 Alderwoman Joni Tibbs and Alderman David Armbrust arranged for the
meeting to be held at Friendship Manor in their Ward 3.Those
attending were treated to cookies and coffee, compliments of
Friendship Manor.
About 15 guests were present for the meeting, approximately half
of them residents of the manor and the others residents from
throughout the ward.
After calling the meeting to order Mayor Keith Snyder turned the
floor over to Tibbs for a brief commentary on her ward.
Ward 3 is unique in that it is the home of the Friendship Manor.
Tibbs noted that the manor is getting ready for its fifth year of
the Festival of Trees.
The ward is also the home of the Odd Fellows Museum. During the
existence of the Odd Fellows orphanage, the facility offered shelter
to a total of 1,670 children.
Wyatt Avenue was one of the main streets in the original layout
of the city of Lincoln in 1853.
Also included in Ward 3 is Lincoln Developmental Center.
Currently Ward 3 is home to 1,608 registered voters.
Armbrust took the microphone and related to the group his
memories of the area. He said that he grew up in the neighborhood,
moving to Clinton Street in 1946. He recalls going to school with
the Odd Fellows children and playing ball at the orphanage. He said
that playing at the orphanage was a lot of fun because they had they
biggest yard in the block.
At the end of the evening, Tibbs expressed her sincere
appreciation to Friendship Manor for opening up their facility to
the council. She said that they had everything set up for the
meeting when she arrived and that there was very little she and
Armbrust had to do to get ready for the evening.
Residents sign a petition to fix Pulaski Street
Alderman Nathan Turner said that he had received a petition from
Dianne Buss of Pulaski Street. The petition asks that Pulaski Street
from the IGA east to the four-way stop be resurfaced. Turner
reported that the petition has 74 signatures, which represents
nearly everyone who lives on that section of the street.
He said that these are brick streets, but there are sections of
concrete where an old rail track was taken out. There is also
patching along the section, and it is bumpy and rough traveling
through that area.
He asked for opinions on the petition, and Armbrust said that
section of Pulaski Street had been on the original list for this
year, but it had to be taken off due to constraints in the funding
the city received this year.
City engineer Mark Mathon confirmed that the stimulus funding
criteria did not include fixing brick streets.
He also said that he could put together a couple of scenarios for
repairing the street in the future.
Tracy Jackson, street and alley superintendent, said there is a
company that can be brought in to remove the bricks. The city can
then evaluate the concrete surface underneath and determine what
type of repairs would need to be done.
He said the warping that is taking place in that area is due to
the deterioration of the concrete. With the bricks removed, the city
could evaluate the situation and determine whether to repair the
concrete or go with an asphalt surface.
Snyder asked about putting the bricks back once the underlying
problem was repaired, and Jackson replied that it would be an
extremely expensive process to do that.
Les Plotner, city treasurer, reminded the council that there was
no money in this year's budget to do anything with that street.
Turner said that he had already advised the residents that nothing
could be done this fiscal year.
He said they understood that but had joined in the petition
because they wanted to be heard.
Turner concluded by asking the city engineer to put together some
plans and estimates that can be addressed later on when the city
discusses street repairs for the coming year.
Fire department inspected
Assistant Fire Chief Mark Miller was on hand Tuesday night to
report on an inspection that is taking place at the fire department.
Insurance Services Office Inc. is a national company that rates
fire departments throughout the United States. The inspection
process takes three days and looks at the department on the whole,
its water systems and record keeping. Results of the inspection
generally return to the fire department in about six months.
Currently the department holds a rating of 5. Miller said that
they are hoping their rating will improve to at least 4 this year.
Having a good rating for the department is helpful to area
commercial businesses in that it can lower their insurance premiums.
Fire department receives grant from Wal-Mart
The fire department has received a fire safety grant from
Wal-Mart in the amount of $1,000. The money will be used to
supplement the smoke detector program that the department offers.
The fire department is available to come out to a home and inspect
smoke detectors at the homeowner's request.
Main Street Lincoln shares plans for future events
Wanda Lee Rohlfs and Val Carder of Main Street Lincoln presented
handouts describing plans the organization is making for events in
October, November and December.
The first event is "Trick-or-Treat with the Mayor," which will
occur Oct. 31. The handout included a map of the children's walking
route and the participating businesses in the downtown area. Rohlfs
said that in the past the city police have provided an escort for
the children at the intersections.
The day will start with a photo op at Latham Park and then
traverse the route. At the end of the event there will be a drawing
for "Main Street Money," which can be used at any of the
participating stores.
On Thursday prior to Halloween, the downtown area will have their
Halloween "Moonlight Madness Sales" from 8 to 10 p.m.
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The "Holiday Open House" will be Nov. 14. Rohlfs said that this year
the window dressing theme is going to be snow globes. Main Street
will have a living snow globe, complete with Santa. She is working
to get a variety of Santas lined up, and she extended an invitation
to the mayor, city officers and aldermen to join in so that the
public can come to the window and visit with city officials.
Oct. 18 will be "Main Street Day" at Hallie's on the square.
During that day, 50 percent of the proceeds of the restaurant will
go to Main Street Lincoln for the purchase of new Christmas lighting
for the downtown area.
Rohlfs showed a picture of an old English-style lantern
decoration that the organization hopes to purchase for the city.
They will start with new lighting in the downtown area, then
hopefully in future years expand outward around the town.
Val Carder, a member of the Main Street board, is this year's
chairman of the Lincoln Christmas Parade. She announced that the
theme for this year is "A Super Heroes Christmas." Main Street has
chosen our veterans as superheroes. The parade is scheduled for Dec.
3 at 7 p.m.
Carder closed by saying that the organization appreciated the
financial support for the parade from the city, and Rohlfs stepped
in to say that the committee is anxious to know when they might
receive their money for this year. Rohlfs said that the committee
works hard to put the parade together and that it is a very
important activity in the community, but funds are needed to move
forward.
Council float for Christmas parade discussed
The visit from Main Street Lincoln representatives prompted the
mayor to bring up that Tibbs had given him a letter from the
organization inviting the city to have a float in the parade.
The mayor wondered if Tibbs would take the lead on the float
committee this year, and Tibbs said she thought that it would be
good for the newest aldermen to head up this year's committee.
In the end it was decided that Alderwoman Stacy Bacon, Aldermen
David Wilmert and Turner would head up the group with assistance
from Alderman Jeff Hoinacki.
Changes in reports to aldermen
Alderwoman Melody Anderson said that the monthly reports the
aldermen receive are going to be changing again. She and Denise
Martinek, city clerk, are working to narrow down what is given out
so that it will be mainly expense reports.
Anderson said the main reason they are doing this is to save on
paper and avoid giving the aldermen pages of documentation that they
don't use.
Turner asked if there was any way that these documents could be
e-mailed instead of printed out, and Martinek said that there may be
a way they can do that. She's looking into it.
Bar screen for Palmer lift station postponed
Alderman Buzz Busby said that because winter is coming on, the
topic of a new bar screen for the Palmer lift station will be taken
off the agenda until late December.
Waste management update
Wilmert said that the Joint Solid Waste Management Agency is
still struggling with budget issues and whether or not they are
going to restructure the recycling to include some services from
Area Disposal. He said that they have an issue with the truck that
they are using now -- that it is costing a lot of money in repairs
and maintenance.
One option that the agency is looking into is whether or not they
can obtain a used truck from the Chicago area. Wilmert added that in
that area they have older vehicles that are still in good condition,
but according to their mandates have to be taken out of service.
Security cameras may go up at recycling bins
Tibbs said that George Alarm Co. will be offering an estimate on
placing surveillance cameras at the recycling bins located on North
Kickapoo across from Latham Park.
There is a problem with trash that is not recyclable being left
at the site. The city street crews and Mitzi Rohlfs, waste agency
manager, are all having to clean up other people's messes.
This has been discussed in the past as a big problem in that the
city is spending time cleaning up around the bins, and Rohlfs is
using her own vehicles and personal time to help out.
Wilmert had said that it was not a good situation. Discussions at
that time had included imposing fines on those caught leaving trash
at the site. According to Jackson there is a city ordinance that
would allow the fines to be imposed based on placing trash on city
property or rights of way. However, to impose a fine, the violators
must be identified. Surveillance cameras would provide that
identification.
Road show continues
Snyder said that the schedule is set for taking the show on the
road for the next three committee-of-the-whole meetings, all on
Tuesdays.
On Oct. 27, Ward 5 Alderwoman Marty Neitzel and Hoinacki will
host their meeting at Adams School. The school is located at 1311
Nicholson Road on the north side of town, just off Lincoln Parkway.
On Nov. 11, Postville Courthouse on Fifth Street will be the site
of the meeting hosted by Ward 2 Alderwoman Kathy Horn and Wilmert
On Nov. 24, Anderson and Bacon will call their meeting in Ward 1
at the Lincoln Rural Fire District facility, located on North
Postville Drive.
Busby and Turner will host their meeting in Ward 4 in December.
The date and location have not yet been announced.
All city council meetings are open to the public, and residents
in the specific wards are encouraged to attend these special "road
show" meetings.
[By NILA SMITH] |
