City of West Frankfort City Council met August 22.
Here is the minutes provided by the Council:
1.Mayor Jordan Called The Meeting To Order At 7:00 p.m. Requesting A Roll Call Commissioner Chambers Was Not In Attendance. Commissioner Simpson, Commissioner Harkins And Commissioner Blades Were In Attendance, Along With The City Attorney And City Clerk.
2.Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The August 8, 2017 Regular Council Meeting Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried.
3.Mayor Jordan Next Asked For Approval To Pay City Bills And Payroll In The Amount Of $191,170.65. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried.
4.The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Approval Of A Revolving Loan From The Community Development Assistance Program Economic Development Loan Fund. The Mayor Stated We Have A Request For A Loan From Darla Sloan. She Has An Insurance Agency And She Has Requested A Loan For $30,000.00. It Is A Seven Year 3.5% This Has Been Approved By Our Loan Committee And Would Present That To The Council For Their Approval Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried.
Darla Stated Appreciate Your Confidence In Me, Appreciate The Loan And Wont Let You Down Have Two Employees Ready To Start And That Is What It Will Be Used For To Hire More People: The Mayor Stated Thank You For Investing In West Frankfort We Are Happy To Have You. You Have Been Here A Long Time And Think This Is Great.
5. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Vacating A Certain Portion Of Alley Way Between The 100 Block Of South Van Buren Street And The 100 Block Of South Madison Street, Between Pins 12-19-411-003, 12-19-411-004and 12-19-411-007, 12-19-411-008. The Mayor Stated This Is The Alley That Runs Between Nolen Chiropractic Clinic And Bellas. This Property Has Been Purchased By Glenwood Equities And They Are Going To Be Dong Some Work There They Are Going To Demolish Both Building And Build A Dollar General They Have Asked Us To Vacate Those Alleys. This Was Prepared By Our Legal Council And Meets All Of The Qualifications. City Attorney Mike Riva Stated It Is Really Only Half Of That Alley Way It's Between Properties Purchased By Glenwood Equities Only. This Is The East End Of The Alley Where They Are Going To Construct The Building Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
6. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Setting The Rates For Water, Sewer And Sanitation (Trash Pick-Up) Service Charges. The Mayor Stated Back In May 10, 2016 We Did Take Action As A Council. We Set Forth The Rates For A Three Year Rate Raise For 2016, 2017 & 2018. This Is Putting That Into An Ordinance Form. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried.
7. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Acceptance Of A Bid From Scott Ahickam, CPA, To Perform The City Audits For The Year Ended April 30, 2017. Commissioner Simpson Stated The Mayor, Cate Dinn And Met With Scott And Found Him To Be Very Knowledgeable On What Needs To Be Done. The Bid Is Well Within The Parameters That We Expected So I Will Make A Motion To Accept This Bid. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Blades, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To
Approve Motion Carried.
8. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Proposed Changes To The City's Health Insurance. The Mayor Stated I Have Written A Letter To The Employees. We Met On May 9, 2017 With Tracy From Key Benefits And She Spoke To Us About Some Concerns That They Have And Will Let Jamie Explain It. Jame Stated We Met With Our Third Part Administrator Tracy And Some Things That She Pointed Out To Us At That Time Was That Our Employee Rate/Overall Cost Per Employee For The City Has More Than Doubled Since 2016. We Were A Little Over $10,000.00 Per Employee Last Year And We Are Currently At A Pace Of A Little Over $22,000.Ooperemployee This Year. One Of The Areas That They Pointed Out To Us Was If We Don't Do Something Different The City Is Going To Have To Make Some Changes Down The Road. One Of The Things They Pointed Out Was The Emergency Room Visits. In 2016 We Had Nine Emergency Visits And Truly Only One Of Those Was Really And Emergency. It Cost A Lot More Money To Go To The Er Verses Urgent Care. This Year As Of May 9, 2017 We Have Already Had Five Emergency Room Visits. One Of The Proposals That They Had For Us Was To Change The Er Copay From S75 A Visit To $250. I Can Tell You Most Muncipalities Ideal With Are Probably At S500 Even. We Also Discussed The Possibility Of Introducing A Teledoc Service Which Is A 24 Hour Doctor That You Can Call And Maybe This Will Help People From Going To The Er. We Have Had Three Meetings Up To This Point With The Fire Department, Police Department And Water, Sewer & Street Department, We Have Everyone's Approval Except For One Group. The Mayor Stated We Met With The Employees Of Public Works And It Went Very Well Everybody Had Valid Questions And They Were Excited About The Fact That The Teledoc Service Is Going To Be Something That They Will Be Able To Use. We Were Trying To Get Across The Fact That It Cost S4ooo.Ooor More When You Go To The Er And It Cost $90-$150 When You Go To The Doctor. We Are Self Insured; The City Pays The First S45,000.00 For Every Employee That We Insure. When We Talked To The Police Department We Met With Their Representatives And Think There Was Some Confusion Because The Information That Got Back To The Police Department Didn't Match What Was Sad. We Are Going To Talk To Them Again The Majority Of The Employees Are Very Happy And On Board With This My Recommendation Would Be To Table This And Give Us A Chance To Talk To Them. The City Is Following The Advice From Our Insurance Company To Help Us Save Money So We Can Continue To Provide This Coverage. This Matter Was Tabled.
9. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Purchase Of A Backhoe For The Water Department / Public Works. The Mayor Stated We Have Two Backhoes And When The Water Department Needs To Use The Backhoe They Have To Take It Out Of Service Or They Send An Operator To Help The Water Department. The Water Department Is Trying To Repair Water Breaks As They Can And It Hampers The Public Works Department Because We Only Have Two. We Have Four Proposals Here For The Backhoe And We Want To Have This Discussion Here. The First Question Is Do We Need To Buy An Additional Backhoe The Quotes For A New And Used 580 And A New And Used 590. Commissioner Simpson Stated How Much Use Is Being Delayed Because You Don't Have Another Backhoe, Is It Everyday? Water Superintendent Jim White Stated Not Everyday, I Would Say At Least Once A Week, It All Depends On What Type Of Repairs We Need To Do. Commissioner Simpson Stated How Old Are The Backhoes We Have2 Roger Stated One Is A 2013 And The Other One Is Older. Commissioner Simpson Stated Come Up With A Proposal For What You Need. This Matter Was Tabled.
10.The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Repair And Reseal Of City Owned Parking Lots. The Mayor Stated We Have Been Here Since 2010 And It Has Not Been Resealed And Also The Parking Lot By The Bowling Alley We Have Two Bids For The City Hall Lot For S1,200.00 From Codys Asphalt And From Larry Fowlers We Have Abd For $2,450.36. The Lot At The Bowling Alley Codys Asphalt Is $2,100.00 And Fowlers Is $2,300.68. We Have Never Used Either Company Before. Would Like To Give Fowlers A Chance On The Bowling Alley Because It's Only A Couple Hundred Dollars More And Have Cody Do The City Hall Lot. They Are Going To Clean All The Debris Off The Lot Seal It, Coat It, And Put Two Handicap Parking Commissioner Blades Stated Cody Is From West Frankfort, I Will Make A Motion To Use Him For Both Lots And Keep It Local Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried.
11. The Next Item Was Approval To Purchase Properties Located In The City Of West Frankfort Through The County's Tax Liquidation Program In The Amount Of $5,814.00. The Mayor Stated There Are Nine Properties. We Do Our Demolitions Off Of The Tax Sale Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried.
12. The Next Item Was Approval To Install Water Service At 10184 Prairie Meadows, West Frankfort, Which Is Outside The City Limits. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried.
13. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of A Contractor's Partial Pay Estimate #16 To Midwest Petroleum & Excavating Inc. In The Amount Of $337,675.90 Regarding The Sewer Treatment Plant Retrofit Project Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
14. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of A Construction Engineering Bill #16 For Brown & Roberts Inc. In The Amount Of $18,466.70 Regarding The Sewer Treatment Plant Retrofit Project. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
15. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Approval Of An Estimate In The Amount Of $2,991.85 For The Water Department. Jim White Stated This Is A Motor And A Pump For The Pump Station In The Heights Tower The City Clerk Stated The Amount Is Different Because He Got The Estimate With Installation And Freight And That Is Where The Difference Is On Friday When Was Dong The Agenda We Only Had The Estimate For The Pump. So The Amount That Needs Approvalis $5,299.88 Which Includes Shipping And Installation. Commissioner Blades Made Amotion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
16. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Approval Of Estimates To Install New Tires On The Backhoe For The Street Department. We Have An Estimate For $1,878.00 From Hammers Tires And A Bid From Benton Truck Center In Marion For $1,752.30. Commissioner Blades Stated Will Make A Motion For Hammers Tres Because They Are From West Frankfort. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
17. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of An Invoice From F.W. Electric, Inc, In The Amount Of $2,119.03 Regarding Street Lights. The Mayor Stated On June 3, 2017 They Repaired The Street Light At 37 & St.Louis In July They Had To Make Another Repair Using The Bucket. Truck. They Are Also Trouble Shooting Some Lights On 149 & Ken Gray Blvd And They Worked On A Decorative Street Light. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Blades. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
18.The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of An Invoice From Brenntag In The Amount Of $1,596.50 Regarding Chlorine For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
19. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of An Invoice From Fowler Heating & Cooling Inc. In The Amount Of $1,518.01 Regarding Suite #7 At The Wfbi. The Mayor Stated We Have Had Some Repairs Out There This Is To Repair And Replace A Burned Out Bower Motor On The Roof Unit. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
2o.The Next Item Was Approval For The Elks To Hold Their Annual Children's Care Corporation Fundraiser Roadblock On Saturday September 2, 2017 From 8:00am. To 2:00 p.m. At The Intersection Of Route 149 And Highway 37. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Blades, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
21. Building And Sign Permits:
I Have One Building Permit For Discussion From Glenwood Equities They Are Requesting A Building Permit To Put Up An 8,724 Sqft Buildng At 1008 E. Mainstreet. They Are Investing Approximately $875,000.00 To Put Up The Building. T Commissioner Harkins Made Amotion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve Motion Carried
22. Mayors Comments:
Glenwood Equities Is Coming In And They Are Going To Tear Down Alan Nolens Chropractor Center And Build A Dollar General We Have Been Working With Alan To Secure Him A Place In The Mall We Are Going To Put Him In A Front Suite At The Mall Where Matrac On Used To Be Didn't Have A Chance To Get It On The Agenda, But We Are Going To Work On A Lease Agreement With Him We Have Already Come To An Agreement On The Cost. We Have Some Construction To Do So We Will Put This On The Next Agenda And Make The Lease Agreement With Him, As A City One Of The Things Feel Is A Positive Thing That We Have The Control Of That Mall. He Has Been In Our Community For As Long As I Can Remember
And He Still Wants To Do Work Here He Will Pay Rent At The Mall And Fill One Of Our Spaces. If We Need To Get This Done Before Next Council Meeting Will Call A Special Meeting.
23. Commissioner Comments:
Commissioner Harkins Stated The Eclipse Was Pretty Cool To See.
Commissioner Simpson Stated I Am Glad To See All The Departments Working Well Together To Get Stuff Done.
Commissioner Blades Stated Will Talk To The Guys About The Backhoe And See What Would Be The Most Beneficial
24. Audience Questions Or Comments:
Do You Have Any Schedule For When Demolition Starts On The Bellas Building? The Mayor Stated They Told Bell As That They Had To Be Out By September 1, 2017 Or They Would Have To Pay A Fine Would Look For Something To Happen Up There Around September 1.
Sharon Osig Stated The Coal Miners Memorial Park Committee Would Like To Request To Be Able To Block Off Short Street Between Oak And Main Street On September 22, 2017 For A Music Event At The Park. The Mayor Stated That Would Be Okay And If We Need To We Will Put It On The Next Agenda.
The Alley One. Charles Street, The Owner Has A Lot Of Problems With Understanding Anything. He Thinks He Owns The Alley And You Need To Have Someone Go Explain To Him What He Owns And What He Doesn't Own. He Has Put Chains Up Blocking The Alley. The Mayor Stated This Is A Pending Litigation, The Papers Have Been Filed.
25. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:53 p.m.
http://www.westfrankfort-il.com/web_files/forms/August%2022,%202017.pdf
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