[FEB. 22, 2006]
A full council met on Tuesday evening to attend to
the city of Lincoln business matters.
In a matter that is waiting to be addressed, Mayor Beth Davis said
that she has received several phone calls from people concerned
about changes they are hearing about at the racetrack. Lincoln
Speedway holds a special-use permit to host car races at the Logan
County Fairgrounds. The business was approved to operate on Sunday
evenings with set hours.
Lincoln Speedway was recently purchased and supposedly has a new
schedule of events. A couple of area speedway owners came before the
council a couple of months ago, saying that the new owner was
soliciting race car drivers for races on a different day of the
week. They asked the council to carefully consider approving a
change of day if the council controlled that, as it would disrupt
the delicate balance between tracks throughout this part of the
state and influence everybody's chances of success.
The mayor said that the new owners have not scheduled an
appearance yet, but she added, "They do have to come before the
council" [to change days or hours].
The council voted with 100 percent approval on all issues
presented during the evening.
Revisions to the city liquor code that passed on Tuesday evening
constituted amending fees and classes, as well as adding some
language to help police enforce the hours that alcohol is served on
the premises of establishments.
After weighing out all the factors -- increased services in law
enforcement, restaurant inspections and offering sufficient numbers
of licenses for the few establishments that may change classes
between B and C from one year to the next -- the liquor committee
determined to:
Sets all license fees
equal at $1,125 each.
Increase the number
of Class C restaurant licenses from eight to 10.
Add language saying
that police have the right to enter the premises a half-hour
after set hours.
A request to move funds in the fire department's budget were
approved. The amount of $1,000 will be moved to the gas and oil
category to cover the higher cost of fuel and $2,000 to repairs and
equipment.
Approval was also granted to amend the 2001 bond issue for
Lincoln Christian College. The amendment allows for an adjustment to
the interest rate of the bond issue.
A Truck Access Route Program agreement with the Illinois
Department of Transportation was approved. The agreement assists the
city with financing roadways to the Robert's Foods Sysco warehouse.
The state of Illinois will partner with the city in funding the
roadways leading to the site.
In conjunction with the Truck Access Route Program, three drives
consisting of eight-tenths of a mile were designated as
80,000-pound, Class III truck routes: Heitmann, Sysco and Madigan
drives.
The council is following the recommendation of the sewer system
manager, Dave Kitzmiller, to purchase of a new Vactor.
The decision did not require bids, as it involved trading in on a
five-year guarantee on the current Vactor. The new Vactor costs
$264,000 but has a trade-in value of $109,000.
Tracy Jackson, streets superintendent, defined the Vactor as a
multi-tool apparatus used for clearing sewers. It has a
high-water-pressure hose with a bunch of different nozzles for
different jobs. You send in the hose, and when you pull it back, it
brings all the debris back to the manhole for the big vacuum hose to
suck up. This truck is set up with a power washer and jackhammer,
Jackson said.
