Lincoln aldermen accept ALMH $1.3 million financing for Stahlhut Drive extension

 

[March 21, 2019] 

LINCOLN 

At the Monday evening voting session of the Lincoln City Council aldermen approved expending $1.3 million to extend Stahlhut Drive. The costs would be spread over the next eight years. Stahlhut would then loop around the hospital and connect to Woodlawn Road via Taylor Court.

The motion passed with a 5-1-1 vote. Aldermen voting in favor of the motion were Heidi Browne, Ron Fleshman, Jeff Hoinacki, Ron Keller, and Tracy Welch. Dayne Dalpoas abstained from the vote and Steve Parrott voted no. Michelle Bauer was absent for the evening.

After the meeting, Parrott spoke with LDN saying that he wanted to clarify he is very much in favor of the road, and believes it is a necessary addition to the area around the hospital. He voted no because he has budgetary concerns for the city. The eight year finance of the road would carry a figure of $151,000 per year for the city and Parrott is concerned that the city really can’t afford the expense.

The Stahlhut Drive project was presented to the city with a cap on the city’s share of the expense. Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital will pay for the initial cost of the road. They are asking the city to pay no more than $1.3 million. In addition, the hospital is offering to finance the city’s expense over the next eight years with a one-percent interest accrued.

The evening began with public participation and resident Wanda Lee Rohlfs coming forward to ask some questions about the road project. She asked first if there have been any traffic studies conducted by the Illinois Department of Transportation for the intersection of Woodlawn Road and Taylor Court. The Stahlhut extension will connect to Taylor Court at the Lincoln Chrysler Dodge Jeep dealership on Woodlawn Road.

City Street Superintendent Walt Landers said that no study was required because Taylor Court is an already existing intersection with traffic control, so from the IDOT perspective nothing is going to change.

Rohlfs went on to ask about the new YMCA, wondering if there would be an entrance into the Y from Taylor Court. Landers said that yes there would be an entrance, but again that would have no IDOT impact.

Dolan Dalpoas with the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital said that there would be a service entrance to the Y from Taylor Court, but he added that there might also be an entrance directly off of Woodlawn into the front parking lot. He qualified the statement saying the final decision had not yet been made, but he didn’t want to rule out the option. Landers said, then if that were to happen, IDOT would have to be involved because it was a direct connection to a state highway.

When the Stahlhut Drive item came up later in the meeting, the motion to approve was made by Keller and seconded by Hoinacki. With the floor opened for discussion, Parrott returned to the topic of the entrance to the YMCA. ALMH is constructing the YMCA through its mother company Memorial Health Systems. Parrot noted that there is supposed to be no cost to the city for the Y, but wondered if the cost of the entrance into the Y from Taylor Court was included in the cost of the Stahlhut Drive construction. Dalpoas said it was not, because the entrance to the Y is on Taylor Court.

Parrott asked how many members would there be participating in the Y. Dalpoas said that professional studies had been done on that issue when the design was put together. The study needed to be done to determine the right amount of space needed for the membership. He said that the “range” would be to achieve 900 members by the third year after the new Y opens.

Welch asked if the city would be “robbing funds from other projects” in order to finance Stahlhut Drive. City Treasurer Chuck Conzo said that was a difficult question to answer considering the funding would be spread out over eight years. He concluded that yes, there is a possibility that in some years, the $151,000 payment could impact other construction or road repair projects.

Welch asked what the upcoming budget would include for roads. Landers said that he had not yet nailed down a firm number but he did have some figures. He said that this coming fiscal year the city has to pay for the Jefferson Street Bridge construction project and that would cost around $550,000. He said that the city has been placing $500,000 in the budget for other road repair and resurfacing. Conzo added there was also $120,000 for sidewalk repairs proposed. City Administrator Beth Kavelman added that the city has already made a solid commitment for Jefferson Street Bridge and Hoinacki said that some of that cost is going to be expended in the current year.

Welch asked how soon the city would have to start making payments to ALMH. Conzo said the agreement was for payments to start after the completion of the project which could be 18 to 30 months. Therefore, with the upcoming budget year, it is unlikely the city will have to make a payment.

Fleshman said he was concerned that the city was paying for a project that it has had no input on. He asked if the hospital would be working with the city on the final phases of the project plan. Dalpoas said absolutely and that the hospital intended to build the road according to city standards and city code.
 

Parrott said he would be interested in knowing the breakout costs of the connection from St. Clara’s to Stahlhut Drive. He said he wasn’t opposed to the road, but he was having a little bit of “heart burn” over expending this amount of money when there are other projects that have to be completed and an underfunded pension program.

Dalpoas said that the hospital wanted to do the project right the first time and connecting to St. Clara’s was vital to public safety. He noted that the hospital also had wanted to do the connection to Short Eleventh Street on the east end, but had given that up even though they felt that also would improve public safety.

Janell Woolard and Gail McGinniss of St. Clara’s Rehab and Senior Care were in the gallery along with other St. Clara’s board members. Woolard asked to speak and was granted permission. She said that St. Clara’s was a huge supporter of this project because it has a direct impact on St. Clara’s residents as well as residents of Castle Manor. She noted the distance EMT vehicles travel now taking Malerich to Woodlawn to Lincoln Parkway and Stahlhut Drive when “the hospital is literally a stone throw away.”

Parrot said however that St. Clara’s had chosen to move from Fifth Street and had done so after the hospital was built. Woolard said that St. Clara’s had chosen to move to better serve the community with a modern and well equipped facility. She said in the old facility, St. Clara’s was unable to offer all that was needed for a top quality facility.

It was also noted that when St. Clara’s built the road to their property they extended the road to the edge of their property when they could have stopped several feet shorter if they had only gone to their drive-way. The result is that the gap between the St. Clara’s road and the hospital is probably less than 50 to 100 feet.

Parrott asked who owned the road past St. Clara’s.

Woolard said it was owned by Heritage of Care, the mother company for both St. Clara’s and Castle Manor.

Parrott then asked why St. Clara’s didn’t finish the road and connect to the hospital when the facility was built. Woolard said she couldn’t speak to that except to say it was probably an engineering decision.

Mayor Seth Goodman interjected that all should remember that the hospital has invested millions of dollars in the community with no expectation of repayment. Goodman said compared to what they have invested already, this is really a very small ask.

The last word came from Dalpoas as he said, “We are willing to fund $1.3 million up front. We’re willing to cap it so you don’t have any risk. We will be as transparent as we can. We’re willing to meet every city code that you want us to meet, and we’re willing to accept eight years of payments to get it done. I think it is so important for the city and the community to have this access. There are other things I could do with $1.3 million. This is going to take that (money) out of the hospital’s use for the time being, and I could use that (money) to improve health, buy equipment, but we’re not doing that because we think this is so important. I believe in partnerships with the city and I think this is a great partnership. I feel good about it. I felt great about the conversation we had in the administrator’s office. I think this is a great partnership to improve the community’s health.”

With the discussion period concluded, Goodman called for the vote, which passed 5-1-1.

[Nila Smith]

Past related article

ALMH requests city to extend Stahlhut Drive at $1.3 million
Offers low interest financing