 Economic development summit
Mayor Keith Snyder has set a tentative date of Sept. 12 for an
economic summit for the city. He said this was something he had
spoken of while running for office, and he wants to follow through
with it.
The summit will build on the base that was created at the city's
CEDS meeting in April.
Snyder has contacted the economic development partnership and the
chamber of commerce for their participation, as well as others, and
will continue working on the project, keeping the council informed
as he progresses.
Taking the show on the road
Snyder told the council that he wants to "take this show on the
road."
He said that commencing this fall he wants to have at least one
council workshop meeting in each ward.
He asked that the two aldermen from each ward get together and
find a suitable location for the meeting and choose the date they
would prefer.
He added that during the workshop meeting he would like for the
aldermen to offer a presentation about their ward. "Tell us what is
going on in your ward, what the issues are, what people are
concerned about, and whatever you would like for us to know," he
said.
Snyder and Bates have researched the subject of holding meetings
outside of council chambers and found that it was not allowed on
voting meetings, so the "road show" will be workshops only.
New city e-mail addresses
Snyder said that he is working with the folks who maintain the
city's Web site and has set up new e-mail addresses for city
department heads as well as himself.
He said that this will give some uniformity to the city e-mail
addresses and make it easier for the people of Lincoln to contact
various departments.
All the addresses will now end in "@cityoflincoln-il.gov."
The addresses that are established
now are as follows:
For Tracy Jackson, superintendent of streets and alleys, the
address will be
streets@cityoflincoln-il.gov. Jackson said that his address is
not yet established but should be soon.
Changes in meeting procedure; council approves a consent agenda
The mayor wants to implement a change in the Monday night voting
meeting procedures by adopting the use of a consent agenda.
He said that a consent agenda is specifically for
noncontroversial issues that are normally approved without
discussion. He cited as examples the payment of bills and adopting
of resolutions and proclamations.
He added that this would streamline the voting process by
allowing for one motion and one vote to pass everything listed on
the consent agenda. He said that doing this would allow more time to
discuss issues of greater importance.
At the workshop meetings, aldermen would specify when they wanted
an item placed on the consent agenda. The city clerk will create the
agenda and send it out in advance.
Snyder said that if something was placed on the consent agenda
that anyone felt should not be there, they can request that it be
removed prior to the voting meeting.
Bill Bates, city attorney, handed out a three-page document
explaining the consent agenda, which he said is officially titled an
"Omnibus Agenda." The document included state statute Section
5/3.1-40-40, which allows for the use of the consent agenda in
municipal meetings.
Alderwoman Melody Anderson said that the consent agenda has been
used by the school board in the past and that it worked out very
well for them. She said that she is all in favor of adding this
change in procedure to the council meetings.
The council will begin using the consent agenda at the May 26
workshop meeting.
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New registration form for addressing the council
The mayor said that he and Alderman Jeff Hoinacki and have
discussed a new form to be filled out by people wishing to address
the council.
The form is a single page with a registration form on the bottom
portion, which the visitor would fill out ahead of time and give to
the city clerk, creating a public record of those who come before
the council.
The top portion of the form would be for the speaker to keep and
would offer suggestions on how to address the council with their
topic.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel said that she thought the form was a
very good idea. "It will give us an idea ahead of time on what they
are going to be talking about," she said.
Mayor creates two new committees; result of IPRF safety audit
The Illinois Public Risk Fund is the provider for the city's
workers' compensation policy. The IPRF annually sends a loss
prevention specialist to visit its policy holders, evaluate their
safety policies and procedures, and recommend changes to improve
workplace safety.
Snyder told the council that he had acted on an IPRF letter that
included a call to action in three areas and required a response
from the city no later than May 13.
First, IPRF said that city supervisors should complete accident
investigations on all employee injuries.
Snyder said that he has created an accident review committee,
consisting of himself and all the city department heads.
The committee will review the current accident report forms,
compare them with those used by the state of Illinois and other
entities, develop a new uniform reporting document for all
departments, and then build a reporting and investigation policy and
procedure for the city.
The second recommendation was for the creation of a safety
committee. Snyder said that the committee will consist of four
representatives, one each from police, fire and street departments,
and one who will be representing the combined City Hall offices.
He said that this committee would be formed by July 1 but added
that IPRF was willing to come back in September and offer training
to the committee on how to implement a safety program.
Snyder said that in his answer to the IPRF, he would state that
the committee will not be fully functional until after they have
received that training in September.
Finally, IPRF offers a series of Web-based safety trainings for
employees. The company is strongly suggesting that the city
departments use these Web-based tools in training employees about
workplace safety.
Les Plotner, city treasurer, asked what kind of cost was going to
be involved in the trainings that IPRF is suggesting. He said that
he was all in favor of anything that would increase worker safety,
as the city has been hit hard with premium increases due to claims.
However, if there is a cost involved in the trainings, that needed
to be considered as well.
Bates said he believed that IPRF will provide the on-site
trainings at no charge because they, too, have a vested interest in
the city due to the cost of claims.
Jackson said that the training material offered by the IPRF on
the Web is free of charge.
IPRF grant awarded
Fire Chief Kent Hulett has also received word from the IPRF that
the city has been awarded $1,700 from an IPRF Safety Grant. The
money will be used to purchase spare cylinders for the fire
department's breathing apparatus.
[By NILA SMITH] |
