Lincoln, Illinois
City Council Committee's Meeting
April 14, 2009
Minutes of the City of Lincoln City Council Committees' Meeting held in the Council Chambers on Tuesday, April 14, 2009.
Those present were Alderman Anderson, Alderman Armbrust, Alderman Henrichsmeyer, Alderman Hoinacki, Alderman Horn, Alderman Neitzel, Alderman Prather, Alderman Rohlfs, and Alderman Tibbs. Also present were Police Chief Erlenbush, City Engineer Mr. Mathon, EMC Manager Mr. Kitzmiller, Street Superintendent Mr. Jackson, Safety and Building Officer Mr. Last, and Fire Chief Hulett. Also present were City Attorney Mr. Bates, Mayor Davis-Kavelman, City Treasurer Mr. Plotner, City Clerk Mrs. Gehlbach, and Recording Secretary Mrs. Riggs.
Mayor Davis-Kavelman called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. There were nine Aldermen present (Alderman Anderson, Alderman Armbrust, Alderman Henrichsmeyer, Alderman Hoinacki, Alderman Horn, Alderman Neitzel, Alderman Prather (he left at 7:45 p.m.), Alderman Rohlfs, and Alderman Tibbs), and one absent (Alderman Busby).
The Mayor asked for the Committees' Issues to be Presented:
Police:
Chairman Alderman Horn said Mr. Fulscher would you like to come to the microphone.
Mr. Fulscher said there are new faces here from when we started the new 911 contract and also the 2nd part of the $12,000.00 extra this year. He said in 2004 when they started applying for the grants they formed a coalition of people from the Lincoln Police Department Mr. Adams and Rick Bacon from the Sheriff’s Department as well as ETSB and EMA and the jail to get one software. Mr. Adams brought to them that he really liked the New World Software. They did buy the New World Software. A grant from Congressman LaHood paid for the software for the whole safety complex, Sheriff, Lincoln Police Department, jail, 911 all now share the same software. The first year of implementation there was no charge for them. Now completed first year and divided the $36,000.00 for the next six years and that is the addition. After 7 years they will not have to buy another half a million dollar software but it will be updated yearly from the software package. The first two years took over centralized dispatch did not ask for any increase but they will be getting a 2.5% increase and by getting the city’s one third share of the 5% increase that is the maximum they can ask for. He said to please come over and see the new 911 center. He said May 28 all grants anything for preparedness they have to City Council 100% NIMS and the County Board 100% NIMS because these grants for preparedness. Come to the courthouse at 6:00 and it is a free class and you only have to take it once for those that have taken it.
Mayor Davis-Kavelman said it is mandated and very important. Alderman Tibbs said it is a very interesting and she found that the time went very fast.
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Mrs. Gehlbach read a letter from the Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau. Alderman Horn asked to have it on the agenda.
Finance, Policy and Procedure:
Chairman Alderman Anderson said they had some bids to open.
Mrs. Gehlbach opened the following bids:
Lawrence, Travis and Company from Virden, Illinois $18,000.00 with $1,000.00 for the fire pension and $1,000.00 for the police pension and $600.00 out of pocket expenses with the total fee not exceeding $20,600.00.
Estes, Bridgewater & Ogden from Springfield, Illinois with a big for $750.00 for police pension, $750.00 for fire pension and $18,000.00 for the annual audit.
Pritchard Osborne of Litchfield, Illinois for a total amount of $30,000.00
Alderman Anderson said she would like to have a 6:30 p.m. meeting on April 20, 2009. She asked to have on the agenda to vote on that for the evening. She said they were also going to need an adjourned meeting for the 28th.
Mr. Bates said the meeting next Monday night will be adjourned to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 28th.
Alderman Anderson said they will need a special meeting on the 30th to accept the budget for the new fiscal year. Mayor Davis-Kavelman said they normally do it on the last meeting of the month. Alderman Anderson said they would approve the final budget.
Alderman Anderson said the workshop budget meetings that they had for the two Saturdays. If you read the Ordinance it could be classified as a regular meeting that the Council is called as a whole and the department heads are here which would be paid at $75.00. She said it could also be looked at as a special meeting and it could just be looked at as a committee meeting. In the past it was paid as a committee meeting and the Finance Committee were the only ones that were paid. That was how she thought she instructed her to do that pay. It was brought to her attention that was not correct but they went back and that is how it was paid in the past. If no one has any concerns that that is proper then they will just leave it stand.
Alderman Armbrust said he had been paid and was not on the committee.
Alderman Anderson said the office brought to her attention that they have an ordinance that deals with scavengers. They are required to get a license and they have been issuing a sticker that was $10.00.
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Mrs. Gehlbach said the sticker is like $5.00 but the license is $10.00. The city has to pay for the sticker which is $5.00 so in essence all they are making is $5.00.
Alderman Anderson said she wanted to clarify. When they come in and get their license they are paying $10.00 and that includes the sticker. There is nothing in the ordinance that says anything about issuing them a sticker. She said they were having 10-12 of these a year. The last time they looked these up it cost them $300.00 to get the stickers for four years. She wondered if they could get away from issuing these stickers and when they get their license either make up a reduced copy of that, that they could carry either on their dashboard or carry in their vehicles or move from vehicle to vehicle rather than purchasing these stickers. There is also shipping on top of the $300.00.
Mr. Bates said they would have to vote on changing the practice of the office. Alderman Anderson said they would put that on the agenda for Monday. Alderman Tibbs said they have other workers and they should each have these so that you can ask to see that. Mr. Bates said keep in mind these are scavengers not peddlers.
Alderman Anderson said she was reviewing the bond ordinance and they have some discrepancies. She had a list that she passed out and it showed what the current bonds were for each of the officials. She said the City Clerk is currently at $5,000.00 and the Mayor is supposed to $3,000.00 but right now they don’t have one on her. She is trying to get this set up for next year so we can deal with this. The first correct was for our previous Police Chief and that has never been reduced and it needs to be reduced. The Street Superintendent currently has $1,000.00 and the Ordinance reads $3,000.00. The Zoning Officer currently sits at $3,000.00 and the Ordinance reads $1,000.00. The fire Marshal which we refer to as Chief is currently at $2,000.00 and it says $1,000.00. They currently have bonds on the two office staff in the Clerk’s office at $10,000.00 but she didn’t find any ordinance that states that they need to have a bond and asked if it would be covered under liability coverage.
Mr. Bates said he did not know why there was one.
Alderman Anderson said the Fire and Police Commission all the members apparently aren’t. City Clerk is currently $5,000.00 which makes no sense that the Deputy Clerk is at $50,000.00. She thought it should be $50,000.00 if not $100,000.00. They have to get the next Mayor bonded. She said Mr. Bates had done some preliminary work on this and he sent her a preliminary draft some time ago but the more she got to looking at this the more discrepancies. She said the ones they need to have changed are Police Chief, Street Superintendent, Zoning Officer and Fire Marshall. She asked if they wanted them in compliance before they made a change.
Mr. Bates said if the current bonds are not what it is required by the ordinance you can change it right now to conform to the ordinance.
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Mr. Bates said if you want to change the amount of the bond required for anyone that takes an Ordinance. Alderman Anderson said should they proceed with having these correct that are incorrect now and then deal with any ordinance changes.
Everyone agreed to proceed with the changes.
Fire/Water & ESDA:
Vice Chairman Alderman Armbrust said he had a letter from Chief Hulett who had been doing some footwork for our siren on the roof of the building and placing it on Logan County Public Complex property. He asked to have that on the agenda.
Fire Chief Hulett said the architect is the one that advised to get this off the roof and the new siren is ready to go and this is a time sensitive issue and he thanked the County for agreeing to allow us to put it at the complex. He appreciated Attorney Bates office for getting this agreement ready.
Mr. Bates said this issue came up while he was gone last week and Mr. Blinn Bates has put this agreement together and he had a chance to look at it late today. Mr. Fulscher said with the spring storms coming and a site picked was one that would never build on. Fire Chief Hulett said the equipment is purchase per specification and it has battery backup included.
Grounds, Buildings and Local Improvements:
Chairman Alderman Tibbs said she had two things. City Clerk Mrs. Gehlbach read the Route 66 garage sale use of Postville Park. Alderman Tibbs asked to have it on the agenda.
Alderman Tibbs said the other item is discussing the roof. There were three bids and they are going with the quality bid which is from Mt. Zion for $156,190.00 and the alternate that will be added to that along with the 10% contingency. She asked if there were any questions or input. She said the issue is the money.
Mr. Plotner said he came up with $167,590.00. Mr. Bates said if you borrow money you are not going to borrow the contingency amount.
Mr. Mathon said there are unknowns in the work as far as what the sheeting looks like under the roofing or the guttering looks like under the rubber membrane. It is recommended that we allow for 10% overage for work that may have to be done in order to correct deficiencies found in the process.
Mr. Plotner said the $167,590.00 will have to come out of contingency. He suggested they cut a check from the insurance money that they had received in September for roof damage and that amount was over $28,758.00 and make it payable to the roof contractor you select and will vote on Monday night. That will make it in this year’s budget.
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Mr. Plotner said then they suggest borrow $150,000.00 or an amount needed and he guessed that could add up to contingent if you are going to throw that in. If you borrow $150,000.00 over 4 years you need to come up with $41,300.00 each year to pay for that loan. The money to pay back the loan could come several different ways. You could cut $41,300.00 out of this year and they could cut out of the following items in the budget.
Public Grounds and Buildings line 5212 repairs/maintenance $50,000.00 to $40,000.00
Contingent Department Administration 8464 GIS development $15,000.00 to $5,000.00
Fire Department line operations 8425 fire station planning $15,000.00 to $5,000.00
Contingent Administration 6466 cleanup project $10,000.00 to $0.00
The remainder of the money will come from sales tax. That would get you enough money to get the first payment. Hope the tax revenues would increase. Could issue alternate revenue bonds? The sales and use tax this year was budgeted $2,500,000.00 and it should be around $2,630,000.00 and the only thing they don’t have yet is the use tax figure. The sales tax is down about 3%. The recession could be around a little longer. He said IML down 4.6% next year, property tax down 3.7% and teletax is down 9% and income tax have received $1.3M and had not received April’s payment. The CPI index is only 0.1% last year 4.1 or 4.2. Salaries are going up but revenues are not.
Mr. Bates said any motion that is made. Alderman Henrichsmeyer said can we approve to spend money that is not in the budget.
Mr. Bates said any motion to approve and accept the low bid will have to include how it is going to be paid and if it is going to be paid for by borrowing as Mr. Plotner has just outlined that will have to be a part of the not budgeted money. He said there is concern about how you are going to pay it.
Alderman Henrichsmeyer said are we are going to have a budget meeting to figure out if and where we will get the money. Alderman Anderson said they would have a meeting on Friday to discuss some things and they would be finalizing up what they have to and then they will have time before to discuss it. She said they could meet at 6:15 p.m. on April 20th for Audit Bids and Budget.
Insurance:
Vice Chairman Alderman Horn said they had received a package from the Illinois Public Risk Fund and it is about what they had talked about on Loss Prevention.
Ordinance and Zoning:
Chairman Alderman Rohlfs said she had two items to report. She asked to have the sign ordinance on the agenda. She also put a Proclamation for the Mayor on the agenda.
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Sanitation:
Chairman Alderman Henrichsmeyer said he did not have a report.
Sewer Treatment Plant, Sewers and Drainage:
Chairman Alderman Neitzel said she would refer to Mr. Kitzmiller.
Mr. Kitzmiller reported that they had an issue with their backhoe and was estimating it to be $3,000.00 to $4,000.00. He also wanted to discuss the Singleton Lift Station. He spoke with Donohue & Associates today and they were not done with the estimate but it is somewhere between $350,000.00 and $400,000.00. At this point they don’t know how this will fit in the budget but by Friday should know. They are going to have to do something with that lift station and had another issue Friday night. He wanted to get some direction tonight and they wanted to shut the station off immediately. Don’t have enough property owned or easement so while getting that taken care of and move forward with installing the temporary pump in such a way that it discharges back into the lift station and use the current force main there so they will not be doing any excavating or anything down like that and they would shut the station down and run a hose into the manhole into the station. This will cost approximately $5,000.00 and would like to do this immediately. This is temporary until make the decision on whether to just replace the station or do the three station swap. He said if something happened to the pump they could easily stick another pump in there.
Alderman Neitzel said if we decided not to put it in this year's budget but next year's budget we could get by with $5,000.00 repair. Mr. Kitzmiller said I would not recommend that. Alderman Henrichsmeyer said does that repair commit us in either direction.
Mr. Kitzmiller said it will commit us to do something but it will not commit us at either doing the whole $400,000.00 or spending $175,000.00 on that station. The big issue is when we talk about the budget and how we want to go is that he didn't know what it would cost to replace that station on its own. He thought it might be $175,000.00 to $200,000.00 but we can take care of three stations with the $400,000.00 but we would have to juggle there to see what the decision would be. He did not recommend putting this temporary pump in there and then not doing nothing for next year that somewhat leaves us with open issues.
Alderman Neitzel said do you want to have a meeting on that after Donohue gets.
Mr. Kitzmiller said we will but he would like direction tonight for spending this roughly $5,000.00 to make this. He didn't know if the station would last another month, week or year but right now he told them that with the rains they are having they are going to that station every four hours. This pump put in there will help prevent that but you know us having to go there every four hours put it is not a long term fix and the only long term fix is to put a new station in.
No one had an objection to this.
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Streets and Alleys:
Chairman Alderman Armbrust said there was a letter from the Prison. Everyone had received a letter.
Mrs. Gehlbach read the letter.
Mr. Jackson said they left out all the locations where they wanted to put these signs up. Some of those are IDOT right of ways and they have moved them back onto the city property. They are asking for a red and white and might say R34 so we know where their post is if there is an escape.
Alderman Armbrust asked to have this on the agenda.
Police Chief Erlenbush said he was at a loss for words. He said IDOC if they have a plan they should be able to train their personal as to where all their posts are. This makes no sense from a law enforcement perspective. They should train their staff and their staff should know where to go and to put a sign up to find a location is incredible.
Alderman Hoinacki said this is Logan Correctional.
Police Chief Erlenbush said this is the first I have heard of this. They have to be talking about their staff because he had had zero contact with them and quite frankly from his perspective IDOC should contact the Lincoln Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department and we should review their plan with them to coordinate a response if there is an escape and he had heard nothing from them. He said he would be glad to meet with them.
Alderman Armbrust said he suggested they take this off the agenda.
Sidewalks, Forestry and Lighting:
Chairman Alderman Hoinacki said he had three petitions.
Mrs. Gehlbach read the following petitions:
123 Lincoln Avenue by Terry Werth
208 – 3rd Street and 216 – 3rd Street by Tim Aper
531 8th Street by Jeremiah Gibson
Alderman Hoinacki asked to have those on the agenda.
Alderman Neitzel said she had two requests one from Main Street for the Grand March and one for the cruise-in. Alderman Horn asked to have both of those on the agenda. Mrs. Gehlbach read both and said there was proof of insurance with the Cruise-in petition.
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Mr. Plotner said they were still waiting on the police cars to get here. The problem is there is now $40,000.00 left in the capital projects so changing the budget to this line and in the appropriations there is $50,000.00 on that line item. We need to adjust money down to the Capital Expense for vehicles so there is $50,000.00 and we’ll punch that other $936.00 out some other one. That needs to be on the agenda for budget recommended changes.
Mayor Davis-Kavelman said she had copied a letter from U. S. Secretary Ray LaHood. There is a meeting tomorrow evening from 6:30 to 8:30.
Audience members were Lisa Kramer, Nathan Turner and Keith Snyder.
Mr. Mathon said they have a pre-application in for the project.
Alderman Neitzel made a motion to adjourn and Alderman Anderson seconded it. There were eight yeas (Alderman Anderson, Alderman Armbrust, Alderman Henrichsmeyer, Alderman Hoinacki, Alderman Horn, Alderman Neitzel, Alderman Rohlfs, and Alderman Tibbs), zero nays, and two absent (Alderman Busby and Alderman Prather); motion carried.
The City of Lincoln Committee’s as a Whole Meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Risa Riggs
Recording Secretary
City of Lincoln