North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Aug. 13.

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. All Commissioners Were In Attendance, Along With The City Attorney And City Clerk.

2. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The July 23, 2019 Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. 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 $524,991.91. 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 Resolution Authorizing An Agreement With Jai Yogeshwar Lodging Llc D/B/A America's Best Value Inn For Redevelopment Of Certain Property Utilizing Tax Increment Financing. The Mayor Stated We Tabled This From Last Meeting. The Project Is Going To Included About $78,000.00 Worth Of Expenses On Behalf Of The Owner Of The Hotel Eligible Cost. The Tif Agreement Is For Three Payments Of $10,000.00 Each Totaling $30.000.00 Reimbursed Back To The Hotel Owners. Keith Moran Estimates This Will Generate About $5,000.00 A Year Of Additional Revenue For Tif Funds. We Will Recover Our Payments In About Six Years. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Conded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval To Advertise For Bids For Demolition Regarding The Following Properties: 2012 E. Elm Street, 1108 E. Lindell, 1709 E. Poplar & Structure At The West Frankfort Lake. The Mayor Stated We Have Court Orders On These To Allow Us To Demolish The Properties. The Lake Property Is The Only Property We Own And The Other Three Are Going To Be Demolished And We Will Put A Lien Against The Property. Commissioner Simpson 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 The Demolition Of Certain Properties Under Provision Of The Illinois Municipal Code. The Mayor Asked How Long It Will Take To Get A Court Order From The Judge. City Attorney, Mike Riva Stated The First Step Is To Get The Demolition Order Takes About 45 Days. If You Have To Go Further With It And Get An Abandonment Order That Takes A Couple Months. The Mayor Stated Under The State Statutes There Is An Ordinance That Allows Us To Fast Track Properties That Are A Problem. We Have Two Properties That I Want To Talk About. The First One Is At 701 N. Madison Street We Have A Letter From John Paul Notifying Us That His Mother Has Passed Away In 2011. He Stated He Decided To Let The Property Go For Unpaid Taxes And Has No Interest In The Property. This Property Will Be Sold For Taxes In 2020 And The City Will Be Able To Get This Property That Way. We Can Fast Track Demo This And In One Year From Now We Will Get It From The County. There Are Five Things That Must Determine A Fast Track Property. The Code Officer Must Determine That The Building Is Open And Vacant And Poses An Immediate Continued Hazard, Give Notice And Post It, No Later Than 30 Days After Posting You Must Send A Notice Of Remediation By Certified Mail To All Owners, Publish A Notice For Three Consecutive Days And Record Notice To Remediate. The Third Thing Is If The Building Is Not Demolished, Repaired Or Enclosed Within 30 Days Of The Last Publication The City Has The Power To Demolish It. The City Must Proceed In Demolition Within 120 Days Following The Mail And Notice Of The Remediation. Then We File The Notice Of Lien Within 120 Days After The Demolition. This Is A Process That Would Provide Us The Ability To Tear Down Houses Without Going Through The Court And Getting A Judge To Do That. I Think What I Would Determine That This Would Be Houses That Fall Into A Situation Where The Neighbors Are Having Problems With An Immediate Hazard. In Order To Get Rid Of This And Remediate It More Quickly Then We Can Fast Track It. Commissioner Chambers Stated So Is It The County Who Owns It Now Then? Mike Riva Stated It Is Tax Delinquent, I Don't Know If There Is Any Other Interested Party. Commissioner Simpson Stated It Is Up For Taxes And He Hasn't Redeemed Those? Mike Riva Stated That's What I Understand. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The City Attorney Asked If He Would Be Interested In Signing The Deed Over That Way You Wouldn't Have To Go Through The Fast Track. Commissioner Simpson Stated Will We Have To Redeem The Taxes Then? Mike Riva Stated No The Taxes Would Be Wiped Away. Does He Have A Sister? Commissioner Simpson Stated I Am Not Sure. Mike Riva Stated If There Is Other Individuals Then You May Have To Do The Fast Track And They Would Still Need To Be Notified

The Next Property Is At 1403 E. Clark Street. The Mayor Stated Is A Big Problem. The Roof Is Falling In And There Are Animals Living Inside The House. This Is A Similar Situation And Our Fire Chief Has Considered This A Dangerous Building. We Have Had Contact With The People Who Own The Building. This Is Another House That Is Sitting Vacant Falling In And It Meets All The Requirements To Fast Track It. Commissioner Simpson Stated Has The Owner Been Contacted On This? The Mayor Stated Yes, They Want Nothing To Do With It. I Am Very Confident We Can Get A Signed Deed To The House. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

7. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Development Of A Loan Rrogram Enabling Homeowners To Demolish Vacant/Dangerous Properties. The Mayor Stated We Have A Gentleman That Has A House His Mom And Dad Lived In And They Are Both Deceased. He Wants To Tear It Down But He Doesn't Have The Money To Tear It Down. He Asked If The City Could Tear It Down And He Could Pay Us Back. What We Are Currently Doing In Other Situations With Culverts And Sidewalks Is We Do The Work And Then Send Them A Bill And They Make Payments On It. Maybe We Could Tear Down The Building And Put Alien On The Property So We Would Have It Covered And Work Out An Agreement With Him Where He Would Pay Back The City Within A Set Period Of Time To Be Defined. This Is A Great Idea Because We Don't Have To Take Any Action With The Court We Just Need To Make Sure We Secure The Permission With Them. Commissioner Chambers Stated When People Don't Pay For The Culverts Roger Has To Go And Dig Them Out. We Actually Have Good Luck With It We Have Only Had One Issue In Eight Years That We Had A Hard Time Getting Someone To Pay It Off, It Is Expensive, But It Has Been Helpful To People. The Mayor Stated I Think We Would Have People Who Would Do This And Is A Great Idea. Commissioner Simpson Stated This Would Be A Last Resort Correct? The Mayor Stated Yes. Commissioner Warren Stated So They Can Do This To Make Improvements On Their Property With Culverts And Ditches Not Necessarily To Tear A House Down? The Mayor Stated No, We Already Do This With The Culverts Which Aren't Very Expensive. Commissioner Simpson Stated So What You Are Wanting Is To Give Mr. Stilley The Option That If They Can't Maintain Their Property That We Will Loan Them The Money To Take Care Of It And They Will Pay Us Back Within A Reasonable Period Of Time. The Mayor Stated Yes. Commissioner Warren Stated Is There A Maximum Amount That You Would Do This For? The Mayor Stated Out Of Orders For Demo & Fast Track I Think This Is The Most Beneficial Because The City Won't Have Any Legal Fees Invested And There Is A Good Possibility We Will Get The Money Back. Commissioner Chambers Stated Is There A Possibility That This Would Trickle Over Into Commercial Property Ever? The Mayor Stated Cw Will Have The Ability To Bring Anything Like That To The Council. Commissioner Simpson Stated He Will Have To Bring All Of It To The Council For Approval This Is Just To Give Him The Ability To Put That Together To Bring To The Council. The Codes Officer Explained The Current Situation. The Mayor Stated If The City Is Paying For It I Think It Will Need To Be Put Out For Bid. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Donation To Redbird Ready. The Redbird Ready Group Spoke About The Program And What They Do. The Mayor Stated The City Will Match The Same Donation We Gave Last Year Of $3,000.00 And If You Ever Need More Please Come Back. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Proposal To Purchase Three 3” Electromagnetic Meters And 2 Remote Registers In The Amount Of $8,497.75 For The Water Department. The Water Superintendent Stated These Will Be For Twin Mills, The Mall & High School. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Proposal From Tri County Roofing, Inc. In The Amount Of $3,500.00 Regarding Repairs To The Fire Department Roof. Commissioner Harkins Stated We Have Had Some Leaks For A While And These Need To Be Fixed. Commissioner Harkins 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 Proposal From Rp Coatings In The Amount Of $15,860.00 Regarding Repairs And Painting The Inside Of The West Frankfort Mall. The Mayor Stated This Is The People Who Did The Painting For Wps. The City Clerk Stated This Is All For Inside The Mall And Bathrooms. Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Proposal From Rp Coatings In The Amount Of $8,860.00 Regarding Repairs And Painting The Inside Of The West Frankfort Business Incubator. Commissioner Warren Stated Is This The Only Company That Bid On This? The Mayor Stated When We Did The Construction That Wps Paid For They Were The Company That Came In And Did The Painting. They Did Such A Great Job And Will Use The Same Paint So It Just Seemed Like The Logical Thing To Get Them To Do The Rest Of It. Commissioner Chambers Stated Do We Have To Get Bids With It Being Over So Much? Mike Riva Stated That Is Better Practice. Commissioner Chambers Stated We Probably Should Have Done That On The Mall One We Just Voted On Then. The Mayor Stated I Think $15,000.00 Is The Limit And We Have To Get Bids On Anything Above That. We Have A Reason That We Didn't Take Bids Because We Have A Known Quantity Out There, Are They Going To Use The Same Paint? Commissioner Warren Stated I Think Anyone Can Get The Paint To Match. The Mayor Stated We Are Satisfied With The Work They Did So Why Cause A Problem And Get Somebody Else To Come In And Try To Redo What These Guys Have Done. Mike Riva Stated Think The Absolute Threshold Is $20,000.00. Commissioner Stated I Am Going To Note That And I Wish We Would Have Discussed This Two Votes Ago. Commissioner Warren Stated As Long As We Are Legal And Under The Current Guidelines I Will Vote To Approve. Commissioner Simpson 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 For Payment Of A Bill From Greater Egypt Regional Planning & Development Commission In The Amount Of $2,045.50 Regarding A Request To Appropriate Funds For The Commission's October 2019-September 2020 Operation Year. The Mayor Stated This Is Our Contribution To Greater Egypt Who Helps Us Out A Lot. 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 Approval To Pay An Invoice From Illinois Department Of Transportation In The Amount Of $26,122.82 Regarding The E. St. Louis Street Project. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Fb Mcafoos & Co. In The Amount Of $2,150.00 Regarding Rental Of A Boomarm Mower For The Street Department. The Mayor Stated This Is For 1 Week And We Rent It For Two Weeks So We Will Have Another Bill Coming For The Second Week. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown And Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $4,664.67 Regarding E. St. Louis Street Project. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown & Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $72,260.45 Regarding The 157 & Il Rt 149 Interchange Modification Phase 1 Engineering. The Mayor Stated I Am So Glad That We Have Progress On This. This Has Been Something That Has Been Years And Years In The Coming And We Are Doing Phase 1 Engineering, Mike Roberts Stated We Waited About 1 Year For Idot To Process The Agreement.

The Next Step Is The Environmental Side And That Is Public Involvement And That Will Set The Timetable To How Fast We Progress. There Are Certain Meeting That Idot Only Holds Three Times A Year And There Is One In Three Weeks But I Do Not Know If They Will Let Us In Since It Is So Close. He Continued To Explain The Next Steps In This Process And What To Expect. Commissioner Chambers Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. Officer Reports:

Chief Prudent Read The Police Department's Report.

Chief Allen Read The Fire Department's Report.

Codes Officer Cw Stilley Read The Codes Report.

19.Building And Sign Permits:

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20. Mayors Comments:

The Mayor Stated I Would Like To Issue A Request. Somebody Has Been Destroying Our Plants Downtown

There Were Eighteen Pots That Were Messed With And We Are Hoping Some Of The Businesses Have Video. When We Started This Project For The Interstate Years Ago These Are Things That Have Not Come Easy. We Have Worked And Have Spent A Lot Of Resources And Money. To Me This Is Our Future And If We Can Get An Interchange Similar To What They Have In Marion And We Can Get A Route From 37 To 149 Opened Up Behind Kmart For Some Economic Development It Will Be Wonderful. We Have The Eda 4 Million Dollar Grant We Are Working Off Of To Do The Mall Parking Lot, Air Conditioners, Lights, The Intersection And A New Road Behind The Taco Bell. These Are All Things That Are Ongoing. There Is A Lot Going On It Just Takes Time To Get Things Going And Completed. They Are Working On The Chinese Restaurant & Quest Fitness. Mach 1 Is Doing Great Business. There Is A Lot Of Things Going For Us.

21. Commissioner Comments:

Commissioner Harkins Stated The Fire Chief And Rob Are Headed Home From Texas And Are Going To Give Us A Report On The Truck When They Get Back. As You Can See From The Police And Fire Reports They Stay Busy And Do A Great Job. I Am Very Proud Of Them.

Commissioner Chambers Stated It Is Motor Fuel Tax Time Roger Is Super Busy And It Is A Lot Of Work That They Have To Do In A Certain Amount Of Time. It Doesn't Seem To Keep Roger And The Guys From Jumping On The Things That Residents Need In The Middle Of That. With A Handful Of Guys For The Entire Town It Still Amazes Me That They Are Able To Do As Much As They Do. A Lot Of People Notice The Things That Need To Be Fixed, But You Don't Necessarily Notice When The Road Is Smooth Or The Sidewalks Walk Nicely. There Is A Ton Of Work That Goes Into It. We Appreciate Roger And The Street Department For Taking Care Of The Residents. Our Police Department Is Amazing And We Appreciate Them And Hate That They Have To See And Do The Terrible Things They Do.

Commissioner Warren Stated The Water Is Flowing And Everything Is Good. They Are Making Some Repairs On The Sewer Lines And Updating Things And We Are Moving Right Along. There Is A Lake Committee Meeting Thursday Night.

22. Audience Questions Or Comments:

There Will Be A March Friday At The Benton Civic Center For Anyone Struggling Or Dealing With Addiction.

The High School Principal Spoke About The Appreciation For The Donation To Redbird Ready. He Also Thanked The Street Department And Sro Howard At The High School For Noticing Some Safety Issues With The Sidewalks Leading To The Vocational Building He Contacted Roger And They Fixed The Sidewalks. I Want To Thank Them. Mayor Jordan And The Council Because That Stuff Means A Lot And Is A Big Deal To Those Kids. It Was A Nicely Done Job And I Just Wanted To Thank Everybody For That.

I Had Asked At The Last Council Meeting For The Street Department To Mow An Abandoned House Because Skunks Were Coming Out Of It And It Was Done Within A Couple Days And I Just Want To Say Thank You.

23. 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 Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Along With The Mayor Voted Yes. Motion Carried. The Council Went Into Executive Session At 7:24 P.M.

24. The Council Returned To Open Session At 8:38 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.

25. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 8:38 P.M.

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