 Vic Martinek was in the gallery for the evening. He told LDN he was
appointed to the Lincoln & Logan County Development Partnership
board on Monday night and has been asked by the board president,
Mark Hughes, to attend city council meetings as an observer.
MidAmerican will remain city's electric provider
In 2009 the city entered into a contract with MidAmerican Energy
for the purchase of electricity for the waste treatment plant and
other city-owned properties.
Waste treatment manager Bob Tackett said the contract is set to
expire, and he has been researching other providers. The two that
were closest in price are Ameren and MidAmerican, with Ameren being
$0.054535 per kilowatt-hour, and MidAmerican came in at $0.04488 kwh.
Tackett said the figures quoted on Tuesday reflected a 23 percent
drop over the original contract.
He has decided to keep the city contract with MidAmerican. When
the city went with MidAmerican two years ago, the switch from Ameren
was a little confusing for everyone. Tackett said MidAmerican worked
to get all the problems solved, and their customer service is
excellent.
Purchasing electricity in this manner, the price is set according
to the markets. Tackett said next Monday he will receive a quote
that will be good until 5 p.m. Tuesday. He added there is a
possibility that the price will drop even further between now and
then.
For the waste treatment plant, this change in price means the
budget expense figure for power will drop from $325,000 to $305,000,
a savings of $20,000.
Bates to have conversation with Manny Gaston
Recently it was confirmed that the city owns a small plot of land
on South Kickapoo, near the viaduct and across the road from the
waste treatment plant.
The city has been approached by Manny Gaston, asking if they
would be willing to sell him the property.
Talking about the property Tuesday night were Tracy Jackson,
street and alley superintendent; Mark Mathon, city engineer; and Bob
Tackett, waste treatment manager.
The odd-shaped piece of land measures approximately 1.3 acres. In
one corner there is a city Rubicon.
If the property sells, the city will retain ownership of the
Rubicon area. Tackett said the city should retain not only that
property but a strip approximately 15 to 20 feet out from the fence
that surrounds it. This would drop the total acreage that could be
sold down to about 1 acre.
Jackson said the property is very odd-shaped, and unless the city
wanted to build a storage facility on it, he can find no purpose it
would serve.
If the city is to sell it directly to Gaston, the property will
have to be surveyed and appraised. Gaston would then have to agree
to pay no less than 80 percent of the appraised value.
Mathon said he's talked to one surveyor, getting a price quote,
but is hoping to hear from one more soon, so he'll have options for
the council if they want to have this work done.
City attorney Bill Bates said, looking at the cost of the survey
and the appraisal, the city could easily spend $3,000 or more, with
no guarantee Gaston will then buy the land.
It was decided that Bates will contact Gaston and explain the
entire process the city will have to go through, the cost involved
and the 80 percent requirement. If Gaston is still interested, the
council will discuss it further in the future.
Discussions continue on downtown parking limits
The city is still mulling over the two-hour parking situation in
the downtown area. Mathon offered copies of a city map showing two
options that have been suggested.
The council reviewed the maps and found a few issues they wanted
to address. There are streets where two-hour parking has been
eliminated and they aren't sure it should have been, and streets
where it has been added and they are not sure they should have.
The council offered some suggested changes and asked Mathon to
redo the map and present it again at the next workshop.
There was also discussion about changing the time limits in
certain areas and offering validation of parking in certain areas.
However, it was voiced by several that offering special exemptions
for one business will lead to a volume of requests from others.
Snyder suggested the discussion be put on hold for the time
being.
For now, the council wants to concentrate on establishing the
limited parking area and will visit other issues regarding this at a
later date.
Bates also reminded everyone that the changes they are doing will
have to be accomplished by city ordinance. He said that after all
the decisions are made, it will take Mathon and him a while to
outline it all in writing.
[to top of second column] |
 City may offer early retirement to police and fire
Police Chief Ken Greenslate has a few officers who now qualify
for early retirement, and one has expressed an interest in doing so.
To qualify, an officer must be at least 50 and have been on the
force 20 or more years.
In order for the officer to take early retirement, the city will
need to offer it in writing. Greenslate said the last time this had
been done, Bates and the chief worked together to build the proper
document.
Anderson said that in making an offer for early retirement, this
could only apply to police and fire. All other departments are in
the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and the city is still paying
off on the last offering, so they cannot enter a new one.
Greenslate said in hiring at entry level, the savings to the city
in wages between a new officer and a veteran officer would come to
approximately $9,000 for the first year.
With early retirements, the city has in the past offered to pay
half of the health insurance costs for the retiree until a certain age.
Bates said if the city decides to do this, they need to make sure
the agreement stipulates that when the retiree becomes eligible for
Medicare, they must take it.
Anderson said that before they make any decisions, she would like
to know how many within the police and fire departments are eligible
and interested in retirement.
Greenslate said fire Chief Mark Miller has said his department
has one who is eligible. Greenslate and Miller will get answers to
Anderson's question and report back.
Anderson moving along on "fine-tuning" budget
Alderwoman Melody Anderson said she was working on fine-tuning
the figures for the new fiscal year budget, and she would have
something ready for the council on April 12. She asked for a 6 p.m.
committee meeting that day, with hopes of putting the budget
document on the voting agenda for the next week.
City drop boxes need replacing
On North Kickapoo across from Latham Park, there is a bank of
drop boxes owned by the city of Lincoln. They are used by a variety
of local businesses as a means for clients to make payments for
sewer, trash, water, cable and Internet. In addition, there are drop
locations for Ameren, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital and the
county. These city-owned boxes have fallen into poor condition.
Snyder said he has researched the cost of replacing them and it
will run $339 per box, which is actually cheaper than when they were
first installed.
He suggested he and Alderwoman Joni Tibbs, the building and
grounds committee chair, could write letters to the businesses that
use the boxes and ask if they would share in the cost of replacing
them.
It was agreed they should do so and report back on the feedback
they receive from those businesses.
Police department on Facebook
Greenslate told the council the city police department is now on
Facebook, thanks to the efforts of Detective-Sgt. Paul Adams.
In recent days Facebook has been a topic on the minds of several
who attended a workshop put on by Frontier Communications regarding
social networking and using it as a free media source.
Current postings on the police department's Facebook "wall"
include details about a series of gas thefts involving holes drilled
in the bottoms of gas tanks and vandalism done to The Mill on Route
66.
[By NILA SMITH]
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