City Of West Frankfort City Council Met July 22.
Here Are The Minutes Provided By The Council:
1. Mayor Arview Called The Meeting To Order At 6:00 P.M. Requesting A Roll Call. All Commissioners Were In Attendance Including, The City Attorney And City Clerk.
2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Agenda. The Mayor Stated No Changes That I Know Of That Need To Be Made. If There Are No Changes Or Additions Or Anything Like That, I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve The Agenda That We Have Before Us For Use For This Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
3. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The July 8, 2025 Regular City Council Meeting. The Mayor Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve Those Minutes. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
4. The Next Item Was Approval To Advertise For Bids For Demolition Of City-Owned Property Located At 302 West 6th Street. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
5. The Next Item Was Approval To Accept Bids For Demolition At 305 East St. Louis. We Have One Bid From Joplin Salvage In The Amount Of $4,000.00. It Is The Only Bid So I Recommend We Approve That Bid. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
6. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing The Execution Of Redevelopment Agreement Between The City Of West Frankfort And Hollywood Star Company Utilizing Tax Increment Financing For The Redevelopment Of Property Located At 410 East Main Street. The Mayor Stated We’ve Previously Approved Entering Into An Agreement, Now We Have The Agreement, We Just Need A Motion To Approve This Agreement. The Total Tif Eligible Costs Is $16,814.25 We Approved $8,407.00. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
7. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Sandoz Opioid Litigation Settlement Update. This Is Attorney-Client Privilege, We Aren’t Allowed To Discuss The Update Openly, But The Commissioners Have Been Updated On This From Our Attorney, We Just Need To Approve. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
8. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Lloyd Electric And Ag Supply LLC In The Amount Of $4,166.77 To Install A 400 Amp Service Disconnect For Generator For The West Frankfort Sewer Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve. Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
**The Mayor Fixed The Sound On Facebook Live**
9. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From H&R Agripower In The Amount Of $1,528.99 For A Gearbox For A Bush Hog For The Street Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
10. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Greater Egypt In The Amount Of $1,964.25 Regarding Appropriated Funds For The Commission’s July 2025 To June 2026 For The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated The Appropriation Is Based On Population, And Because Of The Latest Census, That’s What That Amount Is Based On For The 2020 Population. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
11. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Executive Outsourcing In The Amount Of $17,069.96 For The City Of West Frankfort Audit Prep From 6-30-2025 To 7-13- 2025. The Mayor Stated This Is For The Person Who’s Helping Us Get Our Books Straightened Out, And Prepared To Submit For The Audit. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
12. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Illinois Public Risk Fund In The Amount Of $16,972.00 Regarding September 2025 Workers’ Compensation. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
13. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Johnson Control Security Solutions In The Amount Of $1,843.29 For Quarterly Billing June 1, 2025 To September 30, 2025 Monitoring Service At The West Frankfort Mall. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
14. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Johnson’s Auto And Truck Repair In The Amount Of $5,006.18 For Yearly Service Of The 2013 Engine And Replacement Of Brake Components For The West Frankfort Fire Department. Commissioner Warren Stated I Have A Question, It Says Replacement Of Wrong Brake Components, So Who Put The Wrong Brakes On It? Commissioner Harkins Stated Must Have Come With It, Is All I Can Say. But They Did Get The Updated Brakes Put On Them To Where They Work Properly. Commissioner Warren Stated I Was Just Thinking It Should Have Been Right In The First Place With The Brakes, But I Was Wondering, Because It Costs So Much. The Mayor Stated I Did Actually Look That Up, And That Is A Reasonable Price For Those, Although I Feel Like That’s Expensive. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
15. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From T-Ham Sign,
Incorporated, In The Amount Of $3,289.77 For Letter And Decals On The 2013 Fire Truck For The West Frankort Fire Department. Commissioner Howard Stated This Is For The One We Just Bought Right? The Mayor Stated Yes. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
16. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From HFS, Illinois Department Of Health Care And Family Services, $73,730.56 For Gemt Payments From 7-1-24 To 3-31-25 For The West Frankfort Fire Department. The Mayor Stated To Explain The Way The Gemt Works, It’s A Reimbursement. We Reimburse Half Of What They Provide For Us. We Actually Were Provided Double That Amount. And So Then This Is That Payment That We Would, Pay Back To The Illinois Department Of Health Care. Commissioner Howard Stated We Get A Much Higher Reimbursement, But Half Of That Excess Reimbursement Goes Back To The State. The Mayor Stated But It’s Still A Greater Amount Than What We Would Have Gotten Without The Gemt. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
17. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda.
A. Approval To Pay The Bills
The Mayor Stated I Will Upload Those To The Website. I’ll Give The Commissioners A Chance To Look Through Them, And Then I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve Paying The Bills.
Commissioner Howard Stated What Is The Greater Egypt For $14,900.00 For? The City Clerk Stated I Believe That’s The One That We Paid Back Last Time. They Reimbursed Us, And We Had To Pay Them. The Mayor Stated Yes, That’s The One Grant Reimbursement. It’s Not Our Money. We’re Just Handling It, Handing It Off To Them. Stormwater Grant Using Funds Received From Delta Regional Authority. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
Building And Sign Permits ~
The Codes Officers Stated The First Permit – We Have A Solar Permit, Roof Mount Solar For Jerry Hefner At 1711 E. Charles. I’ve Got Engineering Certificates On All Of Those, Registered Contractor Freedom Forever Illinois, LLC. I Recommend We Go Ahead And Approve That Permit. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit Was – 1102 E. Elm Street. It Is A Steel Frame Garage That’s Being Built. If You Will See On Your Site Plan, Your Site Plan Actually Violates Our Setbacks. I Went To The Site And Did Some Adjustments With Them, And They’re Moving That Back To Fit Our Setbacks Correctly. That’s Noted In My Plan Review On The Second Page. Everything Fits Now, I Recommend We Go Ahead And Approve That Permit. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit – 212 W. Lindell For Thomas Dettmer. We’ve Got A Couple Portable Accessory Buildings Going In On This Lot. He Has No Accessory Structures On It, And We’re Allowed Two. He’s Got Two Small Kits That He’s Bought. He’s Going To Build Them Himself. Perfectly Acceptable. I Recommend We Go Ahead And Approve That. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit – 404 E. Clark. This Was A Lot That Was Purchased From The City Here Just A Few Meetings Ago. She’s Building A House There. It Will Be Self-Construction. I Was A Little Concerned There, But She Did Buy An Insurance Policy And Named The City As A Certificate Holder, So We’re Covered If Anything Goes Wrong. So, We’re Good To Go. Commissioner Stanley Stated Is She Building A House Or A Modular Home? Code Officer Snell Stated A House; Stick Built Home. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Permit -212 W. Oak Street And Main, The Corner There Where The Old First National Bank Building Was. This Is For The New Hardware Store Going In There. They’re Building A New Barn Behind To Store All Their Lumber In That They’re Going To Have. This Is The Permit For That. Everything Fits As It’s Supposed To. We Have Registered Contractors. They’re Insured. They’re Ready To Go. I Recommend We Go Ahead And Approve That Permit. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
18. Mayors Report~
Mayor Arview Stated Last Meeting We Did Finally Get Everything Approved For The Residential Tif. I’ve Put Together Kind Of Some Policy Guidelines And An Application Form. I’ve Given A Copy Today To Each Of The Commissioners For Their Feedback. Hopefully We’ll Have Something To Get Moving On That Pretty Soon. I Will Kind Of Let Everybody Know That The Way Tif Works, It Typically Takes Time For Money To Get Into The Tif Because As Tax Bills Are Paid, That’s When The Money Becomes Available In Tif. It Is Possible For Us Because It’s Congruent With Our Other Two Tif Districts To Be Able To Move Money Back And Forth, But We Have Some Of That Money Already Committed, So We’ll Have To See What We Can Do There. But For Preliminary Tif Applications, We Actually Can Do Reimbursements As A Percentage Of The Tax. When You Pay The Tax, You Get Reimbursed Part Of That Back. Then That Doesn’t Put The City Out Any, We’re Not In Debt Any, And We Don’t Have To Take Any Money From Other Districts. It Takes A Little Longer For You To Be Able To Get The Money Back That Way, But That Is One Way We Can Get Some Things Rolling On It Sooner Rather Than Later. I Did Want To Let Everybody Know We Are Making Progress Toward That, And Hopefully We’ll Have Applications Ready To Go Pretty Soon.
Commissioner Reports~
Commissioner Harkins Stated Police And Fire Are Doing Okay. Chief, I Guess The Boys Are Getting Close To Academy Time. Deput Chief Willis Stated I Believe We’ve Got About Two More Weeks, And Then They Will Ship Off For That.
Commissioner Howard Stated Just To Report Progress, We’re Still Working On Getting The Books Straightened Out. The Young Lady’s Here Every Day And Half The Night Sometimes. Progress Is Being Made, And We’re Getting Closer. Wish We Were Done, But We’re Not. But The Other Thing I Wanted To Say Is Totally Off The Course. You Know, Our Young People That Work Here In This Office, They Do A Fantastic Job. They Take A Lot Of Complaints And A Lot Of Abuse, Sometimes Even, From The Public, But Yet They Maintain Their Professional Demeanor. They Do A Wonderful Job. I’m Very Proud Of Them. I Think They Do Great. And I Know Sometimes People Don’t Get What They Want Because They Follow The Rules. And You Can’t Always Have What You Want. If The Ordinances, Rules And The Regulations Don’t Allow For It, They Can’t Help You Violate Those. I Just Want Them To All Know I’m Proud Of Them And Think They Do A Great Job.
Commissioner Stanley Stated These Three Departments Are Doing Okay.
Michael Was Called Out Quite A Bit Over The Weekend With The Water Backing Up. I Appreciate All Three Of You. They Are Doing Good.
Commissioner Warren Stated I Think Back In March We Had A Roof Problem With The Incubator. We’re On The Course To Get That Roof Permanently Fixed, It Won’t Be Long. We Have Some Surplus Property That’s For Sale That People Need To Know About. The Bids Are Due August 12th. It’s At 406 North Bryan. There’s Three Lots That Have To Be Bid On Three Separate Times. 301 East 4th, 303 East 4th, And 306 East 4th. And We’ve Sold About Four Hundred And Twenty Lake Permits. People Are Still Following The Rules And Getting The Permits. You Can Get Them On The Weekend From The Police Department.
19. City Attorney Report:
The City Attorney Stated For The Public’s Benefit I Did Notice Last Week That There Are More Of These National Opioid Settlements Coming Down. There Are Tentative Settlements With Eight Defendants We Should Be Seeing Those On The Agenda Over The Next Two Months. That Doesn’t Necessarily Mean More Money, It Depends On The Size Of The Defendants. I Just Want To Let Everyone Know About That. And If You Recall A Few Months Ago, We Approved A Certificate Of Zoning Compliance For A Solar Development On East 9th Street. The Attorney With The Developer Contacted Me, They Are Hoping To Start Construction Late September. At A Meeting In August, We Will Have A Annexation Agreement, If You Recall That Was Part Of The Conditions That We Would Agree To Do That If They Would Annex Into The City. That Would Generate A Significant Property Tax Income For Both The City And The School District.
20. Audience Comments:
The Mayor Stated I Would Remind The Public That We Do Have An Ordinance Regulating That. We Just Ask You To Limit Your Comments To Five Minutes And Not Do A Back And Forth. You Know, If Someone Comes Up And Comments After You Do About The Same Subject, Don’t Try To Get Into A Back And Forth With Them. And When You Do Speak, I Ask You To Come To The Podium And Give Us Your Name For The Record. And Then Make Your Comments.
My Name Is Michael Perkins. I’m Here Tonight To Address Continued Law Enforcement Misconduct, Bias Actions, And Violations Of Department Policies. These Actions Lead To Citizens’ Civil Rights Being Violated And Families Being Abused By Those That Have Been Placed In Authority To Serve And Protect Them. With This Authority Comes A Great Deal Of Responsibility. Our Officers Have To Make Non- Lawful Decisions Without Personal Emotions. That’s An Ethical Mandate That Comes To The Job, Designed To Provide Equal Justice For All, Not Only The Privileged. Yet My Family And I, As Well As Many Other Families In This Community, Have Not Been Served With That Mandated Standard. I Have Accompanied My Niece And Her Father To The West Frankfort Police Department In An Attempt To Get Charges Processed. Three Weeks In A Row, We Were Told The Charges Would Be Processed And Turned Over To The State’s Attorney. That Report Was Never Processed Through. I’ve Had My Home In Kentucky, Burglarized, Come To Find Out That It Was Done By Two Men From Here In West Frankfort, Investigated Myself, And Came To Know That My $1,100.00 Pole Saw Had Been Pawned To Shawnee Pawn Shop. I Gave That Information To The Marshall County Deputy In Charge Of My Case. He In Turn, Contacted The West Frankfort Police Department. They Seized The Property, Never Contacted The Person That Had Pawned The Item, And Told Me I Could Either Pay To Get My Stolen Property Back Or Request That They Send It To The Investigating Agency. My Property Was Never Sent To Marshall County. Instead, It Was Returned To Shawnee Pawn. I’ve Had Officers Receive A Retaliatory Report, And Without Proper Investigation Or Following Department Policies, They Show Up At My Niece’s Home, And With Their Given Authority, They Intimidated, Incorrectly Informed, And Seized My Own Personal Property. To Make Matters Worse, The Items Seized Were Turned Over As Evidence Without Proper Facts That Would Connect Them To Any Crime. Now, To Finalize My Experiences, On June 26, 2025, While I Was Outside The West Frankfort Post Office, Having A Peaceful Petition Signing Event That Is Addressing Franklin County Corruption Acted On By The System Known Locally As The Good Old Boys Network. I Was Approached By A Family Member Of Someone That I’m Involved In A Criminal Case With That Interrupted, Spoke Of Information She Should Not Know, And Videoed It. After She Left, I Contacted West Frankfort Police Department, Attempting To Prevent Any Escalation. Yet A Little Time Later, After The Family Member Allowed The Person I’m Involved In A Criminal Case With To Watch Her Video, This Person Gets Upset And Drives By My Petitioning Event At The Post Office, Pointed At Me, And Spoke Threatening Comments. I Went To The Station In Person Where I Was Denied Proper Processing Of Criminal Charges. Once Allowed To Formally File My Complaint, The Reporting Officer Used Incorrect Wording, Incorrect Timelines, All In An Attempt To Protect The Threatener, Not The One That Was Being Threatened. Turning Over A Report To The State’s Attorney That Softened The Interpretation Of This Class 3 Felony Defense. I’m Forced To Respectfully Request That The West Frankfort City Officials Review These Actions And Seek Reform From Other Abuses In The Future.
The Mayor Stated I Will State For The Record, I Did Speak To Mr. Perkins Previously, And I Am In The Process Of Looking Into This To See If There Was, You Know, Any Wrong Doing On Our Officer’s Part. But Obviously, You Know, Right Now I Can’t Really Make Any Comment One Way Or The Other Until We Figure Out.
Lucas Williams Stated I Was In A Treatment Facility From September To January Of This Year. During That Time My House Was Burglarized. I Also Tried Filing Papers With Officer Waters And Two Other Detectives. Nothing Else Was Ever Done About It. My Front Window Got Busted Out, Over $8,000.00 Worth Of Merchandise Was Stolen. They Do Abuse Their Authority In Town. After I Filed That One Piece Of Paper, I Have Never Heard Anything Else About It. I Don’t Feel Safe Talking To Many Officers On This Force, With My Association In The Past With People. I Am A Tax Paying Citizen.
Marcia Raubach Stated I Have A Message From The Old Kind Coal Committee. We Would Like To Thank The City For All Of Your Support For The Old King Coal Festival. Your Financial Contribution, Along With The Help Of City Workers Is Curtail In Helping Us Continue The Festival Each Year. I Want To Thank The Mayor And Council Members, Andrea, Alexa, Thad, Clint And The Police Department, Mike And The City Workers. Everyone Was Very Helpful. We Truly Appreciate All That You Do To Help Us Pull Off OKC Each Year. We Had A Great Year, Our Ticket Sales And Attendance Topped Last Years. Next Year We Are Looking Forward To Celebrating The 85th Anniversary Of OKC. And The 250th Anniversary Celebration Of The United States. We Are Grateful For The Moreland Bishop Organization For Allowing Us To Use Their Property For Our Stage And Entertainment. We Want People To Remember What Happened As We Celebrate Coal. There Is A Group From The Illinois University School Of Labor And Employment In Town This Week. They Are Working On The Illinois Coal Workers Communities Listening Project. The Project Is About Listening First And How Our Oral History And Community Story Telling Has And Will Affect The Future Of The Coal Industry. By Listening To Coal Workers, Their Families, And Community Members. The OKC Festival Is Helping Put On These Interviews Together At The Historical Museum. They Will Be Touring Mine Locations Around Town With One Of Our Old King Coals: Bill Levanti.
Danny Loeh Stated I Have Been Working On A Project For Veterans By Collecting Donations From The Community, Buying Socks, Underwear, And T Shirts For Veterans. We Have A Group Of Fifty-Five To Sixty-Five Veterans Coming From Up North. The Museum Is Doing Really Good. We Have Another Project Going On, The Concrete Wall Around The Monuments And The Sidewalks Trying To Get It Painted. Anything The City Can Do To Help Us Out With That Would Be Appreciated,
21. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session For Discussions Pursuant To 5 ILCS 120/2(C) (1), 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (5) (6), And 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (11). Personnel, Buying Selling Property, And Pending Litigation. At 6:41 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
22. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was
Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:28 P.M.
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