North Egypt News

City of West Frankport City Council met April 23.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

1. Mayor Jordan Called The Meeting To Order At 6:00 P.M. Requesting A Roll Call. Commissioner Chambers, Commissioner Harkins, Commissioner Simpson Were In Attendance, Along With The City Attorney And City Clerk. Commissioner Blades Was Not In Attendance,

2. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The April 9, 2019 Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner 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 $299,973.86. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

4. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Proclamation Declaring May 9, 2019 Through May 11, 2019 As The West Frankfort Old King Coal Festival. The Mayor Stated This Is An Event That The City Sponsors With A Lot Of Work From Volunteers. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution For The Old King Coal Committee To Sponsor Their Annual Old King Coal Parade On Saturday, May 11, 2019 At 1:00 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

6. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Donation To The Beta Club To Assist The Group With Their Travel To National Competition. The Beta Club Officers Gave A Presentation About Their Group. This Matter Was Tabled Until Next Meeting.

7. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing A Lateral Hire Of A Police Officer For The City Of West Frankfort. Acting Police Chief John Prudent Stated Putting The School Resource Officer Into The School And Appointing Me As Acting Chief It Has Opened Up Several Overtime Spots. We Conducted Interviews About Three Months Ago And We Came Up With A Candidate. This Candidate Is Dustin Lawrence Who Comes With Five Years Experience And Most Recently Been An Agent With The Drug Task Force So We Feel Like We Are Getting A Very Good Officer. He Will Be Beneficial To The Department And Can Be Put On The Street Right Away And Utilized. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval To Accept An Offer For Purchase Of A Lot Deemed As Surplus Property. The Mayor Stated We Have Two Lots 402 E, Elm And 308 S. Jackson And Have Been Previously Been Put Up For Bid By The City And We Didn't Receive Any Bids. We Have An Offer Of $1,500.00 Per Lot $3,000.00 For Both Lots And My Understanding Is This Is Going To Be A Site For A Future Home. The Purchaser Is Ronald Seivers And His Wife Barbara. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Donation To The West Frankfort Park For A Proposed Volley Ball Court. Steve Leek From The Park Spoke About The Need For A Volley Ball Court For The Children Of West Frankfort. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve To Stock Both Lakes, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Donation Of $16,000.00 To Mission Serve To Assist In Purchasing Material For Repairs Of 6 Or 7 Homes In West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated This Is An Organization That Comes To West Frankfort They Are A Faith Based Group And All We Are Doing Is Furnishing Material. They Did Ten Or Eleven Houses Last Year And Have Asked For Funds To Do Six Or Seven Houses This Year. They City Does Not Select The Houses They Are Done Through Crosswalk And They Try To Target People Who Don't Have The Ability To Repair Their Home On Their Own. Commissioner Chambers 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 Of A Collective Bargaining Agreement Between The City And The Teamsters Local Union No. 50 To Cover The Period Of March 1, 2019 Through February 28, 2023. The Mayor Stated This Is The Last Of Our Seven Collective Bargaining Agreements That The City Has Negotiated. 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 Of A Revised Preliminary Engineering Agreement For Federal Participation For The 157-Route 149 Interchange Modification. The Mayor Stated This Is An Agreement That We Have Going On With The 1.5 Million Dollar Grant. Mike Roberts From Brown & Roberts Spoke About This Agreement. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

13. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Estimate From Tri-County Roofing In The Amount Of $3,400.00 Regarding Repairs To The Historical Museum. The Mayor Stated The City Owns The Building In The Heights And They Have A Leak. This Is For Emergency Repairs To The Roof To Prevent The Water From Running Down Inside The Walls And Causing More Damage. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried

14. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Purchase In The Amount Of $2,475.42 For Additional Tables And Chairs For The Common Area Of The West Frankfort Mall. Commissioner Chambers 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 Approval Of An Invoice From The Illinois Department Of Transportation In The Amount Of $80,075.36 Regarding The City Share Of The Construction Costs For The E. St. Louis Street Project, Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Invoice From The Accumed Group In The Amount Of $6,840.63 For The Ambulance Billing Fee For Ems Software Program. Fire Chief Jody Allen Ed Half Of This Cost Is For The Software And Annual Fee And The Other Part Is The Percent That They Bill Us For The Total Amount That We Collect On Our Ambulance Billing. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. Building And Sign Permits:

There Was One Request For A Building Permit At 1708 E. Garland Street For A Mr. Parkhill. He Is Requesting A Building Permit To Build A 24 X 30 Pole Barn Structure In His Back Yard That Will Be Used For Storage. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. Mayors Comments:

I Would Like To Take A Moment To Honor Mayor Butler Who Was The Mayor Of Marion For Fifty Five Years. He Passed Away Yesterday. I Think He Is A Model That Mayor's Like Me Look Up To. He Took That Small Community And Over Fifty Five Years He Has Been Very Successful. We Are Starting A New Four Year Term And We Will Be Seating The New Council. I Would Like To Welcome Linda Warren She Is Going To Be Our New Commissioner.

19. Commissioner Comments:

Commissioner Harkins Stated The Police And Fire Department As Always Is Doing Great. I Am Glad To Have Dustin.

Commissioner Simpson Stated I Would Like To Welcome Linda And I Am Sure She Will Be A Positive Addition To The Council. Commissioner Chambers Stated I Want To Welcome Linda And I Hope You Enjoy It As Much As We Do. The Easter Egg Hunt Went Well And I Want To Thank The City For The Donation To Buy The Easter Eggs.

20. Audience Questions Or Comments:

Mr. Leek Stated With All The Changes Coming To West Frankfort And Benton Hopefully It Will Put Us Back On The Map.

21.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 6:41 P.M.

22. The Council Returned To Open Session At 7:14 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.

23. The Mayor Stated I Would Like Instruct The City Clerk To Swear In The New City Council. And For The Record I Will State The Positions. Jerry Harkins Is Going To Be The Fire/Police Commissioner, Mike Simpson Will Be The Finance Commissioner, Tara Fasol-Chambers Will Be The Street Commissioner And Linda Warren Will Be The Water/Sewer Commissioner.

The City Clerk Then Gave The Oath To Swear In All The Commissioners And All Commissioners Stated I Will. The City Clerk Then Gave The Oath To Swear In The Mayor And He Stated I Will.

24. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:16 P.M.

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