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 Enterprise Zone
City Administrator Clay Johnson advised the council that an
ordinance pertaining to the new Logan County Enterprise Zone had
been drafted. The ordinance has been reviewed by the city attorney
along with Will D’Andrea of the county, and staff of Opportunity
Alliance, who are all working on the Enterprise Zone application to
be filed before the end of the year. Johnson said all the parties
involved had reviewed and approved the language of the ordinance. He
also explained that the ordinance is one of the requirements for the
Enterprise Zone application and that in addition to Lincoln, the
cities of Atlanta and Mount Pulaski will also be asked to pass
similar ordinances for their municipalities.
The application for the new Enterprise Zone is nearly completed and
will be submitted before the end of the year, 2015. Johnson said the
application would go to the Illinois Department of Commerce and
Economic Opportunity where it will be reviewed. The DCEO will then
contact Opportunity Alliance and D’Andrea to notify them if the
application qualifies for approval. If so, then the Logan County
application will be in competition with several others, with the
final awards coming sometime in June 2016. If the Logan County does
win an award for a new Enterprise Zone, that zone would then take
effect in January of 2017.
 Johnson noted to the council that the zone boundaries for the
application is Logan County only, with no stretches into other
counties involved.
Michelle Bauer asked about the other two towns that will need to
pass ordinances. She wanted to know if they have reviewed the actual
zone documents and are on board with the way they are written.
Johnson said both town’s councils had reviewed the application. He
said he felt the passing of the ordinance for those towns, like
Lincoln, was just a final step in getting the application filed with
the state.
Jefferson Street Bridge
City council members discussed bridge repair and improvements that
are going to be needed soon. Johnson reminded the council that the
Jefferson Street and State Street bridges had failed their last
inspection by the Illinois Department of Transportation. He said
that in failing, the bridges were not deemed unsafe, but that it was
determined the bridges did not meet IDOT standards. Because of this,
the bridges have to be updated. Johnson said currently, the
Jefferson Street bridge is the worst of the two, so he is
recommending that the city move forward by enlisting Farnsworth and
Associates to create a project design plan. Johnson said the plan
would cost approximately $58,000, with the money coming out of the
city’s capital projects fund.
Mourning asked if there was a timeline for completion of the
project. Johnson said that a timeline would be part of the work done
by Farnsworth.
Library parking lot
Johnson reviewed a bid that was received for the Pekin Street
parking lot project. Known also as the Library parking lot, the city
is working toward restructuring the parking to include the green
space located at the corner of Pekin and North Kickapoo. The design
work and bid packet had been completed, but when the city went out
for bid, only one firm responded.
 Johnson said when the bid was opened the firm had quoted the total
cost of the project at $574,000. The city had estimated the
approximate cost would be $300,000.
He said that discussions had followed with the design engineers,
Farnsworth Group, as to why the bid was so far from the expected
cost. Johnson said they had drawn a few conclusions. First, there
was no competition for the bid. The city didn’t get the interest in
the project that was needed for competitive bidding. Secondly,
Johnson said that many contractors were concerned about the amount
of sewer work that was included in the project. He said there are a
lot of unknowns when digging into a sewer and costs can add up
quickly. Finally, he said there was not accurate pricing for the
project.
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Johnson recommended that the city reject the bid, and try again. He said that
the city could make a few changes to the project and how it is presented to
contractors that could improve the chances of more bidders. His first suggestion
was that they advertise the Invitation to Bid for a longer period. He secondly
suggested that the city reach out to some of the contractors in the Springfield
area and encourage them to bid. He said that it appears that contractors in the
Springfield area don’t often bid on Lincoln projects.
His third suggestion was that the city become the general contractor for the
project and break it down into several smaller projects to be let out for bid
individually. To do this, Farnsworth would be the city representative as the
general contractor.
There were few comments regarding this recommendation. Michelle Bauer did note
that the city has hired Farnsworth to represent them as city engineers. She
noted they had the expertise and the resources to serve the city, so it made
sense that the city would let them do the job.
On the Monday night agenda, the action item will be to make a motion to reject
the one bid received.
Miles Craig to be promoted
Police Chief Paul Adams told the council that he would like to promote Corporal
Miles Craig to the rank of Sergeant. He said that the recent retirement of
former Chief Ken Greenslate, there were a few gaps created that are being
filled. Craig is at the top of the list for the promotion. In addition, Adams
said, there will be no new appointment to the Corporal position because there
have been more Corporals on staff than needed. He said by not promoting anyone
to the position, the department would be down to four Corporals, which is the
appropriate number.
Consent Agenda items
At the Monday night voting session, the following items will be voted on in the
Consent Agenda:
Approval of request from Logan County Alliance to close various city streets for
the Christmas Parade on Thursday, December 3rd beginning at 6:30 p.m., and
continuing through the conclusion of the parade.
Approval of request from Don and Janice Sielaff to close 10th Street from
Chestnut Street to Union Street on Saturday, October 31st from 4:30 pm to 8:00
pm for a block party at 145 10th Street.
Approval of petition from Pizza Hut to hold a "road block" at the intersection
of Broadway and N. McLean Streets on Wednesday, October 21st, and Wednesday,
November 4th to solicit donations for World Hunger from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Approval of "Trick or Treat" hours on Saturday, October 31st from 5 p.m. to 8
p.m.
Tuesday night Executive Session
At the end of the meeting, Neitzel asked for an Executive Session under the Open
Meetings Act Section 2(c)(3) – Appointment or Removal of Public Officers.
There is currently a vacancy on the city council for a Ward 1 alderman. Also,
Neitzel has indicated that she is looking to replace herself as Ward 4 alderman
at some point. While Executive Sessions are not discussed publicly, it is
expected that the discussion would have centered on filling these two aldermanic
seats.
If Neitzel does appoint a new Ward 4 alderman, then her position will change
from “Acting Mayor” to “Mayor”. As such, she will give up her right to vote as
an alderman, but may be called on to place the tie-breaker vote as conditions
warrant.
[Nila Smith] |
