Wednesday, June 11

Council considers The Art of Wine event, cellular phone proposals and other issues

[JUNE 11, 2003]  At its meeting on June 10, the city council heard a proposal for The Art of Wine event that is being planned for Aug. 24 and 25 during the Lincoln Art and Balloon Festival. Dave Lanterman of Main Street said that The Art of Wine would bridge the gap for activities that are planned for the area between Latham and Scully parks.

The event will provide people attending the festival with opportunities to sample and taste different wines. There will be various assortments of wines that will come from numerous wineries. Possibly 15 wineries from Illinois will be represented.

The Art of Wine will be on the south side of the Logan County Courthouse on South Kickapoo Street. A tent will be set up that will cover about half of the street in the area.

People who want to participate in The Art of Wine will have to purchase a commemorative glass that will cost between $6 and $8. The commemorative glass will enable people to have one sample of a wine of their choice. People will also be able to purchase tickets to sample additional wines.

 

This will not be an all-day event. Ninety percent of the people who attend The Art of Wine will sample a few wines, possibly make a purchase and leave, Lanterman said.

People who would like to purchase a bottle of wine will be able to do so; however, only people with unopened bottles will be allowed to leave the tent. Security and age verification for the event will be provided by Main Street. The wineries will not do age verification.

There will also be other vendors at the south end of the tent who will present various samples of foods for people to try. In addition, on Sunday, Aug. 25, the antique car show will take place at the same location of South Kickapoo Street. Although the street will be closed to traffic, the antique cars will be able to use it.

Lanterman said that people will be able to enjoy the other events at the festival, shop and walk through The Art of Wine tent to do some wine sampling.

 

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The council also heard from Kathy Radtke of the Nextel cellular company. Nextel is the second cellular company to present a proposal to the city. The council will review all proposals prior to deciding which cellular company will give them the best services for their money. Features they will consider are cost per minute, area of usage, cost for roaming and which company can help to consolidate the cellular phone usage of the various city departments at the cheapest rate. Nextel features a walkie-talkie system with free roaming and nationwide service when calls are made to other Nextel users; however, usage will be free only when calling other Nextel users.

 

Fire Chief Robert Washam also spoke to the council. Washam told the council that due to the recent layoff of three firemen he had a concern about staffing. He asked the council to consider hiring one extra fireman. Mayor Davis said that she noticed in the fire chief's annual report that overtime was high.

At City Hall on June 11 the city will present its employees with their choices for insurance. There will also be two meetings for employees and for the city police. The city employees will have to make their choices before June 15, when Blue Cross, Blue Shield will need their forms to process prior to the new fiscal year.

The council also heard reports about progress in meetings regarding Seventh Street and the new school construction, and on the closure of streets for the sesquicentennial parade on Aug. 30 and for the rededication of the Abraham Lincoln well at Fifth Street, Madison and Monroe on Aug. 24.

The city council then went into a closed session to discuss the appointment of a public officer. The council did not make an appointment during the executive session.

[Don Todd]

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