"This is not going to be a quick procedure," said Pat Madigan, vice chairman of the city council’s ordinance committee, reporting on the proposed ordinance which council members received a week ago. "There are a lot of things to be ironed out before we are done.

"I don’t think we can resolve this in a couple of meetings and push it through," he added.

Madigan’s assessment of the 13-page document, which was shared by other members of the committee present, sounded like good news to a group of citizens who came to the committee meeting, most of them property owners on or near the Fifth Street corridor which Mayor Beth Davis has said she would like to see as a historic preservation district.

Larry Goodman, who owns V. Goodman Transfer, a trucking and excavating company at 1202 Fifth St., said he was relieved to hear the council’s consensus.

"I have a little more confidence since I’ve heard you speak that this will not be railroaded through," he told the ordinance committee. He said he had been wondering if he would be able to pass on his property to his children, so they could run the family business as the fourth generation.

Also he questioned whether there was anything historical in the proposed Fifth Street corridor.

"We’ve been on that corner since 1926. If there was any history there, I think I’d have been aware of it."

Mayor Davis assured him that the council had no intention of "railroading" the ordinance through. She said she saw it as a way to help property owners get grants to restore and maintain historic structures. She said she had also hoped to have several other historic sites on Fifth Street, a facade of the old Deskins Tavern where Abraham Lincoln stayed and some replicas of early homes in the nearby park.

Perry Harris, also a Fifth Street property owner, said it appeared that the ordinance was created to stop the Casey General Store from building a facility on Fifth Street.

"The speed this appeared before the council is troubling. It seems like the ordinance was created to stop Casey’s," he said.

The Casey corporation has been negotiating with Larry Riva, who owns a Fifth Street lot just west of the Postville Courthouse, to buy Riva’s property to put up a convenience store. A representative of Casey’s was present at Tuesday night’s meeting but did not speak.

"Why not table the ordinance until the Casey’s issue has been settled?" Harris asked.

David Morrow told the committee that the proposed ordinance for Lincoln was more sweeping and more restrictive than the requirements for getting a structure on the National Historic Register and should not be passed in its present form.

"A lot of businesses on Fifth Street are worried about it. They couldn’t even change colors on their buildings under this ordinance. The majority of people have no idea what this ordinance does.

"I can’t emphasize how much trouble this [type of ordinance] does in other communities. It enslaves the property of the citizens of Lincoln."

Under the proposed ordinance, if a property has a historic designation, changes to the outside or demolition of the property would have to have the approval of the historic preservation committee.

City Attorney William B. Bates pointed out that the ordinance had not been created by the council but by Main Street Lincoln. Wendy Bell, Main Street Lincoln coordinator, said the organization realized that the ordinance was just a "starting point."

Outlining the problems he found with the proposed ordinance, Madigan cited the "power and autonomy" granted to the 11 members of the historic preservation committee, who would be appointed by the mayor.

"How much power do we want to give 11 people not even elected by the community? We may end up with a specialized committee that will have an over-zealous view."

He also objected to the power given the council. As the document is written, a simple majority would be able to ratify a decision made by the historic preservation committee. Madigan said he believed any such decision made by the council should be either a two-thirds majority or a unanimous vote.

David Armbrust disagreed with the provision that the committee would be able to nominate and vote on making a structure a historic landmark without the consent of the owner.

"It is the owner who should be asking [for the historic designation], not just someone who drives by," he said.

"If the owner doesn’t want to have the historic landmark designation, he shouldn’t be forced. He should be able to modify his home as he wants," Madigan agreed.

Armbrust and Madigan also agreed that they did not like the provision that one-third of the people in an area could nominate it as a historic district. "I’d hate to think one-third of the people in a given area could dictate to the others," Armbrust said.

Both also found the appeal process unsatisfactory. As it is presently written, a property owner can appeal a ruling on his property only to the commission, the same body that made the ruling in the first place.

"There is very little recourse for those that fall within the district," Madigan said.

Another objection Madigan cited was the "what if" criterion for historic designation. He cited one example from the proposed ordinance: "An area that has yielded or may be likely to yield, information important in history or prehistory."

"If we are going to designate a landmark, we need hard evidence. We can’t say ‘what if’ or ‘This is going to be an important site someday.’"

In spite of his objections, however, Madigan described the document as a "framework" that could be formulated to fit the city of Lincoln.

"Each page will have to be addressed," he said. "We need a better system of checks and balances. There are a lot of holes in this ordinance that we are not going to be able to patch up on a short-term basis."

Madigan, who took over for ordinance committee chairman Michael Montcalm, who is on vacation, did not schedule a future meeting for the committee. In the meantime, Riva will appear before the planning commission on Aug. 16 to ask for a rezoning of his lot from R-2 (residential) to C-4 (commercial), so that the Casey corporation could put up the convenience store. If the planning commission agrees to the zoning change, he will appear before the zoning board of appeals on Aug. 22. After that, plans for the Casey General Store will have to be approved by the full council.

ALMH President and CEO Woody Hester spoke saying, "On this, the 12^th day of August, on behalf of — and in honor of — all of you and all of those before us, I dedicate the Women’s Health Unit and Family Maternity Suites to those we serve."

In describing the completeness of the transformation, Hester said the third floor went out the window, literally. A chute was placed at a window and all the debris was sent down it. The entire third floor was stripped down to the exterior brick. All that was left was the walls and floor.

Hester thanked the medical staff for handling the transition so well. For eight months they were temporarily located on the second floor. He was also thankful for all the community support. This kind of commitment means women will not need to go to Bloomington or Springfield for high-quality health care and child delivery.

Those touring the facility marveled at how much change has taken place from the old rooms to the new, higher-tech, more private and personable rooms. The nursing staff was even more enthusiastic. They were particularly pleased with the effective layout that has the nursing station centrally located to all the different sections: nursery, maternity suites, gynecology suites, surgery.

A lovely stained glass work depicting a mother and child highlights the center of the new Women’s Health Unit. The window was donated by Dr. Don Sielaff and his wife, Jan.

The new Women's Health Unit and Family Maternity Suites reflect Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital's (ALMH) continued commitment to recognizing and responding to the needs of patients, families and physicians, as well as the dynamic health care changes in the 21^st century.

These state-of-the-art facilities are tremendous accomplishments for this community. ALMH has been dedicated to improving the health and well-being of the community through advanced technology, keeping patient comfort as a priority. The Women's Health Unit and Family Maternity Suites ensure that the hospital continues to provide excellence in health care to those it serves.

•  Construction began Jan. 3, 2001

•  Will begin seeing patients on the new unit today, Monday, Aug. 13

•  Five private rooms, each with private restrooms

•  New nurses’ station

•  Focuses on women’s inpatient gynecological surgical procedures

•  Women’s Health Unit is designed to:

•  Provide individualized care in a comfortable setting.

•  Promote the lifelong good health of women.

•  Provide the balance between a warm, caring environment and the most advanced technology.

•  Make women's health one of ALMH’s top priorities.

•  Provide quality care for women in any stage in their life.

•  Construction began Jan. 3, 2001

•  Will begin seeing patients on Aug. 13

•  Four single-family maternity suites and two private postpartum rooms

•  Surgery suite for Caesarean sections

•  State-of-the-art nursery

•  New suites feature:

•  Labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum care all in a spacious single room — no need for an uncomfortable move to another room after delivery.

•  Private bath and hand-held massage showers.

•  Color television, VCR and phone.

•  Homelike furnishings, including a sleep chair.

•  24-hour visitation for fathers or support persons.

In a time when small community hospitals are getting out of child delivery, Hester says he is proud of the hospital board and foundation in allowing these major renovations.

The high-tech cameras are simply the newest technology for activating traffic signals, according to Bill Davison, traffic signal supervisor of District 6 of the Illinois Department of Transportation. The computer-like cameras scan the roadway and read the number of vehicles approaching the intersection. If no traffic is coming either way, the lights won’t change. If traffic is coming, the lights will change to accommodate it.

They were put in place Aug. 8 and 9 by a Decatur firm, Bodine Electric, and are now fully operational.

The cameras are passive devices, Davison said, not taking pictures and certainly not able to clock your speed or read your license place. They are doing nothing but controlling traffic, he explained.

"We could set them up to count cars if we wanted to record that data, but mainly they are just there to move traffic," Davison said.

The cameras replace wire loops embedded in the pavement and are more efficient in detecting oncoming vehicles. Another advantage is that the pavement doesn’t have to be sawed open to install them. They will eventually replace the loops in most areas, although they are not appropriate for traffic lights on some hills or on streets with a lot of trees, he said.

The cameras at Keokuk and Logan are the first to be installed in Lincoln, although IDOT has been using them for the past eight years in the 15-county area that makes up District 6. Davison said the same devices may be installed when IDOT improves the roadway at Kickapoo and Keokuk next year.

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