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City to offer
compromise on sewage issue Attorney Jonathan Wright sat in
for city attorney Bill Bates in advising the council on an issue
regarding a resident's plugged sewer. Bates told the council several
weeks ago that this situation was a conflict of interest for him.
Alderman Buzz Busby outlined the problem, saying that a resident
purchased her home in 2003, unaware that the sewer line had been
plugged with concrete. Raw sewage has been draining into the crawl
space beneath her home since then.
The elderly resident's daughter recently contacted a professional
service to clean the drains in the home, and that was when the plug
was discovered.
City waste treatment manager Bob Tackett said that he and his
crews had been to the residence, inspected the problem and removed
the plug so that the sewer would work properly.
The resident is asking that the city pay approximately $2,200 for
the work done by the professional service.
A large portion of the $2,200 is for snaking the lines with an
eel, but Tackett said that in his inspection of the property, he
could see no evidence that the lines had been snaked.
The bill also includes application of chemicals under the home to
promote the breakdown of the sewage that is there.
Busby said that he felt like the only action the city should take
would be to refund the resident for one year's worth of sewer bills,
which would amount to approximately $240.
Alderman David Wilmert said that he felt like the city had a
greater liability. He said that these were simple questions: Has the
resident had sewer service in the last six years? No. Did she plug
the sewer herself? No.
He said: "At the very least is it not logical to say we have not
been providing service to her? So I would think that we should
reimburse her for the full six years of bills."
Busby said that where overpayment is concerned, the governing
body will generally reimburse one year's worth of payments.
He added that what the resident wants is the $2,000-plus for the
professional services.
Wilmert agreed that the city could get by with one year of
reimbursement legally but that the resident could take it to court
and seek more.
Wright agreed that any offer the city made was subject to
lawsuit.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel interjected that with all due respect to
Wright, lawsuits and attorneys cost money, so it would end up in the
long run costing more to fight this than to pay it off.
Alderwoman Melody Anderson said that she agreed with Wilmert. She
said: "Do I think they have a lot of legal standing to get the
$2,200 out of us? No, I don't. But, in reality, I know that if it
was me in that situation and I was paying for sewer service that I
never in reality had, I'd be a little worked up about it."
Anderson said she was in favor of refunding the six years of
sewage service and let the resident apply it toward her bill.
Neitzel agreed.
Wright planned to draw up a document offering the refund with an
attached clause that the resident would seek no further action
against the city.
Compromised state budget spares local jobs
At Tuesday's city meeting Mayor Keith Snyder spoke about the
problems the state was having with pulling together a budget for the
2009-10 year and the effect it would have locally.
He said that layoffs of state employees were going to reach the
Lincoln Correctional Center with six layoffs, while the Logan
Correctional Center would suffer the loss of 153 personnel.
In addition to these cuts in the prison force, there will also be
a layoff of all three custodians at the Lincoln Developmental Center
grounds, leaving no one out there to look after that property.
He proposed that next Monday the council pass a resolution that
the governor oppose these layoffs and pursue other means to try to
resolve state budget issues.
On Wednesday evening the governor did sign a budget with
temporary solutions. While it spares jobs for now, it is believed
that the approved budget cannot support the state for the full year
without layoffs.
(See today's news: Legislature
OKs budget built on debt, governor quickly signs it)
City seeks solution to heal eyesores
Alderwoman Joni Tibbs said that she had received a suggestion
that the city somehow beef up its pursuit of ordinance violations
concerning filth.
She said that the zoning and safety officer, Les Last, writes
letters but that they are not effective, and she wondered if the
city could show more strength by issuing tickets.
Bates responded that there was no way this could be done.
She then asked what can be done to get the eyesores in the city
cleaned up.
Snyder said that just last week his office met with Bates and
Last to discuss methods other cities have pursued with some success.
The city attorney would send letters to ordinance offenders,
saying, "The city is going to demolish this building, unless you
take us to court."
Bates said that this wording would put the legal responsibility
in the hands of the property owner rather than the city.
Consequently if the property owner took no such action, then the
city could proceed with demolition without consequence.
Bates added that this was not going to be without financial
ramifications. Specifically, he would have to conduct title searches
of all property, which would be costly. Then, not only would the
property owner be notified, but also any lien holders connected to
it. Any one of those entities would then have the right to take the
city to court over the problem.
Tibbs said that she wasn't talking necessarily about demolition
but also about mowing and about lawn waste being thrown into the
streets.
Bates said that discharging of grass into the streets would
warrant issuing a citation for violation of ordinance. He also said
that the city can't mow the grass until it exceeds 12 inches tall.
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Bates said that he files ordinance violations weekly, amounting to
hundreds per year. The procedure for this is that Last writes a
letter asking the offender to clean up his area. If that letter does
not get a response, then it moves to Bates, who issues another
letter. Bates said that the majority of the time the attorney's
letter results in the property being cleaned up; when it doesn't,
the offender is then taken to court and a judge orders him or her to
comply. He said that repeat offenders get fines attached to the
order.
Bates said that there have been a few who simply refused to do
what they were told. Currently there is one offender who has been
cited numerous times and will very soon be headed to jail for 30
days because he has not resolved the problem. However, Bates noted
that sending the man to jail still isn't going to resolve the
problem.
Anderson wanted to know if, after the jail sentence, there was
anything further the city could do, as in go in and clean it up.
Bates said that this is along the same lines as the demolition
problem, and that yes, there is something that can be done.
The mayor said we are not ignoring this problem. Efforts are
being made to make things better.
City goes "green" and saves big bucks on utilities
David Kitzmiller of Environmental Management Corp., former waste
treatment manager for the city of Lincoln, spoke about the city's
electric usage at the waste treatment facility. Capacitors and
clamping devices installed on the electric motors are saving energy.
In 2006 capacitors were installed on all electric single-stage
motors of 40 horsepower and above, and clamping devices were placed
on all power control centers or electrical boxes at the plant.
Capacitors are like batteries that take in and store the
electricity that is not immediately used by the motor, and then it
is fed into the motor when needed without using additional
electricity from the utility company.
Clamping devices are in essence industrial surge protectors. When
spikes or surges occur in the electric currents, these devices
protect the equipment from damage.
He said that when the devices were installed, it was stated they
would guarantee the city a 15 percent savings in energy usage.
Kitzmiller said that because the city had changed electric
suppliers recently, he wanted to go back and compare the cost
savings and see what percentage of savings the city was actually
receiving.
He said that he looked at the past 11 months, compared it to the
11 months prior to that and found that the city treated 27 percent
more water in the most recent 11-month period, but in doing so, the
electric consumption was 21 percent less than the previous period.
He said that 21 percent equated to a savings of approximately
$80,000 in utility fees.
In addition to this, increasing the efficiency of the motors
reduces the amount of carbon that they put out. Therefore, besides
saving money, the city has become more environmentally friendly.
To that end, the equipment supplier, Total Energy Concepts,
presented the city with a plaque recognizing its efforts to reduce
its "carbon footprint."
The total cost of this equipment was $120,000, spread across two
years. Kitzmiller pointed out that in the 11 months, the city has
earned back about two-thirds of that investment.
Agreement with Hanson Associates for stimulus projects
City engineer Mark Mathon told the council that he has received
the agreement from Hanson Associates in regard to stimulus projects
on South State and North College streets.
The lump-sum agreement of $57,500 covers completion of plans and
specifications, plus getting the plans approved through the Illinois
Department of Transportation.
The funds to pay the contract would come out of motor fuel tax
revenues.
Main Street dressed up and inviting guests
Wanda Lee Rohlfs, Main Street Lincoln manager, offered a brief
description of work Main Street Lincoln has been doing around town
since May. She noted work done on uncovering the latest vintage
mural, mulch added at the playground area of Scully Park and other
projects.
She said that heritage tourism signs would be placed in the near
future. She noted that there are 43 locations in Logan County with a
direct connection to Abraham Lincoln, and that 16 new signs, most in
the city of Lincoln, will draw attention to those sites.
On July 22 and 23, Main Street Lincoln will be the host of a
training seminar for Illinois Main Street. At least 50 participants
are expected in the downtown area for the two days.
Rohlfs wants those visitors to stay in town the full day without
worry about parking violations. She and the mayor came up with a
placard that participants can put on their dashboard to exempt them
from any parking time violations.
Integrity Data donates used computer to City Hall
Wilmert said that Patrick Doolin of Integrity Data has donated a
used computer to the city clerk's office. He said that the clerk's
office currently has one very old, beat-up computer in serious need
of replacement. The donated computer will be a huge improvement.
Wilmert will transfer information to the computer and get it running
for the clerk's staff.
Police and Fire Commission will meet Friday and Saturday
Police Chief Stuart Erlenbush said that the Police and Fire
Commission will meet Friday evening and Saturday for the purpose of
interviewing candidates for a patrol position in the police
department.
[By NILA SMITH] |
