Lincoln Aldermen table Allen Chapel vote

 

[November 04, 2021] 

At the Monday evening voting session of the Lincoln City Council there were two items on the voting agenda that had become intertwined during the Committee of the Whole meeting on October 23rd.

At the workshop session, aldermen heard a request from Ron Keller on behalf of the Allen Chapel Church, seeking forgiveness for debt owed to the city for past sewer bills plus service charges. The total amount of the debt was $1,957.53 with an estimated $850 being service charges.

As the aldermen discussed the topic, they also discussed whether or not future forgiveness of debt requests to the city should be handed over to the newly formed Economic Development Committee. That committee is charged with reviewing grant applications for structural improvements to commercial buildings in Lincoln.

Wanda Lee Rohlfs suggested that the ED could review the requests for debt and or lien abatement and make recommendations to the council. There was an amendment on the committee of the whole agenda already regarding the committee, and it was decided that an additional amendment would be added for the Monday voting session.

In regard to the Allen Chapel Church, which is without a congregation and therefore closed, the motion to forgive the debt was added to the Monday voting session as well.

This week during the first topic, the addition of responsibilities to the ED committee, Rohlfs spoke more directly about the request from Keller. She said that in hearing from her constituents, she felt that it was their overall opinion that the city was rushing to a decision without having all the facts.

Rohlfs said she had heard for sure that the property is zoned as commercial, so in that case it would be eligible. However, she said that the Allen Chapel, which is part of the AME church diocese, is a tax exempt religious organization. She said some of the citizens feel that it is wrong for the city to give away a debt that might be collected, to a group that pays no taxes.
 

In addition, she said that her research indicated that the city doesn’t actually know who owns the property. In talking to the county assessor’s office, Rohlfs had received a few names in the succession of ownership, but it was unclear who the current owner is.

It is Rohlfs opinion that the city does not know enough to make an informed decision.

City Attorney John Hoblit clarified that the topic at hand was not specifically Allen Chapel. The first vote on the agenda regarding the forgiveness of debt was an amendment to the duties of the ED Committee. He said the two topics were being melded together when they should remain separate.

Rohlfs said she thought this was what the council decided at the Committee of the Whole.

Mayor Tracy Welch noted that yes, it was at Rohlfs’ suggestion that the amendment to the Economic Development Committee be made. At the same time, the council decided to vote on the Allen Chapel question separately.

The council then reverted back to the amendment for the ED Committee. When the vote was taken, the motion passed with a vote of 7-0-1. New council member Tony Zurkammer abstained from the vote.

Later on the agenda, the Allen Chapel question came up and it was Rick Hoefle who said he wanted to table the vote until further notice.

He said that he too had questions that he felt should be answered. He said that it appeared that the delinquent bills dated back to around 2016. However, software changes in 2018 eliminated the details of the Allen Chapel account and others.

He said he would like to see the bills and know if the church ever paid. What he can see the total bill of $1957.53 includes $978.39 in penalties, slightly more than was estimated at the first discussion.
 

He also wants to know who is keeping the books for the church now that it is basically abandoned. He said that the property appears to be in the possession of the AME Springfield Diocese, so do they have the books, and did they pay the bills when they were paid.

Keller was on hand for the voting meeting. Hoefle asked him if he had copies of the bills for the church. Keller said he did not, but once he is in the church office, he may find them. Keller had stated at the Committee of the Whole that there were doors that were locked with no keys, including the church office. He’s to get a lock smith to open those doors.

He did add that when the church was functional, the bills were paid by the collections and donations of the membership.

At the October 23rd meeting, Keller had said that he intends to re-establish the Friends of Allen Chapel, and that he wants to apply for grants to help with some building repairs. He cannot apply for the grants with the city holding a lien against the property and unpaid bills on the books.

On Monday night, Steve Parrott asked Keller if the city were to table the vote, would Keller then miss grant application deadlines and risk losing the chance at the money needed. Keller said not at the moment. He explained that he was ready to go with grant applications when the debt is cleared, but until it is, he has not started anything.

Hoefle made the official motion to table the request for Allen Chapel and it was seconded by Rohlfs. The council voted 7-0-1 to table with Zurkammer abstaining from the vote.

Now that the item is tabled, it will remain on the voting agenda for the immediate future as a tabled item. When the council feels they are prepared to make an informed decision about the request, the process will be first to remove the item from the table and second to entertain the motion.

It is anticipated that the requested research will take more than the two weeks till the next voting session.

[Nila Smith]

Past related

Lincoln City Council:
Keller seeks debt forgiveness for Allen Chapel Church