Wednesday, September 28, 2011
 
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CITY BRIEFS:
Prison support, new administrator, railroad crossing and more

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[September 28, 2011]  Tuesday evening all 10 aldermen were present for the committee of the whole workshop meeting of the Lincoln City Council. Mike Maniscalco, director of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership, was also in attendance.

At the beginning of the evening, Mayor Keith Snyder acknowledged Maniscalco and asked if he would like to address the council. Maniscalco said he had just stopped in to watch the meeting.

Mayor hands out petition forms

Snyder began the evening by sharing that he had handed out blank petition forms to each of the city aldermen. He encouraged them to take the forms with them throughout their day and seek signatures in support of the Logan Correctional Center.

The facility is one of seven state-funded sites that are on Gov. Pat Quinn's hit list in his most recent budget-cutting efforts. At the moment the prison is slated to be shut down the first of the year. The closure will cost 356 jobs and displace nearly 2,000 prisoners who will have to be transferred to other, already overcrowded prisons.

The action can be stopped by state legislators when they return to session in late October. Petitions showing support for Logan Correctional Center will help influence the decisions of lawmakers and hopefully spare the county the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Snyder, as he spoke about this, included information from a study that was released on Tuesday regarding the economic impact of closing all seven of the proposed sites.

The study, which was requested by the General Assembly's Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, indicated that in the seven facilities the total loss of jobs would be 1,924. In addition there would be a ripple effect, amounting to another 760 jobs lost.

In Logan County; in addition to the 356 lost at the prison, there is an estimate that another 104 jobs will be lost in the area, with a total loss to the local economy of approximately $73,000,000.

Snyder shared these statistics, commenting that the overall effect of losing Logan Correctional Center, and the other six as well, was absolutely staggering.

As he left the topic he said, "Please do whatever you can to raise awareness of that and to communicate the significance of this to your constituents."

Committee ready to advertise city administrator position

Alderman Tom O'Donohue said the search committee is ready to start advertising for the city's new city administrator.

He told the council he wanted their input on what to do, as the committee has had an offer of help from David Anderson of the Range Riders.

Anderson, who is a retired city manager from Normal, has worked with the committee free of charge, helping them define the position they will soon fill.

Anderson has offered to continue assisting the committee, offering some free service and some service for a fee. O'Donohue and Snyder outlined what Anderson's services would include at a rate of $150 per hour and a maximum charge of $5,000.

He would write and place ads in trade magazines, websites and newsletters, would help prepare a candidate screening tool, would assist in selection of candidates, prepare an interview tool, help narrow the field down to one or two strong possibilities, and would assist in preparing an employee agreement or contract.

Alderwoman Melody Anderson, who qualified she was not related or connected to Dave Anderson, said she felt that with a new position for the city, even with existing budget constraints, having professional help would be very wise.

Most all agreed. O'Donohue also reminded the group that the budget had been drawn for the job to start Nov. 1, but that wasn't going to happen. Therefore, there are dollars available, as it is now expected that the position won't be filled until after the first of the year.

Approval of advertising for the position and approval for hiring Anderson will be added to future agendas.

Complaints about Fifth Street railroad crossing are addressed by ICC's Michael Stead

At last week's voting session, Snyder shared information on how to file a complaint about railroad crossings. He did this via what he referred to as a "bonus question" in the city's monthly frequently asked questions series and mentioned several times the railroad crossing on Fifth Street Road on the city's west side.

On Tuesday evening Snyder passed out copies of letters from Michael Stead, rail safety program administrator for the Illinois Commerce Commission Transportation Bureau.

Stead has become very familiar with Lincoln and Logan County via the high-speed rail program.

The letters he provided to Snyder are copies of letters that have been sent to David W. McKernan of Union Pacific Railroad. The first letter is dated from June of 2009 and declares that the Fifth Street crossing does not meet safety standards and needs attention.

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The second letter is dated Sept. 20. It, too, draws attention to the serious concerns on the track crossings. It also notes that there is a need for immediate attention with patching and temporary repairs and a need for more long-term solutions.

In addition to Fifth Street, the second letter makes similar observations about the crossing on Stringer Avenue. Both letters also contained photographs of the poor condition of the crossings.

Stead ended his letter to McKernan by saying he had in 2009 asked for verification that the required work had been completed, but he never heard from McKernan. He also noted that after inspecting the crossing, it was clear that no repairs have been done.

Frontier problem becomes city problem

According to David Kitzmiller who is currently acting as the overseer of the city's sewer department, approximately a year ago while televising the sewer lines along Keokuk and Kankakee, the technicians noted a cable that had punctured the sewer and was running through it.

Kitzmiller said investigation led the city to conclude the cable belonged to Frontier Communications. When Frontier was contacted about the matter, they agreed that it was their cable and their responsibility to get it out of the sewer.

It was agreed that Frontier would relocate the cable and make repairs as needed at their expense. Because it was going to mean cutting through Keokuk and redirecting traffic on a busy thoroughfare, they decided to do their work at the same time Illinois American Water was running new water lines in the area.

Tuesday night, Alderman Buzz Busby, with assistance from Kitzmiller, explained that when Frontier went into the area, they discovered their cable was not interfering with the sewer lines at all. Therefore, they are no longer financially responsible, and the repair work will come out of the city sewers budget instead.

Busby said he wouldn't be putting anything on the agenda just yet, but within the next few weeks, the council will have to approve the work that was done, after the fact.

Four Corners Lube builds on state property

It has been discovered that a foundation for a new structure at the corner of Lincoln Parkway and Hickox Drive has inadvertently been poured on state right of way property owned by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The structure, which belongs to Four Corners Lube, will have to be removed unless an agreement can be reached to turn the property over to the business.

According to city engineer Mark Mathon, the problem arises in that by law, the state can not turn the right of way over to a private entity, so they are proposing to turn it over to the city, who can then turn it over to the business owners.

During discussion, Alderman David Armbrust asked Mathon if he could foresee any complications in doing this for the business owner, and Mathon said he could not.

However, city attorney Bill Bates wasn't quite so confident. He suggested that before the city agrees, they investigate the easements of the utilities in the area. He reminded the council of a vacating of property last week where Ameren Illinois sought to keep their 5-foot easement. In that 5-foot area, no structure can be built. Bates said if there is an adjacent easement, and he qualified he had no idea whether or not there was, the owner might still have to tear up the foundation.

Bates urged the city to find out about this before they entered into any agreement with the state.

Scully Building to receive award

Snyder shared that Landmarks Illinois and the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation will recognize the Scully Building at their awards ceremonies in Chicago on Oct. 29.

The building and its owners, Patrick and April Doolin, will be honored with the Landmarks Illinois and Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award under the category of "Rehabilitation." The foundation honors Illinois landmarks each year with awards in nine categories.

[By NILA SMITH]

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