COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

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

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

 

The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by Mayor Tracy Welch at 7:02 p.m., with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.

Present:

Alderman Rob Jones, 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

Matt Vlahovich, Police Chief

Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief

Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent

Remotely:

Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer

Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager

Absent:

John Hoblit, City Attorney

Presiding:

Mayor Tracy Welch


Public Comment: 

Whitney Profit was present to address the council and asked why no one seconded the motion for the Juneteenth and Pride funding/sponsorship items at the previous voting meeting. Ms. Profit would have liked the Council to have had an official vote on the items, not silence.

Alderman Bateman said he was going to abstain from voting due a conflict of interest since he represents another organization that received ARPA funds.

Alderman Zurkammer and Alderman Hoefle both said that they do not motion or 2nd on an item that they plan to not vote in favor of.

Alice Roate - Logan County Tourism 1st Quarter Report 2022.

Hotel/Motel Tax Income - $44,000

Quarterly Revenues up 77% compared to 2021.

 

Grants Received - $5000 from DECO

Advertising efforts - Digital Marketing and Route 66 Passport

118 people stopped in with Tourism related inquiries at the office, 25 had Route 66 passports The Mill Museum reopened April 5th

Request to Permit with Street Closure - Mill Museum fundraiser Saturday, June 18, 2022 from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

This will be a cruise in. The fundraiser will go towards a patio at the Mill. This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Request to Permit with Street Closure -Alley - Bi Saloon 40th Anniversary Saturday, May 14, 2022.

This item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Advise and Consent to the Mayoral appointment of Erick Struck to the Diversity & Inclusion Commission.

Mr. Struck came to Lincoln recently for work at Cresco Labs. He feels strongly in support of the LGBTQ group and hopes to bring more acceptance to them.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Revised Block Party Application.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Resolution Establishing Salaries and/or Pay Increases for the City of Lincoln Effective May 1, 2022.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Agreement between City of Lincoln and Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 208- 4 year contract May 1, 2022 -April 30, 2026.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Agreement between City of Lincoln and International Association of Fire Fighters Local 3092 - 4 year Contract May 1, 2022 -April 30, 2026.

This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

City of Lincoln to Quick Claim Deed 1017 Tremont Street to Habitat for Humanity.

This will be a remodel for Habitat for Humanity not a new build. This item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Revision of Tourism Funding.

Alderman Hoefle would like to leave $10,000 in the Hotel/Motel Fund and transfer the rest to Tourism. Alderman Downs would like a list of expenditures from the Hotel/Motel Fund

Alderman Bateman is not in favor of transferring more money to Tourism. He'd also like more organized direction in how the H/M funds are spent.

Currently the pass through to Tourism is set at 95% of what revenue is taken in.

There is interest from the council members to keep the pass through the same and also interest to change it. Alderman Hoefle will have a discussion with Tourism to get their thoughts. This item may be brought back to a future COW. Alderman Zurkammer and Alderman Bateman will work on specific direction for expenditures for the Hotel/Motel funds.

Additional Items brought before the Council:

 

Juneteenth Celebration request

Alderman Downs shared with the council that he has had numerous conversations in the last week with residents that have a lot of passion in seeing the Juneteenth and Pride organizations receive sponsorship/donations funds from the City. He also spoke with both organizations. Pride has decided that even if the council would revisit their request, they would not accept the money.

Alderman Downs would like to add the request for $2500 for the Juneteenth Celebration from the Hotel/Motel Tax funds to next week's regular agenda. The council agreed.

City Hall hours of operation change

City Hall would like to change their hours from 9-5 to 8:30-4:30. These hours will align with the County Courthouse. The Council does not need to vote on this as it is not codified in the City Code. Mayor Welch just wanted the support of the council.

Announcements:

  • 3rd St Cleanup update: The project is currently at a brief They are waiting for a piece of oversized equipment to come from Chicago. The project should be wrapping up in early to mid­ July.
  • Aggregation: There will be a letter sent out soon for electrical aggregation from Stone River Group. The bid is .07859 for the next three Ameren's rate will be .0946. You will need to sign the opt out form that is enclosed. You cannot reenroll in the aggregation for a year after opting out. The city does not benefit from the aggregation. It is strictly beneficial to the consumer.
  • There is a tree planting ceremony in recognition of Arbor Day on Thursday, April 28th at 10am at the Lincoln Municipal Services Building on Limit Street. The public is welcome to
  • Mayor Welch attended an event at There were $110,000 in donations presented to several area organizations.
  • Jennifer Hunt was called upon by Mayor Welch to address the She asked the council to do their research prior to the vote that will be done at the next regular voting meeting for the

Juneteenth Festival. She also asked them to reach out to the organizers with questions. She would address the council next week to clear up any inaccuracies.

 

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 9:31 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted By:

Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary