 The first item up for consideration was a request from residents in
the area of Short 10th Street and North Monroe regarding signage for
their streets.
Russell addresses council
Debbie Russell, a resident in the 300 block of North Monroe, and
Kristi Awe, who resides in the 700 block of Short 10th, were at the
meeting to explain their request for some kind of signage on their
streets that would deter speeders.
Russell took the podium and explained that their neighborhood has
the Ray White City Park, a day care business, several residents with
small children and at least four children in the area who have
special needs, including two of her own and Awe's wheelchair-bound
daughter.
Russell said there are speeders who fly around their neighborhood
with no regard to the possibility of children being in harm's way.
She identified three vehicles specifically that habitually use
Monroe and Short 10th as what appears to be a place where they can
hot-rod their vehicles without consequence.
She said the police have been notified at times for one driver in
particular, whom she named for the council.
Russell presented a petition request signed by several residents
in and around the area, asking that the city place signage that
would warn drivers of children in the area. Their first goal was to
perhaps have signage that would indicate that there are handicapped
children in the area.
As discussions ensued, she asked for something that would say
"Children at play," and eventually she settled on a request for
additional stop signs in the neighborhood.
During discussion, Tracy Jackson, street and alley
superintendent, said the city had previously voted to no longer put
up signage that indicated disabled children or even children at play
because of the assumption of liability.
He said the city's decision had come on the heels of a
recommendation from the Illinois Department of Transportation.
When asked about the assumption of liability, he said that as he
understood it, if a sign were placed and a child injured afterward,
the city could be held liable as being aware of the danger and not
doing enough to protect that child.
Alderman Tom O'Donohue observed that the city could be in that
position now, as Russell had made them aware of the problem
personally.
Alderwoman Joni Tibbs also commented that there needed to be
something done right away. She said the city needed to take a strong
stand with this kind of problem, especially in neighborhoods where
there are city parks.
Police Chief Ken Greenslate commented that he personally had not
been made aware of this problem, but now that he is aware, he will
increase patrols in the area.
In the end, the only solution the city could offer Russell was
placement of additional stop signs in and around 10th and North
Monroe.
Currently there is a yield sign at that intersection, which
Alderman Buzz Busby commented on, saying that he is opposed to yield
signs in general.
"Yield does not mean stop," he explained. "When drivers pass
through a yield sign, they are not breaking any law."
Public hearing for general obligation bond
Alderwoman Melody Anderson said that she, Mayor Keith Snyder and
Busby have had one meeting with Kevin Heid of First Midstate Inc.,
the underwriter for the city's general obligation bond, and that
there will a public hearing on Nov. 1 to discuss it further.
The city has used general obligation bonds for over 25 years. The
bonds can be issued every three years and have to be repaid in
annual payments from property tax revenues. They offer immediate
cash for capital expenditures only and cannot be used to pay wages
or daily operating expenses.
When building the 2010-11 budget last March, the city relied
heavily on the fact that it would be eligible for a new bond Jan. 1,
2011, to balance their cash-strapped budget.
Motor fuel tax gets a windfall
City engineer Mark Mathon said the city will receive a bonus from
motor fuel tax revenues this year. He said the city will receive
approximately $67,000 that had not been previously anticipated.
Funds from motor fuel taxes come to the city with stipulations on
how the money can be spent. Funding will have to go to some program
or project that deals directly with city streets or sidewalks.
Snyder said he and Mathon had discussed this, and the money that
is coming in will cover only about one block of street overlay. He
wondered if the money might be better spent by addressing areas
where there are no sidewalks.
Snyder said there are places in town where there is sidewalk in
one or two blocks, then no sidewalk at all, then farther down the
street the sidewalks resume. He suggested the money could be used to
build sidewalks and create continuity where there currently is none.
He also suggested that using the money in this manner would have a
more noticeable impact.
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Another thought came from O'Donohue, who posed the scenario: If a
sewer goes down and a street has to be torn up, can the money be
used to repair the street after the sewer is repaired? The answer to
the question was yes. He then suggested that perhaps the city should
just hold on to the money for that type of emergency need.
Mathon was asked then if there was a time limit on spending the
cash, and he said that to the best of his knowledge there was not.
Anderson said she would like for the council to make a decision
on this soon. If the money is to be spent in this year, she will
need to determine whether it will require a change to the city's
appropriations ordinance.
Lease agreement at Safety Complex expires Oct. 31
The mayor said he has received a new lease agreement for the city
police space that is rented in the Logan County Safety Complex. He
said he has passed the agreement on to city attorney Bill Bates, who
has reviewed it and does have some issues with it that will have to
be worked out.
"My recommendation would be to enter into an agreement for no
more than a year. I'd like to put together a commission or a task
force to look at our needs in the city," Snyder said.
He added that he wasn't saying that the city should leave the
complex, only that the council owed it to the taxpayers to look into
this.
In the 2009 year, the city paid $28,500 in rent plus another
$6,000 in maintenance for an area that Greenslate, the police chief,
confirmed is really not large enough for the department's needs.
Police receive firearms training
Greenslate said city police officers had recently completed a
firearms training simulation offered by a new organization called We
the People Alliance out of Pawnee. The training was paid for by the
Law Enforcement Training Advisory Commission Mobile Team Unit 10.
The chief said that the training was very high-quality, high-tech
training offered by people who had several years of experience in
special weapons and tactics.
"This is the kind of training that is necessary for our officers
to help the city with its liability in use of force-type
situations," he said.
Greenslate also plans to use this firm for future training as the
cost is only $20 per half-hour, which is very reasonable compared
with others.
A committee for bike trails
A committee is being formed by the county to take a look at bike
trail possibilities in this area. Snyder said the county has asked
the city to join in and make this a collaborative effort.
Snyder asked that council members consider being a part of this
committee.
CIRCLE invites Lincoln to join their group
Snyder said he attended a summit meeting at the invitation of the
Central Illinois Regional Collaborative Effort group, known as
CIRCLE.
This group has been put together by the Bloomington-Normal
Economic Development Council as an effort to try to get all of
central Illinois to work together for economic development.
Currently the group is working to bring together the communities
of Springfield, Bloomington, Decatur, Kankakee and areas in between
as a regional economic development committee.
This is precisely the type of involvement that was recommended by
Vandewalle & Associates at their recent unveiling of the Logan
County Economic Development Master Plan.
Snyder said he would like to have volunteer members from the city
council become a part of this group.
O'Donohue announced that John Lebegue, city building and safety
officer, is currently working on the long-awaited new sign ordinance
for the city. The document is expected to be ready for review within
the next 30 days.
[By NILA SMITH]
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