 At the end of the evening, Mayor Keith Snyder updated the council on
Buzz Busby, saying the alderman had fallen and broken his femur, a
bone in the upper leg. He had to be hospitalized for surgery to
place pins in the broken bone.
Snyder said he'd visited Busby in the hospital and he was doing
well. He characterized the senior member of the council as being
"the usual Buzz."
The council first dealt with Rick Farney of Four Corners Lube,
who was there for a vote on a jurisdictional transfer of an Illinois
Department of Transportation roadway and right of way near his
property.
Item removed from consent agenda
When the council finished with Farney, they moved back up to the
top of the agenda and took their vote on the consent agenda. Prior
to voting, Snyder asked if Anderson would make the motion, but
exclude one item, so it could be discussed further and voted on
separately.
The item in question was a motion to declare that the city will
not enter into any kind of payment plans for delinquent sewer bills.
During discussion Alderman David Armbrust said he still felt like
the city was making a mistake by refusing to take a payment on a
delinquent bill. He noted if someone came in with money and the
clerk refused to take it, wasn't that really hurting the city?
Alderman David Wilmert said there was no reason to not take the
money, but that anyone who did that needed to understand it would
not stop their water shut-off.
Bates said the city should take any money given to them, but the
key is not to enter into any kind of agreement. He noted if someone
came in and paid $100 and told the clerk they would be back in a
month to pay another $100, it would need to be made clear that
taking the money didn't mean they had an agreement.
Anderson said she had at first had reservations about denying
payment plans, but she said: "The public needs to know we're
serious." She also said those who haven't gotten their shut-off
notices should start thinking about coming in with money. Again,
what they pay now won't stop the shut-off, but it will just get them
that much closer to having their bill paid when the notice arrives.
The council also agreed to make an exception for the payment
agreement that had been made between the former city clerk, Denise
Martinek, and one customer. Snyder said he had a written agreement
for the customer to sign, and the city would continue to take
payments on that one account.
When the motion came to a vote, it passed unanimously.
ICCAN confirmed as city's electric aggregation consultant
Snyder said the committee consisting of Wilmert, Alderman Tom
O'Donohue, himself and representatives from the Logan County Board
had met Jan. 25, the day after presentations were made by Good
Energy and Illinois Community Choice Aggregation Network, and had
made a unified selection of which consulting service they would
recommend.
He said ICCAN had won out over Good Energy because it was clear
to the committee the consultant had better answers to their
questions and was ready to get started. He noted that in the
presentations given two weeks ago, Mark Pruitt had even given the
group guidance on going ahead and getting started with the process.
In addition, it was noted that ICCAN had quoted a price of up to
20 cents per megawatt hour, where Good Energy had quoted 75 cents.
[to top of second column] |
Bates said to date he has only seen a sample copy of a contract
for ICCAN, and he would like the motion to approve to stipulate
"pending a contract."
When it came to a vote, ICCAN was confirmed unanimously.
Other items
By unanimous vote the city approved hiring Farnsworth Group to do
a study on the relocation of the city street department facility
that is currently on Third Street.
The group will explore options for both temporary and permanent
relocations of the facility. The cost of the study will be paid by
ComEd and Nicor as part of their soil mitigation program as imposed
by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency.
A motion to accept the terms of a Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity grant was also approved unanimously. The grant
amounts to $675,000, the lion's share of which will be used to
develop a downtown revitalization plan for the city.
The council also approved unanimously issuing a permit for use of
right of way along Nicholson Road. The right of way will be used for
the installation of fiber-optic lines to Lincoln College. The permit
also stipulates that if and when they choose, Adams School must also
be allowed to access the lines.
More parking spots on Sangamon
By unanimous vote the council agreed to purchase a strip of land
on the east side of Sangamon Street from Neal Tire.
Along with that, they also voted unanimously to approve a
development agreement with John and Barbara Blackburn, doing
business as Blue Dog Inn.
Bates explained that the additional parking being planned along
that block of Sangamon will benefit all the businesses, but it was
initially the Blue Dog owners who got the whole thing started,
saying they wanted to expand but would need more parking.
Bates said the development agreement was an assurance that now
that the parking problems are to be resolved, the Blue Dog will
proceed with their expansion.
[By NILA SMITH]
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