 Mayor Keith Snyder
opened the evening with comments regarding news
the Logan Correctional Center has been saved from Gov. Pat Quinn's
chopping block, at least until June. He expressed appreciation to
all the aldermen for their actions taken to show support of Logan
and the 357 employees whose jobs were at risk. D'Andrea and
Hamilton address enterprise zone issues
Will D'Andrea, Logan County zoning officer and overseer of the
enterprise zone for Lincoln and Logan County, and Andrew Hamilton of
Opportunity Alliance LLC, the firm that has continually worked with
the city and county in creating enterprise zone areas, spoke to the
council about issues regarding the enterprise zone.
In February of 2011, after taking over oversight of the
enterprise zone, D'Andrea came to the council to share results of
some reviews he had been doing. He had come across a problem with a
current ordinance that limits the types of business and industry
that may be able to benefit from the enterprise zone designation.
The original plan document for the enterprise zone, written in
1987, allowed for a wide variety of business and industry, including
retail and food establishments, to take advantage of enterprise
incentives.
However, an ordinance passed in 2004 altered eligibility by
leaving out any allowances for retail businesses and commercial
enterprises that sell beverages, food and gasoline. Even though
those businesses were no longer eligible for incentives, they
received them anyway, as the inadvertent change in the ordinance
went unnoticed.
In February, the consensus was to return the language in the
enterprise zone documents to what it was originally.
Tuesday evening D'Andrea said the language had been properly
rewritten, and he asked the city to add to their voting agenda a
motion for a new ordinance.
In another order of business, D'Andrea and Hamilton said it was
time to remove the Formosa plant in Sangamon County from the
zone. When Formosa asked to be incorporated into the local
enterprise zone, it was with the understanding they would begin
rebuilding their plant within a certain time period.
Hamilton said representatives of Formosa had been contacted and
had said the company has decided not to make any improvements to the
plant. Therefore, it is time to remove them from the zone.
Hamilton said this would free up another one-half square mile
that can in the future be reassigned to another area where new
businesses may be developed.
During discussion, Alderwoman Marty Neitzel asked if the
reclaiming of zone space included the 3-foot-wide corridor from
Lincoln to the Formosa plant. She was told it did not. According to
Hamilton, the current enterprise zone allows for a total of 15
square mile of zoned property. Currently 10 square miles is
obligated and 5 square miles is available. He said the
3-foot-corridor was insignificant.
Asked if the county was on board with the changes in language,
D'Andrea said it was, and it has been approved by the regional
planning commission as well.
Public hearing Dec. 13
Alderwoman Melody Anderson asked for a public hearing to be held
at 7 p.m. on Dec. 13 for the open discussion of an increase in the
city levy on property taxes.
The hearing is open to the public, and anyone wishing to express
an opinion regarding the levy is encouraged to attend.
The vote on the new levy amount will take place at the Dec. 19
voting session.
Employees can establish own health accounts effective Jan. 1
This year, the city established an offering of a health savings
account for city employees. With the program being new, it was set
up so that all HSA money went into individual accounts for the
employees, but in the bank the city chose.
Several employees were dissatisfied with this plan, as many said
it made accessing their account difficult and inconvenient. At the
time, employees were asked to go along with the program as it was
established, but they were told they would be allowed to make
changes at a later date.
Anderson said effective Jan. 1, employees may establish their
health savings accounts in the bank of their choosing.
Fire department asks for modification of city ordinance
Fire Chief Mark Miller said he has talked with attorney Blinn
Bates and has a draft of a new city ordinance that will amend an
existing one concerning the burning of leaves.
He said the existing ordinance calls for burning to take place on
concrete or brick on the homeowner's property. However, he said that
rarely happens. Residents are burning on their grass because they
don't have the brick or concrete.
Miller said the new ordinance would eliminate the requirement to
burn on concrete or brick. All the other rules -- pertaining to
distance from structures and having an extinguishing method, such as
a garden hose, on hand -- would remain in place.
Vote will be taken to hire Farnsworth Group for consulting on
Third Street building projects
Mayor Keith Snyder said he had an agreement ready from John
Bishop of Farnsworth Group to provide consulting services regarding
the demolition and relocation of the city street and alley
department buildings on Third Street.
Testing done by Commonwealth Edison and Nicor has found there are
soil contaminants where the city's old coal gasification plant was
once located.
The soil is going to have to be reclaimed at the expense of the
two utilities. The two companies are also going to be paying for the
city to do research on possible relocation options for the street
department.
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Farnsworth will conduct a study, searching for a possible
location for the department. They will also do cost analysis
to determine the best course of action for the city. They will
answer the questions of whether the city should temporarily relocate
and, if so, at what cost, then rebuild on Third after the
reclamation is finished.
They will also offer a comparison, looking again at costs for the
city to choose a permanent location for the street department.
Bacon and O'Donohue wrap up research on insurance plans and
providers
Alderwoman Stacy Bacon, who chairs the insurance committee for
the city, and O'Donohue, whose career experience has provided
insight into the insurance market, have been reviewing the city
policies and offered some recommendations Tuesday night. Bacon asked
O'Donohue to share their work with the council.
Some of the changes they have looked at include adding flood
insurance, which the city currently doesn't have. There is added
cost, but O'Donohue said he felt it could be a good investment,
considering some city properties are in low-lying areas.
Another recommendation was to raise deductibles on both property
coverage and vehicle coverage. He said this would save the city
several dollars.
The city also appears to have no employee practices liability and
no employee dishonesty coverage. He said he could be wrong about
this, but he hasn't been able to verify the coverage, and it is
needed.
In addition, he said he and Bacon have looked at their insurance
broker and the service received, and are not entirely happy. During
discussion, others of the council agreed their broker has not been
responsive to the city in a timely or satisfactory manner in the
past.
The city currently receives services from Callender & Co., but
the insurance committee is recommending a change to Arthur J.
Gallagher Risk Management Services.
In the matter of workers' compensation, O'Donohue said the city
is, right now at least, stuck with getting coverage through the
Illinois Public Risk Fund. He said other workers' compensation
providers have been contacted, but none are interested in taking on
the city's coverage.
Workers' comp premiums for the new year are going to increase
$14,633, bringing the total premium up from $290,435 to $305,068. He
said much of the increase is in the street department coverage, and
there will also be an increase in the clerical coverage because of
the addition of the city administrator position.
If the city goes with Gallagher and the changes suggested by
Bacon and O'Donohue, the initial savings in coverage, excluding
workers' comp, would come to about $20,000.
To make the changes at the end of this year and bring the
insurance in line so that it all renews at the same time, the city
would have to pay a cancellation fee to Callender of approximately
$4,500.
Subtracting the cancellation fee and the workers' comp rate
increase from the $20,000 saved, O'Donohue said in the end the city
would save only about $1,800 this year. However, he felt the
changes, especially in their selection of a broker, were at this
point more important than the dollars saved.
City meets new staff for waste treatment plant
Prior to the beginning of the meeting Tuesday night, Dave
Kitzmiller, district manager for American Water, went from alderman
to alderman, introducing two new staff members who will be working
at the city's waste treatment plant. The treatment plant is under
the management of American Water Co., and the two new hires will be
American employees.
Darrell Palmer will take on the position of
waste treatment manager, replacing Bob Tackett, who retired this
past summer.
Ann Kerley will fill the position of
administrative assistant, replacing the late Donna Schriber.
[By NILA SMITH]
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