COMMITTEE OFTHE WHOLE MEETING

Lincoln City Hall, Council Chambers

700 Broadway Street I Lincoln, Illinois

Tuesday,Sept.11, 2018

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

Present:

Alderman Steve Parrott Alderman Tracy Welch Alderman Ron Fleshman Alderman Ron Keller Alderwoman Heidi Browne Alderman Jeff Hoinacki Alderman Dayne Dalpoas

Staff Present:

City Administrator El zabeth Kavelman City Clerk Peggy Bateman

Treasurer Chuck Conze Fire Chief Mark Miller Police Chief Paul Adams

Building and Safety Officer Wes Woodhall Streets Superintendent Walt Landers

Absent:

City Attorney Blinn Bates Alderwoman Michelle Bauer

Presiding:

Mayor Seth Goodman

Moment of Silence to Remember 9/11 Public Comment:

Mayor Goodman called upon citizens registered to speak.Nila Smith of Lincoln Daily News came forward to discuss Breast Cancer Awareness month and "Paint the Paper Pink," and a photo opportunity with city employees to raise awareness. There being no further public participation, Mayor Goodman moved down to other agenda items.

Discussion regarding Campus View Drive Annexation into the City of Lincoln:

Alderman Welch started discussion, saying he had some free time this past weekend and he took a drive down Campus View Drive. The section of road he's referring to is horrendous. Alderman Keller said he's also gone down the road and recognized there are some drainage issues. He said he never knew this wasn't a city street. He said more needs to be addressed, but the council needs to consider these requests as these residents pay taxes.Alderman Fleshman had also visited the street and said there's a drainage issue.

Streets Superintendent Walt Landers weighed in on the type of work that could be done. Alderman Fleshman asked about restrictions on the width of city streets. Alderman Welch said the ordinance requires it to be 37 feet wide, but it's only 18-20 feet wide at present.

Mr.Kevin Bateman came forward and took the mic. He said there's plenty of streets in town that are not 32 feet wide and do not have curbs/gutters. He said he interprets the ordinance, as this is an existing street. He wants this street to be grandfathered in.Alderman Dalpoas mentioned the maintenance agreement, he said it's clear the street is not annexed, the city only has maintenance rights.

Mr. Bateman said this was before 1999, but in 1999, a document was written up and signed by Pres. Ray to take over the street as-is. He said it was signed by the city clerk,but never signed by former Mayor Joan Ritter.He said there are no taxes being paid by anyone and thereis no ownership of the street.

Alderman Welch weighed in. Mr. Bateman said the document from the college is based on past arguments of who owns the street. The original 10 parcels belonged to the college. Alderman Dalpoas asked a question about 1999, he said he believed the maintenance agreement at the time was a sort of compromise , but not a transfer of jurisdiction between the city and the college.

Mr. Bateman said Mayor Ritter stuck to her guns.He said at the time Mrs. Kavelman was mayor, the city looked into storm drains and sewers.Alderman Dalpoas wanted to know what could and could not be done, he said the 1999 maintenance agreement was a good outline. Mr. Bateman said the college does not want to spend any more money. He said in his opinion this is a travesty that's gone on for decades. He said he's brought up that they do not get any city services, they don't flush hydrants, two homes have burned down, and there are no street lights.

City Administrator Kavelman wanted to know if the agreement ever went before a vote. Alderman Dalpoas said since we entered into this, do we just need to re-up this, or do we need to annex the street, he wanted to know what route everyone was heading. Mr. Bateman said if you annex it in he does not have to go back to the college or return to the city council, yet again. He said he's asking for a finalization.The city would take if over as-is.

Alderman Keller said we are obligated because of the commitment that was made, signed or unsigned. He said that doesn't guarantee this road can be fixed right away,he said Ithink that needs to be understood. He wanted to be clear that what everyone was agreeing to-that if the road is included as

a city street, it deserves the same treatment, no better, no worse.

Mr. Bateman said to ask Walt. Alderman Welch said looking at all the information, he agreed with Mr. Bateman, and that this has been kicked down the road since 1966. He said this is an opportunity to do the right think, he thinks the council should look at the ordinance, but he did not agree to enter into a repeated agreement at this level. He said to oil and chip the road, it would be $30,000. He thinks the city should annex the road if they want to make that level of investment.

Alderman Parrott wanted to know about the cost to make everything right. Mr. Bateman said they just want to road to be smooth. He said the road is crowned in a way so that the ditch is in the middle.

Alderman Parrott wanted to know if the road was all the city would be taking over. Mr. Bateman said the

length of the road,from pin to pin. He said he'd assume that they would be buying the section from his pinto his neighbors pin.He said, stick straight lines.They are perfectly square properties.

Mayor Goodman said the councilwould talk with City Attorney Blinn Bates about the ordinance.

Discussion regarding the Sewerage Treabnent Plant Manager, Shawn Wright's need to purchase equipment items totalhtg $19,400:

City Administrator Kavelman said this will be tabled,until the next Committee of the Whole Meeting (COW).

Introduction by Alderman Dalpoas RE: his chairing a Strategic Plan for Lincoln, IL

Alderman Dalpoas started discussion, saying last week he sent a memo around to the council. He recommended Alderman Keller co-chair the committee. He said Zack Kennedy from the U of I Extension will be attended a city council meeting in the near future. He said he personally feels strongly about having a strategic plan,saying the city needs a shared vision. He said people need to see the

city is focused on economic development, and that we're working to drive development. He has outlined a roadmap for development, and Mr. Kennedy will cover that roadmap.

Alderman Welch wanted to know what progress has been made on the 2020 strategic plan. He wanted to know why another plan would result in anything different. Alderman Dalpoas said it was a council driven document, drafted by the council,but those tend to go by the wayside when administration's change. He wanted to involve the community at a much larger degree. There would be a steering committee. It would be driven by the community itself.

Alderman Welch said it sounded like the former downtown revitalization plan, saying that that wasn't a true representation of the people of Lincoln. He wanted garbage men, thrift shop workers, etc.

Alderman Dalpoas said open houses could combat that.

Treasurer Conze said having been through this process before, it cost alot of money to do this. He said Alderman Welch just pointed out, where we are with the 2020 plan, he wanted to ensure it would be a value to the community, before spending money. He said you spend a lot of money on something that

is not feasible or falls by the wayside.

He said we'll be spending money on the Slh Street Road Project, Police/Fire Pensions, and the sewer project. He said consider the cost ofit, before doingit. "Once you've spentit, it's gone."

Alderman Dalpoas said Zack can answer questions on Sept. 25, but it is minimal cost. There is no set fee. There is not $20,000 commitment, just his reimbursement for travel.

Alderman Parrott said there were a few people on the council previously who would not move forward on a strategic development moving forward unless the rest of the downtown was finished. He said that's hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars to finish. He said you could have a steering committee, butif the council was not in agreement with their ideas, it could all be for not. He said that

was a little bit of an issue he had with having a steering committee.He said we don't have the funds out

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there to do what our current strategic plan is, and that is part of the reason why they have not been able to move forward.

Alderman Welch proposed putting it on an agenda for a vote from the council.

Alderwoman Browne said she sees Alderman Dalpoas' vision for a need for a plan .                  she said those of us who've been through this before, it's not that they're against having a plan or a course of action or mission, she said a lot of times people take on a different tone with their actions.She said we all have the same mission: a better community.

Alderman Keller said he is attracted to this, he likes to know where the city will be in 10 years, but he suggested holding off until Sept. 25, to hear from Mr.Kennedy before determining what direction the councilwants to take or not.                                                                                                         ·

Mayor Goodman asked if everyone was okay with having this added to the next COW. Alderman Welch wanted to know what the desired result is of his presentations would be. Alderman Hoinacki said the U of IExtension has several different programs. He said we're just leveraging one of the programs they're offering.

Alderman Welch said if he's coming in with a bunch of demographics that everyone already knows, he said he's assuming he's pulling info from a database. He said if that's the case, he'd rather not sit through that presentation.Alderman Dalpoas said he hasn't seen the presentation, but that he'll be presenting what the office can do to develop a strategic plan, he will also outline a roadmap and what the cost would be to the city. He said it's not too much of a commitment to hear a plan out.

Alderman Hoinacki said his hope would be that he would bring in some other plans that have been assembled for other communities. He said they have done several. Alderman Parrott said something that draws employers into a community is the workforce. He said he'd love to see District 404, Heartland Community College, Lincoln College, and Lincoln Christian University all come together . . . to discuss technical education programs that would lead to post-secondary training. That the city could develop programs and keep residents in the community. So residents have employment opportunities. That's what he foresees as a plan and growth for Lincoln.

Alderman Dalpoas said that's a goal, what you just described-to retain the workforce in the community, to retain young people in Lincoln. He said it's a great example of a goal. Alderman Parrott said we need our education entities to feed into our industry.

Alderman Fleshman said he thought this program was already being done through the Peoria Economic Development Council.

The item will be onthe agenda in two weeks.

Ordinance clarifying the waste collection rulesand regulations:

City Clerk Bateman said the city attorney is redoing this ordinance to better clarify it. The item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Further discussion regardingArdagh Group'srequest to have the city create two cross­ walks with a blinking red light and sign.age atboth crossings on Logan Street, from the factory to the parking lot across the street:

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Superintendent Landers said he put together a proposal and shared it with the council members. He said some of the improvements can take place this year, or next construction season. He said the best, safety choice is to go with two cross walks.

Alderman Parrott said the two vs.the one, if a cross walk was put in one location it would be going up to the side of the building. Alderman Parrott asked if it would be safer, or if it would have fewer issues. Mr. Bob Birk, plant manager came forward. He said trucks come and go during daylight time, but they cannot be controlled. There are three shifts, 24-7. Traffic is at its peak, 20 minutes before and after each shift. They accept 60-80 trucks in a day.

Mayor Goodman asked for Police Chief Paul Adams' take. He said there is not much traffic on the street,it's mostly employee generated traffic. Alderman Welch wanted to know who was going to pick up costs. Mr. Landers said at the city's expense, around $8,500-$10,000.

Alderman Welch said he passed Precision Products earlier in the week, he wanted to know if anyone had ever been hit on Limit Street. Police Chief Adams said, no.Alderman Fleshman wanted to clarify, that there would not be any red blinking lights outside the bottle factory. Alderman Welch wanted to knowif the major cost was due to the sidewalks. Mr. Landers weighed in.

Alderman Hoinacki called for placing it on the agenda. Alderman Welch asked a question about the current plan. Mr. Landers said it would be something his crews could do, sometime next year.

Alderman Welch asked about what work would be completed in 2018. The item will be placed on the

agenda.

Discussion of a request to place on the Sept. 17, 2018's Council Meeting Agenda to Approve the Demolition and to Approve a Bid to Demolish the Garage at the rear of 1017 Tremont Street using budgeted funds for the fast track demolition:

Mr. Woodhall said this is a single car garage, it is essentially collapsed. The roof is completely collapsed and it could take down the other structure with it. He said it needs to get resolved fairly quickly. He cannot locate the owners. Alderman Hoinacki said the estimate said cut-loose and demo the garage. He then asked about the removal. The item will be placed on the agenda.

Discussion and Approval to place on Sept. 17, 2018's, Council Meeting Agenda To Approve the Hiring of One Firefighter to replace the vacancy created by an injured firefighter who terminated employment with the City of Lincoln.

Fire Chief Mark Miller said this employee was injured in 2017, he said in order to get staffing back up, he wanted it on the agenda to hire the next person available on the current hiring list. The item will be placed on the agenda.

Further discussion of request by City of Lincoln Liquor Commission to expand/add three more ClassB-Tavern licenses for video gaming to its allowable number, to now equal 15 total:

City Administrator Kavelman said this dates back to 2012. She said we don't have enough licenses to go around, and they have to qualify under alot of scrutiny.

The City has 12 licenses allowed at the present time and 11 are solidly filled to date with one very solid inquiry and one speculative inquiry. Also to cap the total number of allowed video gaming machines

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within the city to 120. We now have 113. Anyone before March 2017, who had a license has been grandfathered in.

Thereis one applicant who would complete the number of licenses, making for 12 filled licenses. Alderman Parrott said this one applicant would be the 12t11. He said that is not part of this deal. He asked why there is a limit of Class B licenses. She said some of it dates back to history in the city, past administrations may not have cared for gambling.

She said it's up to the council, the liquor commission just has to monitor it. Alderman Fleshman said, we basically have four licenses that we've issued since 2015. She said there is one that has been issued.She said there are three that have to comply this year. A total for four have to comply, out of the

12. He said we have not received anything from these establishments .. .she said a letter will be sent to these people in January, asking these people to comply.

Alderman Dalpoas asked if we're good about the enforcement of the ordinance, he mentioned Mr. Ken Greenslate. She said it was prior to . . .then said he will get it this time.

Alderman Parrott said what about the previous years . . . he said Mr. Greenslate had said he had not be asked at all about this. He then asked about the members of the liquor commission ... she said the city clerk has a clerk that helps us and she is very good, she was not sure if this had slipped through.

Alderman Parrott said there was a date for the ordinance. He was curious why the commission was not following through on an ordinance. She said it was before her time, he came in right after that ordinance was passed. She said it just must have slipped through the cracks-he said that's very concerning.

Alderman Dalpoas wanted to ensure the current ordinance is being enforced before considering expansion.She said we're on it now, this administration is.

Alderman Fleshman thanked Mrs. Kavelman for trying to straighten this out. He wanted to see current establishments come into compliance. He said with the Class C Restaurant License, saying 60 percent of their revenue has to come from food sales. She said, "Correct." He wanted to ensure they're also in compliance.

Alderman Welch directed a question at Alderman Hoinacki, he wanted to know what the purpose of the 60% rule was at the time.Alderman Hoinakci said it was so the city had some accountability, that the establishments were selling other items, and not just offering video gaming. Alderman Welch said he's not in favor or against gambling, but that it seems the 60% rule puts an unfair burden on newer businesses and allows existing business to operate per usual. He said it's hard to start a business. Mrs. Kavelman said they have to reach their first 12 month anniversary before being required to show their numbers, before they ask for those receipts. She said some businesses come in and make their bundle

in the first year and then move on to other cities, because they don't have the sale numbers.

She said it's up the council, she said they could be in there, making money then they're out the door.

Alderman Welch wanted to know if we really need this additional gage, saying it's also additional work on the liquor commission. He said if it's actually solving a problem-he's in favor of it.

Alderman Hoinacki said Springfield had to do something, they have the most gaming out of all cities in the state,so they implemented the 60% rule, and they had to curtailit somehow. He said Bloomington or Normal has also had to implement this. Treasurer Conzo weighed in.

Alderman Parrott said there are only so many pieces to the pie-he wanted if three more licenses would cause other businesses to go under. He said perhaps that's why there is a limit to the number of licenses. He said in our city, we're not known to be a very rich community.

City Administrator Elizabeth Kavelman talked about $300,000 being gained, per year.About $25,000 per month-according to the city treasurer. He said about close to $300,000.

Alderman Parrott said we have a limited number of people, with a limited amount of money. City Administrator Kavelman said someone wants to open a site out along 1-55.

Alderman Dalpoas did the math on the cap of 120 machines.

Mayor Goodman said two people are already wanting to come and open businesses.Alderman Parrott wanted to clarify. Treasurer Conze said if you increase this to 15, then make it possible by increasing the number of gaming machines to match that. He said the councilmust consider that. Alderman Dalpoas said we'd have to increase that cap.

City Administrator Kavelman saidit'd be part of that ordinance to increase that cap. Treasurer Conze asked ifit would be an ordinance to be put on the agenda.Alderman Parrott asked Mrs. Kavelman to talk about any businesses that want to come into the city and have a liquor license.

She mentioned two potential opportunities. Alderman Parrott said we're thinking about establishing additional licenses for alcohol and gambling which are addictive devices for individuals. He talked about motor vehicle crash statistics, he said we're losing residents, but we're opening up additional licenses for gambling and alcohol. He said it's important for the councilto take some of the data under consideration.

Alderman Welch said his understanding is that the Class B Tavern License-in order to get this you have to serve alcohol. She said, "Correct." She said they have to have a separate entrance and a separate address.

Alderman Hoinacki said to his knowledge the council never upped the numbers, the numbers were capped and people had to wait [inaudible].Alderman Welch said we implemented a 60% rule to try to curb things because other communities had to do this, they had gotten out of control. He saidit seemed contradictory to him.The city administrator weighed in.

He said there are so many places people in town where you can get alcohol. He said restrictions are put in place for a reason and they shouldn't be arbitrarily changed, because another request comes in.

The city administrator said the 60% rule was clear back, before 2015. He said Ithink you're incorrect on that. She said she was the liquor commissioner back then, and she's old. Alderman Welch asked Alderman Parrott asked why establishments prior to 2015 weren't under the 60%.

Alderman Welch said then if that's in place, then everyone on the list should be scrutinized every year. She mentioned what the city attorney had said about the pro retroactive . . . saying the city could not go back and do that. He said we can talk later.

Alderman Hoinacki said maybe a new person will do better. He said it was a way to try to weed out, these places that are open for all hours.There was a 60% threshold.She said there were a lot of alcohol stings that went on.

Alderwoman Browne weighed on the 60% rule before and after 2015. Mrs. Kavelman helped clarify. Alderman Welch then asked the city clerkif she was aware of any out-of-date ordinances.He said the 60% rule only applies to the Class C licenses. He said nothing in the ordinance mentions any other classes, A, B, D, E, F, and G and so on. Mrs. Kavelman said that has to be pretty old and said she'd have to look into it. Alderman Welch said this was updated, the Class C or a portion of it was updated in 2006, he said it does not say anything about Class B, and the 60% rule was in place. He said we need to look into whether or not we're imposing rules on people that we shouldn't be. She said Class B did not come into play until March 17, 2015. He and the city administrator were going to talk following the meeting.

Mayor Goodman called for further discussion. The item will be tabled.

Announcements:

Mayor Goodman asked if anyone had any announcements.

• Fire Chief Mark Miller talked about a firefighter who has completed his one year anniversary with the city. The firefighter has received a new helmet shield. He's been welcomed to the department full-time officially.
• Superintendent Landers talked about upcoming street closures for a sidewalk repair on Kickapoo Street.
• Alderman Keller said the Abraham Lincoln National Railsplitting Festival is happening this weekend, Sept. 15-16, at different Lincoln sites.
• Nila Smith said here will be a ribbon cutting at 9 a.m., Saturday morning outside Postville Courthouse.
• An agreement has been made between the union representing Streets and Alleys and the city. More details will come out as the agreement is ratified.
• Mr. Landers weighed in on an electronics recycling event that happened he previous weekend.
•  

Adjournment:

There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Parrott motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Welch. Mayor Goodman adjourned the meeting at 8:36 p.m.

Upcoming Meetings:

Regular City Council IMonday, Sept. 17, 7 p.m. Committee of the Whole ITuesday, Sept. 25, 7 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted By:

Alex Williams, Recording Secretary