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Street Department Superintendent Donnie Osborne has been out to assess the site and
supports Brinner in his request. Osborne said that the tree in
question is a Bradford pear and is overgrown. He also said that
there are two more trees just like it in a row, but those trees sit
on property adjacent to the State Bank of Lincoln. Workers did trim
the other two trees last week.
Alderman Benny
Huskins said he thought that years ago when those trees were put in
the property owners agreed to maintain them — that the Downtown
Merchants Association had committed to maintenance.
"You are so right,"
Osborne replied.
"I think it ought to
come out," Osborne said. He then recommended that the city consider
replacing the tree with more appropriate landscape material. He also
pointed out that he spoke to the State Bank, and they would prefer
to keep their trees. While the trees are a great habitat for birds
that cause a mess, Mr. Aughenbaugh from the State Bank has agreed to
keep that cleaned up.
The Downtown
Merchants Association has been replaced by the Main Street Lincoln
organization. Osborne reported that he has been in contact with
them, and they are making some downtown landscaping plans that
include that area. He will keep in contact with them and work with
them.
[to top of second column in
this article]
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In other business,
Alderman George Mitchell said that there is $15,000 appropriated for
lights on Wyatt Avenue. The 17-year-old aluminum wiring that is in
them has corroded to the point that most of the lights don’t work.
It is estimated that it will cost in excess of $10,000 to have the
job done.
Alderman Huskins
asked, "Can you go out and get bids?
"It doesn’t cost you
anything to get bids," answered Bill Bates, the city attorney.
Mitchell agreed to get
bids and bring them before the council.
Having just completed
a 10-week Citizens Police Academy course offered through the Lincoln
Police Department, Alderman Glenn Shelton thanked Police Chief
Richard Montcalm.
Shelton said to the council, "I would
encourage each of you to take it. It will make you more sensitive
and aware of what our police deal with." It gave him a much greater
appreciation of our police department.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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Using some
forethought, Chief Richard Montcalm recently asked the city
attorney, Bill Bates, "Can we have an intergovernmental agreement?"
At a police committee
meeting Tuesday night Bates said his response was, "Well, we’ve got
to start somewhere!"
To start the ball
rolling, the officer who raised the prospect has drawn up a model
agreement using a like agreement that has been used between the city
of Springfield and Sangamon County.
Now it is time to
look a little closer at the practical responsibilities that go along
with the reality. Assistant Police Chief Harvey Mullins was
spokesman for the police department before the committee. He pointed
out examples of when and how the team might be used and the factors
that need to be considered in conjunction with their participation
in an incident.
Chief Mulllins began
by pointing out that tactical situations can take six to seven
hours, as seen recently (in an incident in April), and could be
dragged out to 24 to 36 hours.
Once you take over a
scene, you can’t walk away; you’re in there!" Chief Mullins
explained. "You’ve got to relieve people (who are involved). They
can’t stand stations that long."
Also officers have to
come in and cover the streets for those who go to a scene. That’s a
lot of overtime to be paid out for tactical team officers at the
scene and street officers covering for them.
Alderman Glenn
Shelton asked, "Don’t we already have some kind of agreement with
the county?"
Chief Mullins
explained, "Yes, this is to send a tactical team, not just an
officer. If the team goes, we become in charge. If we do assist, we
assist in standby situation until the state police take over (or
someone else). It is not just like a single officer providing
backup. It is a whole team.
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this article]
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Another difference
between officer assists and tactical team backup is the amount of
time committed. "We always do assists on short-term, limited time
basis," Chief Mullins pointed out.
There is also the
question of insurance coverage. Is it a problem when it is in a
different jurisdiction?
Major factors to be
considered are overtime costs and insurance liability. Also it is
still unknown at this time whether the sheriff is actually
interested in this possible offering to the county.
Alderman Pat Madigan
summed up the discussion, suggesting, "I think we can agree that
there is not enough information at this time."
Assistant Chief
Mullins and Chief Montcalm will be looking into the insurance
issues, and it is thought that there should be some amount of
compensation to the city for wage expenses incurred whenever the
tactical team is called out to assist the county. It will also be
determined whether the county is definitely interested in pursuing
an agreement to use the team.
In another issue, the committee OK’d the
pursuit of a request for $4,000 to purchase a new video camera to be
installed in a squad car. The camera will replace one that has worn
out and will be used for DUI documentation. The money is available
from a fund that was created by alcohol and drug fines and is
believed to have $13,000 in it. Monies in this fund can only be used
for training, teaching aids or equipment related to alcohol control.
[Jan
Youngquist]
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HB4159 also provides
that the principal and interest must be guaranteed by the full faith
and credit of the government and can only occur with foreign states
that have not defaulted on any similar financial obligations and
that have previously met their payment obligations in a timely
manner on all similar obligations for a period of at least 25 years.
HB4159 is an initiative of State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka.
Under current law,
the treasurer — with the approval of the governor — can invest in
various bonds, notes, debentures or other obligations or the U.S.
government, U.S. banks, U.S. savings and loans, Illinois credit
unions, U.S. corporations, Illinois local governments, and any
agencies created by Congress. The treasurer, however, may not
currently invest state money in overseas accounts or in foreign
governments.
"Expanding our
investment opportunities to foreign countries not only will allow
the state to diversify its portfolio, but also will open our doors
to other countries as we try to expand trade and increase our
presence in the global marketplace," Gov. Ryan said.
HB4159 gives the
state treasurer increased flexibility in the investment of money
that is in the state treasury and is not needed for current
expenditures. HB4159 provides more stringent requirements for
foreign investments than domestic government investments, providing
additional guides to the state treasurer while increasing the
opportunity for the development of international economic
partnerships.
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article]
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While the language of
HB4159 allows investments in all foreign governments who meet the
specified criteria, HB4159 was designed to provide the
constitutional authority for the treasurer to invest in Israeli
bonds. Currently, 15 states invest in Israeli bonds: California,
Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota,
Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island,
Texas and Wisconsin.
According to the
Development Corporation for Israel, proceeds from Israel bond sales
go directly to the treasurer of Israel for general use, but are
often earmarked for infrastructure projects such as highways,
bridges, water projects, communication links, and port and airport
expansion.
HB4159 was sponsored by Reps. Jeffery
Schoenberg, D-Evanston; Susan Garrett, D-Lake Forest; Karen May,
D-Highland Park; Sidney Mathias, R-Buffalo Grove; and Sara
Feigenholtz, D-Chicago; and Sens. Dave Sullivan, R-Mount Prospect;
Kathleen Parker, R-Northbrook; Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago; and Terry
Link, D-Vernon Hills.
[Illinois
Government News Network
press release]
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