City of West Frankfort City Council met June 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.
2. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The June 8th, 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 $236,462.65. Commissioner Warren 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 Approval Of A Liquor License Application From Yaneth Saldana; Lafiesta. The Mayor Stated That He Would Note That On The Application It Asks If You're An American Citizen And This Lady Is Not, But Is In The Process Of Having It Done. I Do Want To Note That I Did Call The Illinois LIQ Commission And That Is Not A Requirement To Get A Liquor License. Her Background Check Came Back Ok And I Would Recommend That We Go Ahead And Approve This. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
5. The Next Item Was Approval To Re-Appoint A Trustee, From The City Of West Fankfort, Of The Rend Lake Conservancy District Which Term Will Expire June 30, 2021. The Mayor Stated This Is A Re-Appointment For Paul Lawrence. He Has Served Since Don Lucas Passed Away, And Served Us 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.
6. Approval To Accept Offers For Purchase Of Lots Deemed As Surplus Property. We Have A Bid Of $ 1010.00 For A Lot That Is At 714 North Hughes. Larry Hughes And Benjamin Lee Nichols Sr Are The Ones Wishing To Purchase It. They Live At 802 North Hughes. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
7. The Next Item Was Approval To Accept Offers For Demolition. These Are Old Houses That Need To Be Torn Down. We Have Went Through The Courts And Have Deemed Them To Be Dangerous. We Have A Court Order To Demolish Them But We Do Not Own Them. We Only Have One Bid; It Is From Joplin Salvage; 106 West Elm Is A Bid Of $6,500.00 That Is An Apartment 4 Or 5 Buildings Together. The Other One Is At 1505 East Oak A Bid Of $4,500.00. The Mayor Recommends That We Accept These Bids And Then Later On We Need To Execute. We Will Put A Lien On The Properties For Those Amounts. This Is Just Approval To Accept The Bids. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Mayor Stated As Far As Having Them Torn Down, Will The Demolition Grant Cover These He Asked The City Clerk? Angie Baker Deaton Stated Yes These Will Be Covered Under That. The City Attorney Stated We Have Demolition Orders So There Is No Need To Pause. You Can Go Ahead And Authorize Joplin To Tear Them Down. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
8. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Of Support To Apply To The State Of Illinois For A Community Development Block Grant And Approval For The Mayor And City Clerk To Execute Documents Regarding The Application. The Mayor Stated, We Had A Public Hearing About This Before The Council Meeting. Matt Tosh Stated This Is In Regards To Your Sewage Treatment Plant. EPA Has You Under A Compliance Schedule To Meet Affluiant Disinfection Requirements And You Have Three Years To Get That Complete. There Are Milestones You Have To Do. This Application Is To Start Securing Funding For This. This Will Be Covered In Grant Funds, Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
9. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Appointing Gary Little As A Captain Of The City Of West Frankfort Fire Department. Chief Allen Stated He Would Like To Thank The Merit Board, The Last Two Years They Have Been Working Behind The Scenes To Get All The Testing Done For This Position. With All The Scoring, Gary Little Scored The Highest. He Has Been With The Department For 12 Years This June. He Is A Guy With Many Hats. He Works For EMA, Dispatches For Us And Other Departments. I Would Like To Recommend Him For The Position Of Captain Left Open By Craig Lemmon's Retirement. Commissioner Harkins 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 Discussion With Possible Action, Regarding An Application From Union Funeral Home For Redevelopment Of Certain Property Utilizing Tax Increment Financing Located In The City Of West Frankfort Illinois. The Mayor Stated Mr. Crabtree Of Union Funeral Home Has Interest In The Property Across From Them At 301 E. Oak. They Mayor Has Spoke With The Agency That Has That House But The Situation Has Changed Since His Discussion With The Agency. The Mayor Has Since Found Out That Someone Else Has Submitted A Verbal Offer On The Property. He Was A Contract To Sign; Wanted His Attorney To Look At It But He Has Never Acted On It. Now That He Has Saw Us Up There Looking Into That Property He Has Let Us Know That He Intends To Purchase The Property. His Bid Is $10,000 More Than What We Had Discussed With Mr. Crabtree. There Is A Tax Lien On This Property. The Agency Has Ownership Of The Property. The House Is Unhabitable At This Time, It Has A Lot Of Water Damage, Something Going On With The Basement. It Will Have To Have A Lot Of Repairs Made To It Before It Will Be Allowed To Be Lived In. The City Attorney Stated We Need To Find Out For Sure What The Status Of The Offer Is. If The Potential Buyer Has A Lawyer That's Been In Contact With The Seller; Then The Buyer This Is Making Moves To Purchase It. You Don't Have To Deposit Money To Bind A Contract. You Can Do It In Other Ways Legaly, I Would Be Leery Of Taking Any Action Stated Mr. Riva. This Item Was Tabled With No Action Being Taken.
11. The Next Item Was Approval Of An iepa Funding Nomination Form For The West Frankfort Sewage Treatment Plant Disinfection 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. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Plantscape Nursery In The Amount Of $5,973.77 For The Main Street Beautification Group. The Total Amount Of This Invoice Was Obtained Through Fundraising And Donations To The Main Street Beautification Group. No City Funds Will Be Allocated. Commissioner Warren 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 To Pay An Invoice From The Illinois At Urbana-Champaign In The Amount Of $2,400.00 For Advanced Technician Firefighter NFPA Firefighter Ii. Chief Allen Stated These Guys Were Sent To Firefighter Advanced Training. We Don't Have A Lot Of Man Power And The Young Guys Are Left At The Station By Themselves And They Need This Training. This Class Teaches Them How To Read Smoke Instead Of Just Fighting The Fire. These Are Full Time Guys Going Thru This Training. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
14. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice To Johnson's Auto And Truck Repair In The Amount Of $1,809.52 For Repairs To A-1 Fire Department. Chief Allen Stated The Newest Ambulance Was Making A Noise In The Rear End It Was The Differential Which They Fixed. They Had Looked At The Brakes A Month Or Two Before And They Showed Them To Me They Had To Be Replaced As Well. Commissioner Harkins 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 And Invoice In The Amount Of $3,476.45 To Emergency Reporting For The Fire Department. Chief Allen Stated This Is The Software All Reports Go To. We Use It For Payroll, Logging In Calls, Payments, Inventory, Tracks Every Ambulance Call We Go On, Then All This Information Is Sent To The State. Commissioner Harkins 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 Is Approval To Pay An Invoice In The Amount Of #$2,452.35 For Ladder Testing For The Fire Department. Chief Allen Stated This Is A Bill That The Testing Was Done In November And We Just Received The Invoice. They Test All The Ladders Check The Aerial, Etc. 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.Building And Sign Permits
The First One Is For A Sign For Dollar Tree. It Will Go On The Front Of The Building. The Cost Is $3,841.00 Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve.
H&R Block Has Also Sumbitted A Sign Permit For 400 West Main. $3,244.00 To Put Up A Sign. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve.
18. Mayors Comments:
I Would Like To Say That Thanks To All Our City Workers And Staff. It's A Pleasure To Work With You All. I Really Don't Have Much To Say This Week.
Commissioner Harkins Stated The Guys Are Staying Busy And As Always Doing A Great Job Keeping Everything Under Control.
Commissioner Simpson Would Just Like To Say Since She Has Been On The Inside Track Its Encouraging To See That Some Good Things Are Coming To West Frankfort. I Think Better Days Are Ahead Of Us. Im Encouraged To Know What I Know And To See What I See.
Commissioner Stanley Stated That The Street Department Has Been Pretty Busy. We Ve Been Trying To Get Caught Up On All The Tree's Being Taken Care Of, Lots That We Own Being Mowed, Ditches And Sidewalks Being Taken Care Of. Everyone Is Staying Busy.
Commissioner Warren Stated Water And Sewer Is Doing Well. The New Guy We Hired Is Doing Well. But All The Sewer And Water Guys Are Doing A Great Job.
19. Audience Questions Or Comments:
Mary Ellen Maragni Would Like To Say The WF Museum Will Be Opening Back Up In August 4th, 2021. They Would Like To Thank The City Of West Frankfort For Financially Helping With Some Of The Repairs Needed To Keep The 100-Year-Old Museum Building And Military Museums Open. The New Roof Was Much Needed. They Have Made Several Updates Throughout The Museum. New Flooring, Painting Of The Walls, Etc. They Will Be Opening Back Up For Lunch On Wednesday As Well, In August. She Would Like To See The Grounds Of The Museum Used More For Weddings, Gatherings, Etc.
Another Lady In Attendance Said She Would Like To Thank The Street Workers Not Only Do They Get The Job Done, But They Are Polite And Do A Great Job.
The Mayor Stated That Before We End This Meeting, We Need To Announce That We Are Going To Have A Special Meeting On Thursday June 24, 2021 At 4 Pm. We Had Some Bid Openings For The Sidewalks We Need To Talk About. Also, An Agreement With Dream Academy Schools To Lease The Old Bonworth Location In The Wf Mall.
Also, The Bids For The Janitorial Duties For City Hall And Police Department Have Been Extended And We Will Be Excepting Them Until July 13th, 2021.
20.With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 6:51 P.M.
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