 Wilmert stands alone in vote to rescind
At the Tuesday night workshop meeting of the council last week,
Alderman David Wilmert told the group that he was troubled by a
decision that had been made at the last voting session.
"I want to make the council aware of something that is bothering
me," he said, "something I regret in respect to the Broadway
project."
Wilmert was referring to a vote taken at the Aug. 2 voting
session, when P.H. Boughton won the bid for the Broadway Street
overlay project by unanimous vote. The Boughton firm was the low
bidder. Illinois Valley Paving, the only other bidder, came in at
$614,322.26.
At the workshop meeting, city attorney Bill Bates expressed a
concern as to whether or not the city could legally rescind a vote
that involved approving a low bid on a project.
Since then Bates has investigated the situation, and Monday night
he said that legally the city could rescind the vote because as of
this date no signed agreement has been made between the city and
Boughton.
However, he cautioned that he had found cases where this type of
situation had gone to litigation. Bates said that if that should
occur, then the decision would be left in the hands of a judge and
it could go either way.
Bates gave his report on this prior to any motion. When he
finished speaking Alderwoman Marty Neitzel spoke up immediately,
saying she felt that anyone who wanted to object to this should have
done it when the original motion to approve the bid was made and
that the council shouldn't be considering a new vote.
Because there had been no motion, Mayor Keith Snyder asked
Neitzel if she wanted to make a motion based on what she had just
said, so that it could be discussed.
However Alderman David Wilmert spoke up, saying that he would
make the motion and it would be to rescind the original vote. The
motion was seconded by Alderman Tom O'Donohue.
To open, Wilmert said he didn't feel that the city should be
swayed by the possibility of litigation. He commented that if it
would come to that, the city could "cave" on their decision and go
back to the original plan.
He also said that Boughton might think twice before suing because
they might want to have future projects with the city.
As discussion ensued it was brought up that perhaps there were
places that needed repair worse than Broadway Street does and that
the money should be redirected there.
However Alderwoman Melody Anderson spoke out against that, saying
that she wasn't entirely opposed to discussing this as a means of
holding on to money. However, she was going to have to take
exception to the idea of spending the money on other streets. She
concluded that she was torn on the subject but opposed to
reallocating the money to other streets.
Tracy Jackson, street and alley superintendent, also commented
about the need for repair on Broadway. He offered a detailed list of
the street's condition, noting areas that he said would not survive
another winter without coming completely apart. In the end he
concluded that of the proposed 4,200 feet in the project, two city
blocks could wait, but the rest is in serious need of repair.
Busby also noted that Broadway, which is a main artery to the
downtown area from Route 121, is a truck route and that trucks cause
deterioration of roads more quickly than passenger vehicles.
Busby added that there is a need to determine road repairs based
on usage. This is something that Busby has campaigned for in the
past.
When he said that, O'Donohue said he was very excited about the
suggestion, but Anderson countered that the city does work from a
list.
Jackson said that two years ago he had brought a list to the city
and asked them to prioritize the needs. Jackson has been working
from the list since then.
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O'Donohue asked if the list was based on usage, and Jackson said
that the street work had been prioritized based on usage and also on
drainage issues that needed to be addressed.
When the matter finally came to a vote, a yes vote indicated that
the city would back out of doing the Broadway Street overlay for
now. The vote failed 1-9, with Wilmert being the only one voting
yes.
Money approved for Fifth Street land acquisition
After some confusion as to why the city had to front money for
land acquisition for right of way use on Fifth Street Road, the
council did approve a joint agreement for federal participation with
the Illinois Department of Transportation.
City engineer Mark Mathon said that the city has $69,878 in
federal stimulus funds that has been earmarked for buying right of
way property along Fifth Street. However, there is a need for an
additional $205,122 that the city will be required to cover as a
part of the joint agreement.
Snyder asked if this was something new that the council had not
heard before, and Mathon said that yes, it was. It was a match
requirement that had to be fulfilled.
Anderson wondered if this was something that had been budgeted,
to which Mathon responded that it was not in the budget for this
year. Anderson then asked if it had been included in this year's
allocation ordinance, and again Mathon said that he had not included
this specific amount.
However, Busby said that in the allocation ordinance there is
approximately $500,000 dedicated to Fifth Street, so that would
cover this requirement.
When asked where the money would come from, Mathon said that it
qualified under either the motor fuel tax or the non-home rule tax.
Mathon also made it clear that without the match the city would
not be able to use the $69,000 of stimulus funds, and O'Donohue then
drove home the point, saying, "We have to spend $205,000 to get
$69,000." To which Mathon answered yes.
When the motion came to a vote, it passed 8-1-1, with Alderman
David Armbrust voting against and Busby abstaining.
Busby abstained from the vote because he has a personal interest
in the purchase of the right of way along Fifth Street.
On a side note, Snyder said that he has heard from Logan County
Board Chairman Terry Carlton that the county will be applying for
grant funds for the completion of the Fifth Street Road project. The
county's application will include all the work to be done from
Lincoln Parkway to the New Holland blacktop.
Snyder said that this was coming from the same pot of money as
the streetscape plan and would be a grant from the Department of
Commerce and Economic Opportunity.
He added that he had agreed to write a letter of support for the
county application, but he would have to qualify that the city's
application took priority.
[By NILA SMITH]
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