City of West Frankfort City Council met July 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 July 13th, 2021 Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. 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 $289,539.11. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
4. The Next Item Was Approval To RLF/DCEO Grant Award. Mr. Roberts Stated That This Week We Were Authorized To Make The Award To Samron Midwest Contracting. 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 An Ordinance Authorizing The Leasing Of A Specific Areas Of The West Frankfort Mall. Sloan's Gymnastics And Dance Studio; Mary Kutcosky Has Asked To Lease What Would Have Been The Old Bridal Shop Across From Dr. Nolens Office. The Lease Is For 3,790 Square Feet And Additional 544 Feet Of Storage. The Lease Is For $1,750 A Month, It Is A One Year Lease. They Will Pay The First Months Rent Plus A Month Deposit. Lease Starts On August 1st. She Is Just Expanding. She Will Have Three Separate Dance Studios. 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. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Authorizing The Fourth Amendment To Lease To WPS Health Solutions At The West Frankfort Mall. This Is Just An Extension Of The Lease They Previously Had For A Fourth Year. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
7. Approval Of An Ordinance Authorizing The Leasing Of 228 E. Main Street. Kyle And Rachel Webb Have Brought In A Business Plan And They Would Like To Take That Space And Turn It Into A Retail Space. They Would Like To Call It Jefferson And Main. We Acquired Four Buildings In A Bankruptcy, We Will Fix That Building Up And Bring It Up To Code. City Will Lease The Building And After A Year They Would Purchase The Building From Us. We Are Going To Fix The A/C And Heat, Upgrade Electrical Service, Fix The Water Hookup And Bathrooms. This Cost Will Be Added To The Price Of The Building. In Return They Will Pay Us $250.00 A Month And Will Sign A One Year Lease. Mr. Webb Stated That It Will Have And Old Time Feel With A Bit Of Nostalgia. We Would Like To Get A Mural Painted On The Jefferson Street Side Of The Business. It Will Look Like Some Of The Businesses On The Benton Square. It Will Be A 1940's, 1950's With Candles, Home Goods, Produce All Products Will Be Local Or From Southern Illinois Businesses. We Will Also Have A Laser Engraver Printer So We Will Be Able To Customize Anything From Cutting Boards, Glass, Acrylic. Eventually A Small Counter For Food And Ordering Sandwiches. Commissioner Simpson Asked What Their Target Date To Open Is. Mr. Webb Stated It Will Be A Couple Of Months To Get Everything Up To Code. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
8. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing The Hiring Of A Police Officer For The West Frankfort Police Department. Chief Prudent Stated We Have A Couple Of Vacancies In The Department Due To Retirement Or Other Jobs. I Would Like To Ask The Council To Appoint Dylan Jeffords To The Department. He Is Currently A Sargent In The National Guard. His Brother Jessie Works For The Fire Department. He Has Been Coming In On His Own Time To Ride Along To Get A Feel For The Job. He Lives In Town And Is Married. He Wants To Be Apart Of The Community. He Also Has The Approval Of The Merit Board. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
The Mayor Stated We Still Have One More Opening In The Department; Correct? Chief Prudent Stated Yes, And That He Received An Application From Someone Wanting To Make A Lateral Transfer, We Are Completing The Background Check He Would Be Someone That Has The Training So All We Would Have To Do Is Bring Him In Get Him The Clothing Allowance And Get Him Uniformed Up To Work. With The Councils Position I Would Like To Move Forward With The Hiring Of Him. The Mayor Stated That Finish The Background Check And Then Next Council Meeting We Will Take A Vote. Commissioner Simpson Asked Why Would He Want To Leave One Agency To Come Here? Chief Prudent Stated We Pay More Money Is The Main Reason. He Currently Works For The Sheriff's Department. The Mayor Stated We Will Get This On The Agenda For Next Council Meeting And Take Action.
9. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding 800 S. Cherry Street. The Mayor Stated We Have A Court Order For Demolition On This Property. Its Address Is 1502 E. Stella. The Plaintiffs Are Deceased, Eventually We Will Take Possession Of It. This Is Just To Approve Demolition. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
10. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding An Interlocal Contract For Cooperative Purchasing For The Fire Department. We Are Looking For An Ambulance And This Company Helps Us Look For What We Are Needing. We Give Them Our Specifications And They Put Out What We Are Looking For And The Bids Come To Them. Chief Allen Stated If We Use It At The End When We Purchase There Will Be A $1,000 Fee For Using Them. All The Cities Around Us Use This Company To Purchase Their Ambulances. The Mayor Stated So This Is A National Corporation That Will Look All Over The United States For These. The Mayor Stated He Wants To Make Sure What The Cost Will Be If They Find Us One But We Can Go Ahead And Approve Moving Forward. Commissioner Harkins 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 For Payment Of Franklin County Real Estate Bills For The City Of West Frankfort. In The Amount Of $93,677.00. We Have A Lot Of Real Estate. We Own The Mall That Is A Retail Space We Profit Off Of, We Have The Methodist Church On Main, Novacare, And The Incubator. We Are Going To Work On Getting Some Of This Lowered. Like This Building Here Should Be Exempt. But Right Now We Need Approval To Send This Check. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
12. The Next Item Was Approval For Payment Of An Invoice From Banner Fire Equipment In The Amount Of $5,594.00 Regarding Hose Tester For The West Frankfort Fire Department. Chief Allen Stated Every Year We Have To Test The Hoses. Its An Electric Motor With Six Ports On It And It Builds Up Pressure To Test The Pumps. If That Hose Burst Someone Has To Be Out There To Shut The Truck Down. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
13. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Contractor's License Application. Western Installations And Logistics Out Of Arugola, Colorado Has Paid A $100.00 For Their License To Work In West Frankfort On The Coffee Shop That Will Be Across From Hardees. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
Commissioner Simpson Stated That Valerie And Jennifer Reed Have Reached Out To Her. They Have A Group Called Wani's Warriors That Was Named After Their Mother Who Passed Away 5 Years Ago. Their Mission Is To Carry On Their Mother's Passion Of Helping Others In Need, Especially Children. They Have Raised Money Each Year To Help Under Privileged Children At Christmas Time, They Hold An Open House At Their House Every Year Asking For Donations To See Christmas Decorations In Their Home. In 2019 They Helped 12 Families And In 2020 They Helped 20 Families. This Year They Have Been Told Their Will Be More Children In Need. They Would Like To Hold A Gospel Sing At The Methodist Church We Own To Help Raise Money For Needy Children In The Area. All The Money Raised Will Go To The Children. They Are Not Hiring Singers: But Local People Are Donating Their Talents For The Show. They Have Offered To Clean It Up Themselves In Exchange For Using The Building To Raise This Money. This Is The Church Next To Sonic. They Mayor And Council All Agreed And Think It Is A Great Idea.
14. Mayors Comments: Stated He Really Does Not Have Anything To Report This Week. Someone Is Coming Tomorrow To Look At The Stoplight At Jefferson And Main. It Cycles Back And Forth, It Used To Change When You Pull Up On It But There Is A Delay That Needs Fixed.
Commissioner Harkins Stated He Is Thankful That We Are Getting The Much Needed Police Officers For The Department And Welcomed Dylan Jeffords To The Team. The Fire Department Is Moving Right Along Chief Allen Keeps Things Going There. For A Little Town We Stay Busy And As Always Doing A Great Job Keeping Everything Under Control.
Commissioner Simpson Stated That She Already Spoke Earlier About Helping Out Wani's Warriors.
Commissioner Stanley Stated That The Streets, Alleys, Ditches, Sidewalks We Are Staying Busy.
Commissioner Warren Stated Water And Sewer Is Doing Fine, Working Hard.
15.Audience Questions Or Comments:
Mrs. Dragovich Would Like To Thank Commissioner Stanley For His Help When She Was Cleaning Out Some Ditches In Her Area That Are Not Hers. It Had A Bunch Of Branches And Junk Piled Up It In And She Did Not Have To Call To Ask Them To Come Get Them Mess.
16. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 6:37 P.M.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WnNfUnhYoMwbVwzmVoRxAHLKgUw-6v1fAnFZmAiRe8c/edit
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