COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

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

Tuesday, May 25, 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

John Hoblit, City Attorney

Paul Adams, Police Chief

Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief

Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent

Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer

Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager

Remotely:

Christy Crites, CMT

Absent: Presiding:

Mayor Tracy Welch

Public Participation:

Dan Burnell was present to address the boarded-up house behind him and his alley.  Mr. Burnell resides in the two-story house on the corner of Kickapoo and Wyatt. There has been a house behind him, 106 Wyatt Ave, that had a drug bust conducted in Nov of 2017. Shortly after the bust, the house was vandalized and destroyed.  The windows are boarded up and the utilities have been removed.  He is frustrated that there has not been anything done to clean up this property.  He feels that the Building & Safety office has done all that they can with the ordinances that are written.  He'd like the council to "add more teeth" to their ordinances to remedy the properties that unkept.

He'd also like the dip at the entrance to his alley repaired.  The dip gets larger and larger.  The cause was thought to be a water leak. The leak has been repaired but the dip has not.

The Council discussed that there are many ordinances that are outdated and need reviewed. The Council will look into Mr. Burnell's matters.

Jack Merreighn was present to address the council about starting a community golf cart organization.   He thought this would help the elderly and disabled to get out and visit family and friends.  He listed requirements he thought were necessary to operate a golf cart...valid driver's license, horn and backup beeper, headlights, taillights, turn signals, flashing lights, speedometer, seatbelts and establish roads that are permitted for use.

Alderman Bateman was concerned about the golf carts crossing 5th Street Road and Woodlawn/Keokuk.

Chief Adams said there is no statute to prevent golf carts on the street, it's just up to the Council to allow it.

Swearing In- Paul Adams Chief of Police, Walt Landers Street Superintendent, Wes Woodhall Building & Safety Official.

City Attorney Hoblit swore in Paul Adams Chief of Police, Walt Landers Street Superintendent, Wes Woodhall  Building & Safety Official

L. Keeley Construction, Union Street Pump Station- Work Directive Change Order No. 2.

The contractor made 7-foot-wide cuts into the street between 8th & 11th St. When they came to an intersection, the cut would need to widen out to 14 feet due to the manhole.  During construction, there have been some water leaks discovered.  Illinois American Water came in and repaired the leaks, then creating 10-foot cuts. Superintendent Landers, Alderman Fleshman and Sewer Project Manager Andrew Bowns felt a more uniform cut of 14 feet wide down that entire section of road would be a better surface for traffic to drive on.   In the next few years, several sections of sidewalks will need to be updated to meet ADA requirements.  Once that is completed, the entire road between 81h & 111h will be micro surfaced to match the rest of Union St.

The contractor made cuts according to the plans, the City would like to make this change.

Veolia CPI Increase

This is a contractual increase of 3.24% that has been budgeted for in the FY 21/22 budget. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Request for Special Use Permit at 410 Keokuk

The Planning Commission met last week to vote on a special use permit for a new standalone restaurant next to Jimmy Johns.   The Planning Commission unanimously passed the request.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Ordinance removing Section 6-4-16 of Lincoln City Code "Intoxication".

Currently in the City Code, there is a section for Intoxication. Having reviewed the state statute, the fine of intoxication falls into the Substance Abuse Treatment Act 201LCS 301/55-15. The statute states that no municipality shall have codes on the books where the sole fine would be intoxication. This does not prevent the Police from siting fines/offences for acts done while intoxicated.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Request to Permit: Lincoln Park District 9.11K run to Commemorate 20th year of 9-11. Race to begin 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, September 11, 2021.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Request to Permit: Lincoln Community High School Homecoming Parade Friday, October 1, 2021 at 2:30 p.m.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Request to Permit: Diversity & Inclusion Commission, street closure in honor of Juneteenth on Saturday, June 19, 2021.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Proclamation - June 19, 2021 as Juneteenth Day

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Agreement between Logan County and City of Lincoln regarding Animal Control. Logan County Animal Control is having staffing issues. They informed the City that there wouldn't  be any staffing coverage for Memorial Day weekend.   During that conversation, contract renewal was brought up.  Due to the staffing issues, Logan County Animal Control will not be renewing the same contract with the city. They are doing this with all municipalities.

Contract changes that they propose...

Removing language for barking dogs, reducing the contract amount from $48,000 to $42,000, and renewing monthly instead of annually.  Because this was not received in time to bring before the council in May, Animal Control will charge the city $200 per incident for the month of June 2021 with the contract changes taking effect July 1, 2021.  Beginning July 1st, the cost will be $3500/month.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral appointment to the Diversity & Inclusion Commission, Alderman Sam Downs and Jennifer Hunt.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral appointment to the Fire & Police Commission, Eric Egnew, Cliff Marble and Jeff Hoinacki.

Eric Egnew will stay as an appointment; however, the other two spots will need to be discussed further to have the same number of republicans and democrats on the Commission.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral appointment to the Lincoln Planning Commission, Morris Trent

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral re-appointment to the Lincoln Planning Commission, Dean Colby and Lori Bleess.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral re-appointment to the Zoning Board of Appeals, Gene Mehan. 

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral appointment of Tony Zurkammer to the Lincoln Liquor Commission.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral re-appointment of Aimee Galvin and Cynthia Karr to the Historic Preservation Commission.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Item not on the agenda:

Mayoral appointment of Alderwoman Wanda Rohlfs to the Economic Development Grant Commission

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Announcements:

• City Attorney Hoblit has drafted an ordinance for the purchase of property passed at the previous voting He requests that the ordinance be placed on the next voting meeting. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
• Two applications for Economic Development Grants were received and approved by the Cafe' Billiards was for a structural improvement grant in the amount of $7,500.  Lincoln Women's Club was for a facade grant in the amount of $4,250. Both will be placed on the regular agenda.

• CSO Payment #9 will be placed on the regular There was a slight increase in the amount. The vendor is for Plocher Construction.
• BIRD electric scooters did a soft launch and needed to address staffing There is now a new fleet manager and they plan to relaunch on May 281h.
• Reminder that there isn't a meeting next week

• 3rd Friday's was a major success
• Alderman Hoefle and Alderwoman Horn would like to hear from the residents in the Mayfair edition in regards to speeding in the area of the Allison and Maywood intersection so that they can reach out to the proper people and address a potential
• Great turnout at the Mill Museum
• Up in Smoke event will be the weekend of the Balloons over Dock Dogs will be back as well.

Adjournment:

There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Fleshman motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Hoefle. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 8:29 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted by:

Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary