 In addition to voting on the Fifth Street traffic signal, there are
several other items that will come to vote.Lease agreement for
Lincoln Futbol Club is ready to approve
Alderwoman Joni Tibbs said everyone has received a 15-page
document prepared by city attorney Bill Bates and Mayor Keith Snyder
that if approved, will be the lease agreement between the city and
the Lincoln Futbol Club.
The club is asking for use of a parcel of ground behind the
Walmart Supercenter, on the city's west side.
In discussions last fall with club representative Dr. Dru Hauter
at council meetings, it was agreed that the club could use the
parcel free of charge and would develop it at their own expense.
One of the details that needed to be worked out in the lease
included days of notice if one or the other of the two parties
decided to exit the agreement.
Bates said that they had all agreed on a 60-day notice, plus the
city would give the club the first option to purchase the land only
if the potential buyer planned to use it for a similar purpose.
He said that the club had expressed a concern that they would go
to the expense of developing a soccer complex and another club would
come in and try to buy it out from under them.
Bates said that the first option would not apply if some other
business developer were to express an interest in the property.
Snyder noted that originally the club had asked for up to a
five-month notice to vacate if the city chose to break the lease.
The club's concern was that they could be left with no playing
fields and a tournament scheduled. Snyder said that was really not
an issue as no developer would come in and negotiate a purchase
within that short amount of time.
Alderman Buzz Busby questioned a paragraph regarding the
certificate of insurance that would be required by the club. He
asked if the city would be co-insured. Bates said he had noticed
earlier that such a condition had been omitted, but he would add it
in.
The lease agreement will be offered for approval at next week's
meeting.
Busby seeks approval for a $1,400 refund to a sewer account
Busby said he has found out there is yet another sewer bill issue
to be reckoned with.
He referred to an unnamed resident, saying, "This lady bought her
home in November of 2002 and has been paying her bill double the
amount."
Busby said that when the resident bought her home, she was a
first-time homeowner who didn't know what amount she should have
been paying.
The problem was that the home had a basement apartment prior to
her purchase. He noted that on the sewer bills it does not say how
many sewers a customer is paying for, and the person just didn't
know she was paying too much.
Busby feels like the only answer to the dilemma is to refund the
resident $1,422.96, the amount she has overpaid since purchasing the
home.
State plans to purchase a piece of the city landfill
The Illinois Department of Transportation has informed the city
that they need to acquire a small section of the city landfill
property in order to do work on the Salt Creek bridge this summer.
Bates said that the land the state is interested in is adjacent
to the bridge on the east side.
He explained that there is a lift station in that area. In the
past the city has gained access to that station via a road on the
west side of the bridge. The road runs past the Sportsman Club, then
crosses under the bridge, going east.
IDOT's plans will include putting a road on the east side of the
bridge, allowing the city access to the lift station. A small shed
at the top of the hill will be taken down.
The parcel of ground is approximately 0.8 acre. According to
Mathon it is sloping ground of little value to the landfill.
The state is offering $3,000 for the parcel. Bates said that the
city could choose not to sell the ground or to negotiate the price,
but if they did, the state would simply file the paperwork to take
it, and a judge would then affix the value and order the sale.
Anderson discusses future audits
Estes Bridgewater and Ogden, the accounting firm that conducted
the last fiscal year's audit for the city, has submitted a proposal
for conducting the annual audit for the next three years.
Anderson read a letter from the firm indicating that the firm was
very much interested in continuing a relationship with the city and
was willing to maintain last year's fee for the next three years.
The cost would be $18,000 per year for the years that will end April
30, 2010, 2011 and 2012.
The letter mentioned, and Anderson reiterated, that the first
year with a new auditing firm there is a learning curve, as the
auditors have to learn and understand how business is conducted and
city staff has to learn and understand what the auditors expect from
them.
Anderson also said that in the past the city has gone out for bid
on this, but she had checked and Estes Bridgewater and Ogden were
the lowest bidders last year. At that time, Bates interjected that
the city is not required to seek bids for services, so the city can
make this kind of decision legally.
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Alderwoman Marty Neitzel said she thought it would be a good idea to
get them locked in. She also noted that what she had heard from
those who had to work with the audit firm was that they were very
pleased with how things went. In addition, Neitzel said she
appreciated the firm coming to the council and discussing the audit
with them.
This will be added to next week's agenda and the council will
vote whether or not to enter into a three-year contract with Estes
Bridgewater and Ogden.
Fire department promotions on next week's agenda
The Fire and Police Commission has approved three promotions
within the city fire department.
Alderwoman Kathy Horn asked that it be added to next Tuesday's
voting session to administer the oath of office to the new officers.
Fire Chief Kent Hulett said that the commission also approved
firefighter entry tests to be given on April 10.
Prior to the testing there will be a mandatory orientation on
March 29.
Hulett said that the orientation and test will be widely
publicized through the city Web site, newspapers, and he plans to
contact neighboring fire departments as well.
City Hall becomes a little more secure
Alderwoman Joni Tibbs reported that another step toward making
City Hall more secure for its staff has been accomplished.
Doors to all the business offices have now been armed with keypad
locking systems. Staff members have codes that they will have to
punch into the keypad to gain entry to offices.
In addition a keypad lock has been placed on the stairwell door
into the council chambers.
Tibbs said that council members could have access to any of the
offices by obtaining their own personal code and should contact her
to get that accomplished.
Hoinacki takes a ride
Alderman Jeff Hoinacki said that last week on Wednesday he spent
the evening on a ride-along with the Lincoln Police Department.
He said that it was a very good experience and referred to the
officers as very courteous and professional.
He recommended that other aldermen take the opportunity to take a
ride as well.
417 N. Madison is coming down
The "fast track to demolition" program adopted by the city last
fall is going to claim its first victory very soon.
The program to demolish derelict and problem properties within
the city was adopted last fall, and immediately two properties were
targeted.
However, as the process progressed, it was discovered that both
the properties, at 718 S. College and 417 N. Madison, had
asbestos-bearing products within their construction. Because
demolition involving asbestos requires special handling, it was
determined that the city would not be able to fit both demolitions
into their $10,000 budget.
Estimates received indicated that at 417 N. Madison the asbestos
abatement process will cost approximately $2,900 and the actual
demolition is going to run $4,800. With the money that has already
been spent on testing, this will come close to wiping out the
budget.
The mayor said they were moving as quickly as possible to get the
property on North Madison taken down, and they will have to stop
there for the time being.
Sign ordinance meeting Feb. 23
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel said she wants to have an ordinance
committee meeting at 6:15 on Feb. 23 to hopefully wrap up
the sign ordinance and get it ready for voting.
It was Alderman Nathan Turner who had first brought up some
questions regarding inconsistencies in the document that he wanted
to review and discuss.
Neitzel said she had a list of questions from Turner that would
be addressed at the meeting. She also noted that the mayor had told
her he had items he would like to discuss.
She encouraged everyone to reread the document and bring their
questions to the meeting so that they could move on and get it
passed.
[By NILA SMITH]
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