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 New Aldermen: During 2014 three former aldermen chose to
step down from their Council seats: David Wilmert (Ward 2), Bruce
Carmitchel (Ward 1), and Tom O’Donohue (Ward 3). Those vacancies
have been filled with three new aldermen who are doing a great job
and are making significant contributions to the City and its
services to the taxpayers: Michelle Bauer (Ward 2), Scott Cooper
(Ward 1), and Todd Mourning (Ward 3).
New Personnel: In the spring of 2014, the City of Lincoln
appointed a new Street Superintendent, Walt Landers. He joined the
Street and Alley Department after serving many years as area manager
for Area Disposal. During the second half of the year the City
recruited and hired its first full-time City Administrator. Clay
Johnson came to the City of Lincoln after serving as the Assistant
Town Manager for the town of Munster, IN for several years. In
addition, the growth of the Building and Safety Department enabled
the City to hire Cori Ingram as a full-time Deputy Building and
Safety Officer.
Historic Preservation: The City continued to take significant
steps in the preservation of its important historical assets. The
City Council, with assistance from the City’s Historic Preservation
Commission, created Lincoln’s first historic preservation district
in 2014. It encompasses most of downtown Lincoln. Because of the
Lincoln’s historic preservation efforts, the City was named a
Certified Government by the National Park Service under their
Federal Preservation Program. Community certification opens doors to
funding, technical assistance, and other preservation resources.
Acquisition of the Lincoln Depot: Working in cooperation with
the Illinois Department of Transportation’s High Speed Rail program,
the City used State rail funding to acquire the Lincoln Depot from
the private owners who had controlled the property for the past
number of years. The property and landscaping around the facility
were immediately cleaned up and revitalized to make the train
waiting experience enjoyable once again. At year’s end the City
solicited bids to begin pre-restoration work that will include the
removal of the train cars attached to the building and other work
designed to take the facility back to its 1911 footprint. Once the
pre-restoration work is complete the City will engage a contractor
to completely restore the exterior of the facility and make the
former baggage area at the north end of the building the new waiting
area for high speed rail.
Closure of Pekin Street crossing: As part of the preparation
work for the restored Lincoln Depot, the City Council voted to close
the Pekin Street rail crossing. The Pekin Street crossing is the
least traveled of all of the downtown crossings. Its closure will
provide better and more accessible traffic flow around the new
waiting station, more on-street and off-street parking for the
waiting station, fewer blocked crossings when trains stop, and a
better impression for the over 443,000 people who travel through
Lincoln each year on Amtrak. The City is currently in negotiations
with Union Pacific over the details of the crossing closure.
Electric vehicle charging stations: During the summer of
2014, the local Eaton manufacturing facility announced that it had
approved the City’s community giving application and would donate a
Level 2 charging station to the City for placement at the restored
Lincoln Depot when that work is complete. Late in the year the City
learned it also would also be the recipient of a quick charging
station through a public-private partnership created by the State of
Illinois to promote electric car travel on Rt. 66. (Level 2 chargers
re-charge electric cars in 3-4 hours. Quick chargers re-charge
vehicles in 30 minutes.)
Downtown streetscape project: The City used the remainder of
its $675,000 downtown revitalization grant from the State of
Illinois to complete its first streetscape project in the Arcade
block of Pulaski Street and on the theater side of Kickapoo Street
from Pulaski Street. The City followed the design concepts in its
Downtown Revitalization Study and installed new, more accessible
sidewalks, curb extensions to enhance pedestrian safety, and more
appealing aesthetic features such as benches, planters, and
lighting. When the theater expansion is completed this year, the
streetscape will extend in front of the new theater and around the
corner on Clinton Street to the alley. Lincoln’s downtown
redevelopment plan called on the City to undertake the streetscape
work to “create an interesting and engaging downtown that is
appealing to Lincoln residents and visitors.”
Theater expansion: The City Council approved a development
agreement and financing arrangements for the largest economic
investment in downtown Lincoln in over a generation: the expansion
of Lincoln Theater 4 into the Lincoln Grand 8 Theater. The existing
theater will be expanded all the way to Clinton Street and six new
digital screens will be added. Two of the existing four screens will
remain giving the new theater eight screens upon which to show first
run movies and other entertainment. Under the approved financing
arrangement TIF bonds were issued by the City to provide a portion
of construction costs. Those bonds will be repaid not with the
City’s general funds, but from property taxes that will be paid into
the TIF district, predominantly by the theater’s property owners.
Economic development initiatives: In an effort to improve
both results and accountability for the City’s economic development
investments, the Council approved two new initiatives. First, the
Council engaged Retail Strategies, a national consultant in the
retail industry, to plan and execute the City’s retail attraction
strategy. Retail Strategies has conducted research into our local
market and has developed a retail strategic plan for the City. They
are currently communicating with both regional and national
retailers to share the opportunities available here in Lincoln. The
City expects an announcement in early 2015 of their first retailer
they have attracted to Lincoln. Second, the City led and supported
the efforts of the Unified Organizations Committee to consolidate
the economic agencies into a sustainable and successful organization
that can serve the needs of local businesses and attract new
businesses and investment. The City will soon enter into a funding
agreement with the new Logan County Alliance that will spell out
expectations for that organization and outline accountability
measures to ensure the City’s investment is well placed.
Annexation of Heritage Packaging: The City was in discussions
with the owners of Heritage Packaging for several years concerning
their desire to expand their manufacturing lines. That business
expansion required the facility to connect to the City sewer system
to handle the waste water of the new line. The City entered into a
development agreement with Heritage that called on the City to
underwrite the cost of the facility’s sewer connection in exchange
for the annexation of the property into the City. As a result of the
agreement, the business added several full-time jobs and the City
was able to expand its tax base.
New City website and domain address: An important goal of the
City that was accomplished during 2014 was the creation a new City
website. The City of Lincoln’s new website (along with its new and
simpler domain address: www.lincolnil.gov) went live on July 1st.
The new website is cleaner, more easily navigated, and much more
user friendly. The website contains the latest City news, Council
meeting agendas, Council meeting minutes, plus a new transparency
site that contains monthly budget reports, annual audits, and copies
of City contracts and agreements.
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Paper statements for sewer bills: In the spring of 2014
the City Clerk’s office began issuing paper statements for sewer
bills instead of the age-old postcards. The new statements were a
step forward in customer service: they convey more information, they
are less likely to be misplaced, and they include a return envelope.
The implementation of these new statements was another long-term
goal of the Council.
Impound vehicle process: The Council approved an ordinance
giving the Police Department the authority to impound vehicles and
charge a fee for the impounding of such vehicles for the commission
of certain criminal offenses using a vehicle that are spelled out in
State law. As part of the impound process, the City created a means
for individuals whose vehicles have been impounded to have a hearing
outside the Circuit Court in order to regain possession of their
vehicles. The ordinance created a City code hearing officer to hear
and rule on these impound cases. Eventually, this administrative
hearing process could be used for other code violations (e.g.,
building code violations, parking tickets, etc.)
Updated building codes: In response to recommendations from
the Building and Safety Office and the Lincoln Fire Department, the
City Council undertook the task of updating the City’s building
codes in 2014. The building codes had not undergone an update since
the early 1990’s and were out-of-date with current building
practices. The Council took several meetings to review the updates,
hear concerns from local realtors and others, and respond to those
concerns. In the end, the Council voted to upgrade Lincoln’s
building codes to the 2012 International Building Code standards.
These updated codes will ensure greater safety and better building
practices in all new construction and renovations taking place in
Lincoln.
 Snow and Ice Control Plan: The winter of 2013-14 was one
of the longest and most severe in recent memory. In order to set
forth expectations for the public and the Street Department (who is
charged with clearing streets and alleys of snow), Street
Superintendent Walt Landers and City Administrator Clay Johnson
developed a Snow and Ice Control Plan for the City. It was adopted
by the Council in December. The Plan sets forth the City’s
operational response to various categories of winter weather events.
It outlines the priorities for those responses and includes a map of
City streets. The plan has been posted on the City’s website and
Facebook page. Hard copies of the plan are available to the public
through the City Clerk’s Office.
City jurisdiction over subdivisions within 1˝ miles of
boundaries: Many years ago the City Council voted to waive its
right to have jurisdiction over subdivisions created within a mile
and a half of its boundaries. In 2014, the Council reasserted that
right with the passage of a resolution. The City will now have the
right to review and comment on all new subdivisions that are located
close to the town borders. Having developers comply with City
regulations in those developments will streamline the review process
and make any potential future annexations of such property much
easier.
City finances: In April the City adopted a budget for Fiscal
Year 2015 that projected a slight surplus at year end (April 30,
2015). The City carefully reviews expenditures for each year to
ensure that, unlike the state and federal governments, its budget is
balanced each year. In December 2014, the City received its audit
for Fiscal Year 2014. The audit was once again clean, and the
auditors commended the City for the handling of its finances. During
the summer of 2014, the Council approved the issuance of sewer bonds
to re-finance its long-term sewer treatment plant debt. The
re-financing should save the City about $100,000 over the life of
the bonds.
2015 Property Tax freeze: As one of its last acts for 2014,
the City Council at its final December meeting adopted a tax levy
for 2015 that froze the City of Lincoln’s property tax levy at the
same level as 2014. The Council has heard concerns about high
property taxes within the City. Even though the City of Lincoln’s
portion of the average property tax bill is only around 12%, the
Council felt that freezing the City’s levy would be doing a small
part in trying to stem the growth in property tax rates in order to
promote further economic activity within the City.
 2015 promises to be busy as well. Here are just a few items that
are awaiting Council action in the months ahead:
- Development of a citywide strategic plan – The City had
initiated work on the development of that plan with NIU’s Center
for Governmental Studies out of Springfield. We pushed the pause
button on the process when we were in between City
Administrators. We will pick up the process again this spring
and expect to have the plan developed by the end of the fiscal
year (April 30).
- Street Department Garage Replacement – 2015 will bring the
acquisition of property for the replacement facility as well as
the initiation of construction. Once completed, the 3rd Street
property will be cleaned up by the legacy utilities and given a
clear environmental report. All costs of this project will be
borne by the legacy utilities (Com Ed and Nicor).
- Options for new Police and Fire Space – The Public Safety
Building Committee will soon be recommending the engagement of
an architectural firm that specializes in police and fire
facility design. That firm’s work will include at least three
deliverables: 1) validation of previously done space needs
report for each department; 2) assessment of up to six sites for
location of the new space(s); and 3) recommendation to the
Council on the best site(s) to pursue accompanied with reasons
for the recommendation.
- Sewers: Long Term Control Plan – Crawford, Murphy, & Tilly
continues their assessment and design work for our sewer system.
Because Lincoln has a “combined sewer system” (meaning that a
portion of our system collects storm water and sanitary waste
water in combined lines), we are required to meet U.S.EPA
mandates for the development of a plan to alleviate potential
harmful effects of that combined output. Representatives from
CMT will soon be appearing before the Council to provide updates
on their work to-date. It is expected that they will have
recommendations for a Long Term Control Plan (“LTCP”) to be
adopted by the City.
- Other opportunities – For growth, development, and
exploration…
[Mayor Keith Snyder, City of Lincoln] |
