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Everyone in the room remained standing
after the Pledge of Allegiance, as suggested by Mayor Beth Davis, to
honor Alderman Stone. Fellow alderman Glenn Shelton, an ordained
minister, offered a prayer in which he thanked the Lord for Stone’s
"untiring service to the city of Lincoln" and asked that Stone’s
family be consoled for their loss.
Mayor Davis asked council members to
attend the funeral and walk in together to honor their fellow
councilman. The funeral will be Thursday at 11 a.m. at Holland and
Barry Funeral Home. Visitation will be held there Wednesday from 5
to 7 p.m.
City Hall will be closed during the
hour of the funeral, according to City Clerk Juanita Josserand.
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Stone had served as alderman since
October of 1997, when he was appointed by then Mayor Joan Ritter to
fill the unexpired term of Dave Story. He ran for another term in
1999 and had taken out petitions to run again in February of 2003,
according to Josserand. He had also served on the Logan County Board
of Review.
Davis said
that within the next two weeks she will appoint another alderman to
serve the 5th Ward. She said she will also appoint other council
members to take Stone’s committee assignments so committees can
continue to function.
[Joan Crabb]
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This is the first time the department
has presented such an award, said Fire Chief Bucky Washam. Washam
cited Miler’s leadership abilities, commitment and dedication. He
and Rex Mallekoote, chairman of the fire and police committee,
presented the award.
"To be a good leader, you have to have
good followers," Miller said. "I want to thank the shift that works
for me."
Miller has been a member of the Lincoln
Fire Department for the past 12 years and commands the B shift.
He received an associate degree in fire
science from Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield and is
working toward a bachelor’s degree from Western Illinois University.
He has also taken classes through the University of Illinois
firefighting program.
Miller is currently teaching a class in
fire science for the Williamsville-Sherman fire departments.
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[Photo by Joan Crabb]
He said he was "very surprised" to win
the department’s first officer-of-the-year award and believed much
of the credit should go to the firefighters on his shift.
The award, a
framed picture of firefighters, describes the essence of a hero:
"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the
urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve
others, whatever the cost."
[Joan Crabb]
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"We came out with a pretty good
contract," said Jim Davis, president of Firefighters Local 3092 and
chief negotiator for the fire department. He said that while not all
meetings went smoothly, by and large the negotiations went well.
"I would echo Jim’s comments," Bates
said. "The negotiations had their heated moments, but overall I
thought they went pretty swiftly and pretty smoothly." He said the
two teams met about eight times.
Terms of the contract, according to
Bates, include a 3 percent raise the first year, 3¼ percent the
second year and 3½ percent the third.
Longevity pay was switched from a flat
dollar amount for length of service to a percent of base pay, and
rank pay was switched from a flat rate to a percentage of base pay.
The new contract also allows
firefighters to live within a 10-mile radius of the city, a
privilege that other unions that deal with the city also have, Bates
said.
This year’s contract also makes some
modifications in the discipline for violations of the drug and
alcohol policy, Bates said.
Base pay for beginning firemen under
the new contract is $2,981.21 per month. Firefighters also earn
longevity pay, rank pay, EMT pay and inspector’s pay.
The seven aldermen present agreed
unanimously to ratify the agreement. An agreement with the Operating
Engineers Local 399, representing clerical workers, was tabled until
the Oct. 21 council meeting.
The council also voted unanimously to
issue general obligation bonds totaling $620,000 over a four-year
period. Interest rates will be 3.9653 percent, according the Kevin
Heid of First Midstate, Inc., of Bloomington.
The city ordinarily issues general
obligation bonds in three-year increments, but because of favorable
interest rates decided to take a four-year option this time,
Alderman Verl Prather said.
The money from the bonds must be used
for capital projects, such as street repair and other infrastructure
work, Heid said. The city will not receive the money until the
December payment for the former bond issue is made.
State Bank of Lincoln is the agent for
the bond sale, and Heid said all bonds have been sold locally this
year, as they have been in the past.
Prather also announced that the city
has officially been approved for the $9.8 million loan from the
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to upgrade the city’s sewer
plant. The city met the Sept. 17 deadline for submitting bids for
IEPA approval after having some problems getting contractors to meet
the exacting bid specifications.
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Construction on the plant upgrade
should be starting in mid-November, according to Mark Mathon, city
engineer. The project will take about 18 months to complete.
At present the plant can process only
3.35 million gallons per day, but the upgrade is designed to process
4.19 million gallons. This will allow for industrial, commercial and
residential growth in the city and also allow the plant to meet the
IEPA’s more stringent requirements when the city applies for a new
permit, Mathon said.
The council also approved making the
intersection of Union, Seventh and Pulaski streets a four-way stop.
Presently motorists must stop at Seventh and Pulaski but not on
Union. The request for the four-way stop came from Dr. Robert Kidd,
superintendent of School District 27. The district is building a new
elementary school facing Seventh Street to replace the current
Central School.
Aldermen also agreed that the city
would terminate its agreement with Illinois American Water Company
to process payment of off-duty police officers who provide security
for the plant. Presently the water company pays the city, which in
turn pays the police officers. However, according to Bates, the city
would be liable in case any officers were injured while working at
the water plant.
The police department will request that
the water company deal directly with police officers instead. The
city will cease doing the payroll as of Nov. 4.
The council also agreed to go ahead
with work on the 21 light fixtures along Wyatt Street, which need
major repair. After hearing a report from street superintendent Don
Osborne, the sidewalks, forestry and lighting committee voted to
accept the bid from Fitzpatrick Electric for the equipment necessary
to make the repairs. The street department will do the work this
fall.
Verl
Prather, chairman of the finance committee, asked for a meeting of
the committee before next week’s committee-of-the-whole session to
find ways to inform the public about the upcoming referendum to
increase the city’s sales tax by one-half of 1 percent. He said the
city needs the extra money for infrastructure, as there is no money
in the current budget for street repairs.
[Joan Crabb]
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