Tuesday, April 8

City hears protests, votes cuts

[APRIL 8, 2003]  We live in a democracy, and in a democracy everyone gets to speak. The city council chamber and the hall outside were overflowing with those waiting to speak at Monday evening's meeting. Everyone who wished to was given equal time at the podium.

Logical and impassioned pleas to not cut the work force from any of the departments, to find some other place to cut costs were presented to a full council. Speakers were asked to limit their presentation to three minutes due to the number who wished to speak. They obligingly did so. It took well over an hour before all were heard.

Kevin Logan will be one of the two employees laid off from the fire department. He is married with two children. His wife was laid off from her job at Chester-East Lincoln last year.

Logan has not actually been on the payroll since an injury and surgery took him off the job in January 2002. He asked to be kept on since he is in the middle of recovery, and losing his health insurance through the city will jeopardize his rehabilitation benefits.

Kevin Riggins officially stood to speak on behalf of the police department, but he said he wanted to speak on behalf of everyone wearing a badge because their jobs are often interrelated. You have police going out to investigate meth labs and they need the protection of the fire department in cleanup if those labs explode. Both departments are important to public safety and safety to each other.

"Laying off police officers is the wrong thing to do at this time," Riggins said. The economy is down and with that, historically, the crime rate always goes up. When things get bad, drug use increases and dealing increases. He says we are seeing this here, and we are not alone. He has been speaking to other communities very much like Lincoln in nature and of like size, and they are seeing the same problems and drug use. "I can't see laying off the people protecting this town," he concluded.

 

Giving credit where credit was due, Officer Chuck Gunning spoke on behalf of the police department: "I know Mr. Prather, and he's done his homework." In comparison he added, "Manpower is at the level that can support this city." He said, "Officer safety, response time and morale will be compromised with cuts."

Firefighter safety was the crux of the arguments presented on behalf of the fire department as well. Firefighter local union president Jim Davis said the cuts will take the department below the NFPA standards.

According to Jim Schrepner, regional vice president of the Illinois Firefighter's Association, set industry standards recommend a minimum of seven firefighters to man the various positions on any given shift. There are currently 21 firefighters on the local force. This will leave them a man short on two shifts.

"Without personnel we cannot do this job," Davis said.

He added that Mr. Prather previously offered that if anyone could see where $150,000 could be cut from the budget, they won't have to make these employee cuts. "We have three new aldermen coming in; give them a chance," he asked.

 

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Finance chairman Verl Prather read his written statement to the audience. He said that it is the toughest decision he has made in 10 years. He recognized the impact that this will have on the families. His neighbor will be one of those that will be laid off. "I feel bad about that," he said, but there is no other way to do this.

The last two years the departments have had no new equipment, no new cars or anything else. Interest revenues for the city have gone down and costs have gone up.

Fire department salary increases have gone up the past two years, this year and are slated to go up again next year. Department raises were $61,000 last year and will be up $63,000 for the '04-'05 fiscal year.

The general fund has been decreasing over the past couple of years. Each year we find some limited funds to close out that see us through that year only. The facts have been stated each time. We are facing the same shortfall as one year ago.

Prather made it clear that every effort has already been made to cut the budget. Even with the employee cuts, the city is $140,000 short still.

"It is a difficult recommendation to make to the council. I have looked at the budget, and it's not a choice this time to the city," he said.

Mayor Beth Davis said, "Every day you put your lives on the line. We do appreciate that. This has been the most difficult decision for all of the council members and myself in the last year."

It has been three years of spending more than we are bringing in. As an example, last year's investment income was $80,000. This year it is only $8,000.

Alderman Glenn Shelton said he received numerous calls asking that he vote not to cut the employees. He said, "We made as many cuts as we thought we could make without layoffs."

However, he stated, "I'm still not convinced that laying off from streets, fire and police would jeopardize our public safety."

Alderman George Mitchell sided with the employees, saying, "We have a lot invested in these people. They seem to be working to do a good job. I cannot see jeopardizing jobs."

When all was said, the council members did what they felt they had to do. The votes were cast, 7-2. Six city employees' layoff notices are in the mail today.

The two dissenting votes were cast by Benny Huskins and Mitchell.

Assistant Fire Chief Mark Miller said today (Tuesday), "We will have to reorganize everything we do. It cannot be done the same way."

[Jan Youngquist]


City emergency response worked well during and after Friday's storm

[APRIL 8, 2003]  Friday was a harrowing day for those caught in the storm that created a minor disaster. ESDA director Dan Fulscher stood before the council to provide an account of events preceding, during and following the storm. He wanted the city to know how well everything and everyone works together, no matter the obstacles, in a real-case scenario.

It started about an hour before storm warnings were issued. The 911 system, which is located in the Safety Complex below the Logan County Jail, was flooded with water through the ceiling. A prisoner had clogged a toilet and flushed it repeatedly to cause the flood.

The water affected the system immediately. However, it did what it was supposed to do; it automatically kicked over to the remote backup system. It was the first time for the backup system to be used, even though it has been available for years.

It was only minutes later that storm warnings began. There wasn't a lot of storm warning time when winds hit the backup location at the Rural Fire Department and took the power out there.

The power was out, but the backup generator kicked on and 911 was still functioning. Calls continued to come in.

Not only was the power out, but the tower that was built to withstand 100 mph winds was downed.

 

Fulscher said that there were 200 calls made to the 911 system during those short hours with the storm, and he believes they didn't miss a call. Seventeen calls were made to the Lincoln Fire Department. The Rural Fire Department responded to a call of an overturned semi-truck on Interstate 55. Other calls went to the police department.

In summary there were three storms. The first was a microburst that helped create an F1 tornado with 70-90 mph winds. That led to a storm with winds that were 80-100 mph. It was estimated that the winds that took the 911 tower down were 110 mph. Utility poles were downed and power was affected to all the feeder communities from Lawndale to Atlanta. Telephone service was variably disrupted.

Conservative damages are estimated at $500,000. This figure is straight dollars for damage. It does not include less tangible losses such as business income to such places as the fast-food businesses that were closed due to lack of electricity and so on.

Fulscher reported the lessons learned from the event. The phone lines were very busy after the storm. A separate phone line had to be established with AmerenCILCO to be able to communicate with them as needed. This was accomplished with ESDA's radio communications system.

 

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Illinois State Police and Illinois Department of Transportation were called in to assist. The ISP sent eight men to patrol for security in the blackout area. IDOT has been assisting with cleanup.

Fulscher praised all agencies and community leadership involved in the storm recovery. He said, "We have practiced and trained; it was great to see a unified command working between police, fire and EMS." This is the first such event in years, and it was great seeing everyone working so well together. There was not a voice raised during the whole time. He added that the county board chairman, Dale Voyles, visited frequently to keep up with what was happening throughout the weekend.

Restoration assistance will continue through next Monday. Residents are asked to place only storm debris. No other debris will be picked up. The state is assisting and they will not fund non-storm-related cleanup. Indoor junk like toilets will not be picked up. This is not Lincoln's spring cleanup. Do not leave debris for pickup in the alleyways. Storm debris pickup at the street curbside will continue from Wednesday through next Monday.

Fulscher introduced Illinois Emergency Management Region Seven Coordinator Dan Smith. Smith, who was traveling near Lincoln Friday afternoon, was here minutes after the storm first struck and stayed the weekend. He gave a progressive summary of the state's goals during and after the disaster.

 


[Photo by Jan Youngquist]
Dan Smith

He said the first priority was "life and safety." Illinois State Police were brought in to provide traffic control and security of the blackout areas.

The next step was a return to normalcy. The state can not go on private property to remove anything. It must be on public right of way. Three street crews were sent from IDOT with equipment and 20 inmates from Logan Corrections to pick up debris.

Finally, the state provides damage assessment. If damages are high enough, a state or presidential disaster declaration can be requested and the area affected may receive federal assistance for damages. While the damages were significant to a few, he apologized that they were not accumulatively enough to submit for a declaration.

Mayor Davis thanked the men for their service on behalf of the city and praised their efforts.

[Jan Youngquist]


City makes approvals

[APRIL 8, 2003]  The city of Lincoln is officially recognizing April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. A proclamation validating the importance of protecting our children was read and approved.

The resignation of the city clerk, Juanita Josserand, was accepted. Josserand has been city clerk for 16 years and has worked for the city almost 32 years. She is retiring as of May 1.

Unanimous approval was given to use money from a set-aside equipment fund for the purchase of some new fire apparatus. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is offering a 10 percent matching grant. A total of $4,000 will be allocated. Plans are to purchase new hazardous materials equipment and replace the aging air compressor that fills tanks, said Chief Bucky Washam.

Cross Roads ministry will be conducting a street basketball weekend in front of the Lincoln Public Library the weekend of June 13 and 14. There will be lots of basketball and food available for a fun weekend.

[Jan Youngquist]

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