 In addition to hearing from a Comcast representative during a
building and grounds committee meeting, and from John Fisher of
Blissful Enterprise, Dustin Fulton was present to speak about
Together for Lincoln, and a variety of topics were discussed in
addition to changes being made to the city's policy and procedures
manual.
All 10 members of the council were present for the meeting.
EMA wins grant award for radios; city police will benefit
In May, Ken Greenslate, chief of police in Lincoln, told the
council about a new federal communications law that would change the
bandwidth on radios used by emergency services.
He said then that by the end of the year 2012, all emergency
radios would be switched from a wide-band system to a narrow band.
He also said that he had been in discussions with Dan Fulscher,
the director of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency, who
had applied for grant funding to make the switch for EMA.
Fulscher had said that the grant award would benefit the police
department, in that EMA will take on a hefty portion of the costs
involved in a new repeater.
At that time Fulscher provided Greenslate with a written report
to share with the council. In the report Fulscher said the police
department would be responsible for antennas, coaxial cable and
installation. The grant will cover approximately $13,000 for the new
repeater system, and EMA/ETSB will pay for the base installation and
connection to the dispatch console, at an estimated cost of $7,000.
He also said that a new base repeater would be placed at the Logan
County Safety Complex to replace the one currently located on the
soon-to-be-vacated Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital on Eighth
Street.
Greenslate said this week that he had heard from Fulscher that
the grant has been awarded, so EMA will go forward with doing the
new installations and starting the switch to federally compliant
radio systems.
If it goes "bang," it's illegal
Greenslate also said that with the Fourth of July weekend coming
up, he wanted to remind everyone that when it comes to personally
owned fireworks in the state of Illinois, if it goes "bang," it's
illegal.
He said that if they receive calls, the police will confiscate
illegal items and possibly write citations. He also said that if the
fire department is called due to a fireworks incident, the police
will certainly issue a citation.
Asking permission to go out for bid raises another issue
City engineer Mark Mathon said he would like to have
permission to go out for bid for some overlay projects for sections
of Pulaski, Broadway and a one-block area of Sixth Street.
During discussion it was brought up that the section on Sixth
Street is currently a brick road, but it will be resurfaced with
modern materials.
This is being done because cuts have been made in the road for
utility repairs, and the patches are not brick. The road has become
extremely rough and needs to be properly repaired, even at the
sacrifice of the historic brick surface.
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Snyder said that perhaps it was time the city put together a list
of streets that should be preserved.
He qualified his statement by saying that he didn't mean that a
street not on the list would immediately be resurfaced, but that
with a list, when utilities cut into the brick, it could be
stipulated that they return the road to its original condition
rather than applying patches.
Busby said that about 10 years ago the council did name names of
the streets that would always be preserved, focusing on the city's
most historic districts. He also said that he thought the only place
it was recorded was in meeting minutes and to find out what they did
back then, someone would have to go through the records looking for
it.
There was no further discussion at this week's meeting, but it
may come up again.
Together for Lincoln gearing up for another day of service
Dustin Fulton of Together for Lincoln said that the group is
gearing up for another day of service to the community, scheduled
for Sept. 26.
He said that the first year of the Together for Lincoln event,
there were 1,000 volunteers. In 2009, the second year of the
program, 1,100 volunteers took on 110 projects around town.
Fulton also gave everyone copies of the two applications for
service that Together for Lincoln uses. One is for residents of
rental property and the other for those who own their own home.
He said that in addition to spending a day of fellowship and
service, the event would close once again this year with a service
at the chapel of Lincoln Christian University. This year the guest
speaker will be Dr. Bob Lowry, who has published several works on
the book of Revelations. Lowry is currently battling cancer and will
deliver a discussion entitled "A Dying Man's View of the Book of
Revelation."
Lincoln alley to be scene in the movie "Using"
The mayor said his office had heard from a production company
called Phenom Features and Fresh Bread Productions requesting
permission to close the alley behind Vintage Fare between Broadway
and Pulaski streets on July 17 for the filming of a scene for their
movie "Using."
The feature-length film is written and produced by Lincolnite
Thomas Quinn and is about a father's desperate attempt to rescue his
daughter from a life on the streets of Chicago.
According to the website:
22-year-old Gwen
McNeil is the out-of-control daughter of real estate magnate Edward
"Eddy" McNeil. Gwen's father devises an elaborate and deceitful
scheme to rescue her from the streets of Chicago, but if his plot is
uncovered it could cost him his daughter.
"Using" is a
cautionary tale of addiction, betrayal and unlikely redemption,
which asks the impossible question, "How far would you go to save a
dying child?"
To read more about this, visit
http://www.theatrescool.com/freshbread.
[By NILA SMITH]
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