Council Minutes

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

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

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

 

The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by Mayor Tracy Welch at 7:06 p.m., with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.

Present:

Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1

Vacant, 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 Horn, Ward 4

Alderman Rick Hoefle, Ward 4

Staff Present:

Peggy Bateman, City Clerk

Chuck Conzo, City Treasurer

John Hoblit, City Attorney

Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief

Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent

Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager

Remotely:

Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer

Absent:

Matt Vlahovich, Police Chief

Presiding:

Mayor Tracy Welch

 

Public Comment:

There is no one present for public comment.

Jennifer Hunt- Juneteenth, respective events and make a request for funds from the City. The Juneteenth Festival will be held at Scully Park on June 19, 2022. This will be the 3rd annual celebration. The event was completing self-funded the 1st year. The festival continues to grow in attendance, bringing people in from outside of the community.  The Juneteenth Festival Committee is requesting $10,000 from the city in support of their event.  This request came after their committee recently learned of the city's donation to other local festivals.  A budget will be provided to the council if requested.

Alderwoman Rohlfs would like the Council to have a policy in place to follow when these types of requests come before the Council.

 

Alderman Hoefle asked how many people were expected to attend. Ms. Harris said they expect 250- 500 people. The event will be free to all attendees. Activities include bounce houses, hot dogs, snow cones, books, entertainment, and motivational speakers.  They hope to also have fireworks.

ARPA funds may be an option, but the ARPA rules will need to be reviewed. Tourism has 2-3 grants available. Ms. Harris was encouraged to reach out to them for assistance as well.

Ms. Harris will provide a budget to the City Clerk before the next COW meeting.  This item will be brought back to the next COW.

Kelsey Edwards-Pride, respective events and make a request for funds from the City.

The Pride Celebration will be on June 25, 2022 at the Logan County Fairgrounds.  It is an event to celebrate the LGBTQ community.  There will be vendors, face painting, education, and health resources.  Last year was the 1st event held in Lincoln and was funded through a Go Fund Me account on Facebook.  Last year's attendance was around 200 people.  Pride is requesting $3,500 from the city.  A budget proposal has already been provided to the mayor.

There was discussion among the council for the desire to possibly forward more funds to Tourism so that all of these funding/donation requests have to go through Tourism.

This item will be brought back to the next COW.

Request to Permit with Street Closure: Lincoln Railsplitter Antique Auto Club.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Block Party Application- John & Diane Cisco, Tom & Beth Kavelman Saturday June 4, 2022. Discussion among the council was had for insurance coverage in case of injury or other possible situations.

Clarification is needed to verify which roads are needed to close off, where the fire pit will be, if alcohol is involved and how they plan to secure the tent to the street.  There is also confusion as why there needs to be 2 blocks.  Alderwoman Rohlfs will contact the applicants.  Superintendent Landers requested that Alderwoman Rohlfs reach out to him and both Police and Fire Chiefs for review before the next COW.

This item will be brought back to a future COW.

Proposal for Audit Services to the City of Lincoln from Estes, Bridgewater & Ogden. Fiscal years ending April 30, 2022 and April 30, 2023 and will not exceed $24,800.00 for each year. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Capital Expenditures for F.Y. 2022/2023 for Lincoln Fire Department.

Discussions for these expenditures were had during budget discussions with the Budget Committee. Chief Dunovsky stated that there are significant savings if these purchases are done prior to May 1, 2022. The savings would total $6,675.00.  The items will be air packs, additional harnesses for HAZMAT and RIT teams, extra air bottles, and a 2nd set of rescue equipment.  A few of the items being replaced will be eligible for Surplus to recoup some of the money.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Discussion regarding Engineering for the City of Lincoln.

 

Superintendent Landers asked for feedback to the memo he had added to the packet regarding this item.  Mr. Landers' recommendation is to continue with Farnsworth for the maintenance, resurfacing and sidewalk improvements for the next fiscal year.  Other projects that will begin soon may be sent out for RFP to include other firms.

There was concern within the council of Farnsworth's history of needing to come to the council for more money when issues arise during projects.   Mr. Landers stated that they have also come in way under budget on many occasions as well.  He also stated that it is too late in the year to go out for RFP for engineering for FY 22/23.  The Street Department is closing out the current MFT and will begin discussions for FY 22/23 MFT in the next week or two.  He suggested if the council wishes to go out

for RPF, that they begin that process in January.  He will remind the council in January 2023. Using Farnsworth for FY 22/23 MFT program will be placed on the regular agenda.

RFP for City Hall Window Replacement.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Ordinance authorizing the sale of City Property.

The item pertains to the Kickapoo St Garage on Kickapoo St.

If the city decides to sell the property as a demoed property, the cost will be approx. $23,500 to demo. There was also $20,000 spent to remediate the asbestos a few years ago.  A Minimum bid of $40,000 would be needed to recoup the money.  It was also discussed to sell the property as is, with a minimum bid of $25,000 for asbestos remediation, and let the new owner decide what to do with the building.

City Attorney John Hoblit will create an ordinance to sell the property as is with a minimum bid of

$25,000 along with a stipulation that the payment drop boxes must remain.  It was added later in the meeting that there be a requirement that the building be demoed or improved within 2 years of purchase.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Logan County's request to stage material at 716 Broadway Street for the Court House Restoration.

This portion of the restoration will last 16-18 months.  The parking spaces for the fireman will still need to be available to the fire dept. only. The city requests the lot be put back to how it was initially.  There was also concern with how the aerial fire truck would exit the Hamilton St garage.  There will be some fencing put up around the stored equipment.  The area inside the fence will be maintained and policed by the Restoration Company.

There will be an intergovernmental agreement to clear up the details. This item will be brought back to the next COW.

Discussion of Budget F.Y. 2022/2023.

The budget will be reviewed by the council and discussed at the next meeting.

Announcements:

  • Andrew Bowns advises all citizens to NOT USE flushable wipes. The package may say they are flushable, but they are There have been a few major incidences recently that these have been the cause of.
  • An email was sent from City Clerk Bateman to the Council regarding our new IT person, Eric Mr. Notto has done an excellent job thus far. He was asked to put together a proposal and has provided one. The amount is $18,720.00.  One notable task he has, is adding an extra layer of protection to certain systems that are used.  That comes as a mandate from the City's liability insurance provider.  This item will be placed on the regular agenda.  These funds will come out of the FY22/23 budget.
  • The 2nd Veteran's Tiny Home will begin this
  • Alderman Zurkammer congratulated Becca Heitzig from LCHS on her recent win of the 300-meter
  • Per request, City Clerk Bateman reached out to the software company and inquired about an ACH and credit card payment option for sewer The annual cost for this service will be $3,179.22. The city currently absorbs the credit card fee for sewer payments because the fee is minimal. This new service will have a higher credit card fee that the city may not want to absorb. This will also include electronic billing for sewer bills. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
  • Today is Vietnam Veteran's Please take a moment of silence for those that fought and those that did not come home.

 

Adjournment:

There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Hoelfe motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderwoman Rohlfs. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 9:53 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

 

cityhall smallCity of Lincoln

City Hall
700 Broadway Street
Lincoln, Illinois 62656

(217)735-2815

 

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