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COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE MEETING

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

Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Presiding:

Mayor Seth Goodman

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 called roll.

Present:

Alderman Tracy Welch, Ward 1

Alderman Kathryn Schmidt, Ward 2

Alderman Sam Downs, Ward 2

 Alderman Kevin Bateman, Ward 3

Alderman Ron Keller, Ward 3

Alderman Jeff Hoinacki,Ward 4

Alderman Kathy Horn,Ward 4

Staff Present:

City Administrator Elizabeth Kavelman

City Attorney John Hoblit

City Clerk Peggy Bateman

Treasurer Chuck Conzo

Fire Chief Bob Dunovsky

Police Chief Paul Adams

Building and Safety OfficerWes Woodhall

Streets Superintendent Walt Landers

Public                                                                                                                      Participation:

Mayor Goodman called upon members of the.public to come forward to speak. There being none, he moved to announcements regarding the night's agenda.

Proposed                           Committee                          Structures                           Discussion: Alderman Kevin Bateman led in with discussion regarding the proposal to bring a committee structure back to the City of Lincoln Council. He outlined what the potential groups would be called and what types of discussions, policies and ordinances would be discussed therein.

Mr. Bateman referred to a letter he passed out to the council. He saidthere would betwo different groups and each committee meeting would be attended by four aldermen. He said there may be some people who do not want to be chairpersons of a committee. Alderman Keller asked a question about back to back to back meetings - as each group would meet on one night in its entirety. He said we're dividing the council in half at that point, each committee would have four aldermen. He said they he wanted to try to make it equal and balanced.

He said the department heads and any aldermen can request a topic to be brought up at any meeting, it would not be limited to the choice of the chairperson. Alderman Downs asked a question about getting a topic brought up for discussion.

If there are no topics to discuss or be voted on, some meetings would have the potential to be cancelled. Alderman Parrott said when talking about ordinances, the City Attorney would be needed at times, as would the City Police and Fire Chiefs.Alderman Bateman said those people would need to be aware that their presence would be needed given the topic at hand.

Alderman Hoinacki raised a question. Then Alderman Bateman reiterated that this proposal was a working document.

City Attorney John Hoblit weighed in on the Liquor Commission which state law mandates that the mayor be a member of that commission. Alderman Parrott asked about topics that do not fall within the aforementioned areas. Alderman Bateman said they surely should fall somewhere, as he was certain he got everything covered. Alderman Parrott asked another question, then Alderman Hoinacki askedif there would only beone voting meeting ...Alderman Bateman talked about giving spending authority ...giving four aldermen a chance to approve something and if it was not passed in that committee, it would not come to the council lof the whole.

Treasurer Conzo said there would need to be two meetings for paying of bills. He said you're going to have to deal with that .. . saying they could not go an entire month without paying bills. Alderman Bateman said he could get with the clerk's office ...to find outwhat bills are paid every single month and then determine where they go from there.

He talked about rearranging payment dates, so that they're paidtoward the end of the month, etc. He said he was taking suggestions from anybody. Alderman Keller said only three aldermen had been on for more than one term. He wanted some historical insight from people .. . he then corrected, saying four aldermen had served in this type of scenario. Alderman Keller posed the question of if this was a good approach and if this was something the council needed to be doing.

Alderman Horn said the previous structure was that the mayor appointed people to the committees and it was rotated from a time. Then Alderman Welch said he and Alderman Parrott did not serve under a committee structure ...hethen talked about reservations relating to paying of the bills. He talked about a levelof trust being needed in regards to paying bills.He said they would not want to incur penalties and fines relating the late payments.

Alderman Hoinacki said he really liked the current structure much better as all the department heads were present, everyone was asking questions and everyone was getting the same information at the same time.He said he does not feel left out in the current setup. He asked if this would require additional meetings. He said this is transparent as everyone is present at the same time. Mayor Goodman asked for department heads to offer feedback.

Fire Chief Paul Dunovsky mentioned a letter from former City Administrator Clay Johnson. He said when we talk in the Committee of the Whole, we're all here together, he said sometimes a topic he's talking about at the fire department may require thoughts from Mr. Walt Landers too. He said this structure is working . . .and that when there was a committee structure. . . progress may have been bogged down. He mentioned presently there are bills that are not getting paid to vendors, and some penalties are being incurred based on how the councilcurrently is scheduled.

Mr. Landers asked how the meetings were previously ran. Then Alderman Hoinacki said something about Mondays and Tuesdays. He said Tuesdays were almost like a COW, because many of the people were there. It was Monday, Tuesdays, Mondays, Tuesdays.

Wes Woodhall asked a hypothetical question about tearing down houses and the potential redundancy ...saying that a topic would be discussed morethan one time ...Alderman Bateman said, "Again, working document." He said with Mr. Woodhall's suggestions .. . he would bring it to committee,then if the committee approved itto go forward, then at the COW, he would entertain a motion to tear down a house on whatever street, for x number of dollars . . . he said the chairperson would be responsible for explaining what was needed.He said the department heads would at least be at the COW and the voting meeting. He said the department heads would not have to go to the committee meetings, so long as they communicated with the chairperson, he said we should have trust in our department heads, he said, "I think they all do a good job.n He asked if the council was really going to question and hash things out again. He talked about having trust in the department heads.

Alderman Hoinacki said there's more transparency having a one-on-one versus creating a committee report for Wes. Alderman Bateman then wanted to talk about a harder issue such as the sewer. He said the alderman who previously took on the sewer is no longer here. He asked -is it fair at that point for one alderman to take one that issue and just show up to a COW with all the information. He said in a committee, they all have some skin in the game on what gets done. Alderman Parrott then addressed why former Alderman Fleshman stepped up to help-because City Administrator Kavelman was absent due to an illness.

Alderman Parrott said going back to a committee structure-what would be the need for a City Administrator. Alderman Bateman said this is a working document. He said he was trying to compress this into what they started out with, which was eight committees. He said we can add more, we can take away. He said, "Other than that, this is all Igot right now." He said he was here tonight presenting this, along with Mr.Welch. He said he still believes in going back to a committee form of government. He said it would give them more of a chance to vet things.

Mrs. Wanda Lee Rohlfs spoke up about her experience with the committee structure. She said if we had a chairman who worked with the department chairs... and the department had an issue that they wanted to discuss ...then it would be brought forward. That a committee meeting would be needed on a particular night . . . she said you didn't have to meet every week or every other week . . .

Mrs. Rohlfs said it could be up to the chairman to bring forth the various topics. She said you would not have to have committees meet every week. Mr. Walt Landers said he sometimes has issued daily that need to be discussed. Discussion ensued about personnel issues and the need to discuss something immediately.

Alderman Hoinacki said in today's day and age, with the open meetings act, they would have to change the times of their meetings . . . and explained why he thought that. He and Mrs. Rohlfs went back and forth for a minute about bill payments. Then Alderman Bateman weighed in about new government structure . . . saying they could allow a bill to be paid if there was approval by the committee. He said they could write the ordinance so that bills could be paid after approval of the four members of that particular committee. Department Heads' daily routine would remainthe same. Alderman Bateman said he would not want to see personnel issues handled byjust three people, saying it has to come before the council. He said the Department Heads' daily routine would not change. He said hopefully they would have one alderman from everyward. He said the bills could be something they could work through.

He then asked the clerk about routine bills that get paid ahead of time... calling then routine bills. He said there's going to be months in a row where there is nothing to discuss. He said they would meet on an as-needed basis. City Attorney John Hoblit said the main purpose of committees is debating and determining policy.

He said he wasn't sure if they were looking at an issue where the department heads would be micromanaged. He said the Open Meetings Act would still need to be followed, minutes would need to be taken. There would need to be a majority report and a minority report. There would need to be two reports, one for in support and one for why they were not in support.

Alderman Keller said it's interesting hearing how it could work, or how it has worked.He said it's worth a discussion. He said he's less convinced now that it could work then he was before. He wanted to know what instigated the need for the change. . . he said if the catalyst for this is surprises . ..

Alderman Parrott said that was his sentiment as well. He said if meetings went two hours . . .or so, if some meetings were not needed, or if there were some meetings where they only meeting up for three more hours, but not really doing city business . . . he trailed off saying he didn't understand what they were going for. Then Alderman Hoinacki weighed in . .. outlining more hypothetical discussions that could be had . . .

Alderman Hoinacki urged the mayor to go around the horn . . .and wrap things up so they could move onto other agenda items. Then Alderman Welch said he did work with Kevin on this . He said this proposal was related to several discussions .. . he then said what problem are they trying to resolve. He said everyone around the table has a different reason. He said for him,it's transparency. He said transparency and for the ability for the councilto be empowered. He said those are the things that sometimes keep him up at night. He said he wanted to ensure they were doing it for the right reasons. He said a committee structure does have advantages, but there would be fallout . . .and changes in ordinances, payment for people on the committee, he said again this is a start - and it's been a healthy discussion, but there are, "So many other things that got to be considered."

Alderman Bateman said for him, and he mentioned this before, he came from a committee form of government. He said for him, he was In favor of, but he did not like the way it was handled.He used the trash mandate as an example. He said the trash idea was brought up, then voted on, then ordinances were changed and more votes were had. He said the other thing for him was the Lessens. He said we all sat here and stared at them. He said they might have felt more comfortable having a discussion with four aldermen in a committee. He said he, "Did not understand that at all." He then said Mr. Welch mentioned the sewer ordinance from the 1970's andit needs to be revisited.

He said, "There are all kinds of ordinances in this city book that have not been looked at in decades ." He said a committee form of government gives more transparency and, "Gets more things done." Alderman Parrott raised a question ...saying the chairperson Is going to take the bull by the horns?

Alderman Bateman then weighed in. Alderman Parrott then asked Mrs. Rohlf's [inaudible].Then the fire chief gave her the microphone.She said no one had time to meet for hours at meetings. Mayor Goodman called for final comments. Alderman Bateman said, "She made a good point."

Alderman Bateman said what if the committee met at 6 p.m. and then they had a voting session to follow with the rest of the council at 7 p.m. He again said, "It's a working document.'' He said send your suggestions to the clerk's office . . . she can then send it all out. So they have a document that they can try to put together that works, take notes and send it back to one another.

Alderman Keller said he was going to try to make things quick ... he said he still bel eves that how they operate now, works. He said It is the Mayor's prerogative to appoint a committee to solve a certain issue.They do not have to have standing committees.

Alderman Welch said the Lessens was not a good example of how committees could resolve something. He said he wanted to make it clear, "We did not leave them out high and dry and we don't care about the situation they were In." He said he cared very deeply and he has been vocal about that. Then Mayor Goodman said there's one thing he would say, he was In no way, shape or form in favor of the committee structure. He said moving forward . . .

 

Mayoral Appointments to the newly..created "City Employees I Management Insurance Advisory Committee" • consisting of Mayor Seth Goodman,City Administrator Elizabeth Kavelman, City Clerk Peggy Bateman,Alderman Kathy Horn, Assistant City Clerk Rachel Shew, City Street Operating Engineer Joseph Davis, City Police Officer Christy Fruge, Corporal Brian Clements and Firefighter James Cosby:

City Administrator Kavelam said this committee could meet as often as needed.She said this was in both of the three negotiation documents. Alderman Hoinacki said he would think it would be asMneeded. Then Alderman Welch said this had been done in the past and It was done more informally.He said it then fell by the wayside .. . he said he bel eves this is a good idea. Mr. Landers recommended a quarterly meetings surrounding when the insurance was due. The item will be placed on the agenda.City Clerk Bateman asked when the meetings were supposed to be scheduled. Mr. Landers assumed it would be during the day. Alderman Welch wanted to be clear that the purpose of the committee is to review the information and make a recommendation to the council. Then Alderman Keller read the ordinance or requirements for the purpose of the committee.

Mayoral Appointments to the Fifth Street Road Project Committee: Mayor Seth Goodman, City Administrator Elizabeth Kavelman and Aldermen Sam Downs and Tracy Welch:

Mayoral Appointments of City of Lincoln Citizens to the Joint Review Board for the 11City of Lincoln,Illinois Central Business District Conservative Area" (TIF District):

Alderman Bateman said he contacted Hansen Engineering today. He said it's tough to look at, but there's a couple of pages that show you the existing road and the proposed road. He said it could help them get a handle on the property that is needed. He said it's 20 years in the making. Alderman Keller thanked him for making the request. Hansen Engineering and CMT would be present. Chief Adams asked it ifs something that could be shared on the website. He said he could look at it and put something together.

Alderman Welch said this was a great idea. He was an advocated for putting the documents out there at the council sees themselves. He said when Clay was there they had talked about putting a repository out there. The item would be placed on the regular agenda.

Mayor Seth Goodman,City Administrator Elizabeth Kavelman,City Building and Zoning Officer Wes Woodhall, Historic Preservation Representative James Wllmert, Lincoln Planning Commission Chair Dave Klug, Zoning Board of Appeals Representative Stephanie Benedict and Theresa Schieffer, TIP District Business Owner:

City Administrator Kavelman talked about the joint review board minutes were requested .. . by the comptroller's office. She said these people from these various organizations have to be on this. She said they have to meet at least twice a year. The names given have already consented to being on the committee.

Alderman Welch weighed in. He said anyone that follows Facebook might know that there's a downtown group on the horizon as there is no longer a Main Street Lincoln group. The item would be placed on the regular agenda.

Approval of the City of Lincoln FOP Union Local Three-Year Labor Contract, 05.01.2019· 0430.2022:

This item will be placed on the agenda. No comment. Then Alderman Welch asked if anyone wanted to talk about negotiations. Alderman Keller said they were able to have great dialogue, he called it a great contract. Chief Adams said it went well.There was some language that needed to be cleaned up. He then said there were several things the union wanted. He said they were very fiscally responsible with this contract. The item will be placed on the agenda.

Request to purchase a maintenance agreement for eight outdoor sirens at $2,600 per year and the cost to replace and maintain three rusted and corroded sirens for $5,137 at a total cost of $7,737:

Chief Dunovsky said in talking with Dennis Bruns at Lincoln Land Communication, there has not been a maintenance agreement. The cost of the agreement would be $2,600 a year. He said it would be agreed upon in April, but the money would not be paid until May or so. Ophir and Jefferson Street sirens needto befixed, and there needs to be some maintenance on other sirens. He mentioned some rusted battery boxes that need to be replaced. The cost to replace a siren is up in the ballpark of $20,000. He said with the budget, the line item. . . there is money remaining. He said the electricity for the sirens is about $55 a month.

Alderman Keller asked from what line to what line would the $1,400 come from I go to. Treasurer Conzo weighed in on the appropriation line item. Alderman Schmidt weighed in saying if they get the elevator checked once a year, they need to get the sirens tested as its life saving.

Request to Permit the Old-Fashioned Children's Walking Parade on Thursday, July 4,2019, beginning at 10 a.m.,from Scully Park, traveling one block on Mclean Street, turning left on Wyatt Avenue and proceedingto the Lincoln Park District. City of Lincoln Police escort and barricades are needed in the block of Decatur Street between Kickapoo and Mclean Streets. Submitted by the Lincoln Park District:

No discussion - this item will be placed on the consent agenda.

Bids Needed for City's Asbestos Removal at 227 N.Kickapoo Street:

Mr. Woodhall said this needs to come down as there's a large amount of asbestos in there. He said one company has come in and completed an inspection. There is a bid that the mayor could sign off on, however, after talking with Mr. Conze, the money is not there for the demolition of the building, however there is enough for the asbestos removal. He said there is no fear of this collapsing.

Alderman Bateman said since the police station is nearing completion . . . are there any monies left in that line item that could be used to take down the building.

Chief Adams said there is some money, but there is lighting needed, and landscaping to look nice, but they also need tasers. Alderman Hoinacki asked a question. Mr. Woodhall said the roof does not actually need to be abated. He mentioned there's flooring etc. He said he was just bringing it forward to everyone's attention. There was a quote provided. He proposed splitting up the project for this year and next year.

Alderman Welch asked the question about going out for bids. Mr. Woodhall said he was a smart bidder. Now the bid was made public. He was unsure of how to handle it. Alderman Welch asked if this was a fair price. He said he was thinking in the $16,000 to $17,000 range. Alderman Welch called for the item to be placed on the agenda. He wanted to challenge everyone to come up with the money to take the building down itself. The item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Adoption of the Street Department's new Drug and Alcohol Policy:

Mr. Landers said the last policy was reviewed and updated in 2010. He said he felt it was a good idea to have it reviewed. The new policy was drafted and presented to the council. It is outside the contract. Alderman Parrott asked if this was the same for Streets and Alleys and Police and Fire.Mayor Goodman asked if this would be placed on the regular agenda ...it would be.

Then Alderman Hoinacki asked to back up to the asbestos topic.

Request to Permit Use of the City's 315 Eighth Street property to Host the "Balloons Over Route 66" Gathering Balloon Glow on August 24, from approximately 6:30-9:30 p.m., submitted by Alderman Tracy Welch on behalf of the group:

Alderman Welch said what you see before you is a request he put together on behalf the individuals who want to bring this event I activity back to the City of Lincoln. He said the group ran into a number of challenges regarding the balloon glow itself. He said in talking with members, the Eighth Street property came up. The topic of insurance came up. He also talked about the hurdle of closing roads. The Eighth Street lotis under consideration. He said power lines in the area are marked on a map, however, balloons would be away from the lines.

He talked about getting volunteers to keep viewers onthe easement ifthey want to observe things. He then posed the question of whether or not the neighbors in the area would support an event in the area. One neighbor they reached out to was in favor of the event. He said he did not go door-to-door, but he did take a sample of people in the area. This would be for three hours, including setup and tear down.

Alderman Parrott asked for a estimation of how many people they would expect in the area. Mayor Goodman said thousands. There are 25 balloons secured across the nation. The roads would be barricaded. People can stand on the easement. Volunteers would be needed, (approximately 10- 15) to stand by the barricades. Mayor Goodman said they have been striking out in terms of finding a location.

Streets Superintendent Walt Landers asked if anyone had talked with St. John's United Church of Christ about using their parking lot. Alderman Hoinacki talked about blocking Elm Street as its very narrow. Mayor Goodman saidit's really the last effort and they want to make it happen.Mr. Welch said the parking will not accommodate everyone. Mayor Goodman said they need hundreds of crew members that weekend.Mr. Keller thanked everyone who has been involved. Saying it was depressing that the festival went away for a year. The Oasis is putting on brunch for the pilots. Mayor Goodman said pilots are coming from all over the U.S.

Alderman Schmidt said the small-town feel was something she used to love.Mr. Welch said he's excited to see something to be happening on the plot. The item will be placed on the regular agenda.

Ardagh Group Sponsored Energy Project:

City Administrator Kavelman briefly talked about the $50,000 Grant from Ardagh Group, and passed things onto Mr. Landers. He created a report offering background on how the group came up with how the grant could potentially be spent. Mr. Landers said there are a lot of bulbs around town that need to constantly be changed, and he liked the idea of going with the LED driver. He said there are 186 lightbulbs in the area of Wyatt Avenue and downtown.He said the price of the bulbswas $56.74 each. He said not having to replace them all the time .. . and tralled off.

Mr. Greg Pyles said with the remaining balance, they has talked about adding some variable frequency drives at the Waste, Water and Treatment plant. He said some energy savings could be produced from that move.

Alderman Welch asked Mr. Landers if there was any consideration to the lights down Woodlawn Road.Those are Ameren Illinois street lights .He said Ameren is replacing these lights with LED's.

 

City Administrator Kavelman said the end of the state's fiscal year was June 30. Alderman Welch said he thought this project was worth doing. He said if we put it on the agenda, and that they should, but they should put a not-to-exceed amount on it in order to at least get it on the agenda.

Mr. Landers said with the purchase of equipment, they were a little bit under anyway. There would be a not-to-exceed amount of $50,000.

Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital's 1305 Woodlawn Road Annexation Petition:

Mr. Woodhall said a portion of this parcel was still the county's jurisdiction. He said he's been working with the engineers and the owners and it's a volunteer annexation. They're also working with the city attorney. The item will be placed on the agenda.

Announcements:

  • Fifth Street Road Project meeting is Friday at 10 a.m.
  • The IT Committee has had a tentative meeting, an informal meeting regarding audio I video and the 10-year Comcast contract is coming up for renewal. Anyone interested in being a part of the committee can contact the City Administrator.
  • Signs have been placed around the Lincoln Depot and as people come into the City of Lincoln.
  • Chief Dunovksy talked about George Alarm and a bill ne mulled over and found from 2009. He called the company and asked about the least agreement. He said the city has paid some odd $36,000 over the years for this. He said no one was monitoring the situation. The equipment was valued originally at around $8,200. He said over the years Paul has replaced the recorder downstairs. The city will now have a monthly payment of around $50. With savings in mind, he said they'd like to go ahead and purchase the cameras, to beef up the security system. It'd tie into the current system. An addendum has been signed with them to monitor the panic buttons. Alderman Bateman said this was a contract signed and handled during a committee form of government and it fell through the cracks once the committee form was broken up. Alderman Welch proposed putting it on the agenda. It would be the purchase of the additional camera equipment. The lease has already been paid.
  • Open Arms Christian Fellowship had their family day on Sunday. He said it was well attended, some 3,000   people   attended   according   the   Alderman   Schmidt.

Adjournment:

There being no further business to come before the city council, Alderman Keller made a motion to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Welch.

The Committee of the Whole meeting adjourned at 9:02 p.m.

 

Respectfully  Submitted By:

Alexandrea Williams, Recording Secretary

 

 

CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19)

Information is available on the following sites:
Logan County Current Statistics

Memorial Health System  - Includes daily statistics for MHS and a COVID-19 Risk Screening

Local Business Resources
Logan County Department of Public Health
Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH)
Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

 

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