 He continued, "I thought there would be nobody better to do that
than a former colleague of many of you, a former alderman, a
community leader and a friend to all of us: Glenn Shelton."
Shelton, who is the pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Lincoln
and a former Ward 4 alderman, came to the podium to offer up a
prayer.
As he spoke, he thanked God for Nathan Turner, for his life and
legacy as a servant of God and a servant of the city. He prayed for
Turner's family and asked that they be given fond memories of the
one they have lost, and he asked that God would strengthen the
family, but also that he would strengthen the council as they went
about doing the work that had to be done.
At the conclusion of the prayer, Snyder said that next Tuesday
night during the voting session of the council, a special resolution
would be brought to vote in honor of Turner.
In a time-honored tradition of mourning and respect for an
elected official, Turner's place at the council was shrouded in
black with a floral wreath placed in front of it.
Traffic light on Fifth Street will be settled next week one way
or another
Next week's voting session of the city council will take place on
Tuesday due to the Monday holiday.
On the agenda for the meeting will be four resolutions pertaining
to work that will be done on Fifth Street from Evans to Keokuk by
the Illinois Department of Transportation this summer.
Snyder said that this week he had received a revised letter from
IDOT allowing the city to opt out of certain projects included in
IDOT's plans for that portion of Fifth Street.
On Jan. 19 a resolution was presented that, if passed, would have
permitted a traffic control device to be placed at the intersection
of Fifth and College. The cost to the city for the project was
listed at $20,000.
That resolution was voted down 7-2.
Those who voted against the resolution and consequently the
traffic signal were Aldermen Jeff Hoinacki, Turner, Wilmert, Bacon,
Anderson and Horn. Neitzel also changed her vote from yes to no,
leaving only Busby and Armbrust voting in favor of the light.
At the Feb. 1 voting session a new resolution was presented that
approved all the work outlined by IDOT with the exception of the
traffic signal.
However, that resolution was also voted down, 5-3.
For that vote, the "no" vote indicated that the alderman was not
willing to pass a resolution that excluded the traffic light. Those
who voted no were Busby, Hoinacki, Neitzel, Armbrust and Alderwoman
Stacy Bacon.
Those who voted "yes" were opposing the light. The three yes
votes came from Anderson, Horn and Wilmert.
At the same meeting the council was asked to rescind its vote of
Jan. 19 and revote on the original resolution that included the
light.
However, to rescind a vote requires that seven of the 10 alderman
agree. With Alderwoman Joni Tibbs and Turner absent that evening,
there were only eight members present, and three of those were not
willing to rescind their vote, so the motion failed, leaving the
council in a stalemate.
At this week's meeting Snyder said that with the new letter from
IDOT, which gives the city options as to what work will and will not
be done, city attorney Bill Bates has drawn up four new resolutions,
one for each leg of the project.
Snyder said that with the new resolutions there would be no need
to have a vote to rescind the original resolution of Jan. 19.
The council will vote on each segment as it is presented.
The first resolution will be for the milling and resurfacing of
Fifth from Evans to Keokuk, at no cost to the city.
The second will be for the milling and resurfacing of parking
lanes along that route, with the city paying a share amounting to
$19,600.
The third is an upgrade to traffic signals at College and
Woodlawn, with the city bearing $15,000 of the total cost.
The last resolution will be for the installation of a traffic
control device at Fifth and College. The city's share of that cost
will be $20,000.
During discussion Alderwoman Melody Anderson spoke up.
"We keep hearing about all the traffic on Fifth Street," she
began, "and if in fact there is this traffic at specific times
during the day, they are not changing any of the lane structure at
this intersection, so it is going to be one lane each direction.
"When the light is green on Fifth and one of those cars wants to
turn left, that traffic is going to come to a halt, in whatever
direction that car is going, until all the traffic from the other
way has come through.
"So if we're thinking about actually improving movement at that
intersection, we need to think about that because I'm not sure this
light is actually going to do it," she said.
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Alderman Buzz Busby said that the signal would have turn arrows, and
Anderson said that arrows were not included in the proposal.
Busby asked how she knew that, and she said that it was in the
explanation of the light, and city engineer Mark Mathon confirmed
that she was correct.
Anderson said that this was all she had to say on the matter, but
she wanted everyone to think about it. No one else offered any
discussion.
The resolutions will be voted on next week and the matter will be
settled.
Mayor moves the discussion to the other side of Route 66
Snyder said that he wanted to move discussion to the other side
of Old Route 66, to the Fifth Street Road project. He said the
engineering work for the project is about 95 percent complete.
In the engineering it has come to light that there will be a need
for a retention pond along that road. He asked Mathon to elaborate.
Mathon said the storm sewers that will have to go in under the
railroad tracks will have to be special built for that location and
will be quite large. Because of this the flow coming through is
going to be sizable.
To keep the water under control, a retention pond will necessary.
This means the city will need to acquire land along Fifth Street for
the pond.
Mathon said he didn't really know how much of this topic should
be discussed publicly.
The mayor said there are a couple of proposals from different
vendors to talk about property acquisition. He also said there was a
possibility of acquiring a parcel of land adjacent to Fifth Street.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel asked if the flow could be directed to
the retention pond at the new Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital, and
Mathon said no, it would be too much.
Neitzel also questioned the esthetic of a pond along the road,
asking, "Wouldn't that be ugly?" Mathon explained, with assistance
from Snyder, that the pond would be what is called a dry-bottom
pond, in that it would have water in it only when there was
excessive flow. The rest of the time the area would be dry.
Snyder moved on, asking Mathon if they were at the point where
the city needed to choose a firm to represent them in the
acquisition.
Mathon had explained earlier that because there were federal
dollars involved in this project, there are very specific rules of
acquisition that must be followed. He said that he did have written
proposals from two firms that could assist in the acquisition, and
it was up to the council if they wanted to proceed with a selection.
Snyder indicated that there have been some discussions with a
property owner along Fifth Street who may be willing to sell a
parcel to the city.
Anderson asked about the money that would be expended, and Snyder
said it was part of the $1.3 million that the city has already been
awarded for the Fifth Street project. With the federal dollars that
have been awarded, the city can complete everything but the actual
construction of the road.
Throughout this discussion, Mathon and Snyder had both talked in
generalities. They avoided a greatly detailed discussion of the
subject because it is not to the city's advantage for information
regarding the land acquisition to be made public.
Neitzel, however, spoke up, saying that she thought the council
needed more information before they could make a decision and that
she didn't want the council to be the last ones to know what was
going on.
Bates advised them that they were well within their rights to
take this matter to executive session, where they could discuss it
freely among themselves.
It was decided that at the end of the night, guests, media and
department heads other than Mathon would be dismissed, and the
council would conclude its discussions in executive session.
[By NILA SMITH]
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