City of West Frankfort City Council met Oct. 22.
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.
The Mayor stated I would like to welcome everyone here this evening. This is the West Frankfort City Council meeting and we have this twice a month. The agenda has been out since Friday and everything on this agenda that we are going to discuss is going to be discussed by us. When I ask if there are any questions I am directing that to the council. If you had a problem with anything on the agenda you have has until friday until tonight to discuss that. We are going to take action on these items. If you want to address the council at the bottom of the agenda you will see number 14 is audience questions and comments. We ask that you would limit those to three minutes and at that time we will recognize you.
2. Mayor Jordan asked for approval of the minutes from the October 8, 2019 council meeting. Commissioner Simpson made a motion to approve, seconded by Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners and Mayor Jordan voted to approve. Motion Carried.
3. Mayor Jordan next asked for approval to pay city bills in the amount of $266,138.67. 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 a presentation by Fire Chief Jody Allen of life saving awards.
5. He next item was discussion, with possible action, regarding an application for a class a liquor license. The Mayor stated this application request is from the liquor barrel. As the liquor Commissioner I feel obligated to bring these before the Council when we get them. They are requesting to change their liquor license form a class "B" which is a package liquor license to a class "A" which would be serving alcohol like a tavern. The reason that they are requesting this is so they can make the change to accommodate getting gaming. The city expanded our gaming licenses so that we can accommodate people that have been here awhile and are a part of the community. We have approved one for Huck's and Nifty Swifty because they wanted to expand their facilities. This has been recently purchased according to their liquor license and after really looking at their space they don't really have a lot of room for parking. What we usually ask for is an investment in our community. Whenever mach 1 came to West Frankfort they asked if they would build a five million dollar gas station in our community if we would consider giving them a gaming license, we were then approached by hucks and they stated they have been here for twenty five years and are a part of the community and would like to be considered for a gaming license. I think they made a valid point because they did some remodeling and we were able to accommodate them. That is kind of what we use as a premise to approve these liquor licenses that will accommodate gaming. It is my recommendation that we do not allow this liquor license to be changed from a class "B" to a class "A" simply because I would like to see some sort of investment. The liquor barrel pretty much looks the same as it did when I was in high school. Not anything against that just stating a fact, I really don't think it would accommodate a gaming license. Commissioner simpson made a motion to deny, seconded by Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners and Mayor Jordan voted to deny. Motion carried.
6. The next item was approval of a resolution to Louis LC Worldwide, LLC for redevelopment of certain property utilizing tax increment financing located in the City of West Frankfort, Illinois. The Mayor stated on industrial park road there is an old building there that has sat vacant for ten years or longer. This is a redevelopment proposal for louies lc worldwide. He is going to purchase that building and wanted to know if the city would help him with renovations so he can put a business out there. It will employ two full time and two part time employees in the beginning and they are going to make a $206,800.00 investment in renovations of that structure and increase the parking lot space. Over the next ten years we will give him back 60 percent of the taxes collected on that 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.
7. The next item was discussion, with possible action, regarding approval to accept bids and award projects for renovations to the New City Hall Building at 605 W. Main Street. The Mayor stated we received this building as a donation from Banterra Bank. We had a bid letting and tabled the bids at the last meeting because there was such a price difference in the bids. We received two bids on this one from ross construction for $46,700.00 and fager-mcgee for $88,755.00 after and evaluation of these bids what we found was that ross construction had not bid on the painting, wall paper, carpet removal, plumbing. HVC and electrical work that is required. We would like to move forward with this project so sometime before the end of the year we could move out there and utilize that structure. I would first like to accept the bids that we have and my recommendation is to accept the bid from fager-mcgee for $88,755.00. They brought five contractors in to look at the building, we had three meetings with them on site and they explained everything they will have to do. We first need to accept the bids. Commissioner Simpson made a motion to approve, seconded by Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners and Mayor Jordan voted to approve. Motion Carried.
A. The next item was approval to award the bid and project to fager-mcgee in the amount of $88,755.00. Commissioner Simpson 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 discussion, with possible action, regarding installation of a heater for the bay at the fire department to keep the medical supplies, equipment and water from freezing. Fire Chief, Jody Allen stated it is fifteen years old and the issue we are having with it is in the middle of the night it shuts off and hasn't been working. The cheapest bid I got was from Volanski for $15,587.54 the bid I got from Fowler was over $20,000.00. Commissioner Harkins stated I will make a motion to accept the bid from Volanski for $15,587.54. Commissioner Harkins 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 acceptance of compliance review #79 covering the receipt and disbursement of motor fuel tax funds by the city for the period beginning January 1, 2013 and ending December 31, 2018. The Mayor stated IDOT came in and did a review of the way we are handling their motor fuel money. We have a letter that certifies our records are true and correct. Commissioner Chambers 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 to pay an invoice from Johnson's Auto & Truck repair in the amount of $1,756.92 for tires for the a-1 for the fire department. Commissioner Harkins made a motion to approve, seconded by Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners and Mayor Jordan voted to approve. Motion Carried.
11. The next item was approval for Huck's to hold their annual Caring for Kids Roadblock on Friday, October 25, 2019 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, October 26, 2019 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the intersection of Route 149 and Highway 37. Commissioner Chambers made a motion to approve, seconded by Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners and Mayor Jordan voted to approve. Motion Carried.
12. Building and Sign Permits:
There is a request for a building permit for the Louie’s P&R Renovations and the building they are going to do out at the old press plant. The estimated construction cost is $219,300.00. Commissioner Harkins made a motion to approve, seconded by Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners and Mayor Jordan voted to approve. Motion Carried.
13. Mayor’s Comments:
I want to thank the firefighters and police officers that we have. We really do appreciate your efforts and putting your life on the line. You guys do a great job. We have had some windows shot out along our main street and the city is going to offer a $500 reward for any leads that would facilitate the arrest. The city is going to work into putting some cameras on main street. We have begun the discussion to put cameras down every block that would cover the area.
14. Commissioner’s Comments:
Commissioner Harkins stated we will find out who has been shooting the windows out and we will get them.
Commissioner Chambers stated I don't want to leave the girls in the office out and roger and our comptroller when we talk about the amount of work that has to go into the motor fuel tax program. It is overwhelming and when I first got here I thought I would never figure it out because there are so many rules and regulations. Everything has to be perfect and Roger and Taryn do such a good job with the amount of money that we have. We haven't had as much money as we have had previously and we have had to find ways to figure that out. Our comptroller has been great about looking at things we have paid for out of other funds that can be part of motor fuel tax to swap out and we have saved a ton of money by doing that. They do a really good job at it so thank you guys.
Commissioner Warren stated the water and sewer departments are doing well. The Mayor stated we had a little problem with our water distribution on RT. 37 and the water tower. The valve isn't working properly and it will be repaired on Friday.
15. The next item is an emergency approval to pay an invoice from sandner electric company for repairs to the lagoon aerator in the amount of $2,135.73. The Mayor stated this was an emergency situation. Commissioner Warren made a motion to approve, seconded by Commissioner Chambers. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners and Mayor Jordan voted to approve. Motion Carried.
16. Audience Questions or Comments:
There were several audience members who spoke and addressed the City Council. These speakers signed in on our public comment sign in sheet.
17. 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 7:19 p.m.
18. The Council returned to open session at 7:41 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.
19. With no further business to be discussed, the meeting was adjourned on a motion by Commissioner Harkins at 7:41 p.m.
http://www.westfrankfort-il.com/web_files/forms/October%2022,%202019.pdf
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