North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met July 10.

Here is the minutes provided by the Council:

West Frankfort Regular Council Meeting

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

1. Mayor Jordan Called The Meeting To Order At 6:00 P.M.

Requesting A Roll Call. All Commissioners Were In Attendance, Along With The City Attorney And City Clerk.

2. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The June 26, 2018 Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

3. Mayor Jordan Next Asked For Approval To Pay City Bills And Payroll In The Amount Of $235,924.59. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

4. The Next Item Was Approval To Accept A Bid For Surplus Property. The Mayor Stated This Is A Bid From Elmo Kelley Sr. This Is For The Property At 507 N. Vanburen Street. This Property Has Been Out For Bid Several Times And We Have Not Received Any Offers. We Have A Bid Of $500.00 And Mr. Kelley Lives At The Property Across The Street. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Authorizing The Leasing Of The Recently Purchased Buildings On Main Street Or The Downtown Business Incubator. The Mayor Stated This Is On The Agenda Because I Would Like To Have Some Discussion And Give The Council An Opportunity To Weigh In On The Properties That We Purchased. Through Bankruptcy There Were Three Properties That We Purchased. 200 E. Main, 204 E. Main And 206 E. Main That Is One Parcel. Then We Have 222 E. Main That Is The Building That Has A Blue Front On It. The Last Building On The Block Is 228 E. Main Street. We Have Had Some Interest In Them And People Talking About Purchasing Them And Renting Them. They Are In Need Of Repair Some Of Them A Little More Than Others. I Just Want To Get An Idea Of How We Want To Go About This. If Someone Rents The Property Are They Going To Do The Work And Repair The Building? What Are We Going To Do If Somebody Wants To Buy It? The Electricity And How We Are Going To Handle These Things. I Would Like To Have The Council Weigh In On This. Commissioner Simpson Stated My Opinion Is I Don't Believe The City Is In The Business Of Buying The Property In Town And Buying Up Main Street, Years Ago When We Had A Main Street Meeting With The Merchants In Town We Discussed The City Having Certain Pieces Of Property That We Would Work With Somebody To Go In There Fix It Up And They Would Eventually Own It. A Plan Like That Would Not Only Put It Back On The Tax Rolls, But It Would Also Improve Main Street And Have People With Work Equity In It So That They Would Have Ownership Of The Property And The City Would Benefit From That. The Mayor Stated I Can't Disagree. Commissioner Harkins Stated I Go Along With Mike And Would Definitely Move Forward To Get Somebody To Take The Buildings Over And Start Doing Something To Them. Commissioner Chambers Stated I Think Somebody Owning Them Is Ideal Other Than Us, But It Is More Difficult For Start Up Businesses To Purchase Property Than To Lease Them At The Beginning. I Don't Know What The Options Are To Help Them Get Started With The Option To Purchase After A Year. Commissioner Simpson Stated We Discussed Before The Option Of A One Or Two Year Lease Where During That Period They Would Upgrade The Property And Do The Renovations And At The End Of That Period If They Wanted To Buy The Property Then We Can Apply Part Of The Rent To The Ownership And Get Them To Own The Property. Commissioner Blades Stated Basically What You Are Saying Is Contract For Deed. Commissioner Simpson Stated Lease To Own. The Mayor Stated What Kind Of Amount Are We Talking About For A Lease? Commissioner Simpson Stated Well We Will Have To Look At The Properties And See What They Could Afford, Knowing That We Also Expect Them To Do Significant Upgrades While They Are In There So That The Lease Would Not Be Restrictive Upon Them Doing That. What We Have Got In The Property If We Are Able To Get Those Upgraded And Back On The Tax Rolls We Would Definitely Benefit From That. Commissioner Chambers Stated How Do You See That Working They Do All Of The Work And Then We Say It Is Good Enough Or Not Or Do We Give Them The Supplies And They Do The Work Or Do They Bring Us Receipts For What They Purchased? Commissioner Simpson Stated I Would Rather The City Invest No More Money In The Buildings. Commissioner Chambers Stated So You Would Get A Really Low Lease Cost For This Time And You Do The Work That Brings It Up To Code And Then After A Certain Amount Of Time You Have The Option To Buy It. Commissioner Simpson Stated Yes And The Codes Officer Would Keep In Touch With Them To Make Sure They Are Doing The Upgrades That Are Necessary And Have A Low Rent So They Will Feel Like They Are In On It. Commissioner Chambers Stated Are These Buildings Going To Be Exempt From The Façade Improvement Grants? The Mayor Stated I Think If We Fix The Front Of Them We Will Have To Pay For It Because They Are Our Buildings And I Don't Think We Can Use The Façade Improvement Grant For Our Own Structures, But We Can Spend Money To Fix Up The Front Of It. Mike Made A Comment In Discussion Recently That Maybe We Know What We Paid Form Them And Whatever We Put Into Them We Just Want To Try And Break Even On The Back End. If We Do Put Ioney Into The Front To Make The Store Front Look Good Then We Add That Onto The Cost Of The Building For The Sale And To Try And Get Out From Under It With An Equal Amount Of Money. It Is A Benefit For The City Because We Have People That Want To Be There We Want Them To Invest In It And Take An Active Role In The Remodeling And Whatever They Want It To Be And Make It To What It Is. I Do Think We Have Another Obstacle With The Electricity. I Think They Should Get It On In Their Name, But I Think Before We Turn It On I Would Like Roger And Jody To Go Down And Look What Is There. We Already Have The Buildings Insured Under The City's Insurance Policy. The City Would Like To Lease These Buildings Or Sell Them If You Have A Lease It Would Be A Lease To Own And The Renter Would Do The Remodeling And Renovations In Lieu Of A Low Lease Payment And At The End Of A Period Of Either One Or Two Years They Could Buy The Property And The Purchase Price Would Be What We Got In It. Commissioner Simpson Stated And We Can Determine If We Want To Apply Part Or All Of The Lease Payment Towards The Purchase. We Don't Want To Do A Contract For Deed Because If They Get In There And Aren't Doing What They Say They Are Going To Do We Don't Want To Be Tied Up To A Purchase Agreement We May Not Want To Complete. City Attorney Mike Riva Stated Then You Have The Problem Of Getting Them Out Of The Place If That Happens. The Mayor Stated So The Application For These Types Of Leases Should Be Done Through The Clerk. Mike Riva Stated Why Don't We Get A Basic Agreement Drafted And Then You Can Tweak It And Go From That. Commissioner Harkins Stated What About The Materials They Purchase To Remodel It With Do They Get Some Kind Of A Tax Break On That? The City Clerk Stated That Is Through The Stated They Would Fill Out An Application And Within A Week To Ten Days You Will Get A Number Back To Purchase Materials Tax Free. Commissioner Chambers Stated They Won't Be Tif Applicable Because We Own Them So They Won't Be Able To Apply For The Other Things Until They Owned It. Commissioner Simpson Stated We Aren't Going To Inflate The Price For Improvements That Are Made. The Mayor Asked Chris Who Is Interested In A Building What Would Be Some Concerns That Would Come Up As Far As Leasing To Own After A Couple Years? Chris Stated I Don't Think There Are Very Many Concerns I Think It Sounds Pretty Straight Forward. I Would Love To Have Whatever Sweat Equity I Put Into It Accredited And The Materials That I Bought And Put Into It And I Don't Want To Be In A Situation As A Renter With A Contract Where I Put A Bunch Of Money Into It And The City Was Able To Pull Out And I Am At A Loss. There Would Have To Be Something In Writing And I Think We Are At A Good Verbal Communication At This Point. I Would Like To Have A List Of What You Guys Expect And This Is What We Want To Achieve So The Possibilities Aren't Going In Two Different Directions Me And The Clerk Have Already Established Our Visions Of What We Would Like To See. I Think Everybody Wants To See Main Street Have More Foot Traffic And More Reason To Stop And Look Inside The Windows. I Think As Soon As We Get One Person Doing That Down Here On This End Of Town We Will Have Many More. If We Can Get On Some Communication Level Of What We Want First We Can Continue Forward. Commissioner Simpso Stated I Think We Can Work That Out In The Agreement That We Can Not Only Protect Our Interest But Yours Also. Commissioner Simpson Stated I Don't Want To Go Much More Than 1-2 Years On An Agreement For Purchase. Commissioner Chambers Stated Some Of These Buildings Will Take More Work Than Others So The Time Frame May Take Longer. Commissioner Simpson Stated Some Of These Buildings Might Not Be Sellable. Commissioner Chambers Stated We Do Need More Parking. Commissioner Simpson Stated We Might Need A Park But Not More Parking. Commissioner Chambers Stated Anybody That Puts A Business Downtown Will Eventually Realize That There Is No Where To Park. The Mayor Stated This Is A New Step For Us And We Would Like To Make This Something Positive And Out Of Necessity We Took Ownership Of These Buildings And We Just Want To Try And Recover Our Investment. We Will Hopefully Be Able To Move Forward With This Next Meeting. No Action Was Taken.

6. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of Invoices From Bulldog Systems And Stotlar-Herrin Lumbar Co. In The Amount Of $15,522.97 Regarding Residential Rehabilitations By Mission Serve. The Mayor Stated Mission Serve Came To West Frankfort And Worked On Eight Houses. They Worked On 211 W. 6th, 405 N. Gardner, 801 N. Cochran, 1405 E. Poplar, 709 E. Lindell, 1415 E. Elm, 1304 E. St. Louis And 907 N. Cochran. They Replaced Roof's With Free Labor And We Supplied The Material. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

7. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of An Invoice From Illinois Environmental Protection Agency In The Amount Of $17,500.00 Regarding Sludge Generator For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Blades Stated This Is All Epa Mandated. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of An Invoice From Brown & Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $6,703.91 Regarding Engineering Services For The Stp Infrastructure Retrofit Project. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of An Invoice From Southern Illinois Drug Task Force In The Amount Of $8,000.00 Regarding Annual Membership And Inspector Contribution For The Police Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. Officer Reports:

Chief Allen Read The Fire Department's Report.

Chief Irwin Read The Police Department's Report.

Ed Hammonds Read The Code Department's Report.

11.Building And Sign Permits:

The First Request Was For A Sign Permit For Abigail Dinn At 1107 E. Main Street. Commissioner Blades Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Request Was For A Building Permit For Jim Moreland At 209 E. Clark Street. He Is Requesting A Building Permit To Put Up A Garage Which Will Be Attached To The Side Of His House. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Request Was For A Building Permit That Was Tabled At The Last Meeting. I Have Some Additional Information On The Tiny House And I Think They Are Here If You Have Any Questions For Them. The Mayor Stated Have You Discussed The Required Square Feet That Is In Our Ordinance? Ed Hammonds Stated I Did Not Discuss That With. The Mayor Stated Is It Going To Meet That Square Footage? Ed Hammonds Stated No Sir. The Owner Of This Stated We Would Like To Puta Structure On Our Property So We Can Bring My Father In Law Close To Home. We Live In A Modular Right Now And It Is Difficult To Create An Additional Room Because It Is More Expensive And Is Hard To The House. What We Want To Do Is Give Him His Own Privacy, But Yet Still Have Him There Close By. We Are Trying To Meet Some Common Ground And We Want To Be Within The Code And Meet All Regulations On This. We Would Like To Have That Tiny Structure On Our Property. I Would Like To Go About This The Right Way And If We Have To Make Adjustments With The Structure We Are Willing To Do That. These Are Amish Built Structures So We Are Trying To Get Them To Comply With The Mayors Requests And The City Code. If There Are Any Other Issues I Will Be Happy To Find What Is Needed And Get Within Compliance. This Will Be On A Foundation Structure With City Water And Sewer. The Mayor Stated What Is The Cost Of This Going To Be? The Owner Stated Around $10,000.00 Or So. The Mayor Stated What We Discussed Was First Of All There Are None Of These In Our City Limits And Once We Open The Door Then We Are Approving This. Let Me Give You An Idea Of What Size This Is About The Size Of A One Car Garage And It Will Have A Living Room, Bedroom, Bathroom And Kitchen. I Think If It Was A Cabin On A Lake Or Sitting On A Lot In The County T Could Probably Adapt And Say That May Be All That You. If You Put This House In Next Door To My House Is It Going To Increase The Value Of My Property? A $10,000.00 House That Is Going To Be A One Room Structure In The Community Of West Frankfort Is This What We Want To Say That We Are Willing To Accept For The Future? I Am Not Saying No Tam Just Saying I Don't Know Right Now If It Is Something That We Can Approve. That Is Why I Requested What It Is Made Out Of And How It Is Designed And How It Is Going To Be Laid Out. We Are Talking About Zoning And The Requirements For The Community. Commissioner Chambers Stated Does This Structure Meet The Codes For The Offsets And The Roof And How Far The Centers Have To Be Apart? Ed Hammonds Stated Originally It Did Not They Went Back To The Contractor And The Contractor Has Agreed To Set The Studs At What We Require. Commissioner Chambers Stated So Are We Good Except For The Size? Ed Hammonds Stated What We Have In Our Ordinance For The Minimum Size For Dwelling Units Minimum Habitable Room Is 150 Square Feet, So If You Have A Living Room, Bedroom, Kitchen And Bathroom This Falls Well Short Their Building Is 312 Square Feet. Commissioner Chambers Stated So For Each Room The Minimum Is 150 Square Feet. The Mayor Stated I Remember From Our Rental Property Code That You Are Required To Have A Kitchen And It Is Required To Have A Countertop And Refrigerator And Stove And Sink. To Have All Those Things It Is Going To Take Up Quite A Bit Of Space. And The Bathroom Has To Have A Tub And Shower And Sleeping Corridors. I Would Like To Table This And Get A Chance To Talk To You And Ed And I Am Willing To Bring This To A Vote To Accept Or Decline It I Just Have To Know The Requirements Will Be Met. I Need To Look Into This A Little More. We Will Table This And Research Our Code And I Would Like Our Fire Chief To Look At It Because Again This Is Some Place That People Are Going To Live And If It Catches On Fire How Fast Is It Going To Burn? Commissioner Blades Stated You Need To Take Into Consideration Some People Can't Afford A Whole Lot More Than That. The Owner Of The Place Stated My Dad Is A Truck Driver So He Is Off All Winter On Unemployment So It Is Kind Of Hard For Him To Afford A Steady Rent All The Time And That Is Why We Are Trying To Accommodate For Him.

12. Mayors Report:

Nifty Swifty Has Torn Down Their Building Today For A Remodel On Their Convenience Store. We Gave Thema Liquor License Months Ago And I Have Been Keeping Track Since They Are In My Neighborhood. I Would Also Like To Report That Mr. Roberts, Myself And The Department Of Transportation Met On The Project That We Received A 1.5 Million Grant To Improve The Interstate Change At West Frankfort. It Will Also Help With Truck Traffic And It Will Fund Phase One Of This Project. We Are Going To Make Som Displays And Have Them Set Up In City Hall Where You Can Look At That. It Was A Very Productive Meeting And Is The Beginning Of What Probably Will Be A Five Year Plus Process. It Will Benefit Our Community Greatly On The Interstate And Give Us A Better Off Ramp System. It Is Something I Look Forward To Being A Part Of.

13. Commissioners Reports:

Commissioner Harkins Stated Everything Is Cool With The Fire And Police Department. Commissioner Blades Stated We Need To Make A Move Out At The Old Lake For The Care Takers House. If We Can Build Something Small That Looks Nice. I Have Had Two Neighbors Talk To Me Out There And We Need To Tear That Down.

Commissioner Chambers Stated I Appreciate The Street, Water And Sewer Department. I Have Seen A Lot Of Guys Who Aren't The Street Guys Who Have Been Cleaning And Cutting Up From The Storm As Well. We Had The Storm That Blewa Ton Of Trees Down Right In The Middle Of Out Motor Fuel Tax Season Which Is Our Busiest Time Of Year. I Know The Guys Have Worked Very Hard And I Appreciate All That They Do. I Hope We Can Accommodate The Tiny House I Love The Idea Of Having Family On Your Property And As Long As It Is Safe And Meets The Fire Codes And Things I Am Actually A Huge Fan Of The Tiny House. Tiny House Nation Is One Of My Shows And I Hope We Can Find A Way To Accommodate You.

14. Audience Questions Or Comments:

My Name Is Andy Lemont I Am Originally From West Frankfort I Grew Up Here. This Is Seth I Met Him A Couple Weeks Ago In Christopher. I Am A Super Recycler And I Am Going To Show You How Much Stuff That You Use Everyday That Is Recyclable. West Frankfort Has Never Had A Recycling Facility. Andy Explained How The Recycling

Works, What Towns Currently Have It And Would Like To See West Frankfort Get A Recycling Site.

15. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval To Go Into Executive

Session To Discuss Contract Negotiations, Personnel, Land Acquisition And/Or Pending Litigation, With Possible Action. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Along With The Mayor Voted Yes. Motion Carried. The Council Went Into Executive Session At 7:00 P.M.

16. The Council Returned To Open Session At 7:31 P.M. On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Along With Mayor Jordan Voted To Return To Open Session. Motion Carried

17. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 6:55p.M.

http://www.westfrankfort-il.com/web_files/forms/July%2010,%202018.pdf