenda.
B. Discussion of using $40,000.00 from Sewer O&M Enterprise Fund for Mill & Overlay at 4th Street & Decatur Street location where previous Sewer repair was completed
It was brought to Alderman Welch’s attention that there was $40,000 in the Enterprise Fund that could be used to offset the road repair at 4th & Decatur St. Andrew Bowns researched this matter and found that those funds can in fact be used. This will free up funds for additional targets that were brought before the council earlier tonight by Superintendent Landers.
This item will be placed on the next voting agenda.
C. Discussion regarding the future direction of the 5th Street Road Project.
Alderman Bateman would like to focus on only land acquisitions.
Administrator Kavelman said there has been significant progress on this project in the past year and a half. Several parcel agreements are finalized, a few need renegotiated due to expired temporary easement dates, a couple parcels are being held up due to COVID-19 and one parcel is held up by a trust.
City Attorney Hoblit said that the imminent domain letters that last went out gave property owners 60 days to contact the City or face legal action. He said that those letters were not followed up on. He suggests resending the letters and insists that they be followed up on.
Going over Administrator Kavelman’s report, Alderman Welch feels that the City is 3-6 months out on all but one of the remaining parcels. The remaining parcel may need an alternate approach to finalize.
He asks Administrator Kavelman to provide monthly updates on this project. He also suggested that the council give negotiations for parcels until September 1st to be finalized, with more aggressive approaches beginning after that date for any outstanding parcels.
Alderman Bateman would like Superintendent Landers to get an estimate for repairing 5th St Road to give the citizens that drive that road continuously some relief until 5th Street Road Project can be completed. He feels completion is still a few years out.
Superintendent Landers said the worse part of the road is a county road. He’ll need to contact the County Highway department.
D. Discussion of approval of the City letter to IDOT for extension of time to complete 5th Street Road Project and to keep IDOT’s promised funds to the City intact.
The current extension expires on June 30, 2020. The council was in agreement to ask for another 2 year extension.
E. The GPEDC’s/City’s Business Case Management Team database platform to assist all businesses within the City to survive and prosper after COVID-19 and to be used as an economic development tool as well.
Three local businesses are interested in beginning with this database. Businesses will input their information into the database with results showing what grants they are eligible for.
Businesses should contact Administrator Kavelman with any questions.
F. Discussion regarding the sale of, or the City’s continued use of City’s North Kickapoo Street property.
Administrator Kavelman was approached with a possible offer to purchase this property. The offer was vague, the council is going to wait for more details.
Additional Discussion not on the agenda:
Regarding recent flooding at Westminster Dr.
When heavy rains or large amounts of rain happen, water runs off of the adjacent privately owned farm ground. The rain runs down between two houses, overruns the system and floods the streets. Superintendent Landers visited the area after the recent flooding and said the ditches were full. So there was nowhere for the water to go. The water does drain, it just takes time. He understands the citizens are frustrated but unfortunately there is nothing that can be done until the 5th St Road project has begun.
Mayor Goodman moved to other items on the agenda.
Announcements:
· Reopening the City from the shelter in place executive order from Governor Pritzker:
Alderman Keller feels that the Council cannot just sit back and let this continue. A meeting took place this morning with Don Cavi (LCHP), Sherriff Landers, Emily Davenport (County Board), Alderman Keller, Alderman Welch, City Attorney John Hoblit and Logan County State’s Attorney Brad Hauge to consider the options the City has to reopen. Other counties within our region are being contacted to create a unified approach to reopen. Alderman Keller suggests that the city parks be reopened with encouragement of continued social distancing.
Alderman Parrott would like to remind the council not to forget the churches and their necessity.
It has been advised by the Illinois Municipal League to reopen at the City’s discretion.
The following parks are city parks and will be reopened on Tuesday, May 19, 2020: Postville Park, Melrose Park, Ray White Park, The Fitness Court, and Allison Park. The remaining parks belong to the county.
City Attorney Hoblit suggests reinstating the Committee of the Whole meetings as a sign to the community that things are starting to return to normal. The council agreed and the resolution/ordinance will be added to the next voting meeting.
· The Landscape Waste Facility will end its spring hours on Sunday, May 24th. The normal Wednesday and Saturday hours will resume on Wednesday, May 27th.
· Alderman Welch said it was imperative that the city get serious about getting a Chamber of Commerce type organization started for businesses to contact in times of crisis. It has been very difficult for the City and businesses during the pandemic to find the answers they need.
· Alderman Parrott said that the Tourism Bureau may come forward in the next few weeks to request some funds (around $15,000) to prepare the MILL for the Route 66 Celebration. Quotes for building improvements are being compiled.
· Census Update: Nationally the Census is at a 59.6% response rate, Illinois is at 64.6 (ranked 9th) Logan County is at 65%.
Adjournment:
There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Keller motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Parrott. Mayor Goodman adjourned the meeting at 9:27 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted By:
Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary
City of Lincoln