 With only one action item on the agenda, the council made short work
of conducting the business of the city, and the meeting adjourned
after approximately 15 minutes.Snyder opened the meeting asking
for a moment of silence in remembrance of Clifford "Sonny" Sullivan,
who passed away on New Year's Eve.
Sullivan was a former Logan County Board member, a former member
of the Logan County Paramedic Association board, a member of the
Civil War statue board and served as the chairman of the Civil
Service Commission for the city.
City will accept $6,000 check from Ameren
At the last meeting of 2009, Snyder reported that Ameren had
issued a check to the city in the amount of $6,000.
This reimbursement was the result of an error that had been made
when switching utility services from Ameren to Mid-American Energy
in the mid part of last year.
The city had long been under a franchise agreement with Ameren,
which allowed for a number of city buildings to receive utility
services from that provider free of charge.
When the city voted to turn utility usage of certain properties
over to Mid-American, an error was made, and those buildings that
were under the franchise agreement were switched also.
As a result, the city paid $7,436.47 in utility fees that were
not budgeted for the year.
In the end, the city voted to revert to the franchise agreement
with Ameren and began steps to recover the money. Snyder said that
the $6,000 check was all that Ameren intended to offer them.
He noted that in the letter that came with the check, there was a
paragraph that specifically said, "By accepting this amount, the
city of Lincoln acknowledges they have no claim or right to any
further compensation for the subject period."
Alderman Nathan Turner asked if anyone knew how Ameren had come
up with the $6,000 figure -- had they used some kind of formula to
determine the amount?
Snyder said he thought it was just a figure they had come up
with. He said that Ameren was basically doing this out of the
goodness of their heart.
Alderman David Wilmert asked if the franchise agreement was now
back in place as it should have been. He wondered whether there was
any need to try to get more from Ameren, and Alderwoman Marty
Neitzel said that it would probably require legal action, which
would be costly.
Alderwoman Melody Anderson asked if the letter from Ameren would
deny the city the right to seek further compensation from
Mid-American Energy, and city attorney Bill Bates said that it would
not.
Alderman Buzz Busby said that while he was not prepared to
discuss it at this time, he would prefer that Mid-American not be
approached.
He concluded by saying that he was talking to Environmental
Management Corp. about the balance, and he will report on that as
soon as possible.
The city contracts EMC for their city engineer, Mark Mathon, as
well as their waste treatment manager, Bob Tackett.
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The switch to Mid-American resulted from research done by then-waste
treatment manager David Kitzmiller because the waste treatment plant
specifically needed to find a new utility provider.
The question then came up whether the city should wait on
accepting this check until Busby reports back on EMC. Busby thought
not.
Bates said that when the motion is made, it could be made
stipulating that they were releasing Ameren from any further
obligation, but not other parties that may be involved.
Anderson made the motion accordingly and it carried by a
unanimous vote of 9-0.
Public announcements
Before they adjourned, the council heard from Tracy Jackson,
street and alley superintendent, that Christmas tree pickup is
scheduled for Monday. Trees should be left at the curb, free of
ornaments, wire, lights and stands. They also should not be placed
in bags.
Snyder said that the second stage of the city of Lincoln's
Economic Development Summit is scheduled for Jan. 23 at Lincoln
Christian University.
Also, there will be a fundraiser Jan. 30 for the Cronin Brothers
VFW Post 1756.
Wilmert reported that the federal stimulus money for broadband
access is starting to be awarded. He said that so far no awards have
been granted in the state of Illinois, but he is still hopeful that
he'll hear something soon.
Looking forward to a new year
Snyder closed the evening saying that he was looking forward to
2010. "We're going to have some good things happen in the city," he
said. "We'll have Castle Manor open up in the summer and the
hospital later in the year. We've got some good things coming."
The mayor drew a chuckle from everyone in the room when he closed
by saying, "And who knows, we may even get a positive report from
Mr. Plotner one of these days."
[By NILA SMITH]
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