Report

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

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

Tuesday, April 12, 2022 

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:

Vacant, Ward 1

Alderman Steve Parrott, 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

Matt Vlahovich, Police Chief

Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief

Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent

Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager

Remotely:

Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer

Absent:

 

Presiding:

Mayor Tracy Welch 

Public Comment:

Terry Carlton was present to address the council regarding funding special events. He cautioned the council to not open the door to this matter. It could lead to legal issues for the city down the road. He stated that as a governing body, the council doesn't have the right to distinguish who or what they support.

Request to Permit- Lincoln Park District SK run Saturday, August 27, 2022 at 8:00 a.m.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Request to Permit - Lincoln Community High School Senior Parade Saturday, May 7, 2022 at 5:00 p.m.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

 

Request to Permit• Lincoln Community High School Grand March Saturday, April 30, 2022 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Request to Permit- City of Lincoln Downtown 3n1 Friday's May 201 h, June 17th, July 15111 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Proclamation - Arbor Day Celebration

Mayor Welch read the Proclamation.

This will be the City of Lincoln's 2P1 year as a Tree City USA. A press release will be sent out soon for Arbor Day and a tree planting event.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Resolution approving certain content of Executive Session Meeting Minutes of the City of Lincoln

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Plocher Construction Company pay estimate #20 for CSO Project in the amount of $14,250.00

This pay app brings the projects to 99.9% completion. At this point the contractor is waiting on material shipments.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayoral appointment of Rob Jones to Alderman Ward 1.

This item will be moved to an Executive Session.

Two items added to tonight's agenda by Mayor Welch.

  1. The mayoral appointment of Ashley Metelko, Administrative Assistant, to the Lincoln Economic Grant Commission.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda,

2.  Vacating a portion of State Street.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Agreement between City of Lincoln and International Union of Operating Engineers Local 399-4 year contract May 1, 2022 • April 30, 2026.

The contract has been agreed upon and will be reviewed by legal counsel. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Jennifer Hunt • Juneteenth

Jeannette Harris - Chair for Diversity and Inclusion Commission Jessica Jackson - Hunt for Foundation

Adam Quinne - Commission member of Diversity and Inclusion

Ms. Harris shared that the Juneteenth Celebration is similar to other local festivals however is unique because it celebrates a National Holiday.

Per request from the Council, Ms. Harris reached out to Tourism and has submitted an application for funding through them. The Juneteenth Committee is also seeking sponsors and donations from other avenues.

 

APRA funds and their use must be approved by the State. Funds to be used for these events may only go towards events that were established prior to COVID and have been impacted by COVID.

The Juneteenth organization is requesting $10,000. This is a free event to attendees. The budget that was submitted to the council had a total amount of $16,000. $3,000 was budgeted for fireworks, which is unlikely to happen in town, bringing the budget amount to $13,000. By approving $10,000 for Juneteenth, the city would be funding almost the entire event. The council couldn't justify that. The council would like organizations to be self-funded and self-sufficient.

The sponsorship amount of $2500 for the Juneteenth Festival will be placed on the regular agenda.

Taylor Lyon - Pride

The Pride organization is requesting $3,500.00 in sponsorships.

Ms. Lyon explained that a monitory request is not always for the purpose of helping financially, but to show that the LGBTQ community is accepted in the City of Lincoln and by the Council.

Pride has received a few donations. One being $3,000 from Lincoln Memorial Hospital.

The sponsorship amount of $1,000 for the Pride Celebration will be placed on the regular agenda.

The City Council broke for a short break, 9:10pm - 9:18pm, before moving on to the last agenda item.

 

City of Lincoln Budget F.Y. 2022/2023

The Budget Committee consisted of Alderman Hoefle, Alderwoman Horn, and Treasurer Conzo. A draft was sent to the Council.

Treasurer Conzo went over lines that he felt needed explained or possibly needed adjusted. General Fund

Fuel lines across Police, Fire and Street & Alley departments will need to be increased due to the increase of gas.

Water lines will also need increased due to the cost increase.

Superintendent Landers requested that he'd like to add an additional labor employee to his staff. This would bring his total to 1O employees. He plans to replace a retired employee in August 2022 as well. The additional employee would add approx. $33,000 to the salary-hourly line in his budget. That amount does not include health ins., IMRF or Social Security contribution. The highest paid employee that just retired will free up $23,000 is wages to put towards the new employee. Alderman Bateman suggested lowering the attorney fee line by $5,000 to also help.

Fire Chief Dunovsky shared with the council that the fire truck that is currently in Wisconsin getting frame repairs will need some additional repairs that will prolong the life of the truck. The chief had just received the repairs list today. He will need to go over the list with the mechanic. He also said the cost could be handled in appropriations.

Motor Fuel Tax

Treasurer Conzo suggested watching the revenue projections due to the gasoline price increase and fewer gallons of gas being purchased.

 

GO Bond

A new GO Bond will be issued in Dec 2022/Jan 2023 for $500,000. There is currently $140,000 left in the current bond. A portion of the bond will be put towards a new end loader for the Street Department.

Sewer

Treasurer Conzo asked for direction from the Council regarding the loan that the council approved in the amount of up to $1,000,000 that was transferred from Sewer Enterprise Fund to the General Fund. This discussion will happen in Executive Session. As of now the money will stay where it is.

Hotel/Motel Tax

Sponsorships are in line with previous years.

Mayor Welch asked the council to consider raising the sponsorship line for the Genealogical Organization from $750 to $1500 due to their recent fire. This will not be a recurring increase.

Discussion was had to transfer more hotel/motel tax funds to Tourism so that requests for event funding/sponsorship will need to go through Tourism for approval. There were mixed responses to this. At this time, the current amount of funds to Tourism will the same and a discussion will be had at a later date for possible changes.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Announcements:

  • Habitat for Humanity will have a groundbreaking ceremony for their 2nd  home on Sunday, April 24 at2:30 pm. The address is 330 4th St. 
  • LTEC will be opening sealed bids for the purchase of 201 9thSt on Friday, May 13th at 9:00am.  Minimum bid is $185,000. A walk through can be done on Thursday, May 5th.
  • City of Lincoln Recycling Event - April 18th - 22nd at the LMSB 8am -


Executive Session
I 2C3 Selection of a person to fill public office: 

There being no further announcements to come before the council, Alderman Hoefle made a motion to move into Executive Session, seconded by Alderwoman Horn. City Clerk Bateman called the roll.

Present:

Vacant, Ward 1

Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1

Alderman Tony Zurkammer, 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

Yeas: (7) Alderman Tony Zurkammer, Alderman Sam Downs, Alderwoman Wanda Rohlfs, Alderman Kevin Bateman, Alderman Rick Hoelfe, Alderwoman Kathy Horn, Alderman Steve Parrott

Nays: (0)

Abstain: (0)

Absent: (0)

 

The council recessed from the meeting at 10:13 pm in order to enter into Executive Session. Mayor Welch announced there would be no further city business conducted upon reconvening.

 

 

Return from Executive Session:

The council reconvened from Executive Session at 10:28 pm in order to reconvene the Committee of the Whole meeting. Roll call was taken.

Present:

Vacant, Ward 1

Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1

Alderman Tony Zurkammer, 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

 

Adjournment:

 

There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Hoelfe motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Zurkammer. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 10:29 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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City Clerk
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Building and Safety
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