 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.
4 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 4 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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