Wednesday, November 09, 2011
 
sponsored by

CITY BRIEFS:
Energy, sewer, treasurer's report and more

Send a link to a friend

[November 09, 2011]  Monday evening eight aldermen were present for the city council's first voting session for November. Alderwomen Melody Anderson and Kathy Horn were absent for the evening. 

BlueStar returns to field questions 

Michael Maniscalco of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership and George Voorhees of BlueStar Energy Solutions were in attendance at the Monday evening meeting.   

Mayor Keith Snyder told the council the two were there to answer any questions that may have come up since last Tuesday night's introduction of an alternative utility source for the citizens of Lincoln. 

Alderwoman Marty Nietzel asked Voorhees to once again explain how this would work for the citizens. She asked if their involvement with a new utility company would be similar to their agreements with Comcast. 

Her point was that the city of Lincoln has chosen Comcast as the provider of cable services for the city. While residents can use other means of obtaining television transmissions, such as dishes, if they want cable, they have to go with Comcast. 

Voorhees said it was very similar. The bottom line is that residents will be given an opportunity to make a choice. They can choose to stay with Ameren Illinois for their electric service, or they can choose to go with the second provider, which will be chosen by the city. 

City attorney Bill Bates said BlueStar had sent him a contract for their services. He has reviewed it once and does have a few issues with the contract, but not as many as he had expected. 

He said his real concern for the city would be in the agreement it would have to sign with the actual utility provider. Bates said he wanted to review that contract carefully, as he could well imagine there would be many issues with it. 

Voorhees said he could get Bates copies of what he needed, but the agreement the city will enter into with an energy provider is not truly a service agreement. He said what the city will be signing is really only going to allow citizens of Lincoln to enter into their own agreements with an alternative provider. He said the real service contract will still be between the consumer and the provider. 

Voorhees said, "What you are doing is building in an option for your citizens." 

He also reminded the council that because Ameren uses multiple rates, some homes may benefit a great deal from a change, and others may not benefit at all. He said small homes with limited usage will see the greatest benefit, while larger homes with larger consumption may not see all that much difference. 

Water shut-offs to be a reality soon 

By unanimous vote, the council agreed to amend the city code language so that the city has the authority to order Illinois American to shut off water service to homes in the city with unpaid balances on their sewage bills. 

Alderman Buzz Busby said he wanted to get started on this as quickly as possible, as the total amount in arrears in the sewer department continues to grow. He noted that as of this month, the city has $293,747 in uncollected sewer bills. 

City approves concept plan for new parking lot 

By unanimous vote the council approved a concept plan for expanding the parking next door to the Lincoln Public Library. The plan calls for turning the green space at the corner of Pekin and Kickapoo streets into additional parking for the city. 

The city has funding for downtown improvements through the state's capital plan. In order to receive the funding, city engineer Mark Mathon will need to submit the concept plan to the state. Once it is accepted, then the city will be on the list of distributions to be made out of capital plan funding. 

During discussion, Alderman David Wilmert asked if the concept plan was the final plan and was told it didn't have to be. The concept plan will give the state a close idea of what will be done with the money, but the city will still be able to change the overall design of the lot if needed. 

Treasurer delivers annual report for fiscal year ending April 30, 2011 

Chuck Conzo, city treasurer, delivered copies of a summary report of the financial state of the city for the year ending April 30, 2011. 

He spoke briefly on the report, saying some of the notable points included the increase in building permit fees, as well as increased income from violations and court fines. He attributed these increases to the building and safety officer, saying that John Lebegue has done a great job of cracking down on violators. 

Another noteworthy item in the revenues was the fact that parking violation fines have increased substantially. Snyder said this was due to the hard work of the volunteer parking monitors and the police department. 

[to top of second column]

Conzo concluded that in the areas where the city can control the revenue, such as those mentioned, the city is doing a very good job. 

He also noted that in the area of interest earned, revenues remain on a downside. He noted the problem is not unique to the city; everyone is suffering from lower earnings on interest and investments. 

Click here for a PDF copy of the treasurer's report. (Click here for a copy on a Web page.)

EMC prepares to hire new waste treatment manager 

On the agenda, was a motion to send a letter to Environmental Management, the company that provides services to the city for the sewer department, reminding them they were out of compliance with their contract because the city has no waste treatment manager. 

However, Busby said he wanted to remove the motion from the agenda because EMC is very near to selecting a new manager for the city sewer department. 

David Kitzmiller of EMC told the council they have a candidate with 27 years of experience who is retired from the Rockford plant. The candidate has been interviewed by a variety of EMC officials, including Kitzmiller, and it is expected that a formal announcement will be made soon. 

Council approves the hire of one part-time worker for the clerk's office 

The council approved by unanimous vote the hiring of a part-time staff member for the city clerk's office. Denise Martinek, city clerk, said the person hired will fill in for Doris Anderson, who is currently off work due to the serious illness of her husband. 

Alderman Tom O'Donohue asked what the new hire's responsibilities would be and was told her main responsibility would be on the sewage billing. Martinek said a person has been hired and is currently in training. 

42 apply for city administrator position 

O'Donohue presented a motion to approve a letter of engagement with Dave Anderson of the Range Riders. Anderson will assist the city administrator selection committee in screening applicants for the position. 

According to O'Donohue, the deadline has passed for applications, and the city has heard from 42 candidates. 

City tables request for support from EMA 

Snyder told the council that Dan Fulscher of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency is asking them to sign a letter of support for a 911 surcharge to be placed on cellphones. 

This is not a local surcharge and will have to be passed by state legislators. 

In discussing this, several questions came up. Wilmert said he'd heard from a constituent who felt there was going to be some doubling up of charges because of this. Wilmert said there are still those out there who have landlines, and the surcharge is paid through their phone bill. If they also have cellphones, then those people are going to be paying more than their fair share. 

Another question that came up is whether or not this will be a household charge or a "per phone" charge. Again, if there are multiple cellphones in the household, will those people be paying more than their fair share? 

Alderwoman Marty Neitzel said she was not in favor of taking a vote on the letter now. She would like to hear from Fulscher more about this and how it would work. She moved to table the signing of the letter, and the ensuing vote passed unanimously. 

[By NILA SMITH]

< Top Stories index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching and Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law and Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health and Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor