COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
Lincoln City Hall, Council Chambers
700 Broadway Street | Lincoln, Illinois
Tuesday, March 14, 2023
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:
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
Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent
Bob Dunovsky, Fire Chief
Joe Meister, Police Chief
Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager
Remotely:
John Hoblit, City Attorney
Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer
Presiding:
Mayor Tracy Welch
Public Comment:
There is no one present for public comment.
Sara Harvey, Liberty Canady, and Cassie Everson with Christian Child Care to raise Community awareness about a National Celebration sponsored by NAEYC.
In Early Childhood the week of April 3 – 7 is called ‘The week of the young child’. Staff from Christian Child Care wants to raise awareness, in the community, about the importance of education and care in the early years of every child. The staff invited each council member to stop by their facility during that week to volunteer for certain activities and cook/sell sandwiches at a fundraiser on 4/15. A proclamation is also requested and was submitted in the packets.
The proclamation will be created.
Proclamation for the 50th Anniversary of the Vietnam War.
This item will be read before next week’s vote.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Appointment of James Abbott to the Historic Preservation Commission.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Request to permit – Road Closure for Lincoln Community High School Grand March on Saturday, April 29, 2023.
This item will be placed on the consent agenda.
Approval of renewal with Principal for employee Dental and Life Insurance effective May 1, 2023.
No change in cost of life insurance. Dental insurance increased 5.4%.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Extension of Lincoln Speedway race times.
The four nights that will have extended hours (extra 30 minutes, until 10:30pm) are May 11, June 25, July 29 & 30.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Notto Technology & Consulting LLC – IT contract for the City of Lincoln effective May 1, 2023.
The contract is for $66,000 per year. This amount is based on what he has done in the last year. All department heads weighed in on the amount of work and the level of professionalism that Mr. Notto does/has.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Purchase of a 2023 John Deere Gator XUV835M UTV.
This piece of equipment will be used to treat the parks, dog park and with downtown events. Safety grant money will pay for a portion of this, the remaining will be paid out of the line Street Department vehicles. It will be ordered with the additions to be street legal according to the ordinance.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
New Street Department employee.
There are currently nine full time employees at the Street Department. Mr. Landers is asking to add a tenth employee. He included in the agenda packet, the cost of salary and benefits.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
City Engineer – Request for proposals review.
The committee consisted of Alderman Downs, Alderman Jones, Mayor Welch, Superintendent Landers, Veolia Project Manager Andrew Bowns, Building & Safety Official Woodhall. Mr. Bowns compiled the questionnaire and grading/scoring system for proposal reviews and Engineer Firm interviews.
Discussion was had regarding the grading/scoring. Farnsworth scored the highest followed by Crawford Murphy and Tilly (CMT). Grading was based strictly on what the firms submitted. The committee was fair and impartial.
EMC did not feel they could provide the City with everything we need. They would like to be considered as a one off.
There were concerns with Farnsworth being chosen due to past engineering/construction mistakes on the Municipal Services Building project and unpaid invoices being brought to the city years after the work was done.
There was concern with CMT as an engineer due to the bridge being built rather than finding out if the city owned the road that goes to Lincoln Lakes. If the city owned the road, the Sewer plant would have had access to their property on the other side of the ditch.
Alderman Bateman would like to put a timeline on when invoices must be turned in for payment for any firm.
Superintendent Landers clarified that this contract is for a 2-year term with an option for an additional year. He also thanked the committee for all of their time and work on this process. It was not an easy task.
The council agreed to place CMT on the regular agenda.
Mayor Welch moved on to other items on the agenda.
Announcements:
- Mayor Welch thanked Mr. Bowns and his crew for the extra work done on an emergency case on Elm Street. They worked from 2:45pm – 1am on the matter to make sure residents in that area had functional sewer.
- Alderwoman Rohlfs wanted to remind homeowners that advertising and political signs need to be on their private property not in the right of way.
- The Lincoln Day dinner is Thursday. Alderman Hoefle asked for a council presence.
- American Legion is having a 2nd breakfast this month to support baseball. Also a schnitzel dinner. A catfish dinner at the KCs on Friday.
- The Landscape Waste Facility will reopen on Wednesday, March 22nd. Extended spring hours will be coming soon.
- Alderman Bateman asked Mr. Conzo, Mr. Landers, and Mr. Bowns if it could be found in the budget to build a better shed with indoor plumbing for the attendants at the Landscape Waste facility. They currently only have a porta potty to use.
Adjournment:
There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Hoefle motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Zurkammer. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 9:02 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted by:
Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary
City of Lincoln