North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Oct. 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 September 22, 2020 Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

3. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay City Bills And Payroll In The Amount Of $455,332.60. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

4. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution To Hire New City Employees Andrea Bolen, Jessie Presley And Chris Veteto. The Mayor Stated Andrea Bolen Would Be Doing Taryn Morthland’s Job, And Jessie Presley Was Filling A Spot Left Vacant When Paul Brock Went To Work For The Street Dept, And Chris Veteto Will Be Helping With The Financial Part Of New System We Are Getting. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Third Amendment To Lease For Wisconsin Physician Service Insurance Company To Lease Space At West Frankfort Mall. The Mayor Stated Ken Roseth Of Wps Was In The Office Last Week He Advised That Obviously The Covid Has Changed The Way That They Are Doing Business But For The Next Year They Are Going To Remain The Same At The Mall. He Talked About After Next Year There Will They May Have To Give Back One Of The Suites But Right Now They Still Feel Like They Need Everything They Have Out There. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

6. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Vacating An Alley South Of And Adjacent To Lots 1 Through 5 Of Mcfarland’s Subdivision (Pin 12-20-182-001). The City Attorney Riva This An Alleyway About 40’ Foot In Width And 250’ Feet In Length That’s Never Been Used Really As An Alley Way Its Been Used By Property Owners Of The Lots To The North And They’ve Constructed A Driveway And Garage And A Basketball Court On It All Of Which Have Been In Existance For Several Decades. The Issue Just Came Up Whenever The Owner Of The Lots To The North Is Trying To Sell The Property They Found Out That They Were Using This Alley Way As Part Of Their Property. We Looked Into It And The Alley Way Really Has No Real Use For The City At This Time, The Mayor And Council Have Already Discussed The Purchase Price Of That Which Would Be About The Price Of 2 City Lots And Agreed Upon By The Owner Of The Parcel To The North. This Pending Sale Was Held Up Because Of This Issue This Will Resolve That. The Mayor Stated That 40 Feet By 250 Feet Would Equal Around Two City Lots And We’ve Been Getting Some Where Around $1000.00-$1250.00 Per Lot And So That’s How The $2500.00 Price Came Up For Them To Repay The City For The Amount Of Land They Are Getting This Is A Great Remedy For Everyone Involved. The City Selling The Lot Land And Therefore The Sale Of The Property Can Go Thru Commissioner Simpson Stated Ownership Had Changed On That Property Several Times Over The Years And Ask Had No One Ever Brought It Up Before? Riva Stated It Only Came Up This Time Because There Was A Survey Of The Property And When They Did It They Found The Boundary Did Not Extend South For The 40 Feet They Thought It Had It Stopped North Of That Before The Alley Way. Never Been Surveyed. The Mayor Stated A Question Asking If Everyone Knew Where It Was At? It Was At Odle And St Louis Street. Dave Lee’s Old House. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

7. The Next Item Was Approval To Purchase Properties Located In The City Of West Frankfort Il Through The County’s Tax Liquidation Program In The Amount Of $5,712.00. The Mayor Stated There Are 7 Properties Here $816 Per Property These Are Properties On The Tax Roles They Haven't Paid Their Taxes In 3 Years So With The County We Have An Agreement And Opportunity That We Can Purchase Deralict Property That Have Abandonded Buildings On Them. The Next Item Will Be Getting Bids To Tear Them Down. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval To Advertise For Bids For Demolition A) 501 S Marion Road, B) 508 N Washington, C) 104 W. 9th Street, D) 102 W. 9th Street, F) 1908 East A Street, G) 607 N Horn, H) 706 N. Illinois. 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 Approval To Accept Offers For Purchase Of Lots Deemed As Surplus Property. The Mayor Stated We Have A Couple Here, Shelley Dodd At 1208 East St Louis Street And She Wants To Purchase The Lot Next Door To Her At 1210 East St Louis Street. We Have A Bid For $1001.00 She Keeps It Mowed And Cleanup. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commisioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next One Is A Catherine Colleen Cornella Jones She Purchased 405 S Odle She Bought A Piece Of Property From Us But There Were Some Disputes About It And She Would Like To Backout Of The Deal For That Piece Of Property For $700.00. But She Would Like To Buy The Property At 601 South Mulberry For $700.00. The Other Property Will Go Back On The List Of Surplus Property. Mr Riva Was In Agreement. Mayor Stated Take Action On Is The Seller Of The Property Of 601 South Mulberry For $700.00 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 To Declare Property As Surplus And Advertise For Bids. Property Is Located At 1101 E St Louis Street And Is Empty Lot. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11.The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Trail Of Treats. The Mayor Stated Last Council Meeting I Think We Implied We Would Allow Trick Or Treating Set The Hours From 5pm-8pm On Saturday, October 31. To Houses That Have Their Porch Light On, We Recommend Social Distancing, If You Want To Trick Or Treat Look For House With Porch Light On. Trail Of Treats We Have Had Some Merchants Call Saying They Would Like To Have The Trail Of Treats On Friday October 30th. From 3 P.M.-5 P.M. We Will Have A List Of Who All Is Participating. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12.A Letter From Chief Prudent About An Event On 1000 Block On East Poplar Street On October 24th From 5 P.M.- 7 P.M. The Chief Is In Agreement With Blocking Off The Road For The Event. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

13.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From 4SIWI, LLC In The Amount Of $4000.00 Regarding Building And Hosting A New City Of West Frankfort Website. The Mayor Stated Our Web Administrator Said Done, So We Had To Jump In And Get Ahold Of Them To Ask Them To Help Us They’ve Given Us A Price. They Are Our It People Who Do Police Dept, Fire Dept, And They Actually Took Care Of Everything And Got Us Back Up And Going That Day. The Mayor Also Stated That We Are Required Under The Freedom Of Information Act To Provide Certain Things To The Public And One Of The Things Would Be Our Codes And List Of Our Minutes And Those Have Always Been Able To Be Provided Through The Access Of Our Website And Whenever The Website Was Basically Abandoned We Lost That, So We Needed To Be In Compliance With Freedom Of Information Act To Take Action And I Do Want To Say Ceci Did A Really Good Job. The Website Is Getting Better Everyday And We Are Working On It. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

14.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Joplin Salvage In The Amount Of $3,500.00 Regarding An Emergency Demolition At 1101 E. St. Louis Street. Commissioner Stanley 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 To Approve An Estimate From Universal Blower Pac Of $2,640.00 To Install A New Motor For The Universal Blower Pac For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Simpson Stated They Had To Get A New Motor Because The Old One Wasn’t Covered Under Warranty. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16.The Next Item Was Approval To Approve A Quote From Novacom In The Amount Of $2,839.96 For A Commercial Grade 4g LTE Router To Be Installed At The West Frankfort Fire Department. Fire Chief Jody Allen Explained It A Router It Will Have An Antenna That Will Be External On Each Of The Ambulances The Old Ones Would Lose Connections On Our New Monitors For Mobile Internet. Constant Communication With The Ambulance As You Are Moving To The Hospital Or On Scene For Internet. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17.The Next Item Was Approval To Accept An Estimate From Wiggs Excavating, Inc Or Skuta Construction, Inc. Regarding Removal And Replacement Of 100 Feet Of Sewer Line For The Sewer Department. The Mayor Stated This Is On North Emma Street Right Behind The Apartments Across From The Police Station. Wiggs Was $4850.00 And Skuta Was $7480.00 Wiggs Is $2630.00 Cheaper. Wiggs Was Awarded The Job. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Heritage Petroleum In The Amount Of $2,479.51 Regarding Fuel For The Generator With Winter Additive For The Street Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

19.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Southwestern Illinois College In The Amount Of $5,677.20 Regarding Tuition And Training For Officer Ronnie Russell For The Police Department. Commissioner Hawkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown & Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $180,609.80 Regarding I57 & Il Rt 149 Interchange Modification Phase 1 Engineering Invoice 11. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

21.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown & Roberts, Inc In The Amount Of $12,420.00 Regarding Il Rt 149, Ken Gray Blvd & Bob Burton Way Preliminary Engineering Invoice 8. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

22.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Moran Economic Development, Llc In The Amount Of $1,520.00 For Tif Administration. Mayor Pointed Out That Part Of This Was Administration For The West Frankfort Business Stablization Grant And Then Enterprize Zone Management. They Help With The Grant For The Abandoned Houses To Pay For That As Well. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

23.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Hawkins, Inc In The Amount Of $2,216.82 Regarding Aqua Hawk For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

24.The Next Item Was Approval To Transfer Lake Lot #115 From Michael And Rosellen Jones To Petru Duca. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

25.The Next Item Was Approval For Huck’s To Hold Their Annual Caring For Kids Roadblock On Friday, October 30th From 4:00 P.M. To 6:00 P.M. And Saturday, October 31st From 8:00 A.M. To 2:00 P.M. At The Intersection Of Route 149 And Highway 37. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

26.Officer Reports:

Chief Allen Read The Fire Department’s Report. 

Chief Prudent Read The Police Department’s Report. 

27.Building And Sign Permits:

The Next Item Was Approval Of A Building Permit For The Address 601 S. Mulberry. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

28.Mayors Comments: The Mayor Stated That The Town Is Excited About The Green Space Uptown It Is Looking So Good Up There! Drawings Will Be Brought Out So You Can See What It Is Going To Look Like.Trees, Benches A Place For Santas House To Go In The Corner, A Pergula. The Main Street Beautification Group Is Getting A Lot Of Donations For The Project. They Are Talking About Putting In Some Kind Of Irrigation For The Trees And Plants. We Are Going To Make It Ready So We Can Get The Christmas Tree Up But It Will Not Be Finished.

Something I Do Not Think We Have Conveyed Properly The City Has Bought A New Water Software System We Completely Changed Over From The Software We’ve Had A New Billing System For The Water Dept That Will Be Interactive With Our Accounts. Going To Have Our Code Dept Interactive With Permits, Its Going To Be Completely Different Than What We Have. Simpson Stated That We Will Be Doing Our Own Payroll Completely In House. The Mayor Stated That’s One Of The Reasons Why We Hired Chris Veteto He Is Going To Help Merging In The Info Into The New System. This Month And Next Month We Are Going To Have To Run Parallel With The New Software Plus The Old Software So A Lot Of Double Entry Will Be Going On. It’s A Good Step For Us Because We Have Been Unable To Do A Lot Of Stuff With The Old Software. This Is Going To Bring Us Up Into The Right Era.

29.Commissioner Comments:

Commissioner Harkins Stated The Police And Fire Department Have A Couple People Retiring This Month. Don Fort At The Police Sept And Craig Lemmon At The Fire Dept. Working On Finding A Replacements For Both.

Commissioner Simpson Stated He Didn’t Have Much Just That The Green Space Was Looking Really Good.

Commissioner Stanley Stated That The New Green Space Is Looking Good Up There The Back Part Is All Rocked, Front Part Is Seeded And Strawed, Forming Up The Circle Tomorrow For The Christmas Tree. The Back Wall By The Alley Will Be A Retaining Wall To Hide The Alley And The Fence Will Help Hide The Houses Behind It.

Commissioner Warren Stated Water And Sewer Is Good. We Hired A New Employee Jessie Presley He Starts The 19th Oct.

30.Audience Questions Or Comments:

A Lady, In The Crowd Asked A Question About The New Software Will The New Software Be Able To Get Into Our Water Bill Will It Be Paperless Billing?? The Mayor Stated We Already Have That But We Did Change Over From Payclicks To Something Else And It Will Have Where You Can Actually Make An Account. The Lady Stated We Do Not Have Paperless Now Because I Always Get My Water Bill But Its Automatically Deducted. But I Would Like To Set Up An Account So I Can Go Back And Look At My Water Bill Over The Year And I Won’t Have To Bother Anyone. Angie Baker Deaton Stated To The Lady You Will Have To Resign Up For Everything When The New System Is Up And Running. We Will Send You Out A Letter And This Is What You Need To Do To Set Up An Account On This New System.

Tim Hasting States He Admires What Is Going In The Area Down There, (By The Green Space The Block Before You Get To It) He Knows The City Had A Hand In Repairing Those Buildings Down There. The Mayor Stated We Worked On Repairing Those Buildings That We Now Own And Jordan Murphy Had A Little Help Before With A Gentleman Chris Was In There And Wasn’t Able To Complete His Goal To Bring That Up But Jordan Murphy Stepped In Its Beautiful Space Now. Its Up To Code Now And It Is A Success Story. He Has Paintings In There That You Can Buy, Apparel Shirts, Hats And Some Things That He Has Gotten From Someone That Is Faith Based. We Need To Go In There And Support Him.

31.With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:08 P.M.

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