City of West Frankfort City Council met Aug. 10.
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 Deputy City Clerk. The City Attorney And City Clerk Were Absent.
2. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The July 27th, 2021 Council Meeting And August 5th, 2021 Special 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 $245,485.38. 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 Of A Resolution Appointing Lucas Lingle As An Emergency 60 Day Employee Of The West Frankfort Fire Department, Chief Allen Stated He Would Like To Apologize I Sent This To Get It On The Agenda. We Have An Opening, Because On The First We Were Not Done With Our Merit Board Testing. Lucas Was Number One On Our List I Would Like To Hire Him Full Time Tonight If We Can. He Has Done Everything We Asked Of Him, He Is In Paramedic School Right Now. I Would Like To Hire Him Full Time Since We Have An Opening And Once This 60 Days Are Over, We Are Going To Hire Him Full Time Anyways; So, We Might As Well Do It Now. The Mayor Asked Mr. Sailliez Of The Merit Board If The Board Was Ok With This And He Stated "Yes". The Mayor Stated That We Need To Make A Motion To Hire Him Full Time, And Apologized For His Family Not Being Here For The Meeting But Stated We Can Do It All Again At The Next Meeting If Need Be, Commissioner Harkins 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 Resolution Authorizing The Hiring Of An Employee For The City Of West Frankfort. This Will Be A Staff Position For The Office And This Person's Name Is Thad Snell, He Is Going To Be A Staff Person. If You Notice On #7 You Will Notice We Are Going To Talk About Amending The Municipal Code, Mr. Riva Isn’t Here Tonight So We Do Not Have That Ordinance. The Mayor Stated We Need Him Here In The Office; Then We Will Change The Code And After Two Weeks We Will Make Him The Codes Enforcement Officer. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
6. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Revised MFT Municipal Estimate. Mr. Roberts Stated We Are Just Adding 10' Corrugated Pipe. We Can't Spend Any Money Without IDOT Git First, Commissioner Stanley 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 Discussion, Was Approval Of An Ordinance Amending The West Frankfort Municipal Code Chapter 2.64. This Ordinance Was For The Codes Department As Stated Earlier; We Are Going To Change It. This Item Was Tabled Until The Next Meeting Due To The City Attorney Not Being Present With The Ordinance.
The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Purchase Of Allmax Software For The Sewer Department, Commissioner Warren Stated We Need Some New Software For The Waste Water Treatment Plant. It Will Be Easier To Collect Data And Keep Track Of Everything. The Mayor Stated It's A Single User And The Price Of The Software Is $4,150.00 And A $935.00 For Support. Commissioner Warren 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 Discussion, Was Approval To Enter Into A Planned Equipment Maintenance Agreement With Cummins Sales And Service In The Amount Of $2,410.90 Per Year Regarding The Generator At City Hall. The Mayor Stated This Will Be A Maintenance Agreement They Will Come Change The Oil, Batteries, And Fuel Twice A Year. They Will Do (3) Three Inspections And On The Fourth A Complete Service On It. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
10. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown & Roberts In The Amount Of $16,530.00 Regarding Design Engineering For The Revolving Loan Fund Closeout Program. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
11. The Next Item Was Approval Pay An Invoice From Brown & Roberts In The Amount Of $5,947.76 Regarding Grant Administration For The Revolving Loan Fund Closeout Program. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
12. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Ferrell Electric In The Amount Of $3,239.61 Regarding Replacing Bay Lights In Suites 24 And 25 For The WFBI. The Mayor Stated The Led High Bay Lights With 100% Rebate From Ameren. Remove All Current Lights, Of Which Many Were Burned Out But Transformers Still Pulling Power. Ameren Paid For The Lights At 100% At A Cost Of $6,061.28. WFBI Was Responsible For Removal, Labor And Lift Rental To Install The New Ones. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, 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 Greater Egypt In The Amount Of $2,045.50 Which Represents The Annual Appropriation Rate. The Mayor Stated This Is Determined By Our Census A Fee We Pay To Them For Grants Etc. It's A Bill For That. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, 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 An Invoice From Johnson's Auto And Truck Repair In The Amount Of $1,618.43 Which Represents Repairs To Q-1 For The West Frankfort Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins 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 Transfer Lake Lot #001 From David L. Adams To Zachary Hostetter. They Are Selling The Lot And Have Went Through The Proper Channels. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
16.Officer's Report ~ Fire Report For The Month Of July 2021. Chief Allen Reported They Had 193-Ambulance Calls, 3- Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 1- Brush/Field Fires, 3 Motor Vehicle Accidents, 7 Fire Alarms, O Vehicle Fires, 7 Fire Emergency; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down), O Structure Fire And 1 Smoke Scare. 8 Mutual Aid Calls. And 1- Elevator Emergency. For A Total Of 224 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 31,500 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $27,313.21 For Ambulance Calls.
Police Report For The Month Of July 2021. Chief Prudent Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 1,027 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 18 Were Traffic Accidents, 1 With Injury. Officers Responded To 32 Domestic Disputes, 6 Fights In Progress, 12 Alarms, 2 Intoxicated Persons, 6 Burglaries, 9 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 17 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 18 Reported Thefts, And 67 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. 42 Street Contacts.
Officers Conducted 102 Traffic Stops, Issued 45 Citations, 81 Warnings, And 5 LW-27's. There Were 41 Adult Arrests Made And 6 Juvenile Arrests, Resulting In 69 Criminal Charges Filed.
Dispatchers Answered 1,288 Calls. Of Those, 711 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 95 Were Walk In Requests. 1,027 Were For Police, 224 Were For West Frankfort Fire, 15 Were For Thompsonville Fire/Ems, And 9 Were For Abbott Ems, And 1 For United Ambulance. And For The Month Of June, We Collected $1,435.00 In Fines And Fees.
Codes Report For The Month Of July~Was Not Available Due To Position Being Vacant.
17. Building And Sign Permits ~ We Received One Building Permit For A Garage For Bruce & Brenda McLaren. 1600 E. Charles In West Frankfort They Are Going To Build A Garage. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
18.Mayor's Report ~The Mayor Stated He Is Just Happy That Things Are Going As Well As They Are. He Appreciates All The Employees And Office Staff We've Been Down On Staff Because People Are Sick And On Vacation. Everyone Has Helped Fill In The Gap. The Moreland's Are Opening Up Ollies At Kmart Plaza I Believe They Are Hoping To Be Open By The End Of October. They Are Going To Take Half Of The Kmart Plaza And They Have Some Really Good Prospects For Filling Up The Other Half. Also, They Are Moving Dollar Tree To The Former CVS Building; Which Is A Bigger Building. Nicole Moreland Called Me And Maybe By Christmas That Whole Strip Mall Will Be Full. We Have Had Some People Rent Out Space In The West Frankfort Mall. We Have A School That Is Going In Out There; Dream Academy Who Has 40 Children Enrolled In Classes. We Also Rented A Portion To Sloan's Dance Studio They Are Keeping Their Original Location For Gymnastics But Need This Second Location For The Dance Studio. This Is A Positive For Us.
19. Commissioner Comments:
Commissioner Harkins Stated That He Is Very Happy To Have Lucas Lingle Full Time. The Guys Are Always Doing A Good Job. Chief Allen And Prudent Always Keep Things Running Smoothly.
Commissioner Simpson Stated That She Is Just Glad To Be A Part Of The Council And Impressed With All The Progress West Frankfort Is Making.
Commissioner Stanley Stated That The Street Guys Are Staying Really Busy. Trimming Trees, Doing Sidewalks, They Are Doing A Great Job In All This Humidity.
Commissioner Warren Stated The Sewer And Water Has Been Doing Fine. No Problems That I Have Heard Of. Schools Starting On Friday And I Would Just Like To Remind Everyone To Be Careful Because Kids Are Out There Crossing Roads, On Bicycles, Walking To School And The Buses Will Be Running.
20. Audience Questions Or Comments:
Vernell Starrick Stated He Lives On Worden Street And Has Lived Here All His Life. He Is Not Happy With The Police And How They Are Not Pulling Over People With Backpacks. Because We All Have Seen Them Go Into A Specific House And Come Back Out 15 Seconds Later. They Aren’t Doing Online Schooling. We Know They Are Running Drugs. But They Did Pull Him Over Once, When He Was Out Looking For His Niece After Driving Past A Drug House. He Questioned Why If The Police Knew It Was A Drug House Why Can't They Do Something To Get It Shut Down. He Stated The City Of Herrin Pulls People Over On Bicycles With Back Packs When The Don't Use The Correct Signals While Riding Bikes. The Mayor Stated We Know That No One Likes These People On Bibyles We Know They Are Up To No Good, While He Appreciates Mr. Starricks Comments Said We Have Civil Liberties, We Can't Profile People On A Bicycle With A Back Pack. The Mayor Also Stated There Are A Lot Of Problems In West Frankfort That We Are Trying To Deal With. You Are One Person Of A Long List Of People Who Come In And Call On A Daily Basis.
We Are Getting To Them One At A Time. It Takes Time When You Have So Many Complaints. The Mayor Invited Mr. Starrick To Stay After The Meeting And Talk. Isabelle Heyder Stated That I Don't Care If I Get Stopped By The Police Anytime, If I Was Coming From A Drug House I Don't Care If They Stop Me. Chief Prudent Stated I Will Address That Real Quick. People Have Constitutional Rights And We Can Not Just Violate Those Rights. When We Make That Initial Stop, We Have A Process That We Have In Place. We Can Not Just Illegally Search Back Packs. We Can Ask Mind If I Look In Your Bag But If They Say No, We Have To Leave It Alone.
21. 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/1Ch63i_Xp7sqYqeWknEoEzLq-RcI9Rd_Y02W377wDaik/edit
Alerts Sign-up