Thursday, October 01, 2009
 
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City briefs: New council to review proposed new sign ordinance

City to make its 1st public infrastructure rebate to Wal-Mart; and more

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[October 01, 2009]  In June 2008, issues arose regarding the size and placement of billboards and signs inside the city limits. This prompted a rewriting of current ordinances.

The city's new sign ordinance was finally completed in April of 2009, just before Wanda Lee Rohlfs and Verl Prather left office. Rohlfs chaired the ordinance committee and Prather was the co-chairman.

From the committee it went to the city attorney, Bill Bates, who reviewed it for correct legal language and sequential numbering. When he was finished with the document, he sent it on to the mayor for review.

Because the mayoral seat has changed as well as a few of the council seats, Mayor Keith Snyder said Tuesday night that he wants to do another committee-of-the-whole review of the ordinance. He said that he has gone through the 30-plus page document and has several questions, and it occurs to him that the newest members of the council haven't seen the document either and might have questions as well.

Copies will be distributed to all the council and it will be reviewed at a future workshop meeting.

City to pay infrastructure rebate

The city of Lincoln will make its first rebate on public infrastructure that brought in the Walmart Supercenter. In the year 2008, the store generated $182,869.31 in excess sales tax to begin the repayment process.

Wal-Mart fronted $600,000 for public infrastructure when the company built the new store in an undeveloped area of Lincoln's new west-side business district in 2006.

In the development agreement that was approved on Dec. 6, 2005, the company agreed to provide all their own roads and sewers, develop new roads that would open the area for other new businesses, and also agreed to give the city 27 acres of land located directly behind the new store location.

An agreement was struck to pay back the infrastructure costs with the extra sales tax revenues that would be generated.

After much debate in 2005, the council and the company finally reached an agreement.

The company agreed to concede $15,000 of the $600,000 when the cost to upgrade the city's Zion lift station exceeded the estimated budget, bringing the total to be rebated down to $585,000.

At the Tuesday night workshop meeting, Les Plotner, city treasurer, said that based on sales taxes generated in the calendar year 2008, it was time to pay the first installment.

The agreement is that the city will make rebate payments based on the differences between the annual sales tax figures for the given year (2008) and an average of the store's sales tax figures for 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005.

The four-year average came to $313,932.55, and the sales tax generated for the 2008 calendar year by the store totaled $496,801.86, creating a difference of $182,869.31.

Bill Bates, city attorney, said that this payment would be going to the company much later than it should be. He explained that the payment should have been made in April, before the end of the 2008-09 budget year, but that there were valid reasons that it didn't get done.

The city had contacted the state of Illinois for the four-year average figure that was needed, but the state was unable to provide that information. The retailer was then asked to get the figures.

The city finally received that information on Sept. 2 and acted on it as quickly as possible.

Video gaming may be the next hot topic

Several members of the council, the mayor, city treasurer, city attorney and others attended the Illinois Municipalities League's annual conference in Chicago on Sept. 25-26

Snyder asked that they go around the room and each attendee comment on what sessions they had attended and what they had learned at the conference.

It was clear that the council members had spread out and tried to hit as many workshop sessions as possible, as they reported on meetings regarding downtown revitalization, wind energy, finance, grant opportunities and grant writing, methods of trimming the city budget, collective bargaining, and much more.

Plotner said that one thing he came away with was an assurance that the city of Lincoln is not the only one in Illinois suffering from financial concerns.

He also attended a meeting about using professional collection agencies to collect delinquent bills and thought it was a topic the city of Lincoln should discuss further.

But perhaps the most disconcerting topic discussed at the conference was the legalization of video gaming machines and the effect it would have on municipalities.

Alderman Buzz Busby said that it is the biggest fiasco he's seen in a while.

Alderman Jeff Hoinacki added that the machines will become legal without any rules, much like the state laws that made it illegal to smoke in public places in Illinois but offered no provisions on how to deal with it.

Bates said that it is an absolute disaster. "I don't think anybody in our community that has video gaming machines at this point in time has any comprehension of what is going to happen to them," he said. "All of those machines are going to become illegal, a Class IV felony to possess them, as of the date their stickers expire, which I believe is July 1 of 2010. I don't know how everybody is going to deal with that. The bottom line is the state is going to be in charge of that, so you can guess what it is going to be like."

Lease agreements set to expire February 2010

Alderwoman Joni Tibbs said that the city owns two parcels of farm ground with lease agreements that are set to expire in February of 2010.

The first is an agreement between the city and Corey Farmer for the 25 tillable acres located behind the Walmart Supercenter.

Tibbs said that last year they went out for bid on this parcel and ended up getting less per acre than they had with the former tenant. She wondered whether it should be placed out for bid again this year or whether the city should negotiate a price with the current tenant.

Bates said that he has contacted Farmer, and the tenant is not willing to pay the current cash rent of $227.90 per acre. One reason for this is that it has been found that of the 25 tillable acres, there are 2-3 acres that are very wet and do not produce crops. In addition, the leased ground is not eligible for any of the federal farm rebate programs.

Bates said that in a telephone conversation with the Farmers, they indicated they would be willing to pay $200 per acre for the ground.

The second property is 40 acres located near Lincoln Lakes, leased by Darrell and Sarah Benner at a rate of $150 per acre.

This is a three-year lease, and Bates said that while today the $150 an acre sounds low, when the lease was negotiated three years ago, it was a competitive price.

Bates said that there is an issue with this property in that it appears to be landlocked, with no public access. He said that this would make it very difficult to open it up for bid.

He asked Mark Mathon, city engineer, if he knew any specifics on the property, and Mathon said he didn't offhand, but he will look into it.

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Auto Sales

Bates said that he had tried to contact the Benners on Tuesday but was unable to reach them. He hopes to speak with them in the near future and find out what their feelings are about renewing the lease and the cash rent amount they are willing to offer.

He also suggested that it would be prudent to give the tenants notice by the end of October if the city decides they do not want to renew the leases.

The mayor said that in regard to the property behind Walmart, there is a local organization that is interested in a portion of that property. He doesn't have details on what they are thinking but will contact them and see if they can present something in the near future.

Bates reminded everyone that the lease for that property specifies that the city can take it back for development at any time, with reasonable reimbursements to the tenant for the cost of planting a crop and refund of the cash rent for the specific acreage taken.

"Boomerang grant" returns

City Police Chief Stuart Erlenbush announced that the "boomerang grant" has once again been returned to the city … this time with money attached.

The grant he was referring to is the Community Oriented Policing Services grant sponsored by the Department of Justice in the amount of $25,000, which has been earmarked since March for improving the security in City Hall.

This brings to an end a process that began in May of 2008 when Robert Shattuck of J.H. Petty and Associates did a walk-through of City Hall and made recommendations for security improvements to the building.

The city then filed a grant application for $25,000 to implement some of the recommendations.

This year in March, Tibbs announced that she had heard from Aaron Schock, 18th Congressional District representative, that the city would be awarded that grant.

However, since then, the grant application has made its way back to the city for "tweaking."

Erlenbush last month reported that he had received the grant back and had to make some minor adjustments and clarifications. He noted that he had resent it and was hoping that it would not become the "boomerang grant," going back and forth between the city and the Department of Justice.

After the Tuesday night meeting, Tibbs said she was very happy that this is finally completed and that it could not have been accomplished without the dedication of the committee, the city police department and Dan Fulscher of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency.

She noted that it was good that the city and the EMA were able to work together to get this accomplished, and she appreciates all of Fulscher's efforts in helping them.

The funds will be used to install a video surveillance system in the building and panic buttons for the city offices. A portion of the funds will also be used to upgrade the city's software systems, making the city books more secure.

Tibbs said that down the road, if more money becomes available, there are other measures that she would like to take, such as adding security glass at the public area of the city clerk's department and the building and safety office.

City will seek bids for workers' compensation insurance

Alderwoman Stacy Bacon said that the insurance committee has established a schedule for going out for bid on the workers' compensation policy for city employees.

She said that ads have been placed and that bid packets are to be available in the city clerk's office on Oct. 1. Bids will be due back to the clerk's office no later than Nov. 25, will be reviewed by the committee on Dec. 1, and the winning bid will be awarded on Dec. 10.

City to take easement at Lincoln Towncenter

Bates said that he has received the easement agreement between Lincoln Towncenter and the city of Lincoln.

The developers of the Castle Manor project have upgraded and connected to a sewer line that runs through the parking between Kroger and the old Walmart store on the city's west side.

The agreement said that Castle Manor developers would make the improvements to the sewer and then sign it back to the city.

With this stage of the sewer work being completed and the document regarding the easement properly written, Bates said that he would suggest to Busby that he add it to the agenda to allow the mayor to sign the agreement Monday night.

Palmer lift station issue still on the table

Alderman Buzz Busby said that at last week's voting meeting he had tabled a vote of purchasing new bar screen for the Palmer lift station because he felt like it needed more discussion.

He had intended to go into that on Tuesday night, but Bob Tackett, waste treatment manager, is still gathering formation regarding the issue. Therefore Busby said they would hold off on any further action until a later date.

Request of alley closure may be a problem

A petition for an alley closure between Peoria Street and Tremont for the block between Hamilton and Sherman streets may not be approved at the Monday voting meeting.

The petition is for the area to be blocked off during a neighborhood party that is not sponsored by any organization.

Bates said that the problem with this request was the need for a certificate of insurance, which would relieve the city of any liability should someone be injured while in the alley. He said that with no official organization involved, he didn't believe that the certificate would be obtainable, as it is not something that is likely to be covered by homeowner insurance.

Hoinacki asked that the petition be placed on the regular voting agenda, and he would look into this further before the Monday night meeting.

[By NILA SMITH]

Past related reports

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Wal-Mart or Walmart?

Technical note: The name Walmart has recently come into use along with the name Wal-Mart. According to Associated Press guidelines, the name Walmart is now used when referring to the retail stores. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is the name of the company, which has headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

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