 Heritage DaysThe council voted to proceed with the
Heritage Days celebration that runs in conjunction with the Fourth
of July each year.
Chuck Conzo of the Heritage Days committee spoke to the council
about the plans for this year's event, which will be an abbreviated
version of past celebrations.
Due to the economy, the committee decided that this year they
would not solicit sponsorships from area businesses, but they will
take donations from anyone who wishes to do so.
The celebration will run two days only: July 3 and 4. Special
events will be live bands uptown on Friday night. On the Fourth
there will be the children's parade, garage sale at Scully Park,
Railsplitter car show on the square, free watermelon and the
veterans' tent on the courthouse lawn, and fireworks at dusk at the
park district grounds.
After the meeting Alderwoman Joni Tibbs, who is on the Heritage
Days committee, said that they wanted to make this year's
celebration a very nice one, but with the economy being what it is,
they didn't want to have to call on area businesses to help sponsor
the celebration. The committee felt that the best way to accomplish
this was to cut the event down from four days to two.
The committee also decided not to invite the Illinois Symphony
Orchestra this year as they had originally planned.
Heritage Days first came about in 2003 as a portion of the city
of Lincoln's sesquicentennial.
After the meeting Mayor Beth Davis-Kavelman said she was pleased
that the city voted to continue the Heritage Days this year, as it
was always the intention that the annual celebration would run from
the sesquicentennial through the Abraham Lincoln 200th birthday
celebration.
Car cruise-ins gearing up for another great season
The council approved a request presented by James Loeffler from
the Lincoln Railsplitter Antique Auto Club. Loeffler provided
council members with a schedule for this year's events and said that
the club is requesting the same as last year's partial street
closings around the courthouse square for the 2009 cruise-ins that
are held in downtown Lincoln.
Below is a full schedule of the Lincoln Railsplitter Antique Auto
Club cruise-ins that are planned in Lincoln this year, including
events planned for downtown, at The Mill and at Culver's.
Lincoln Railsplitter Antique Auto
Club
2009 calendar of cruise-ins
-
April 25 --
Cruise-in, downtown Lincoln, 5-9 p.m.
-
May 23 --
Cruise-in, downtown Lincoln 5-9 p.m.
-
June 12 --
Cruise-in at Culver's, 2530 Woodlawn Road, 5-9 p.m.
-
June 27 -- Super
Cruise for St. Jude, downtown Lincoln, 5-9 p.m.
Car show, silent auction and live music.
-
July 4 -- Lincoln
Heritage Days celebration cruise-in, downtown Lincoln, 5-9 p.m.
-
July 10 --
Cruise-in at Culver's, 2530 Woodlawn Road, 5-9 p.m.
-
July 25 --
Cruise-in, downtown Lincoln, 5-9 p.m.
-
Aug. 14 --
Cruise-in at Culver's, 2530 Woodlawn Road, 5-9 p.m.
-
Aug. 30 -- Lincoln
Art & Balloon Fest car show, downtown Lincoln, 1-4 p.m. (Sunday
afternoon)
-
Sept. 11 --
Cruise-in at Culver's, 2530 Woodlawn Road, 5-9 p.m.
-
Sept. 26 --
Cruise-in, downtown Lincoln, 5-9 p.m.
-
Oct. 10 -- Cruise-in at The Mill, 738
S. Washington St., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Live music, food.
For more information, call 217-732-3519 or 217-732-3245 or visit
http://www.geocities.com/
railauto/index.html.
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City approves Arbor Day tree planting
As part of this year's Arbor Day celebration, the city forestry
department will work with the county to plant eight new trees on the
courthouse lawn.
Each year, the city has an official Arbor Day celebration and
planting in conjunction with its Tree City USA designation from the
Arbor Day Foundation.
Recent storms have damaged many of the trees on the courthouse
square, and the county will be removing those.
The city forestry department plans to plant eight October glory
maples, one on each side of each walkway leading up to the
courthouse. The trees are expected to grow about 50-feet tall and
have a 40-foot span at maturity. They will offer brilliant fall
color and be reminiscent of the elm trees that populated much of the
city prior to the 1940s and '50s.
The planting will take place on April 24, National Arbor Day.
Sewer tap fee waived for ALMH and Castle Manor
On Jan. 20 the council voted to no longer offer the sewer tap fee
waiver as one of the incentives in an enterprise zone in the city of
Lincoln. At that same time the council also agreed to honor the
waiver for Helitech because the Lincoln & Logan County Development
Partnership had been working on bringing the business into town for
quite some time, and the waiver had been a portion of that
negotiation.
At last night's meeting, council members were asked to extend the
same waiver to Castle Manor and Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital as
it pertains to their new construction plans in an enterprise zone.
Building and safety officer Les Last, who had been on medical leave
recently, explained to the council that both organizations have been
planning their new facilities with the understanding that the sewer
tap fees would be waived.
When asked about the cost of waiving the fees, David Kitzmiller,
the city wastewater treatment manager, said that fees were
calculated based on the size of the water tap that would be
required. With both facilities expected to consume large amounts of
potable water, the fees involved will be well into the thousands of
dollars.
Because the ALMH and Castle Manor projects have been in the
planning stages for quite some time, the council voted unanimously
to waive the fees for those two entities.
Fire truck for sale
The council passed an ordinance to allow for the disposal of a
1984 Pierce Arrow pumper truck belonging to the city fire
department.
The pumper truck, which has been replaced, will be advertised for
bid.
Tabled items
[By NILA SMITH]
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