City of Lincoln Council met June 18.
Here is the minutes provided by the Council:
The Regular Meeting of the City Council of Lincoln was called to order by Mayor Seth Goodman at 7 p.m.,with proper notice given. City Clerk Peggy Bateman called roll.
Present:
Alderman Steve Parrott Alderman Tracy Welch Alderman Ron Fleshman Alderwoman Michelle Bauer Alderman Ron Keller Alderwoman Heidi Browne Alderman Jeff Hoinacki Alderman Rick Hoefle
Staff Present:
Treasurer Chuck Conzo City Clerk Peggy Bateman City Attorney Blinn Bates Fire Chief Mark Miller Police Chief Paul Adams
Building and Safety Officer Wes Woodhall Streets Superintendent Walt Landers
Staff Absent:
Waste Water and Treatment Manager Tim Ferguson
Presiding:
Mayor Seth Goodman
Public Comment:
Mayor Goodman called upon citizens registered to speak, representatives from Ameren Illinois came forward to discuss the Ameren Energy Savings Program. Mrs. Andrea Evey was the sole speaker.
Mrs. Evey said Ameren customers can participate in their Energy Efficiency program which is based on income. The program entails changing out LED lightbulbs for free, providing aerators on faucets, assessing a home's heating/cooling, and insulation. They review the entire home to make the house more energy efficient-helping people save on their power bills.
Customers can call 866-838-6918 for more information. Alderman Hoefle said The Oasis Senior Center could benefit from seeing this presentation. Alderman Hoinacki asked if this was a similar program to what Ameren offered in 2012-2013. He said they insulated attics and basements-and did a lot of work for customers. She said yes and people are saving anywhere from $120-$1,000 annually on their power bills based on what Ameren is doing to help them. Ameren is also providing $100 rebates for customers who purchase and utilize smart thermostats. Customers can also get funding for LED lightbulbs. She said there are other incentives for people who are not income qualified.
Alderman Parrott said if you're not currently an Ameren customer, but switch over to Ameren, can they become qualified for this service or do they have to be a customer for a certain duration of time. She said you just have to be an Ameren customer. Alderwoman Bauer asked if there were social media links to the information.She said she could send the council links to the Facebook page. There being no further discussion, the mayor moved to the Consent Agenda.
Consent Agenda By Omnibus Vote:
A.Payment of Bills
A.Approval of minutes: June 4,2018 Regular City Council, June 12, 2018 Committee Of The Whole A motion was made by Alderwoman Bauer, seconded by Alderman Keller; to approve the item. Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Ron Fleshman, Alderwoman Michelle Bauer, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderwoman Heidi Browne, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Rick Hoefle
Nays: None
Absent: None
Ordinance And Resolution:
A.Ordinance approving the annexation of property at 1900 5th Street into the corporate city limits
A motion was made by Alderwoman Bauer, seconded by Alderwoman Browne; to approve the item. Building and Safety Officer Wes Woodhall discussed the jurisdictional lines for emergency protection and the need to clean up the lines-the property at 1900 5th Street was purchased in 2013 and needs to be annexed in. Then the property can be recorded with the clerk. Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Ron Fleshman, Alderwoman Michelle Bauer, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderwoman Heidi Browne, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki,Alderman Rick Hoefle Nays: None
Absent: None
A.Ordinance adopting Amendment #2 to the Appropriation Ordinance for F.Y. 2017-2018
A motion was made by Alderman Welch, seconded by Alderwoman Bauer; to approve the item. Treasurer Chuck Conze briefly described that this is moving things from one line to another within a given funding within an existing appropriation ordinance. He said adjustments have been made to the appropriation as needed. He also said very little pertained to salaries this year, and mentioned an error in the original appropriation in one of the lines. He called this an Alternate Revenue Bond. This is not paid with the Tax Levey, but is paid through an alternative revenue source, primarily from the General Revenue Fund, but does not include any type of Tax Levey to the property. Amendment number one was what the councilpassed to approve/finance the new
Police Station and a new lateral fire truck. The councildid not anticipate the revenue sources for that. They were not included in the original appropriation. Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Ron Fleshman, Alderwoman Michelle Bauer, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderwoman Heidi Browne, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Rick Hoefle Nays: None
Absent: None
1.Resolution authorizing the placement of equipment for a fitness court by Abraham Lincofn Healthcare Foundation on city property on 8th Street,and declaring said Property to be a City Park A motion was made by Alderwoman Bauer, seconded by Alderman Keller; to approve the item.Alderman Hoefle wanted to clarify that the fitness park will be in the northeast comer next to the parking lot that adjoins St. John United Church of Christ.. and that the park can be changed back it a developer comes along. Alderman Keller said just to tag along to that, the hospital has placed a sign stating it is the future home of the fitness court. Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Ron Fleshman, Alderwoman Michelle Bauer, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderwoman Heidi Browne, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Rick Hoefle
Nays: None
Absent: None
Bids:
None
Reports:
A. City Treasurer Report For May, 2018
Treasurer Chuck Conzo said to update the council, he wanted to start with the Motor Fuel Tax ($33,203), he said the city is a little ahead compared to where they were last year-he said gas has come down after going up, and it might go down again. He said overall, the economy is better, more people are driving, and spending money on gas in the state. He said that this was based on gasoline sales.
He then went into the Replacement Tax, he said the city has seen a dip in this, he said this is one they have been rating off and on for the last several years according to the IML. He said we've seen a decrease in that since the first distribution months of the year. He said it may or may not hold up. Alderman Hoefle said we're missing a few months. Treasurer Conze said the Replacement Tax is distributed only in certain months and then proceeded to list the months. He said we'll always be missing those other months. He said we've seen a decrease there.
The treasurer then covered the Municipal Sales Tax and State Use Tax. He said we've seen a nice increase there to in January and February, he said this is an indication of a rebounding economy. He said I hope we continue to see that. You also see this reflected in the Non-home Rule Sales Tax.
He then went into the State Income Tax, he said nationally and even statewide the state has seen a decrease in unemployment over the last year and a half and this is reflected in the State Income Tax receipt. He said this is good to see. Even though in Illinois, the state hasn't always functioned in a way that is designed to decrease unemployment. He said we'll see what happens in the months ahead...the state is going to reduce the fee they charge the city in order to distribute the Reimbursement Tax. He said a lot could be offset by whatever they do with the Replacement Tax. He said with the Municipal Sales Tax-they had been charging the city two percent that will be reduced to one percent. He said this will likely only generate a $2,000 difference.
A.City Clerks Report for May, 2018
City Clerk Peggy Bateman covered the sewer receipts from the month of May, no payments were received from either of the two prisons or Lincoln Developmental Center. She said the June billing cycle caught up everyone, putting everyone on the same cycle. Next month, sewer bills will be $24 a month, plus whatever they pay for their trash billing. Customer are continuing to switch around their accounts. Roughly 48 vacancy sheets have been filled out, since the billing went out. So homes that were vacant prior to the city doing the billing, residents were filling out these forms. She didn't know why they would wait untilthe city did their billing.
C. Annual Fire Pension Report Fy 2017-2018
Treasurer Chuck Conze said he wanted the council to go over the numbers in the pension funds. This information was made available in a packet distributed by the treasurer. He started with the Fire Pension Fund. He said mutual funds are shared on his annual report for the first time. The Fireman's Pension Board made an amendments in the pension policy to do this. They've been working with Regions Bank to change some of these over. They're reflected in the totals. This report is through the end of Aprilwhich is the end of the city's fiscal year.
He touched on the annuities death benefit. There are still 18 retirees, 7 surviving spouses, 19 active participants as of the end of the year. At this point the city is 32.38 percent funded.There is an annual transfer from the General Revenue Fund. This started when Mr. Clay Johnson worked for the city as the City
Administrator. The council approved it. It's done with the Police and Fire Pension Funds. The revenue transfer is listed on the first page. There's a similar number budgeted for this year. He said the councilwould see great improvement if they continued on this track.
D. Annual Police Pension Report FY 2017-2018
Treasurer Chuck Conzo said the Police Pension Fund is similar-same format. The amount in checking is much less because they've had some money from the death benefits, they have not had to dip into Police Pension Funds. This doesn't take into consideration transfers from the General Revenue Fund. He said one retired officer passed away, there are 21-29 surviving spouses with a total of 31 pensions, so there are 33 people are receiving payments from the pension. There are 26 active police officers covered by the pension plan. He said the difference is the annuity death benefits. He said the council has seen some improvements in the investment funds in recent months. He asked the councilto take time and review this information.
E. Department Head Reports For May, 2018
Mayor Goodman said Department Head Reports are either on file or will be very shortly. He then moved to other items on the agenda.
New Business/Communications:
A. Approval Of The Placement Of A 12"X18" Sign For The Logan County Show Bus On A Pole At The Lincoln Depot
A motion was made by Alderman Welch, seconded by Alderman Hoinacki;to approve the item. Mayor Goodman called for discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Ron Fleshman, Alderwoman Michelle Bauer, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderwoman Heidi Browne, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Rick Hoefle Nays: None
Absent: None
B. Approval Of Changing Previously Approved Salary Increase Of 2.75 Percent To Be A 3.0 Percent increase for Deputy Police Chief. Retro pay effective May 111 2018 to be difference of.25 percent from what has already been approved
Alderman Hoinacki moved to table this discussion, seconded by Alderman Hoefle. Mayor Goodman called for discussion. Alderman Hoinacki said he had a conversation with Police Chief Paul Adams earlier in the day, he wanted to discuss this under the next Committee of the Whole and it also falls under Executive Session.
Mayor Goodman called for further discussion, there being none, City Clerk Bateman called roll.
Yeas: (8) Alderman Steve Parrott, Alderman Tracy Welch, Alderman Ron Fleshman, Alderwoman Michelle Bauer, Alderman Ron Keller, Alderwoman Heidi Browne, Alderman Jeff Hoinacki, Alderman Rick Hoefle Nays: None
Absent: None
Announcements:
Mayor Goodman asked if anyone had any announcements.
•Alderman Welch said the first 3rd Fridays Downtown event went well, it was hot, but a lot of food vendors participated. The next 3rd Fridays Downtown is scheduled for July 20. The theme is Adventure Night. He thanked the volunteers, sponsors, the Police Department, and Streets and Alleys. Mayor Goodman asked about open sponsorships.Alderman Welch said it was $100 to sponsor any of the events, people can contact him or City Clerk Peggy Bateman.
•Alderman Hoefle wanted to mention that Crawford, Murphy & Tilly (CMT) has reached out on the &" Street project.They want to make a presentation on August 6. It will be a televised meeting.
oAlderman Keller mentioned Illinois American Water updates. Fire Chief Mark Miller weighed in, saying the project should be finished on Miller Street, on the backside of Tulip Street near the high school. There have been some road closures. Chief Miller said they are getting ready to do work on Limit Street. Streets Superintendent Walt Landers talked about other plans for projects on Limit and Adams
Streets, 13th Street and 151
Street replacements as well as Madison from Woodlawn Road to potentially 21st Street.
oStreets Superintendent Walt Landers also shared the signals on Woodlawn Road and Heitmann Drive have been on flash since a lightning strike last week. New equipment is needed.
oAlderwoman Bauer discussed the relighting of the Tropics sign, it will be held on Sunday, June 24. Starting at 7:15 p.m. there with be a short presentation with the light switch shift taking place at 8:15 p.m.
oMcDonald's will be honoring Route 66 with the sale of small fries and hamburgers for $1.66.
Executive Session:
None
Adjournment:
There being no further discussion to come before the City Council of Lincoln, Alderman Welch motioned to adjourn, seconded by Alderman Hoefle. Mayor Goodman adjourned the meeting at 7:38 p.m.
https://www.lincolnil.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=908:june-18-2018-regular-city-council-meeting&catid=50&Itemid=82