City of West Frankfort City Council met July 28.
Here are 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. The City Attorney And City Clerk Were Also Present.
2. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The July 12th, 2022 Regular 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 $229,035.82. 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 Demolition Of Certain Properties. We Only Received A Bid From One Person, Joplin Salvage Bid $9,000.00 For 1810 E. Poplar Due To The Removal Of House, Garage, Full Basement And Inground Pool. Joplin Also Bid $5,000.00 For 410 E. Elm Which Has Removal Of House Carport, And Basement. Joplin Also Bid On 613 N. Jefferson For Removal Of House, Garage And Concrete. The Mayor Suggests Accepting All The Bids From Joplin Salvage. Commissioner Simpson 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 Advertise For Bids For The Demolition Of 1908 E. Garland. The Codes Officer Stated It Is An Abandoned House, Holes In The Roof, Squatters, We Have Had People Breaking Into It. We Have A City Ordinance That Allows Us To Do This. The Mayor Stated, So We Will Not Own It But We Can Tear It Down And Put A Lien Against It. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
6. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Request To Vacate A Portion Of McClelland Street Between The High School And Gym. The Mayor Stated Matt Donkin Came To Him And Asked If The City Would Consider Vacating McClelland Street From Main To Poplar Street. That Area Has Been Off Limits Through The Day With No Traffic Going Through There Except For The Staff To Park. Mr. Donkin Stated He Would Like To Secure That As Part Of The Campus And Close That Off Possibly With A Gate. They Would Like To Have That Road. We Would Have To Make Sure That We Have Access To All The Sewer And Water Lines And Any Other Easements We Would Require. This Has Been Presented To The Planning Commission Last Night They Were In Approval For It. The Mayor Also Asked The City Attorney If There Would Be An Issue With This And He Stated It Should Be No Problem. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
7. The Next Item Was Approval To Renew The Water Supply Contracts With The City Of Orient And Plumfield. It Came To Our Attention That We Have A Water Contract With The City Of Orient And The Village Of Plumfield. It Had A Sunset Clause So In 2020 It Had Ended And They Want Us To Renew It. This Contract Needs To Be Renewed As It Expires Every Twenty Years. These Contracts Are Identical To What We Are Operating Under Right Now And Will Continue With The Twenty-Year Expiration Date. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried
8. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Assignment Of Tax Increment Redevelopment Agreement From Mb Hometown Properties, LLC To The Moreland Land Trust. The Mayor Stated We Did A Tif Agreement With Them And The Moreland's Would Like It Under A Different Name. It Will Be Under Moreland Land Trust. This Is For The Remodel Updates To The Old City Hall. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
9. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Authorizing And Approving The Real Estate Sales Contract With Moreland Land Trust Regarding 110 North Jefferson, West Frankfort, Il. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
10. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Purchase Of A Tractor And Ditch Mower For The Street Department. The City Has Received Bids From H&R Agri Power For A 2022 Kubota Tractor At A Cost Of $58,800.00 And A 2022 Land Pride Ditch Bank Mower For $17,000.00. They Will Give The City $4,000.00 For Trade In Of Their Old Tractor A 1995 Model Zetter And $3,000.00 For The Old Ditch Mower. The Total Cost For Them Is $68,800.00 We Also Received A Bid From Sydenstricker Noble John Deere. This Is For A John Deere Utility Tractor At A Cost Of $51,000.00 And A Ditch Mower Ata Cost Of $13,455.00. With A Trade In Of $4,000.00 For Our Old Tractor And Us Keeping The Old Ditch Mower. Total Cost From Them Is $61,305.00. All Commissioners Agreed To Spend Up To $61,305.00 For The Purchase Of Both. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
11. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Fifth Amendment To Lease With Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation D/B/A WPS At The West Frankfort Mall. The Mayor Stated They Are Going To Extend Their Lease For Another Year From September 1, 2022 To August 31, 2023. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
12. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice In The Amount Of $7,300.00 From Novacom For The Purchase Of Pagers For The WFFD Which Was Funded By A Grant From IPRF, We Are Using Grant Money To Purchase These. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, 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 In The Amount Of $1,544.20 From Weeks For The Repair Of A Vehicle For WFPD. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
14. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice In The Amount Of $2,115.00 From Wiggs Excavating For The Highway 149 Project For The Water Department. This Was To Relocate A Fire Hydrant, Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
15. The Next Item Was Approval To Transfer Lake Lot Lease #85 From George And Annette Reeder To Annette Reeder. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
16.Building And Sign Permits ~
There Were No Building Or Sign Permits.
17. Mayor's Report ~
The Mayor Stated That We Have Been Very Aggressive About Tearing These Houses/Buildings Down That Are Abandoned, And I Think Its Helping. It Is Lessen The Places People Can Go And Get Into Illegally. It Also Is Bad For The Town's Property Values. The Mayor Appreciates All The Hard Work The Codes Enforcer Has Been Doing.
I Was Fortunate To Go To Decatur To The Illinois Municipal League Annual Conference. They Meet Four Times A Year, And I’m One Of The Mayors Selected To Be On That Board. We Discussed The Constitutional Amendment That Is Going To Be On The Ballot In November And It Has A Lot To Do With The Unions. But One Of The Things It States Is That Its Going To Change The Constitution Of Illinois To State That Unions Have The Right To Bargain, Or Negotiate. But One Of The Things It Says Is The State Of Illinois Can Not Pass Legislation And The Municipalities Can Not Pass Ordinances That Interfere With The Union Activity Or Union. The IML Opposes That. We Are Management At The IML, We Have Our Workers And We Are Management By Nature. This Constitutional Amendment For The State Of Illinois Gives The Unions A Lot More Power And Will Make It Difficult For Us. It Will Take Away Some Of Our Rights We Have. Its Good For Me As A Small Town Mayor I Was There To Represent You And Speak Up At That Meeting. There Are Representatives There From Chicago, Rockford, And A Lot Of Larger Communities And They Have Different Problems Than Us. But Its Great To Hear The Issues Other Cities Are Having And What Is Being Done To Solve Those Issues. There Are 1,245 Communities In Illinois And All Of Them The IML And But 15 Are In The IML. We Have Attorneys On Staff So We Can Call And Ask Questions. They Provide Us With A Lot Of Information, All The House And Senate Bills Are Provided To Us, So You Can See Who Supports It, What It Is About, Etc. We Try To Lobby And Be A Part Of Things.
The Planning Commission Met Last Night And We Did Deny A Liquor License. We Had An Application For A Gambling Parlor. And It Would Be Just That, A Gambling Parlor That Has Gaming And Serves Alcohol. In The Past It Has Been The Rule That If You Have A Business And You've Been Here; Let's Use Hucks As An Example, They Have Been Here For Over 25 Years, They Wanted To Add Gaming So The Council Decided That Would Be Appropriate. We Limit The Number Of Gaming Parlors That We Have And First You Must Own The Building, You Have To Make A Contribution To The City, As Far As Your Not Just Coming In To Put In A Gaming Parlor. That's Not What The City Is About. The Second Thing Is, Is That You Have A Business Something That Brings In Revenue Besides Gaming. A Lot Of Times The Gaming Part Of It Supplements What They Are Really Doing By Bringing In An Extra $12,000.00 To $15,000.00 Of Revenue To Help Them Pay For Something Else. This Gentleman Was Going To Rent A Building And He Did Not Even Live Here. This Is Not What The City Wants. The Applicant Agreed It Did Not Fit The Cities Requirements.
The Mayor Also Stated We Have A Meeting On Thursday About Main Street With IDOT. They Have Removed The Barrells But They Are Not Done. They Have Done The South Side Of The Road. We Are Meeting About The North Side Of The Road And When That Will Start Back Up.
Commissioner Reports:
Commissioner Harkins Stated The Police And Fire Are Doing Business They Never Sit Still For Long.
Commissioner Simpson Stated She Thinks Main Street Is Looking Great With The Progress On The Roads.
Commissioner Stanley Stated That The Street Guys Are Busy We Have Done A Big Section Of West St Louis Street. The Guys Have Gotten A Grader And Roller So They Are Working On The Roads. They Are Also Mowing What They Can Until They Get Equipment Fixed.
Commissioner Warren Stated That She Is Sorry For Being Out Of The Loop, She Has Had Some Family Issues She Has Been Dealing With. I've Talked To Charles A Couple Of Times And He Is Working On Things At The Sewer Plant And Getting That Taken Care Of. I Know The Water Department Is Working And Keeping Things Going As Well.
18. Audience Questions Or Comments:
Susan Dragovich Stated That She Just Has A Couple Of Thank You's! We Have Been Trying To Clean Out The Ditch Behind Our Property. We Picked Up All The Garbage And Got Rid Of All Of That. And Wanted To Thank The Street Department Guys For The Quick Pick Up Of Branches And I Didn't Even Ask Them Too. She Also Wanted To Praise The Codes Officer For The Great Job He Is Doing In Cleaning Up The Neighborhoods And The Property Behind Them.
Another Couple In The Audience Also Wanted To Thank The Codes Officer For Getting The Old Abandoned House At 1908 E Garland Behind Them On The List For Demo To Help Keep Squatters From Hanging Out In It, And People Coming And Going From There All The Time Taking Things. The Mayor Stated We Just Accepted Bids On Three Properties Tonight So, We Will Tear Them Down Before That One. Once We Get Bids On The Cost Of Demo For This One At Our Next Council Meeting, We Will Move Forward On Getting It Torn Down.
19. Mayor Jordan Asked For Approval To Go Into Executive Session To Discuss Contract Negotiations, Union Grievances, Personnel, And/Or Pending Litigation, As Well As Discuss Litigation Of Bio Medical Applications Of Illinois Against The City Of West Frankfort And Others, With Possible Action. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Simpson. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Along With The Mayor Voted Yes. Motion Carried. The Council Went Into Executive Session At 6:38 P.M.
20. They Returned From Executive Session At 7:04 P.M. Where They Took No Action. The Mayor Asked For A Motion To Go Back Into Regular Session. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
21. After Returning From Executive Session The Mayor Asked For A Motion To Accept The Settlement Offer From Bio-Medical Applications Of Illinois Vs The City Of West Frankfort Case #3 21-Cv-487. The Terms Of That Agreement Have Been Disclosed In Executive Session And Will Be Available If Someone Wants To Foia That. Commissioner Simpson Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Jordan Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.
22.With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was
Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:05 P.M.
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