COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
Lincoln City Hall, Council Chambers
700 Broadway Street | Lincoln, Illinois
Tuesday, February 9, 2021
The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by Acting Mayor Tracy Welch at 7:00 p.m., with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.
Present:
Alderman Tracy Welch, Ward 1
Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1
Alderman Ron Fleshman, 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
Present:
Elizabeth Kavelman, City Administrator
John Hoblit, City Attorney
Peggy Bateman, City Clerk
Chuck Conzo, City Treasurer
Paul Adams, Police Chief
Remotely:
Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief
Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer
Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent
Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager
Absent:
Presiding:
Acting Mayor Tracy Welch
Public Participation:
There was no one in the building or on the phone for public participation.
Apex Clean Energy
Erin Baker & Kyle Barry were present via Zoom to present their presentation on a Mulligan Solar Energy project.
This project is a 70 megawatt project that will be located south of Lincoln, between Lincoln at Broadwell. This has now been included in the Lincoln/Logan Enterprise Zone approved by the County Board. Construction is expected to begin in April 2021 with an operations date of the beginning of 2022.
The request for the Council is to pass an ordinance amending the Intergovernmental agreement to include The Mulligan Solar Energy in the Enterprise Zone.
Treasurer Conzo asked if the City or County would be receiving Administration fees for this project as they have in the past for other projects. Mr. Barry and Ms. Baker were not aware of any fees and said none have been requested thus far. City Administrator Kavelman reached out to Will D’Andrea, the Enterprise Zone Administrator, and he said that the County was not requiring them to pay anything and that the Zone itself does not sell territory. City Administrator Kavelman said that the Formosa Plant paid $5,000 annually to the city and county for up to 15 years (she believed) when they came to town and also when work was done with the mines, they paid fees as well. More research will be done on the topic.
The project will last 30 years. There will be a decommission plan in place for the end of the project. The area will have full restoration.
The project will have dozens, if not hundreds, of construction workers. Revenue that the City could see from this project is, stemming from those workers, purchasing gas, eating in restaurants, shopping, or possibly hotel stays. Gravel will also be purchased locally.
Once the project is complete, there will be two full-time and two part time employees on staff.
This project will expand the allotted square miles permitted in the Enterprise Zone for Lincoln to 10.9 sq. miles. Leaving 4.1 sq. miles for other projects.
The Council needs to keep in mind that if they wish to add solar to the Enterprise Zone, it will open the door for other projects to come and this project is locked down for 30 years and leaves only 4.1 square miles for other projects.
This item will be brought back to the next COW for more discussion.
CSO Improvements Change Order #2 in the amount of $15,755.50.
Christy Crites was present remotely for this item.
There are three items included in this change order. Alderman Bateman listed them…
1. To increase the pilings at the bridge to 60 feet. This is for materials only, not labor. This would increase the weight limits for trucks crossing over the bridge.
2. The beam size for the CSO, again to increase weight limits.
3. Adding mortar to the box to limit future maintenance.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
City of Lincoln Economic Grant approval - Cafe' Billiards $3,599.00, Knecht Construction $7,500.00, El Mazatlan Restaurant $3,100.00.
These grants are part of the structural improvement grants with the City of Lincoln.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Government/Municipality Credit Card
The City currently has American Express cards that have total annual fees of $315. It is desired that these cards be replaced with State Bank of Lincoln/Heartland Bank credit cards that don’t have an annual fee.
An application and copies of meeting minutes showing council approval is needed for the cards to be issued.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Energy Supply for Lincoln, IL Government Building and Facilities - Bid Proposal The Stone River Group.
There was one bid received from Stone River Group. Rates were included in the bid packet.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
How Bird Partners with Local Communities
Bird is a service where you can rent electric scooters to ride through communities. It cost $1 to rent a scooter then $.30 for every minute after. The renter must submit a photo of themselves to rent and also when they have finished with the scooter. Could be beneficial to college students getting off the train and riding to campus. Users must be 18 years of age and have a valid credit card. These scooters do not exceed 15mph. 50-100 scooters could be available for use.
Police Chief Adams shared that the scooters will have to follow the same rules as bicycles…stop at all the stop signs, stay to the right side of the roadway, and may be passed. He feels these scooters shouldn’t be allowed outside of 30 mph speed limits due to serious injuries if an accident would occur.
The contract does have an out clause. So if this does not work out, the City can cancel the contract.
The City can lock out zones in town that the scooters will not be permitted. City Attorney Hoblit will do more research and this item will be brought back to the next COW.
Discussion items for Budget F.Y. 2021/2022
Treasurer Conzo shared the debt summary with the Council and went over those. Treasurer Conzo also covered the outline of how budget discussions were done last year. He met with each department head individually and went over their individual budgets, then they met with the committee, then their budgets were brought before the council.
Alderman Fleshman suggested adding a line to capital projects for the City’s portion of the 5th St Road project. He’d like to also create a replacement schedule for heavy equipment and vehicles.
Alderman Bateman would like to increase the pension portion of the utility tax by 10%. He’d also like to increase the Street & Sidewalk line by $250,000 bringing that line to $750,000.
Acting Mayor Welch agreed with the increase for sidewalks and roads. He would also like to budget for police body cams, which have recently been mandated by the State Police reform. That cost would be around $72,000. Chief Adams is looking into purchasing 12 cameras that the day and night shift officers would share and would save the City money. Acting Mayor Welch would like to also budget $10,000 and go out for RFP and hire an IT consultant. He’d also like some cosmetic improvements done to the council chambers and improvements to the AV equipment for the live stream.
Announcements:
- Alderman Parrott asked for an update on when construction will begin again on Union St and what those residents can expect regarding the road being closed. Alderman Fleshman said that documents have been signed and insurance and bonds have been provided. Acting Mayor Welch said that it had been discussed that 2-3 blocks would be shut down at time, the pipe would be fixed and the road patched. Once construction is complete a new surface will be laid over the entire road.
- Superintendent Landers asked the Council to be thinking about what project they would like done when the City receives the payments from the State’s Rebuild Illinois program. Any ideas should be passed along to Superintendent Landers so his department is prepared when the funds come in.
- Superintendent Landers plans to reopen the Landscape Waste Facility around March 17th. He’s thinking it will be open one maybe two days a week to provide the service to the community. If anyone has an emergency and needs to utilize the facility, please reach out to the Street Department.
Executive Session | 2 (C)(2) Collective Bargaining :
There being no further announcements to come before the council, Alderman Keller made a motion to move into Executive Session, seconded by Alderman Hoinacki. City Clerk Bateman called the roll.
Present:
Alderman Tracy Welch, Ward 1
Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1
Alderman Ron Fleshman, 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
Yeas: (8) Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Kathy Horn, Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Ron Fleshman
Nays: (0)
Abstain: (0)
Absent: (0)
The council recessed from the meeting at 8:30pm in order to enter into Executive Session. Acting Mayor Welch announced there may be City business following the Executive Session.
Return from Executive Session:
The council reconvened from Executive Session at 8:58pm in order to reconvene the Committee of the Whole meeting. Roll call was taken.
Present:
Alderman Tracy Welch, Ward 1
Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1
Alderman Ron Fleshman, 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
Alderman Bateman requested that a memorandum of understanding for the Police Union be put on the next voting session.
Adjournment:
There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Keller motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Parrott. All were in favor. Acting Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 8:59 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted By:
Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary
City of Lincoln