|
 Alderman Buzz Busby
is still at home recovering from heart
surgery but is reported to be doing well, with hopes of returning to
the council soon.
Alderwoman Stacy Bacon was present. Her mother-in-law, Joann
Bacon, is still a patient in intensive care at Memorial Medical
Center in Springfield. Bacon said she is making some progress and
they are hopeful for her recovery.
City and State Bank will work together on sidewalk replacement
A recent sewer issue on Broadway Street resulted in the
destruction of a section of the street and sidewalk in front of the
State Bank of Lincoln.
Alderman David Armbrust said the city will repair what they
destroyed, but the State Bank would like to see the entire sidewalk
redone in front of the building.
The bank is proposing to do all the sidewalk replacement at their
expense, with the city reimbursing a portion of the cost that
pertains only to what was dug up for the sewer repair.
The request was approved by unanimous vote.
Development partnership update
Joel Smiley of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership
delivered his quarterly report to the city Monday night.
Highlights of the report included news that the partnership is in
the process of writing grant applications for submission to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture to fund the development of a comprehensive
plan for the city of Lincoln.
The partnership has had good success winning awards through the
USDA. Money used to fund the development of the Logan County Master
Plan, as well as to finance the purchase of a single location for
the partnership's business incubator program, has come from USDA
grants.
In 2008 a sporting goods retailer had expressed an interest in
locating to Lincoln. Smiley said that when the economy took a
downturn, the retailer backed off but has now renewed interest.
Smiley said this time he is hopeful the chain, left unnamed, will
locate in Lincoln.
There have been recent developments with the property where the
Walmart store was previously located. Smiley said the company's
lease with the property owner has run out, and he is hopeful that
with no income on the property, the owner will become more flexible
in negotiating leases.
There has been some recent interest in the building. Smiley said
two retail businesses and one entertainment concept company have
inquired about the space. Again, no names were mentioned.
The partnership is working on other leads and projects that,
hopefully, will benefit the city as well. Smiley said he is still
exploring wind energy manufacturers and distributors, hoping to
attract those types of support businesses to the area.
High-speed rail committee seeks endorsement of proposal
Darren Forgy, who co-chairs the city's high-speed rail committee
with Mayor Keith Snyder, presented the committee's draft proposal to
aldermen.
The committee was established by Snyder with goals of considering
the effects of high-speed rail coming through the city and
establishing a list of recommendations for Union Pacific and the
Illinois Department of Transportation regarding those issues.
The proposal was rolled out in a public meeting on Feb. 8, and
very little has changed since then.
Forgy's presentation at the Feb. 8 meeting spoke of an earthern
berm running through the city's business district between Wyatt
Avenue and Pekin Street.
Monday night, the presentation focused on a 2- to 3-foot brick or
stone wall with wrought-iron fencing atop it, running from First to
Pekin.
After the meeting, Forgy said both the wall and berm would remain
as options in the requests that will be sent to the Illinois
Department of Transportation.
He said the significant change was in extending that wall to
First Street and this had been added because following the meeting
on Feb. 8, public comments supported the extension.
[to top of second column] |
 Included in the recommendations for IDOT is the creation of two
underpasses, one on Keokuk and one that would extend Wyatt Avenue to
join with either Third Street or Union.
Tracy Jackson, street and alley superintendent, explained after
the meeting that while the proposal would run a street right through
the city street department buildings, by the time this could happen,
those buildings will have been destroyed anyway.
A report issued last year in May by the Illinois Environmental
Protection Agency indicated the soils beneath those city buildings
contain benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These are
residual contaminates left behind from when the location was used as
the city's coal gasification plant.
Commonwealth Edison is responsible for cleaning up the
contamination, which Jackson said would include tearing down the
buildings.
At this time, Jackson said he doesn't know where the city street
department will relocate.
When Forgy finished his presentation to the council, Snyder asked
for a motion to endorse the draft copy of recommendations via a
letter of support to accompany the committee's recommendations.
During the discussion that followed, Alderman Tom O'Donohue said
he felt like the council was being rushed on their endorsement.
Alderwoman Marty Neitzel, who serves on the committee, said the
people who have served on the committee have been very thorough in
their research. She said a yes vote was an indication of the city's
support of the committee and the work they have done.
Fire Chief Mark Miller, who is also on the committee, said the
committee has worked hard on this.
"We're not going to stop this progress; it is going to happen,"
he said. "We're trying to get our foot in the door and get what we
can before they come in and do what they want to do. This is still
just a request, but if we can get ahead of many of these other
committees, then we might get selected for other processes."
Neitzel commented: "I feel we're on the front burner here. We may
not get anything we've requested, but at least we're getting our
say."
Neitzel also offered kudos to Snyder for taking the initiative
and putting together the committee.
When the motion came to a vote, O'Donohue paused for several
seconds before adding his affirmative to the vote, which passed 9-0.
[By NILA SMITH]
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