 Due to
their absence, they missed out on the annual Christmas treats
provided by Alderman David Armbrust, whose wife, Marilyn, has made a
name for herself as Lincoln's "Cookie Lady."Partnership update
Joel Smiley, director of the Lincoln & Logan County Development
Partnership, offered a brief update on partnership activities.
The highlights from his comments included an announcement that
the authors of the Logan County Master Plan, Vandewalle &
Associates, are now under a six-month contract and will be returning
to Lincoln to "assist in the refinement and implementation of the
plan."
Smiley said the partnership has received a grant from an unnamed
source that will finance the work to be done.
It is expected that the Sugar Creek Wind Farm will file
applications the early part of 2011 for a new 118-tower wind farm on
the county's west side.
The manufacturing council is continually growing in participants,
and Smiley said that the group will be meeting in January, with Sen.
Larry Bomke slated as their guest speaker.
Smiley also commented on the economic impact of wind energy for
the city as well as the county, saying that it would bring 300
construction jobs to the area. Of those, some will be local
contractors who will land long-term projects. Contractors from out
of the area will use motel and restaurant services; general supplies
will be purchased from local retailers; and each tower will require
a decommissioning fee to be held in escrow, which means they will do
business with local banks.
Monthly financial report delivered
Chuck Conzo, city treasurer, presented his report for the month
ending Nov. 30.
He noted that in November the city had received only $305,910.64
from the state of Illinois. Those payments included the October
payment of the motor fuel tax and August payments for non-home rule
tax, municipal sales tax and telecommunications tax. He also told
the council that there have been no sales tax reimbursements of
late, and the last payment received was for taxes collected in May.
The state had passed a rule saying that all obligations as of May
30, the end of the state's fiscal year, would be paid in full no
later than Dec. 31.
After the meeting, Conzo commented that even so, the amount that
could be received in the next 10 days is uncertain. He said the
state has their own way of deciding when the obligation occurred and
when it should be paid. Therefore, he's not expecting any great
windfall at the end of the year.
During his presentation, he offered the standard warning for
these tough economic times: "Be very careful spending money."
As of the end of November, the cash on hand in general funds was
only $107,278.96, compared with $751,454.00 this time last year.
Conzo also noted that in November the city had received
$737,496.60 in property tax allocations through Logan County.
Council adopts tax levy increase
Prior to the beginning of the voting session, Mayor Keith Snyder
called to order a public hearing regarding an increase in the city's
property tax levy. With no members of the public present for
comment, the hearing was closed.
When the motion for the increase was made, Conzo said that this
year the tax levy on property inside the city of Lincoln will
increase by 2.7 percent. This is based on the current Consumer Price
Index and is the maximum that the city can increase the levy.
Conzo said that the CPI increase along with a few increased
property values would amount to a total of $60,000 in new money.
However, the full amount will be divided equally between the two
pension funds, one for fire and one for police, with the city seeing
no new revenues for general operating expenses.
Attorney to draft ordinance for alley
There is a one-way alley running south to north between Broadway
and Pekin streets that area businesses have asked to have changed to
a two-way.
The alley runs behind the Scully Building and is common to
Integrity Data, Abe's, Prairie Years and a property owned by
Alderman Tom O'Donohue on its east side and on the west side, State
Bank of Lincoln.
The problem has arisen that there is a parking area behind
Integrity Data that can only be accessed by driving up the alleyway
from Broadway. However, it appears that motorists are breaking the
law by accessing the parking via Pekin Street.
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Mayor Keith Snyder said there were a couple of options that the
council could consider. First, make the entire alleyway open to
two-way traffic, or they might choose to make the alley half one-way
and half two-way.
He noted that in Lincoln there is one other half-and-half alley
and it has worked out well for the businesses it borders.
He noted a concern about the Broadway end and a fence that
borders the State Bank property. The fence causes a vision problem
for looking to the north, which could be dangerous to motorists who
park in the bank lot.
Choosing to do a half-and-half, no motorist would ever be able to
legally exit the alley onto Broadway. Signs would be posted at the
halfway point, letting drivers know that they could not travel south
beyond that point.
During discussion, Alderwoman Joni Tibbs said she was concerned
that drivers would be confused by the situation and it would end up
doing more harm than good. However, O'Donohue said that he
personally had discussed this with some of the businesses affected
and they were "enthusiastically OK" with the change.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel also expressed concerns about the
change, but in the end she and Tibbs were convinced that it would be
the right thing to do. When the motion came to a vote, it passed
unanimously.
Bill Bates, city attorney, will draft an ordinance making the
alley half one-way and half two-way, which will be effective in
January.
It should be noted that until that time, the alley is still
one-way, running from the south to north.
City to seek bids for exhaust system
By unanimous vote the council approved a request from interim
fire Chief Mark Miller to go out for bid on an exhaust system for
the firehouse.
The exhaust system is an Occupational Safety and Health
Administration requirement and will be funded through a grant that
was awarded earlier this year. The grant is for approximately
$45,000, with a 5 percent local match, meaning the city will have to
cover about $2,000 of the total cost.
Horn recognizes three 911 workers
At last week's meeting, Alderwoman Kathy Horn commented on the
outstanding performance of a 911 dispatcher during the snowstorm and
subsequent emergencies that occurred on Dec. 12.
This week she said that she wanted to do it again, this time
naming names. She noted that on duty Dec. 12 were assistant
supervisor Debbie Kimberlin and dispatcher Jodi Washam. As the day's
events unfolded, an extra dispatcher; Justin Brown, was called in to
help.
Horn said that listening to the scanner, it was a "crazy day" for
911 and she wanted to publicly thank those who served so well.
Other news
There will be no committee-of-the-whole meeting on Dec. 28.
Anyone who wishes to have an item placed on the agenda for voting on
Jan. 3 needs to submit that request prior to Dec. 30.
City Hall will be closed on Dec. 24 and 31.
Effective Jan. 3, all council meetings will begin at 7 p.m. This
is a change in that in the past, the meetings on the first and third
Mondays began at 7:15 while the meetings on the second and fourth
Tuesdays began at 7.
This change does not affect any special committee meetings that
might be called by committee chairs.
[By NILA SMITH]
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