COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

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

Tuesday, January 11,2022

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:

Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1

Alderman Greg Miller, Ward 1

Alderman Tony Zurkammer, Ward 2

Alderman Sam Downs, Ward 2

Alderman Kevin Bateman, Ward 3

Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Ward 3

Alderwoman Kathy Hom, Ward 4

Alderman Rick Hoefle, Ward 4

Staff Present:

Peggy Bateman, City Clerk

Chuck Conzo, City Treasurer

John Hoblit, City Attorney

Matt Vlahovich, Police Chief

Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief

Remotely:

Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent

Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer

Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager

Absent: Presiding:

Mayor Tracy Welch

Public Comment:

There was no one present for public comment.

Swearing in of Nicholas Davis • Fire Inspector

City Attorney Hoblit swore in Nicholas Davis as Fire Inspector

Approval of bid from Harold Goodman, Inc. for the demolition, removal and clearing of property at 1431Tremont Street.

This property was put out for bid with Harold Goodman Inc. coming in with the lowest bid of $6,900.00. Bryne's bid was $7,800.00 and Goodman Excavating was $8,720.00.

Alderman Rohlfs asked the City Treasurer for a year to date total for this type of work. The City Treasurer did not have those figures in front of him, however Building and Safety Official Woodhall shared that there has been only a few hundred dollars spent out of this line and that was for the bug issue at this property.  There was also the expense for brush removal from this property.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Resolution to Abolish the Civil Service Commission.

The appropriate way to go about this item, according to City Attorney Hoblit, is to receive signatures of 1/8 of the voters that voted in the last municipal election. There were 580 voters in the last municipal election, so a minimum of 73 signatures will need to be obtained.  City Attorney suggested getting more signatures than the 73. Once the council approves this resolution and the signatures are received,

there will be a court order obtained to have this put on the next municipal election ballot.

This item will be reworded to say Resolution supporting and creating a Committee to gather signatures to Petition the Court to put the matter of the abolition of the Civil Service on the upcoming ballot and placed on the regular agenda

Ordinance Authorizing and Approving Balance Transfer from the Sewer O&M Account to the General Fund.

City Attorney Hoblit stated that this will be two ordinances.

This item is being brought forward because the City of Lincoln has received a citation from the Illinois EPA.  The City needs to remove several piles of waste from City property and is under a strict timeline to do so.  To cover the cost, there will need to be funds transferred which is covered in the state statute and written in the ordinance.  The City would then make payments back to itself to repay the funds to the original line.

The second ordinance is giving the Mayor the authority to sign documents and enter into an agreement to begin the removal of the piles.

Both items will be placed on the regular agenda.

Discussion on Request to Permit.

After the last discussion on this item, Alderman Bateman brought back to the Council two separate request to permit applications.

One would be for an application for modified flow of traffic, not a street closure, and would still need to go in front of the council for a vote.

The second would be for just a request to use city property such as parking spaces. This permit would be reviewed and approved by the Street, Fire and Police departments. This permit will also require the approval from adjacent businesses/residences that may be affected by the event.

The previous application had a four day approval time frame. That language has been removed and the applicant will have to allow enough time before their event for approval.

There was discussion on the vagueness of the applications.

The council wishes to move forward with a vote. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Announcements:

• A memo will be going out this week regarding the closure of the Landscape Waste There are a couple projects beginning on the property and the facility is generally slow this time of year. It should reopen in the early spring.

Adjournment:

There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Hoelfe motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Downs. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 8:07 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted By:

Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary