 Nine members were present for the session, and Alderwoman Joni Tibbs
was absent. At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor Keith Snyder said
he'd heard from Tibbs that she'd taken a fall at home and had
dislocated her shoulder. Tibbs said she is doing all right but may
have to have an out patient surgery the end of the week. Snyder
asked everyone to keep Tibbs in their thoughts.
Later in the evening, Alderman Buzz Busby sent out condolences to
David Kitzmiller in the death of his mother. For quite some time,
Kitmiller was the waste treatment manager for the city of Lincoln,
via their contract with American Water. Kitzmiller is still active
in the city as the regional overseer for that same company.
Gehlbach and Fulk sworn into office
The first order of business Tuesday was the swearing in of a new
city clerk and deputy clerk for the city of Lincoln.
City attorney Bill Bates administered the oath of office first to
Susan Gehlbach as the city's new clerk, then to Joy Fulk as the new
deputy.
Gehlbach and her husband, Jim, live on Heritage Avenue in
Lincoln. They have two children, Tyler and Kara.
Gehlbach is a Logan County native who graduated from Hartsburg-Emden
High School in 1979. She is a member of the Hartsburg United
Methodist Church, is active in the Logan County American Cancer
Society Relay for Life, belongs to the Municipal Clerks of Illinois
and is a notary public in the state of Illinois.
She began her career with the city of Lincoln on Aug. 1, 1994,
when she was hired as a part-time sewer clerk. She remained in that
position until June 1, 2003, when she was appointed deputy clerk for
the city of Lincoln.
In 2009, from Feb. 10 to May 2, she served as the interim city
clerk by the appointment of Mayor Beth Davis-Kavelman. On May 3,
after the swearing in of Denise Martinek as the elected city clerk,
Gehlbach returned to her position of deputy, where she remained
until this week.
Gehlbach's appointment to the position of city clerk is a
permanent position that was approved unanimously by the city council
on Dec. 19, 2011.
Gehlbach will hold the position by appointment until May of 2013.
She has disclosed that in the 2013 election she does plan to run for
office again.
After being sworn in, Gehlbach expressed her appreciation to the
mayor and council for the appointment, and she vowed to work with
the council, mayor, treasurer and a hopefully-soon-to-be-hired city
administrator to take care of the business of the city effectively.
Joy Fulk is also a Logan County native. She was born in
Middletown, the daughter of Warren and Mina Boyer Sampson. She
attended Middletown Grade School and Junior High. When the family
moved to Lincoln, she attended and graduated from Lincoln Community
High School.
She is married to Dan Fulk of Lincoln and has two children and
three grandchildren.
Fulk worked seven years for the Logan County Sheriff's
Department, serving under her father-in-law, Sheriff Elmer Fulk Jr.
Her duties there were as a head cook.
She spent nine years as a report auditor, accounts receivable
clerk and secretary for the retail office of Illico Independent Oil
Co. She was also a payroll administrator for Verizon Communications
for over 13 years.
She and her husband are co-owners of their office and home
cleaning business and are also the owners of the 49'ers Antiques and
Collectables shop in Lincoln.
Fulk began her career with the city clerk's office approximately
a year ago, when she was hired as a part-time payroll clerk. In
addition to the payroll duties, she has assisted with accounts
receivable and the sewer department billings for the city.
Gehlbach reviews payment methods for sewer bills
With a new year beginning, Gehlbach reviewed for the public the
various methods of payment for city sewer bills.
She explained that payments can be placed in one of the drop
boxes across the street from Latham Park. There is a box marked for
the city of Lincoln. In addition to sewer bills, parking tickets and
city ordinance fines can also be deposited in the box. Gehlbach
cautioned that cash is not to be deposited in the box. Payment
should be made by check or money order only.
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Those who wish to mail their payments to the city may do so by
addressing their envelopes to City of Lincoln, P.O. Box 509,
Lincoln, IL 62656. Payments can also be dropped off in person at the
clerk's office on the first floor of City Hall.
Those who wish to make payments online may do so through the city
website,
http://www.cityoflincoln-il.gov/. Payments may be made with
Visa, Master Card, American Express, Discover or by using an
electronic check. The online service may also be used to pay parking
tickets.
Finally, Gehlbach said there is a 10 percent discount to anyone
who will pay their sewer bill a year at a time, in advance.
Water shut-off policy to begin soon
Alderman Busby said everything is now in place to begin shutting
off water service in lieu of delinquent sewer bills.
The city has come to an agreement with Illinois American Water in
which the city will provide the water company with the names of
accounts where water should be turned off due to lack of payment to
the city for sewer services. Having the water restored to a home
will involve paying the sewer bill plus any disconnect and
re-connect fees.
Chuck Conzo, city treasurer, said the next step will be a
published notice to tenants. The notice will explain that even
though landlords are generally held responsible for the sewer bills,
by city code, the tenants are indeed jointly responsible for the
payment of the bills.
As such, if tenants are paying their monthly rent with the
understanding that a portion of it goes to the sewer bill, they are
responsible for finding out if their landlord has done his part in
paying the bill. Conzo said the landlord should answer any
questions, but if not, tenants can contact the city clerk's office
to find out if the accounts are current.
Sales tax increase is for schools
Conzo said he and the clerk's office have been receiving calls
regarding the increase in local sales tax that took effect this
week.
He reminded the public that the increase of 1 percent is the
school tax. The funds will be used for the construction and or
maintenance of school facilities and is in no way connected to the
city of Lincoln.
Other news
By unanimous vote, the council approved spending $12,870 for an
electric motor and other related hardware for repairs to be made to
the south treatment plant. Busby said the sewer committee did not
seek bids because they wanted a particular motor. Instead they
sought quotes from two companies, and Flo-Tech came in the lowest.
He also said the labor for installation of the new motor will be
provided free of charge by Logan Correctional Center inmates, under
the supervision of Jeff Short.
The council also voted unanimously to approve new Family Medical
Leave Act and Family Military Leave Act policies for all city
employees.
Thanks to Snyder
Bates said he wanted to personally say thank you to Snyder for
his persistence in getting the Fifth Street railroad crossing fixed.
Snyder expanded on that, saying he was appreciative to the
Interstate Commerce Commission for their persistence in the matter,
and he also said he appreciated everyone else who may also have
lodged complaints.
The council ended the evening by going into executive session to
discuss personnel issues.
[By NILA SMITH]
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