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Eight aldermen were present for the meeting with Stacy Bacon and
Buzz Busby being absent for the evening. Over the last few weeks,
these two alderman have been notably absent from city proceedings
due to health issues they are experiencing with themselves or their
family.
Bacon and her husband, Rick, are devoting much time right now to
the care of Rick's mother, Joann Bacon, who has been hospitalized
for several weeks with serious health concerns.
Three weeks ago Busby underwent heart bypass surgery. He spent a
good deal of time in a hospital in Springfield, but according to
reports Tuesday night, he is now at home recuperating and looking
forward to returning soon to his duties on the council.
Each week in their absence, Mayor Keith Snyder has asked the
council to keep these two aldermen and their families in their
thoughts as the families go through these trying times.
Policy change to affect accrued overtime
As it stands now, city workers have the privilege of accruing
their overtime and collecting the payment for it at their
discretion.
What this means for the city is that there is a huge liability on
the books that is adjusted based on current pay rates of the
employees.
In other words, time accumulated two years ago can be paid out
today at the employee's current rate of pay, regardless of what the
hourly rate was when the overtime actually occurred.
The city will be implementing a change that requires overtime to
be paid out in the year it is earned.
Alderwoman Melody Anderson said that considering the dollars that
might be involved for the employees and the consequences it could
have on their annual tax returns, the city will establish a rule
that all current accrued time must be collected by April of 2013.
This will allow employees to spread out the pay and reduce the
impact it will have on their tax returns.
In addition, the policy change, which is set to be approved at
Monday night's meeting, will attach a stationary dollar value to the
overtime that is currently on the books, effective the date of the
change.
Therefore, even if wages for an employee increase twice between
now and 2013, the pay for the overtime will be based on the wage
they were earning on March 7, 2011.
City sirens check out OK
On the first Tuesday of each month, municipalities throughout the
state check their emergency alert system by setting off their storm
sirens and making sure that each one is working correctly.
In order to raise awareness of the upcoming severe weather
season, there was a statewide publicity campaign urging community
residents to listen for their sirens at the test earlier this week.
Tuesday evening Lincoln Fire Department Chief Mark Miller said
the sirens had sounded off at 10 a.m. and each one had performed as
expected.
However, he also noted that there had been residents who called
in from the northern part of town, noting that two sirens in that
area had failed to sound off.
Miller said both of these sirens were located on North Kickapoo
and didn't sound off because they are no longer a part of the
emergency warning system. Both sirens were decommissioned when a
larger one was installed in the Ophir Avenue area.
Miller said the sirens in the city are all relatively new, with
the oldest one dated back to 1970 and located on North Postville
Drive.
Alderman Jeff Hoinacki asked if arrangements could be made to
remove the inactive sirens, and Miller said that he would be working
on that.
Old Glory will fly no more
Miller also said that the flagpole on top of City Hall has broken
and the fire department is no longer able to fly a flag there. He
said that in the future a decision will have to be made to replace
the pole or place a ground pole near City Hall.
Alderwoman Joni Tibbs commented that she felt like having the
pole on the roof was taxing to the roof, and perhaps they will look
into another alternative.
City farm lease up for renewal
Tibbs said that it was time to renew the farm lease for the
city's 40 acres south of town. The property is currently being
leased to Kent Cross and will continue that way for the coming year.
City attorney Bill Bates explained the variable cash rent
agreement that the city has with Cross. Bates said the program was
new last year, and it had yielded the city revenues in the amount of
$183 per acre.
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Simply put, the rent comes with a base of $150 per acre and a
share of the harvest. When this new type of lease was approved in
2010, Bates explained it as follows:
The city will
always receive the base $150 per acre. But in years when yields are
high, the city may receive an additional share of the income from
the farm.
Bates said that
using grain price averages over a 10-month period and average
yields, he and Cross have agreed that the base gross income from the
ground should be $600 per acre. Each year after harvest, the true
gross revenue will be calculated, and anything in excess of the $600
per acre will be divided equally between the city and Cross.
As an example,
Bates said that using current figures, if this year's corn crop came
in at 180 bushels per acre, the gross revenue would be $720 per
acre. The $120 over the set $600 would be divided equally between
the two parties, giving the city an additional $2,400 of income from
the farm.
--taken from City
Briefs posted March 16, 2010
Bates reminded the council that this particular piece of property
is in a flood plain and that yields are typically not high. He said
the city had earned more from the ground with this agreement than
they would have with cash rent, and he suggested that they continue
with the variable agreement for one more year and see how it goes.
Looking to next year's budget-building process
The council will have the first budget-building workshop for the
upcoming fiscal year on March 12 from 8 a.m. to noon.
Anderson said that council members have already been provided
copies of last year's budget and should have those with them when
they attend the first meeting.
She noted one concern regarding the lease for the city police
space in the Logan County Safety Complex.
The city is currently renting that space on a month-to-month
basis. This came about when a concern was issued regarding the cost
of space and Snyder asked if the city should investigate other
options.
Anderson said she would like to know by the time of the first
workshop if the city has other options or will continue at the
complex.
On a positive note, Alderman David Wilmert said he does not
expect any increases in the city agreement with the Joint Solid
Waste Agency. He noted that the rates paid to the agency are
determined on a per capita basis, and with the 2010 census showing a
decline in local population, the rate will not be going up and
perhaps could drop just a bit.
Snyder comments on upcoming activities
Snyder said that next week the council will be visited by Libbie
Stehn of Comcast. He shared a letter he had written to Stehn and
said she should be prepared to discuss the issues when she arrives.
(See link below.)
Joel Smiley of the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership
will also speak at next week's meeting, delivering an update on
partnership activities.
There will be a high-speed rail meeting Friday from 9 to 11 a.m.
at the Lincoln Park District facility on Primm Road. Discussion is
expected to center around crossing closures.
The Lincoln/Logan County Chamber of Commerce is hosting an open
forum meeting on Thursday evening at Washington-Monroe School
regarding a 1 percent sales tax referendum.
And everyone was reminded that the open house for the new Abraham
Lincoln Memorial Hospital will be on March 12 from noon to 4 p.m.
John Lebegue, city building and safety officer, said he has
already had a tour of the building and that it is very well built
and truly a remarkable facility for the city of Lincoln and Logan
County residents.
[By NILA SMITH]
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