COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING
Lincoln Police Department
710 5th Street | Lincoln, Illinois
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
The Committee of the Whole Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by Mayor Tracy Welch at 6:03 p.m., with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.
Present:
Alderwoman Robin McClallen, Ward 1
Alderman Steve Parrott, Ward 1
Alderman David Sanders, Ward 2
Alderman Sam Downs, Ward 2
Alderman Kevin Bateman, Ward 3
Alderwoman Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Ward 3
Alderman Craig Eimer, Ward 4
Alderwoman Rhonda O’Donoghue, Ward 4
Staff Present:
Peggy Bateman, City Clerk
Chuck Conzo, City Treasurer
John Hoblit, City Attorney
Walt Landers, Streets Superintendent
Ty Johnson, Fire Chief
Joe Meister, Police Chief
Andrew Bowns, Veolia Water, Project Manager
Absent:
Wes Woodhall, Building and Safety Officer
Presiding:
Mayor Tracy Welch
Public Participation:
Nancy Carter, Bill Cooper, Tim Wood, and Glenda Allison were all present and addressed the Council regarding sewer lines on Campus View Dr.
Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Work Order #3 amendment, Work Orders #7 & #8.
Work Order #3 – Mill & Overlay targets carried over from last year due to bidding and work on Tremont Engineering
Work Order #7 – Resurfacing covered under the Rebuild Illinois funding
Work Order #8 – Engineering agreement for Tremont Street. Engineering costs will come out of 2024, work should be done in 2025.
These items will be placed on the regular agenda separately.
Proposal for Audit Services from Estes, Bridgewater & Ogden for the City of Lincoln for FY 2023/2024 and FY 2024/2025.
Audit Services for FY 23/24 total $26,500.00 and for FY 24/25 they total $27,200.00.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Economic Development Commission approval for HBC, Hild Brother’s Construction and Remodeling LLC 118 N. McLean Street in the amount of $7,500.00 for structural repairs, tuck pointing, window & door.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Proclamation declaring Heartland Bank and Trust’s Sangamon Branch officially open April 9, 2024.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Proclamation declaring March 2nd for this year, and all years to follow, Lady Railer Basketball Day in Lincoln.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
5th Street Road Intergovernmental Agreement.
This is the agreement that the city has with the county over the last 18 years. The agreement includes funding of approx. $488,000.00. There is one change…there will no longer be curb and gutter for the area west of Connelley Road. It will instead have aggregate shoulder.
This item will be placed on the regular agenda.
Leaf Collection Program Analysis & possible purchase of Leaf Vac.
Mr. Landers put together a lengthy memo for the Council and opened the floor for questions.
Mr. Bowns stated that a Leaf vac would be eligible for purchase with Enterprise sewer funds however he said keep in mind those funds will be tapped for other sewer projects this year.
A Leaf Vac was brought to the Street Dept for a demo. Street Dept staff operated it. A video was taken of the demo and played for the Council.
Discussion was had regarding the expense of labor with the vac vs the current leaf collection. Some agreed the leaf vac would utilize more manpower for longer amount of hours. Some disagreed. The leaf vac would need to operate 90–120 days a year to complete the entire city where now the leaf collection is one day a week for 5-6 weeks.
It was discussed that one machine could not keep up with the size of Lincoln leading to how would the city determine which part of the city would get to utilize this machine and when.
The machine will not be ready until late 2025.
Mr. Landers will get a breakdown of labor cost together and send to the council.
There was not enough interest from the council to add this item to the agenda.
Mayor Welch moved on to other items on the agenda.
Announcements:
- Ribbon cut for the new Mel-O-Crème, Boardroom, Copper & Oak this Friday at noon
- Coffee with the Mayor this Saturday at Guest House. Bowns and Mrs. Rohlfs will also be in attendance.
- There was a memo from GFL explaining a recent bill that some homes received for $1.90. The memo has been posted to the city Facebook page.
- Mayor Welch encourages everyone to look into Sewer line protection.
- The Parade of Champions is scheduled for April 5th.
Adjournment:
There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Eimer motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Downs. All were in favor. Mayor Welch adjourned the meeting at 8:00 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted By:
Charity Hutchison, Recording Secretary