City of West Frankfort City Council Met Oct. 27.
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 October 13, 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 InThe Amount Of $196,570.33. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
4. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution To Hire Michael Williams As A Lateral Transfer For The West Frankfort Police Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried. Chief Prudent Stated That Don Fort Is Getting Ready To Retire And Has Started Using His Acrued Time And Losing Dustin Lawrence Back In The Spring Made Them Short Handed. The Mayor Stated The Police And Fire Departments Have Been Hiring A Lateral Transfer Is Someone That Is Already A Police Officer They’ve Been To Pti, They Have All The Creditials, They Can Come In And With A Little Bit Of Training They Can Immediately Start To Work. Then The Next Person We Hire Is From The List, Weve Been Rotating Back And Forth To Give The New Guys A Chance To Test And Be Hired. We Have So Many Police Officers That Have Retired So We Still Have Several Coming Up To Retire So This Is Something That Started Out When Mike Irwin Was Here And We Think Its Been A Great Program And Worked Out Very Well. We Hired Kyle Webb From Florida On A Lateral Transfer, Then Ronnie Off The List, Next One Will Come From The List. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve.
5. The Next Item Was Approval To Accept Offers For Purchase Of Lots Deemed As Surplus Property. Only 2 Single Bids Were Sent In One By Rob Williams To Purchase Property Adjacent To Him At 1101 E St Louis He Bid $650 And Has A Real Nice Letter Thanking The Codes Dept For Getting The House Taken Care Of; He Has Since Been Mowing It. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Next Property Was At 701 S Short Street Jon B Wiggins Lives At 601 S Short And He Has Offered $1500 For This Piece Of Property. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
6. The Next Item Was Discussion With Possible Action, Regarding Façade Improvement Grant Application Approval For Darla Sloan Is Requesting That We Consider Another Sign That They’ve Purchased For Jimmy Shines. This Is A Tire Place They’ve Purchased 1212 West Main All They Are Asking For Is $284.45 To Cover The Cost Of The Sign. Commissioner Simpson Stated This Is For The Sign Just Like They Have On The East Side Of Town Correct The Mayor Replied “Yes”. 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 Accept Bids And Award Projects For Demolition. The Mayor Stated We Have 6 Bids And I Will Read Them As Follows 501 S Marion Rd - Joplin Bid $3750.00 And Raymond Clayton Sr Bid $7700.00; 508 N Washington Blvd-Joplin Bid $4250.00 Raymond Clayton Sr Bid $7300.00; 104 W 9th Street -Joplin Bid $2500.00 Raymond Clayton Sr $3500.00; 102 W 9th - Joplin Bid $2500.00 Raymond Clayton Sr Bid $4000.00; 1908 E. A. Street-Joplin Bid $2500.00 Raymond Clayton Sr $4000.00; 706 N Illinois Joplin Bid $2500.00 Raymond Clayton Sr $7000.00. So Jack Joplin Is Considerably Lower On Every One Of These Bids. The Mayor Recommended That They Take The Lower Bids And Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
8. The Next Item For Approval Is An Ordinance Vacating The Alley Within Pin 11-24-308-002 And Street In 1500 Block Of West Elm Street South Of Pin 11-24-308-002. The Mayor Stated They Were Going To Bypass That Because He Has Talked To City Attorney And Ordinance Code Guy And At This Time We Are Going To Wait. There Is Some Other Issues Going On With This Alley And This Street That We Need To Postpone This For. So It Will Be Tabled Until An Appropriate Time.
9. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Update Estimate From Clinton Electric In The Amount Of $32,236.00 Regarding The Installation Of A 3p, 225 Amp, 120/208 Volt Transfer Switch And Cummins Generator That Was Donated To The City By WPS. The Council Previously Approved An Estimate Of $18,242.00 Regarding This Project. Simpson Explains That The Original Bid That Was Approved Was Just For A Transfer Switch 225 Amp And Because Of The Size The Generator We Felt That We Needed Something Which Is The 800 Amp Panel To Give Us More Access To The Generator From Other Parties Besides This Building If Needed. That Raised The Price Of The Estimate And Then We Also Had To Get Approved Transportation For Moving That Generator Up To West Frankfort And The Bids That They Got On That From WPS Put Out For Bids And It Was Around $9,000.00 Extra For That. That Was Not Included In The Original Bid. More Electrical Will Have To Be Done Causing The Bill To Go Up. For A Difference Of $13,994.00 In Price. The City Is Going To Pour The Pretty Large Pad That Will Be 12” Thick For The Generator To Sit On And Cut The Trenches To Run A Conduit. Mayor Stated The Difference Between The Two Estimates Is The Generator Is Considerably Larger Than They Originally Thought, Its So Large They Cant Bring It Down I-57. They Have To Get A Special Permit And Bring It Up 37. Its Too Tall To Put On A Truck. It’s A Massive Unit. It’s A Larger Generator And Rather Than Just Use It For City Hall Its Going To Be Set Up Where The Outlets On It Can Be Used In A Disaster, Earthquake Etc. We Can Set Stuff On The Back Parking Lot Here And Run Anything That We’ve Got. If We Purchased This Generator It Would Cost In Excess Of $90,000.00 It’s A Gift To Us That’s Been Given From WPS That’s At Their Marion Facility Right Now. The Mayor Stated It Will Go In The Parking Lot Out Back Door Here In The First Parking Spot Next To The Building. Again Huge Thank You To WPS For Donating It To Us. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
10. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Servpro In The Amount Of $5,048.76 Regarding Clean Up Of The Department And Vehicles During Covid Exposure At The West Frankfort Fire Department.Captain Allen Stated They Did A Really Good Job Coming In And Cleaning All The Vehicles. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
11. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Ferrell Electric In The Amount Of $2,305.23 Regarding Installation Of The New Led Sign At City Hall And Repairs To Outside Lighting. The Mayor Stated We Needed Some Stuff Switched Around For The Lights And They Came In And Ran A Line Out There For That And Also Had Some Problems With The Led Sign Out Front. They Figured Out Why The Sign Out Front Kept Blowing Circuits. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
12. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From F.B. Mcafoo’s In The Amount Of $2,240.00 Regarding Rental Of A Boom Arm Tractor To Mow The Big Ditch And Lake Dams Forv The Street Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
Chief Allen Brought Some Information About The Considering The Purchase Of Three Tough Book Computers And 1 Microsoft Tablet To Replace The Outdated Computers Currently Being Used. Chief Allen Stated The Tough Books Are A Lot Better For Us To Use Because We Drop Them, They Get Knocked Off On Ambulance Calls, They Are Taken In The House, Hospitals, Certain Types Of Calls They Get Hazardous Materials On Them, They Are Out In The Weather, Or On The Interstate Getting Refusals So We Can Get Them Out Of The Ambulance. We Have 13 Individuals Using These On A Daily Basis And They Receive A Lot Of Abuse. We Have Had Them Repaired, Fixed And They Are Worn Out After 3 Years. The Pad/Tablet Will Be Used On The New Engine And Be Used On Scene With A Patient In A Fire Engine. The Other 3 Will Be On The Ambulance, The Tough Books Work The Best For Us. We’ve Tried Ipads And Another Version Of Tough Books That Are Between A Tablet And Computer But They Don’t Stand Up To The Use. This Is What We Use For Data Entry On The Patients,. And These Are The Most Used Piece Of Equipment We Have. Commissioner Harkins Asked What Type Of Warranty Comes With These? Chief Allen Stated A One Year Warranty. Commission Simpson Asked If He Wants To Phase This Is In One At A Time And Or Do You Want To Get All 3 Right Now? Chief Allen States They Really Need All 3 Plus The One Tablet Now. The Cost Is Approx $13,300.00. Commissioner Harkins Asks If We Can Get Anything Out Of Selling The Old Ones? Chief Allen States That He Is Unsure They Would Look Into It. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
13. Building And Sign Permits:No Building Or Sign Permits This Week
14. Mayors Comments: The Mayor Stated He Would Like To Talk About The Old Lake. We Had A Lake Committee Meeting Commissioner Warren Was There We Took Some Minutes. Its About 7 Miles From Town. The New Lake And Old Lake Particularly; 4wheelers And Side X Sides. There Is Concern About The Vehicles Coming In From The Number 9 Blacktop South Of The Lake. The Mayor Went Down There With His Truck And You Can Almost Drive A Truck Thru There, They’ve Got A Roadway Built In Where They Come Around And They Go Back On The West Side Of The Lake And They Say There Is A Campsite Out There With Beer Cans Everywhere. These 4 Wheeler People Are Not Recreational 4 Wheeling; Its Partying. The Mayor Asked Isabelle Heyder What The Difference Of Recreational Side By Siding And What Others Do, She Told Him That Recreational Is When They Go To A Property Dedicated For Side By Sides And Four Wheelers Only And You Have Permission To Ride Around On That Property. The Mayor Asked Her What Would Be The Difference In Setting That Up As Some Sort Of Recreational Area And Let These People Come Out And Charge Them? She Said That No That’s Not What Those People Out There Are Doing. They Are Going Somewhere To Get Lit With Their Case Of Beer. So The Lake Committee Has Requested That We Put A Sign Up On Number 9 Blacktop And Also At The Old Lake Itself That Says That “Side By Sides And 4 Wheelers Are Prohibited And A Statute.” The Mayor Asked Chief Prudent What He Would Recommend. Chief Prudent Stated That If Its Posted No Four Wheelers Or Side By Sides We Can Charge Them With Criminal Trespass To Government Supported Property. We Don’t Want To Have To Take Those Actions, But If They Can’t Respect Property And Guidelines Then We Will Do What We Have To Do. Mayor Jordan Stated We Need To Put That On The Sign And Hopefully That Will Detour Them. I Don’t Know That There Is Any Way To Stop Them From Getting In Because It’s A Field You Can Just Drive Around Go Down 300 Ft And Cut Into The Woods And Your Back In There Again. Hopefully With These Signs That Will Detour Them; My Fear Is They Will Just Tear The Signs Down. If It Continues To Happen We Will Set Up A Sting Operation Out There One Weekend And Round Them Up. Chief Prudent States That They Have Done That In The Past. Commissioner Warren Stated That What These Riders Are Doing Out There Is Just So Bad For The Dam.
Mayor Jordan Stated The Other Issue Is Duck Hunting At The Old Lake. The Duck Hunters Want To Be Cognizant That It’s A Lake And People Fish On It, But They Want The Fisherman To Be Aware That There Is Duck Hunting. I Don’t Know If You Want To Go Out There On November 14th And Fish But People With 6 Blinds And 4-5 People In Each One With Shotguns. So What They Are Asking Is That Closing The Lake To Fishing During Hunting Season, They Don’t Feel Like They Can Do That. But They Want People To Know When They Load Their Boat At The Boat Ramp To Know That We Are Out Here Hunting. So We Need To Put Some Signs Up That Says Duck Season Runs From November 14th To January 31st And That The People In Those Blinds Are Going To Be Shooting Ducks. So They Can Try To Stay Away From That Area. That Was The Lake Committees Recommendation. So Anybody Have An Objection With That? With The Cities Permission We Will Have Those Signs Put Up There. Rest Of The Stuff From That Meeting Can Wait Until Spring; Like Lowering The Lake.
15.Commissioner Comments:
Commissioner Harkins Stated The Police And Fire Department Are Doing Fine. They Have A New Guy That Will Be A Lateral Transfer. He Asked Chief Prudent How Long It Would Actually Be Before They Could Turn Him Lose. Chief Prudent Stated That He Will Start After He Gives Energy His Two Weeks Notice. We Are Hoping That He Can Be On His Own We Just Have To Get Him Acculated To Our Computer System And Geography. Commissioner Simpson Asked Will That Bring Your Staff Up To Proper Level? Chief Prudent We Will Still Be At Least One Short When Don Fort Leaves That Basically Will Put Us Right Back To Where We Are Right Now Which Is Still One Short With The Loss Of Dustin.
Commissioner Simpson Stated He Had Nothing To Report But Can’t Wait To Hear About Commissioner Stanleys Report.
Commissioner Stanley Said The Guys Have Done A Really Great Job Uptown At The Greenspace. They Are Keeping Busy And Have A Lot Going On Right Now, They Are All Doing A Fine Job, He Thinks.
Commissioner Warren Stated Sewer And Water Guys Are All Working Good. Everything Is Fine, And She Just Wants To Remind Everyone That It’s The Trail Of Treats And Trick Or Treating Coming Up And Do It Carefully. Commissioner Simpson Asked If We Were Still Going Forward With The Trail Of Treats Even Though We’ve Moved Into Phase 3? Commissioner Warren Said Last She Heard They Were. She Hasn’t Heard Anything Else. The Mayor Stated The Cities Position Was That If You Want To Have It And You’re A Merchant You Can Have It. We Weren’t Going To Stop Them From Having It. As Far As He Knows They’ve Contacted The City Hall And They Still Want To Have It. Just Be Careful Stated Warren.
16. Audience Questions Or Comments: None Tonight
17. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 6:40 P.M.
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