 Plotner reminds council of the Joyce Kinzie Martin Luther King
Scholarship Breakfast The evening kicked off with a few words
from Les Plotner, former city treasurer, who was on hand to
encourage council members to participate in the annual Joyce Kinzie
Martin Luther King Scholarship Breakfast on Monday at the Maple
Club.
The scholarship breakfast is a fundraiser, with the proceeds
going to provide scholarships to minority students in Logan County
high schools. The scholarship is used at Lincoln College.
Plotner said he would like to see city officials attend in
support of the program, as the city is one of the breakfast
sponsors. He also added he'd stay throughout the meeting and had
tickets on hand with him if anyone wanted to purchase one after the
meeting.
EMA to lead earthquake preparedness drills at Washington-Monroe
Alana Sorrentino of the Logan County Emergency Management Agency
spoke briefly about earthquake preparedness and a drill scheduled
for Feb. 7 at Washington-Monroe School.
She said the drills will be at 10:15 a.m. The morning will be a
media event with representatives from the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency there as well. She encouraged everyone to attend.
Sorrentino told the council Illinois is affected by two major
fault lines: the Wabash and the New Madrid.
She asked if anyone knew what they should do in the case of an
earthquake, then explained the three steps: drop, cover and hold
on.
In the event of an earthquake, the primary danger is not from the
earth shaking, but from the objects that fall as a result of it. She
said the best course of action is to get on the ground, under a
heavy object such as a desk, and then hold on to something until it
is over.
Vinyards named Ward 2 residents of the year
Because they could not be present in December when residents
selected from other wards were honored, Bill and Kathy Vinyard were
honored Tuesday evening by their ward aldermen, Kathy Horn and David
Wilmert. (See picture in today's
Community section.)
Horn went through the couple's resume of community service,
saying they have been very instrumental in the development of the
Plant the Town Red, Plant a Park and From the Ground Up programs.
The couple also worked with the park district on the sidewalk
chalk art at last year's Lincoln Art & Balloon Festival, helped
clean up the Ray White parking lot, helped with the "Our Town"
celebration and much more.
Horn said: "They do it together, and they show us all what it is
like to be a family involved in the community. We are so happy they
live in our ward because they do an awful lot for us."
City not deterred by water shut-off issues
On Monday, LDN ran a story about the impending water shut-offs
for those who are several months past due on their sewage bills.
In that story three officials -- Buzz Busby, alderman; Chuck
Conzo, city treasurer; and Susan Gehlbach, city clerk -- discussed
how the shut-off program would work and what the final result would
be for those who continue to neglect their obligations to the city.
Their plans include having water disconnected and homes condemned
if services are not restored.
In that conversation, Busby indicated the city would seek the
help of John Lebegue of the city's building and safety office and
the Logan County Department of Public Health in having homes
condemned.
However, soon after the story was published, the chief
administrator at the health department notified Mayor Keith Snyder
via an email that the health department would not be involved in the
condemning of homes.
In his email to Snyder, Mark Hilliard wrote: "Please be advised
and kindly advise the appropriate persons in your organization that
the Logan County Department of Public Health has NO regulatory
authority regarding water, sewage, or the condemnation of property
within the corporate limits of the City of Lincoln."
This is just one of the hurdles the city is coming up against in
trying to collect delinquent sewer bills, but Tuesday night it
became clear they will not be deterred by these problems.
In regard to the position of the health department, Busby and
Lebegue explained that the city could condemn the homes using state
plumbing codes.
During the discussion Alderwoman Joni Tibbs expressed her concern
that the health department would not want to get involved in an
issue where sanitation and the well-being of the residents was an
issue, but Snyder said it was a matter of jurisdiction, and Busby
said that technically not having running water didn't mean occupants
had no access to water.
In fact, water can be transported from a relative or friend's
home, it can be purchased retail, or as is the case in at least one
location in town, it can be piped in with a garden hose from a
neighboring house.
Alderman David Armbrust said he'd like to figure out a way to
stop people using garden hoses to pipe water into their homes, and
Lebegue said that indeed it was not an acceptable practice.
At the same time police Chief Ken Greenslate questioned whether
or not that could be theft of services.
Another issue the city has run into is the number of homes that
already have their water shut off. Busby said the clerk had printed
out a list of all the delinquent sewer accounts. The shut-off
notices are going to go straight down the list so no one can accuse
the city of picking on them first.
In the first page of 12 delinquent accounts, Busby said they
found that seven of them already had their water turned off.
However, he also noted the first 10 letters that did go out
Monday amounted to $28,900 total, or just under an average of $3,000
per address.
[to top of second column] |
 Next on the list: unpaid parking tickets
Busby relayed that he and Gehlbach have had discussions about the
number of unpaid parking tickets that are mounting up on the city
books.
Gehlbach said notices are being sent out to people who have
tickets that need to be paid, but the notices are apparently being
ignored.
Busby said he'd gone out to the state driver's license office in
town and discussed the issue with staff there. He had found out that
the city attorney can file documents with the state that would put a
"hold" on a violator's driver's license.
Also, Greenslate said he was going to attend a meeting in the
near future where he hopes to gain information on how to establish a
boot or tow-away program for the city.
He said he felt like those who have multiple parking tickets
probably already have issues with their driver's license as well. In
his opinion, preventing them from driving their vehicle is a much
more effective answer.
He said his preference would be to establish a tow-away program
because it would then free up the parking space by placing the
violator vehicle in impound, whereas placing a boot on the car would
not free up the parking space.
During discussion it was also shared that the problem again is
not with the occasional violator. In many cases those who are not
paying their parking tickets have at least 30 to 40 unpaid tickets,
with more still piling up.
Lincoln Speedway season to start April 1
Norm and Yvonne Horn, the owners of Lincoln Speedway, were in
attendance Tuesday evening to share with the council the 2012 racing
schedule at Lincoln Speedway.
The racing season will begin with practice sessions on April 1
and April 7, and the first full night of racing will be April 13.
Norm Horn addressed the council, saying he was sharing with them
a list that showed the ending times of each event last year. He
pointed out the race crew had gotten almost all the races finished
on time or ahead of time.
Looking at this year's schedule, he noted that last year he had
activities at the track on Good Friday, and he'd heard there were
members of the community who weren't happy with that, so this year
there will be no action at the track on Good Friday.
Last year when he came to the council, he asked for three
30-minute extensions to be used only for special-event nights, and
only one per night. Last year, they had to use two of the three they
were given.
He said one race ran 21 minutes past curfew, and the other ran 10
minutes past curfew. He expressed to the council that these
extensions had been greatly appreciated, as it allowed the racers
and the audience to experience a full show on those nights.
The extensions of time were allowed only for the special-event
races such as the MOWA series. Horn said he would like to request
another three extensions for this year. He noted if the city was
willing to give him more than three, he would appreciate it, but
he'd be happy with the three.
Looking at the schedule, most of the races will be Friday night
races again this year. There is a Tuesday night race on May 15, when
the track hopes to have NASCAR drivers on hand to race and sign
autographs. There are two Sunday races: one on May 20, which will be
the Sunoco Late Model Series, which will begin at 4 p.m., and the
other on July 1, which is the UMP Summer Nationals. The two practice
sessions for this spring will be on Sunday, April 1, and Saturday,
April 6.
During discussion Tibbs noted there are more special events this
year than last and asked if three extensions would be enough. Horn
again said he'd take what he's given, but yes, he would like more.
Alderman David Wilmert said if the three get used up before the
season is over, there is nothing to prevent Horn from coming back to
ask for more.
Snyder said he would also not be in favor of the extensions being
used on a school night, which would apply to the NASCAR night in
May. Horn said he was already prepared for that. The Tuesday night
race will end at 9 p.m., but the crowd may not leave then, as it is
the plan to have the NASCAR drivers stick around to sign
autographs.
The request for three extensions was added to next week's voting
agenda. The council will meet on Tuesday night again next week due
to the Martin Luther King holiday.
Before the Horns left the council chambers, Alderwoman Melody
Anderson did express to them her appreciation for their willingness
and ability to comply with the city's curfew rules last year. She
said it made it a lot easier for all the aldermen.
Conzo also noted the racetrack does bring people into the
community and keeps local folks in Lincoln on a Friday night. Horn
recounted being at Steak 'n Shake after the summer nationals last
year and being told they had to close up because they were out of
many of their food items.
[By NILA SMITH]
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