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Firefighters sworn in Five city of Lincoln firefighters
were officially sworn into duty by city attorney Bill Bates. Three
of the oaths were the result of promotions and two were new hires.
 Capt. Rick O'Hara was promoted to the rank of assistant chief.
O'Hara has been with the city fire department for 20 years.
 Lt. Ken Ebelherr, who has served for a total of 29 years with the
city, was promoted to the rank of captain.
 Firefighter Aaron Johnson has been promoted to lieutenant after
nine years of service.
Chief Kent Hulett explained that all these promotions were the
result of Assistant Chief Tom Martin's retirement.
Also sworn in were two new firefighters, who officially began
their career with the city on May 26.
 Andy Dexter comes to the city from the Lincoln Rural Fire
Department, and Beau Friday is coming to Lincoln from the Chatham
Fire Department.
City treasurer's report for May
Les Plotner, city treasurer, told the council that the city is
now implementing some new accounting software, and thus far, he
hasn't been able to produce the style of report he would like.
He had given the council copies of the new reports and told them
that all the information was there but in a different format. He
asked the council to bear with him, assuring them that he'd get it
all figured out soon.
In the meantime, he reported on the current bank balances, the
invested funds in the police and fire retirement accounts, and said
that the bar graphs indicated that 0.83 percent of the annual budget
has been expended.
He also reported that the general obligation bond has a balance
of $355.79. A new bond will commence in October.
Approved petition will be resubmitted
At the June 9 committee-of-the-whole meeting, Patrick Gettleman
of 1807 N. Kankakee addressed the council regarding a written
petition he was submitting for their consideration.
Gettleman explained that there is a culvert running the depth of
his property, from Kankakee Street, across his lawn, under a garage
and toward an undeveloped alley behind his home.
The culvert is necessary for water draining from Kankakee to
Brainard's Branch.
The problem is that the culvert ends in Gettleman's lawn, and
during heavy rains his property is flooded until the water gets deep
enough to cross the alleyway and travel to the branch.
Gettleman asked that the city extend the culvert to the alleyway.
Mark Mathon, city engineer, said that the way the land rolls in
that area, Gettleman's property is a low spot, and the water does
lie without much movement. Extending the culvert approximately 20
feet would help resolve the flooding.
At the voting meeting, Alderman Buzz Busby moved to approve the
petition, stipulating that the city would do the work but that the
property owner would purchase the culvert extension.
Gettleman was present for the decision, and after the council
adjourned he spoke with Mathon, saying he had not expected that he
would be financially responsible for the culvert.
Mathon, Gettleman and Bates conferred, and afterward, Mathon said
that Gettleman's original petition had not requested that the
project be at the city's expense. He has been advised to resubmit
the petition, asking the city to foot the entire bill.
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Mayoral appointment
Mayor Keith Snyder told the council that Jane Ryan has resigned
from the Civil Service Commission, and he would like to appoint
Sarah Aughenbaugh of 44 Illini Drive as her replacement. He
indicated that the appointment would be for a term to end May 1,
2012.
Mayor makes change to sanitation committee
New
Alderman David Wilmert serves as chairman of the sanitation
committee. He has also begun researching technological
advances for the city.
The mayor has amended the sanitation committee to become the
sanitation and technology committee. Wilmert said that he would
call a meeting of the committee in the near future.
Please sign your letters
Wilmert said that he wanted to state publicly that he has
received letters and other communications from his constituents, and
as he had promised to maintain an open dialogue with anyone
approaching him, he would like to respond to some of the voters'
concerns but can't because letters are being sent anonymously.
Wilmert said that if constituents don't want their name mentioned
publicly, they can say so in their correspondence, but if they don't
give their name and contact information, there is no way for him to
get ahold of them for follow-up conversations.
Petition tabled
A petition by Donald Kurtz asking that the city vacate a right of
way behind his property was tabled for the evening, as the city
attorney explained to the council that the procedure for doing such
a vacate would have to include a city ordinance and a public
hearing.
The undeveloped city property located behind 704 and 721 21st
Street has been boxed in since the development of the Brainard
Landing apartment complex, and Kurtz has been doing the mowing of
the property for years.
Proclamation of Scout Sweep Day June 20
Members of Scout Troops 105 and 111 were present to receive a
copy of a resolution proclaiming June 20 as Scout Sweep Day in
Lincoln.
Scout Troop 105 is hosting the day, which will involve cleaning
up the streets between Washington-Monroe School and the downtown
area. The boys will be collecting garbage along the curbs and
sidewalks. Troop 111 and others will be joining Troop 105 in their efforts.
[By NILA SMITH]
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