City of West Frankfort City Council Met April 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. Commissioner Simpson Attended By Zoom Call.
2. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The March 23rd, 2021 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 $253,116.16. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
4. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Acceptance Of Bids For The Purchase Of Property Deemed As Surplus.
John And Linda Sturgeon He Lives At 603 East Oak And Placed A Bid On 706 East Oak Of $1100.00. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
Next Was Roy Gaskin Who Lives At 604 N Hughes. Who Has Placed A Bid Of $2000.00 For Two Lots At 601 And 603 Palmer Street. He Says The Property Borders His Yard; He Has Been Mowing And Taking Care Of These For The Last Several Years. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
5. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing Hiring Of A Firefighter For The West Frankfort Fire Department, Chief Allen Stated With Council's Approval We Would Like To Hire Jeremy Lingle. He Started Working For Us In May 2018 As A Paid On-Call. In January 2019 He Completed His Emt Basic And He Came In To Help Fill A Temporary Appointment For Us In June. He Passed His State Board Test In September 2020 As A Paramedic. It Is Chief Allen's Recommendation To Hire Mr. Lingle As A Full Time Paramedic. The Mayor Stated He Just Wanted To Thank Him For Helping Out When We Needed Him And Thanked His Family For Allowing Him To Be A Part Of The Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
6. Next Was Discussion With Possible Action, Regarding Entering Into A Multi-Jurisdictional Task Force Interagency Agreement With The Southern Illinois Drug Task Force. Chief Prudent Stated About 4 Years Ago We Entered Into The Drug Task Force As A Contributing Agency. We Were Approached Around 3-4 Weeks Ago To Receive $51,600.00 In Grant Funds. With Those Funds We Could Do A Direct Hire Into The Task Force Or We Could Put Someone In From Our Agency Then Backfill That Position Within The Police Department. Im Asking That We Enter Into This Agreement And Place Officer Clint Willis Into The Drug Task Force As An Inspector. Then Utilize These Grant Funds To Fill The Position That Is Going To Be Vacant. The Mayor Stated He Met With The Drug Task Force Brandon Troviac. What The Drug Task Force Does It Is An Interagency Headed By The Illinois State Police And We Are Going To Give Them One Of Our Officers, He Will Work For Them. The City Has A Memorandum Of Understanding With The F.O.P. There Are Certain Things In The Union Contract Since Mr. Willis Will Be Working With The Illinois State Police, We Have To Get Worked Out. The Mayor Stated That It Is Sad That West Frankfort Has Such An Issue With Drugs. I Think This Will Help Our Community Since Mr. Willis Knows Our Town And Will Be Working All Over The Entire Region. Chief Prudent Stated That This Is A Force Multiplier, Now We Will Be Able To Make One Phone Call And Have Five Or Six Extra Bodies To Help Investigate. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
7. The Next Item Was A Resolution Authorizing The Hiring Of A Police Officer For The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated That Since Clint Willis Will Be Going On The Task Force There Will Be An Opening That Needs To Be Filled. Chief Prudent Stated That We Are Already Under Staffed Due To Recent Losses To Other Departments. It Is His Recommendation That We Hire Derick Jordan. He Is Second On Our List; We Have Dillon Jeffers That Was First On The List Who Does Not Have Police Experience. Derick Jordan Does Have Police Experience. His Suggestion Is To Hire Derick Jordan Immediately, He Is A Certified Law Enforcement Officer That Has Been Working With The Sesser Police Department. He Is From Here In Town. He Has Shown Great Interest In Working With Us And For Us. I Would Recommend Hiring Derick Jordan Immediately And Then Hire Dillon Once We Get An Academy Spot. The Mayor Asked; So This Is A Recommendation From The Merit Board And Chief Prudent? Chief Prudent Stated "Yes". Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
8. The Next Item Was Authorization To Purchase Equipment In The Amount Of $6,440.00 For The Fire Department To Be Reimbursed Through An Idph Grant. Chief Allen Stated This Was A Grant That Gary Little Wrote. I Think Gary Needs Recognition For All The Work He Does On These Grants For The Fire Department. He Is Very Good At It. We Were Notified About Approval Of This Grant That Will Allow Us To Get Ultra Violet Scanners And A Fogger For Ambulance Equipment. The Chief Stated The City Will Pay For It And Be Reimbursed By Idph. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
9. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Duke's Root Control, Inc. In The Amount Of $5,162.87 For The Sewer Department. They Have Gone Thru Approx. 3200 Feet Of Sewer Line That Has Been Treated To Keep The Roots Out. Commissioner Warren 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 Of Contractor's Pay Estimate #5 To Wiggs Excavating, Inc. In The Amount Of $66,098.02 For The Monroe Street Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
11. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Construction Engineering Bill #4 To Brown And Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $6,384.11 For The Monroe Street Sanitary Sewer Rehabilitation Project. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
12.Approval To Transfer Lake Lot #14 From Scott And Tammy Moran To Tricia & Brendan Taylor; Amy Beck & Andy St. Clair; And Justin & Abby Flowers. The Mayor Also Wanted To Add That We Are Also Extending The Lease On This To December 2057. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve.
13. Approval To Take Action On Today We Reached A Settlement With One Of Our Former Employees. Our Insurance Company Settled A Federal Lawsuit Which Includes An Agreement That The Employee Will Have A Confidentiality And Non-Disparaging Agreement And The City Agrees To Provide A Neutral Reference. Each Side Will Pay Their Own Attorney Fees. The Mayor Needs A Motion To Approve And Consent To This Agreement. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve.
14.Building And Sign Permits ~
The Mayor Stated We Have A Building Permit For Mike's Drive-In. They Had A Fire And Are Rebuilding. The Estimated Cost For This Is $322,000.00. They Are Hoping To Have It Open By The End Of May 2020. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve.
15. Officer's Report -
Fire Report For The Month Of March 2021. Chief Allen Reported They Had 161-Ambulance Calls, 2- Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 3- Brush/Field Fires, 2 Motor Vehicle Accidents, 3 Fire Alarm, 1 Vehicle Fire, 2 Fire Emergency, (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down), 1 Structure Fire And O Smoke Scares. O Mutal Aid Calls. For A Total Of 175 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 45,000 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $57,418.41 For Ambulance Calls.
Police Report For The Month Of March 2021. Chief Prudent Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 1,111 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 13 Were Traffic Accidents, 1 With Injury. Officers Responded To 38 Domestic Disputes, 5 Fights In Progress, 23 Alarms, O Intoxicated Persons, 10 Burglaries, 14 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 12 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 19 Reported Thefts, And 75 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. 36 Street Contacts. Officers Conducted 121 Traffic Stops, Issued 26 Citiations, 110 Warnings, And 7 Lw-27's. There Were 43 Adult Arrests Made And 4 Juvenile Arrests, Resulting In 70 Criminal Charges Filed. Dispatchers Answered 1,295 Calls. Of Those, 695 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 103 Were Walk In Requests. 1,111 Were For Police, 200 Were For West Frankfort Fire, 15 Were For Thompsonville Fire/Ems, And 9 Were For Abbott Ems, And O For United Ambulance. And For The Month Of March, We Collected $2,200.00 In Fines And Fees.
Codes Report For The Month Of March 2 Building Permits Were Issued, O Sign Permits. Rental Properties- 2 New Rental Properties, 7 Rental Inspections, Complaints-69 Nuisance Complaint Phone Calls, 12 Nuisance Letters Mailed, 61 Nuisance Complaints Resolved. Buildings-4 Occupancy Prohibited Signs Posted, 4 Dangerous & Burned Out Buildings Identified, 38 Danderous & Burned Out Buildings In Progress, 2 Dangerous & Burned Out Buildings Demolished, O Files Given To Attorney O Fast Track. Vehicles-8 Inoperable/Abandoned Vehicles Letters Mailed, 8 Inoperable/Abandoned Vehicles Resolved. O Citations Given,
16. Mayor's Report ~
The Mayor Stated That He Would Like To Congratulate Jerry Harkins On Being Crowned Mr. Old King Coal This Past Saturday, Mr. Harkins Stated It Was Really An Honor To Be Selected. The Mayor Stated That He Thinks It's A Great Deal That Its A Really Big Part Of Franklin County. The Old King Coal Will Start May 13-15th. Tomorrow Is Our First Chamber Meeting In Over A Year, So It Will Be Great To Get Together Again.
The Mayor Stated He Is Looking Forward To The Future Of West Frankfort. We Are Annexing Some Property For Blazing Trail Bbq; Owner Ryan Purcell Into City Limits. Its Across The Street From Crownline, Mr. Purcell Is Working On A Plat Map; The Water Department Is Getting Some Lines Hooked Up.
I Also Want To Thank All The Departments For Being So Patient In The Last Year; Our Revenue Has Changed With The Loss Of Vanity Fair And From Covid. We Had Been Putting Things On Hold And Some Of These Hires Have Been Delayed A Little Bit, So I Appreciate Everyone Being Patient.
The Mayor Also Stated The Office Staff And The Water Department Are Working On A Program And For So Long We Weren't Able To Shut Anyones Water Off Because Of Covid. This Month We Have Reached Out To All Our Past Due Customers To Get Their Accounts Up To Current; This Is A Payment Plan Payable Thru Paycliks. They Do Our Debit And Credit Card Billing And Have Agreed To Take On This Task Of Setting Up Payments With Our Customers To Get Them Up To Date. They Get Up To A Year To Make Payments But They Have To Set Them Up With Payclix Or They Will Be Shut Off On April 26th, We Are Trying To Give The Customers A Longer Period Of Time To Get Caught Up. They Can Contact The Office Here For The Number And Web Address To Make Arrangements.
17.Commissioner Comments:
Commissioner Harkins Stated He Is Very Happy To Welcome Jeremy And Derick To The Departments. Welcome Aboard, And To The Team. They Are A Good Bunch Of Guys. The Police And Fire Department Has Been Staying Busy. You All Are At The Top Of My List.
Commissioner Simpson Via Zoom Stated He Is Just Glad We Have Started Replacing Some Of The Police And Firemen Who Have Left. Its His Hope To Continue To Get Them Up To Full Strength In Those Departments.
Commissioner Stanley Stated They Have A Couple Guys Off But They Are Getting A Lot Done With The Man Power We Have. The Guys Are Working Hard Marking Julie's And Keeping Up With Demands Of The Upcoming Road Project. They Are Working On The Dirt On The Main Street Green Space For Grass To Get It All Planted As Well.
Commissioner Warren Stated The Water And Sewer Has Been Busy Trying To Clear Out Roots To Keep The Water Running. The Guys Are Doing A Good Job.
18. Audience Questions Or Comments:
Brian Carol Of 606 N Lincoln Stated That In The 700 Block Of N. Lincoln There Is A Construction Company There. In The Past Year They Have Purchased Additional Property At The End Of 600 Block Of Lincoln And Its Kind Of Gotten Out Of Control. The Mayor Asked Is This Down By The Football Field? Mr. Carol Stated “Yes". We Aren't Anti Business But We Are Pro Residential And We Would Just Like It To Be Cleaned Up. According To Our Zoning Laws, We've Checked Those Laws And There Has Been A Presidence Set Before With A Local Business; Mike Davis Being Asked To Move His Business To East Of Town To Make His Pallets. We Are Just Asking For The Same Consideration. The Mayor Asked Are They Doing Construction Work There Or Manufacturing? Or Are They Just Storing Their Equipment There? Mr. Carol Stated No They Have A Home, Tool Shed Or Pole Barn On His Property. To My Understanding Under The Codes That's Legal. But Two Houses Down And Across 6th Street; He Has Purchased Another Lot And There Is Bricks, Rock Piles, Debris, And Trucks Parked On The Football Side Of The Field. Its Just Getting Out Of Hand. The Mayor Asked Have You Talked To C.W. Stilley About This? Mrs. Carol Stated That She Has And He Hasn't Wanted To Do Anything About It. She Stated Its Making It Where You Can't Access 6th Street, The Rock In The Road Is Covering Up Half The Road And Making It Flood, They Also Have A Pile A Dirt In His Neighbors Yard She Is An Elderly Lady That Is Also Making It Flood. I've Talked With Her Daughter Linda Filkins About It And He Did Not Get Permission To Put That Dirt In Her Yard. The Mayor Asked Can I Get Your Phone Number So I Can Set Up An Appointment With You All To Sit Down And Discuss This? Mrs. Carol Stated 937-0567 Was Her Number. The Mayor Said Thank You And We Will Be In Touch To See If We Can Help Out.
Next Was Robert Burkett, He Lives On 5th Street. Stated Two Weeks To The Day While I Was At Work, I Had Officers Break Into My House. They Have Traumatized My Animals For One, My German Shepard Who Was Always Friendly Towards People Is Now Aggressive Towards People. My Other Dog Was Let Outside. You All Paid For The Damages; But Yet The Girl That Was On The Phone Didn't Ask Enough Questions. I Have A Touch Pad On My Door, Why Weren't More Questions Be Asked? Currently There Were Weapons On The Property, Was Not Re-Secured And An Officer Was Not There Someone Could Of Just Walked Into My House And Took Everything I Have. If It Wasn't For The Security Cameras I Would Of Never Known This Happened, No Note Was Left, I Was Left In The Dark Besides What Was On My Cameras. I Think There Should Have Been More Training And Something More Should Have Been Done. I Should Have Been Contacted; But My Property Was Left Defenseless. Chief Prudent Stated That He Would Be Glad To Sit Down And Talk With Him About That. He Stated At The Time The Call Came In We Got Very Little Information, It Was Reported As An Overdose, Captain Sailliez From The Fire Department Was There So He Has More Information. Captain Sailliez Stated That They Were Called It Was A Mental Subject Possibly Suicide Safety Beung Involved, So That Took Priority Over Securing. Our End Of Leaving Your Property Unsecured Has Been Addressed. But At The Same Time We Have Made Every Effort To Make It Right. I Would Be More Than Happy To Sit Down With The Council And You And Talk About It More In Depth. The Mayor Asked For Roberts Phone Number 618-513-9922. The Mayor Stated On Behalf Of The City They Were Responding To What They Thought They Had, I Was Notified Later That We Had A Door To Repair. Have We Made Repairs To Your Property The Mayor Asked? Robert Replied "They Have", But Like I Said I Had A Touch Pad Door And If They Had Someone On The Line, I Don't Understand Why Questions Weren't Asked To Get Thru The Door Instead Of Busting Thru It. Chief Prudent Stated All We Had Was The Address And Information Of Pills, And Someone Could Possibly Be Dying. The Mayor Said I Apologize For What Happened And We Will Be Glad To Sit Down With You After This.
Isabelle Heyder Wants To Know Whats Going On With 2003 East Elm. Stated She Sent Angie Baker Deaton Pictures. The Codes Enforcement Officer Has Never Stepped Foot Out Of His Truck. He Did Finally Take A Sign And Put It Up On The House. The Mayor Asked If This Was The Lady That Was Taken Off And Is In A Nursing Home? Mrs. Heyder Stated She Is Not As Upset With The Way That It Looked, But The Fact That Nothing Was Ever Done Before. But That We Had An Elderly, Disabled Lady Living There; That They Knew She Wasn't Safe There When The Guys Had To Go In There And Get Her Out. She Could Of Died In There. Our Codes Enforcement Wouldn't Get Out Of The Truck To Smell The House To See How Bad It Was. From What I Understand There Were 8 Live Cats And 3 Dead Cats. The Mayor Asked Was There Some Other State Agency Involved In This Other Than The City? Mrs. Dragovich Said She Contacted Shawnee Alliance And The Police Department. The Owner Is At Westside Right Now. Commissioner Stanley Said That The Issue Was Is People Were Trying To Help Her, But The Owner Of The House Refused The Help And Said She Was Fine. Mrs Dragovich Agreed With Commissioner Stanley She Wouldn't Let Anyone Help Her. Mrs. Heyder Also Stated She Had No Running Water Or A Furnace She Was Running Space Heaters To Heat The Place. The Mayor Stated This Is A Very Complex Matter, You Can't Take Someone's Home Away From Them When They Say They Are Fine. No Matter What We Think Of The Way They Live They Have Civil Rights And We Can't Just Take A Home Away From Someone. The Mayor Stated You Might Try To Get Bi-County Health Involved.
Mrs. Dragovich Asked If Anyone Has Reported Dogs Or Puppies Missing? Because Her Daughter Works At Casey's East And Keeps Finding Dogs Dumped In Their Trash Cans Outside The Building. Chief Prudent Replied Not To His Knowledge. But Would Check Into It.
19. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 6:43 P.M.
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