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COMMITIEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

Lincoln City Hall, Council Chambers 700 Broadway Street I Lincoln, Illinois

Tuesday, May 11, 2021

 

The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by

Mayor Tracy Welch at 7:00 p.m., with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.

Present:

Vacant, Ward 1

Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1

Alderman Ron Fleshman, Ward 2

Alderman Sam Downs, Ward 2

Alderman Kevin Bateman, Ward 3

Alderwoman Wanda Rohlfs, Ward

3 Alderwoman Kathy Horn, Ward 4

Alderman Rick Hoefle, Ward 4

Staff Present:

Peggy Bateman, City Clerk

Chuck Conzo, City Treasurer

Paul Adams, Police Chief

Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief

Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent

Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager

Remotely:

John Hoblit, City Attorney

Absent:

Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer

Remote Guest: Christy Crites, CMT Erin Baker, APEX

Bruce Coombs, Johnson Control

Presiding:

Mayor Tracy Welch

Public Participation:

There was no one present for public participation.

Todd Henry - Mission Lincoln 2021

The City Council made a donation to this organization.   Work will be completed July 25-31, 2021.  It involves several high schoolers from the area and beyond.  The organization is fully funded due to grants and donations received.  Housing for the high schoolers will be at Lincoln Christian University.   Applications for work requests have been received through CAPCIL.

 

There are 40 projects on the books.  Type of work will be gutters, painting houses, wheelchair ramps.  Signage will go up mid-June.

Bruce Coombs - Johnson Controls

Johnson Controls has been in business approximately  135 years and is best known for their thermostats.  They also have programs for energy efficiently and assist with finding grants to help fund improvements.  They'd like to offer these services to the city.  They would take a look at all of the City's facilities and develop a plan to bring back to the council for discussion, feedback and approval.

Request to Permit: Lincoln Park District Old-Fashioned Children's Walking Parade on Sunday, July 4, 2021 at 10:00 am.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Request to Permit: City of Lincoln Third-Friday Events.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Plocher Construction Pay Application #9 Lincoln CSO Improvements in the amount of

$676,772.78.

This work was completed in the month of April 2021. Page 33 of the agenda packet shows the progress of the project.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

L. Keeley Construction Pay Application #2 Union Street Pump Station in the amount of

$337,094.10.

This work was completed in the month of April 2021.  They continue to work on the gravity sewer installation and lateral tie ins along Union St. They also have poured the foundation and footings for the electrical building at the pump station.  They have backfilled the pump station and continue to bring up the electrical room.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

L.   Keeley Construction- Union Street Pump Station Change Order No.1A.

This is a decrease of $590,286.00 for the work that was already completed by Stark.

There was some rebar that had not been previously ordered.  Those invoices have been added to the adjustment.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

NES Environmental invoice for asbestos and lead work at the Waste Water Treatment Facility in the amount of $328,980.00.

This item has been removed from the agenda as it was previously handled.

Crawford, Murphy and Tilley invoice for Union Street Pump Station in the amount of

$24,767.71

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Crawford, Murphy and Tilley invoice for CSO Improvement in the amount of $35,014.37.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Resolution listing Motor Fuel Tax expenses in the amount of $630,000.00 for F.Y. 2021/2022.

 

 

This resolution covers the cost of labor, equipment, supplies, and traffic signals.  This amount needs to be approved by IDOT before the money can be spent.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Intergovernmental Agreement between City of Lincoln and Apex Clean Energy.

Mayor Welch explained that the Council previously approved solar as an acceptable use in the enterprise zone with the contingency that the city will enter into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the County for Decertification.  Decertification was important to the Council so                  that the city would have those enterprise zone miles back to offer to other businesses coming to Lincoln in the future.  The agreement, that approved along with the contract, was drafted and given to all parties.  The agreement was amended but not by the city, but by the attorney for APEX.  The language, "in good faith" to decertify, used within the amended portions regarding the timeline for decertification makes several officials within the City and County nervous.  This is an agreement between the city and the county, not between the city and the project.

Attorney Hoblit is not comfortable at this time to advise the council without more research.

The deadline for Apex to receive the sales and use tax exemption that the enterprise zone offers is June 2021.

There are no long-term gains to the city for this project.  The city will receive $10,000/year for five years in Enterprise Zone fees.

Alderman Hoefle, Alderman Downs and Mayor Welch along with other appropriate people will have a Zoom meeting to discuss this further.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda and pulled if need be.

Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Lincoln and Lincoln Community High School regarding 201 9th Street and 1706 Pekin Street.

There is one parcel left on Pekin Street.  The High School would like to relinquish the Pekin St parcel and build at 201 gth St.  201 9th St has a lien of $26,000 against it for the cost of demolition after a fire.  There is other interest in the parcel on the Pekin St parcel.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Lincoln Economic Development Grant Commission recommendation to approve Structural Improvement Grant to Townhouse Beauty Salon in the amount of $7.500.00. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Lincoln Economic Development Grant Commission recommendation to approve Structural Improvement  Grant to H-T-1/Logan Lanes in the amount of $1,000.00. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Tiny Veterans Homes Project Donation.

The purpose of this project is to give back to Veterans. There are three homes being built. A suggestion of a one-time donation of $5,000 was brought to the Council by Mayor Welch and other departments heads.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Five (5) year contract with AXON for TASER 7 Lease not to exceed $81,934.50.

 

 

Current Tasers that the Police Department have are out of warranty and starting are fail when tested. This lease will be for 25 tasers and will include free replacement cartridges over the 5 years.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Sale of Property- 618 4th Street.

Christina Clutter (who lives at 620 4th  St.) contacted Mayor Welch with concern about this property.  There are liens against the property for demo costs and past sewer bills.  The property is now in the hands of Logan County Trustees due to back taxes.  Christina would like to purchase the property.  Mayor Welch asked the Council to consider purchasing the property from Logan County Trustees for $800 and then sell it to Mrs. Clutter for $1,000.

City Attorney Hoblit advised the Council that in order for the City to purchase a property, the City

has to show that it benefits the community not just an individual.

Treasurer Conzo feels that this transaction would benefit the community because there is a lot

of dumping a vagrancy in that lot.  This property is also on the City's mow list, so it is a recurring expense to the City.

This item will be brought back to the Council at a later date.

Purchase of Tax Sale- 618 4th Street.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral appointment Kevin Bateman, Alderman Ward 3 as Mayor Pro Tempore.

Mayor Welch shared that he has always been able to rely on Alderman Bateman and feels that in his absence, Alderman Bateman would be able to run the City.

Alderwoman Rohlfs has reservations about Alderman Bateman becoming Mayor Pro Tempore. She feels she was misled in a recent situation  and given misinformation from Alderman Bateman.

Alderman Hoefle was asked by his constituents to not support this appointment.  The word nepotism was used by the constituents.

Mayor Welch does not feel there would be any nepotism in this situation.  He said he has been the Acting Mayor since June of 2020 and has worked with the City Clerk often but has never given her a directive because he does not have the authority to do so.

Alderman Bateman has always abstained from voting on any items that pertain to the Clerk's office.  So there has never been a conflict of interest.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Advise & Consent to the Mayoral re-appointments. Paul Adams - Chief of Police

Robert Dunovsky -Fire Chief

Walt Landers- Street Superintendent

Wes Woodhall- Building & Safety Official

This item will be placed on the regular agenda individually.

Resolution establishing salaries and/or pay increases for City of Lincoln.

A correction for the Building & Safety Official raise...it should read 6% not 9%. These raises have been budgeted.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Full-Time Administrative Assistant Job Description .

There is a job description in the agenda packet that also includes salary, benefits and hours.

 

Mayor Welch would like two Alderman to sit in on the interview process.  An ordinance will be created for this position.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Additional item to the agenda:

A business on Sangamon St would like to have a parklet this year.  The Council will need to amend the parklet ordinance to include their street.  Chicago and Hamilton streets will be included in the amendment as well.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Announcements:

  • Alderman Bateman wanted to point out that after the lead and asbestos abatement at the Sewer lab, the lab was left with beautiful wood beams and exposed brick. They have opted to not paint the lab and will possibly look into sealing
  • Park Place and Union Street will be closed next week for 3-4 days for the Union Street
  • Road Closures: 61h Street will be closed on Thursday for a sewer installation for the Veterans

5th Street will be closed on Saturday between State St and College St.

Clinton & Kickapoo is closed for patching.

  • ALMH Market reopens on Saturday
  • 5th Street Road project: There are only 4 parcels left to

Adjournment:

 

There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Fleshman motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Parrott. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 9:17 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted by:

Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Information is available on the following sites:
Logan County Current Statistics

Memorial Health System  - Includes daily statistics for MHS and a COVID-19 Risk Screening

Local Business Resources
Logan County Department of Public Health
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH)
Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

 

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Contact Information

 

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City Hall
700 Broadway Street
Lincoln, Illinois 62656

(217)735-2815

 

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