Wednesday, November 30, 2011
 
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CITY BRIEFS:
Enterprise zone, insurance, waste treatment and more

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[November 30, 2011]  Tuesday evening all 10 members of the Lincoln City Council were present for the Tuesday night committee-of-the-whole workshop meeting. 

Mayor Keith Snyder opened the evening with comments regarding news the Logan Correctional Center has been saved from Gov. Pat Quinn's chopping block, at least until June. He expressed appreciation to all the aldermen for their actions taken to show support of Logan and the 357 employees whose jobs were at risk. 

D'Andrea and Hamilton address enterprise zone issues 

Will D'Andrea, Logan County zoning officer and overseer of the enterprise zone for Lincoln and Logan County, and Andrew Hamilton of Opportunity Alliance LLC, the firm that has continually worked with the city and county in creating enterprise zone areas, spoke to the council about issues regarding the enterprise zone. 

In February of 2011, after taking over oversight of the enterprise zone, D'Andrea came to the council to share results of some reviews he had been doing. He had come across a problem with a current ordinance that limits the types of business and industry that may be able to benefit from the enterprise zone designation.  

The original plan document for the enterprise zone, written in 1987, allowed for a wide variety of business and industry, including retail and food establishments, to take advantage of enterprise incentives.  

However, an ordinance passed in 2004 altered eligibility by leaving out any allowances for retail businesses and commercial enterprises that sell beverages, food and gasoline. Even though those businesses were no longer eligible for incentives, they received them anyway, as the inadvertent change in the ordinance went unnoticed.

In February, the consensus was to return the language in the enterprise zone documents to what it was originally. 

Tuesday evening D'Andrea said the language had been properly rewritten, and he asked the city to add to their voting agenda a motion for a new ordinance. 

In another order of business, D'Andrea and Hamilton said it was time to remove the Formosa plant in Sangamon County from the zone. When Formosa asked to be incorporated into the local enterprise zone, it was with the understanding they would begin rebuilding their plant within a certain time period. 

Hamilton said representatives of Formosa had been contacted and had said the company has decided not to make any improvements to the plant. Therefore, it is time to remove them from the zone. 

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Hamilton said this would free up another one-half square mile that can in the future be reassigned to another area where new businesses may be developed. 

During discussion, Alderwoman Marty Neitzel asked if the reclaiming of zone space included the 3-foot-wide corridor from Lincoln to the Formosa plant. She was told it did not. According to Hamilton, the current enterprise zone allows for a total of 15 square mile of zoned property. Currently 10 square miles is obligated and 5 square miles is available. He said the 3-foot-corridor was insignificant. 

Asked if the county was on board with the changes in language, D'Andrea said it was, and it has been approved by the regional planning commission as well. 

Public hearing Dec. 13 

Alderwoman Melody Anderson asked for a public hearing to be held at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 for the open discussion of an increase in the city levy on property taxes. 

The hearing is open to the public, and anyone wishing to express an opinion regarding the levy is encouraged to attend. 

The vote on the new levy amount will take place at the Dec. 19 voting session. 

Employees can establish own health accounts effective Jan. 1 

This year, the city established an offering of a health savings account for city employees. With the program being new, it was set up so that all HSA money went into individual accounts for the employees, but in the bank the city chose. 

Several employees were dissatisfied with this plan, as many said it made accessing their account difficult and inconvenient. At the time, employees were asked to go along with the program as it was established, but they were told they would be allowed to make changes at a later date. 

Anderson said effective Jan. 1, employees may establish their health savings accounts in the bank of their choosing. 

Fire department asks for modification of city ordinance 

Fire Chief Mark Miller said he has talked with attorney Blinn Bates and has a draft of a new city ordinance that will amend an existing one concerning the burning of leaves. 

He said the existing ordinance calls for burning to take place on concrete or brick on the homeowner's property. However, he said that rarely happens. Residents are burning on their grass because they don't have the brick or concrete. 

Miller said the new ordinance would eliminate the requirement to burn on concrete or brick. All the other rules -- pertaining to distance from structures and having an extinguishing method, such as a garden hose, on hand -- would remain in place. 

Vote will be taken to hire Farnsworth Group for consulting on Third Street building projects 

Mayor Keith Snyder said he had an agreement ready from John Bishop of Farnsworth Group to provide consulting services regarding the demolition and relocation of the city street and alley department buildings on Third Street. 

Testing done by Commonwealth Edison and Nicor has found there are soil contaminants where the city's old coal gasification plant was once located. 

The soil is going to have to be reclaimed at the expense of the two utilities. The two companies are also going to be paying for the city to do research on possible relocation options for the street department. 

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Farnsworth will conduct a study, searching for a possible location for the department.  They will also do cost analysis to determine the best course of action for the city. They will answer the questions of whether the city should temporarily relocate and, if so, at what cost, then rebuild on Third after the reclamation is finished. 

They will also offer a comparison, looking again at costs for the city to choose a permanent location for the street department. 

Bacon and O'Donohue wrap up research on insurance plans and providers 

Alderwoman Stacy Bacon, who chairs the insurance committee for the city, and O'Donohue, whose career experience has provided insight into the insurance market, have been reviewing the city policies and offered some recommendations Tuesday night. Bacon asked O'Donohue to share their work with the council. 

Some of the changes they have looked at include adding flood insurance, which the city currently doesn't have. There is added cost, but O'Donohue said he felt it could be a good investment, considering some city properties are in low-lying areas. 

Another recommendation was to raise deductibles on both property coverage and vehicle coverage. He said this would save the city several dollars. 

The city also appears to have no employee practices liability and no employee dishonesty coverage. He said he could be wrong about this, but he hasn't been able to verify the coverage, and it is needed. 

In addition, he said he and Bacon have looked at their insurance broker and the service received, and are not entirely happy. During discussion, others of the council agreed their broker has not been responsive to the city in a timely or satisfactory manner in the past. 

The city currently receives services from Callender & Co., but the insurance committee is recommending a change to Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services. 

In the matter of workers' compensation, O'Donohue said the city is, right now at least, stuck with getting coverage through the Illinois Public Risk Fund. He said other workers' compensation providers have been contacted, but none are interested in taking on the city's coverage. 

Workers' comp premiums for the new year are going to increase $14,633, bringing the total premium up from $290,435 to $305,068. He said much of the increase is in the street department coverage, and there will also be an increase in the clerical coverage because of the addition of the city administrator position. 

If the city goes with Gallagher and the changes suggested by Bacon and O'Donohue, the initial savings in coverage, excluding workers' comp, would come to about $20,000. 

To make the changes at the end of this year and bring the insurance in line so that it all renews at the same time, the city would have to pay a cancellation fee to Callender of approximately $4,500. 

Subtracting the cancellation fee and the workers' comp rate increase from the $20,000 saved, O'Donohue said in the end the city would save only about $1,800 this year. However, he felt the changes, especially in their selection of a broker, were at this point more important than the dollars saved. 

Misc

City meets new staff for waste treatment plant 

Prior to the beginning of the meeting Tuesday night, Dave Kitzmiller, district manager for American Water, went from alderman to alderman, introducing two new staff members who will be working at the city's waste treatment plant. The treatment plant is under the management of American Water Co., and the two new hires will be American employees.

Darrell Palmer will take on the position of waste treatment manager, replacing Bob Tackett, who retired this past summer.

Ann Kerley will fill the position of administrative assistant, replacing the late Donna Schriber. 

[By NILA SMITH]

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