Report

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

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

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by Mayor Tracy Welch at 7:04 p.m., with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.

Present:

Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1

Alderman Greg Miller, Ward 1

Alderman Ron Fleshman, Ward 2

Alderman Sam Downs, Ward 2

Alderman Kevin Bateman, Ward 3

Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Ward 3

Alderwoman Kathy Horn, Ward 4

Alderman Rick Hoefle, Ward 4

Staff Present:

Peggy Bateman, City Clerk

Chuck Conzo, City Treasurer

Remotely:

John Hoblit, City Attorney

Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief

Matt Vlahovich, Deputy Police Chief

Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent

Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer

Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager

Absent:

Paul Adams, Police Chief

Presiding:

Mayor Tracy Welch

Public Comment:

There is no one present for public comment.

Christy Crites from CMT gave updates on items 4-8

Crawford, Murphy & Tilley invoice for Lincoln Phosphorus Removal Feasibility Plan and Optimization Plan for the Waste Water Treatment Plant in the amount of $7,765.00

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Crawford, Murphy & Tilley invoice for the CSO Improvement Construction Phase in the amount of $29,443.52

Standard monthly fee for the project. Completion is anticipated to be done by end of year. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

 

Crawford, Murphy & Tilley invoice for the Union Street Pump Station in the amount of $14,865.68

L. Keeley is anticipating being done in October. There is one more round of pavement restoration. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Plocher Construction Pay Application #13 for the CSO Project in the amount of $471,306.11 Working on replacing mechanisms on the final two clarifiers.  Working on bringing up the new headwords building.  These are the last two major components that had not been started.  Would also like to be wrapped up by the end of the year.  Concrete is also being poured across the bridge.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

L. Keeley Construction Pay Application #6 for the Union Street Pump Station in the amount of $627,313.13

This is for the paving restorations done last month and for the continued efforts at the Union Street Pump Stations. This also includes the additional lateral tie ends.

With 30% principal forgiveness, the approx. total spent overall is around $12.5 million. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Becky Strait and Don Peasley with Lincoln Park District - Request of ownerships of City Parks to the Lincoln Park Districts. City Parks consist of 8th Street Lot, Allison Park, Melrose Park, Ray White Park, Postville Park

Becky Strait displayed a slideshow of the Park Districts history and current and future plans. There is some public confusion as to who is responsible for what parks in Lincoln and also liability. If the Park District owns the parks, they have the ability to apply for grants and match the taxpayer funds, dollar for dollar, they plan to invest in projects with grant funds. This would also free up city funds for other projects.

Ms. Strait also went over community surveys the park district had done in the past.72% of responses said that playground equipment is outdated and needs to be replaced. 90% of responses chose outdoor use as a preferred pastime. The top reason people do not participate in recreational activities is lack of money. The top reasons people travel out of town for activities is for a splash pad, dog parks and skate parks. 99% of responses would maybe or definitely support the transfer of ownership.

According to Ms. Strait property taxes will not increase with transfer of ownership. The park district already has their tax base funded for capital projects through property taxes. Projects will not only be completed if grants are approved. The park district code makes it almost impossible for the park district to sell the parks, and they would not want to.

Alderman Bateman would like to transfer ownership of one park to the Park District and see how it is developed. He'd like to start with the empty lot on 8th St.

Alderman Hoefle suggested leasing the parks to the Park District.  Ms. Strait and Mr. Peasley would need to check with their board to see if leasing would meet the parameters of the grants.

Alderman Downs suggested entering an intergovernmental agreement stating the parks revert back to the City should the park district not get them updated by a certain time.

Mayor Welch will assign two Alderman to work with the park district on an agreement and will be brought back to a later COW.

 

Bid opening- Lot 127 and the East Half of Lot 128, in the Plat of Lincoln Hill, now a part of the City of Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois. Tax l.D. No. 12-35-128-00, known as 618 4th Street.

One bid was received, for this property, by the Clerk's office on Aug 30th 2021 at 10:45am.  Mayor Welch opened the sealed bid.  The bid came from Darrell VanCleve and Darrell Clutter for $900. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral appointment of Alderman Greg Miller to the Economic Development Commission

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Request to Permit: LCHS Football Boosters and Parents permission to white wash Wyatt Ave. and Primm Road for Homecoming on September 30, 2021 and decorate Wyatt Ave Island for Homecoming.

Superintendent Landers wanted the Council to be aware that Wyatt Ave will be newly resurfaced.  He also wants to make sure the decorations are taken down by the Monday following Homecoming.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Request to Permit: Mission Church of God to block 4 parking spots on east side of 200 block of Mclean Street Monday September 13, 2021 from 3-6 for drive through Mostaccioli Dinner

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Proclamation - Remembrance Day September 11, 2021

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Proclamation - Constitution Week September 17-23, 2021

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Ordinance Creating Section 9-15 of Lincoln City Code "Non-Highway Vehicles-Golf Carts"

There is interest by constituents that UTVs be allowed and added to this ordinance.

The group of Alderman working on this item plans to reach out to IDOT to obtain allowance/variances for the state routes that currently do not allow golf carts.

City Attorney Hoblit suggests adding provisions under penalties for people who disobey the ordinance. The permit applications should be picked up at the Clerk's office not the Police Department.

UTVs will not be added to this item at this time. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Items discussed but not on tonight's agenda....

Chief Dunovsky went over 2 items that he needs added to next week's regular agenda.

  1. The cost of the SCBA project equipment from AEC Fire Equipment will increase $31,000 in Oct due to The cost of this project has been budgeted for. He'd like the council to approve the purchase now at the lower price.
  2. Chief Dunovsky received a letter of resignation from a current He'd like permission from the council to hire a hire a new firefighter off the current hiring list.

Mayor Welch sent out a memo regarding parking in the downtown area overnight.

Currently there is no parking around the square from 2am to 5am.  The reason for the no parking is so that the street sweeper can come in overnight and sweep.

 

There was a photo included in the memo of three parking spaces where tenants of the upstairs apartments are getting parking tickets overnight. Mayor Welch requests that the council remove the parking ban for these three spaces.

A letter is being drafted to explain the ordinance to downtown tenants. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Announcements:

  • Alderman Hoefle urges everyone to go to the Legion to view the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
  • Mayor Welch thanked everyone involved for the 9/11 tribute
  • The Kings organization asked the City officials to play a game of kickball with them It went over very well.
  • 5th St Road Update: Currently down to 4 parcels to One parcel is involved in an estate. The request to shift funds from the parcel acquisitions side over to the engineering side. The request is still pending.  The city's IDOT representative will reach back out to the Comptroller.

Adjournment:

 

There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Bateman, motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Hoefle. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 9:45 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)

 

 211

Contact Information

 

cityhall smallCity of Lincoln

City Hall
700 Broadway Street
Lincoln, Illinois 62656

(217)735-2815

 

Legal Disclaimer

Mayor
(217)735-1612
 
Administrative Assistant
(217)732-2122
 
City Clerk
(217)735-2815
 
Building and Safety
(217)732-6318
 
Street and Alley
(217)732-4655
 
Waste Water Treatment
(217)732-4030
 
Fire Department
(217)735-4020
 
Police Department
(217)732-2151