North Egypt News

City Of West Frankfort City Council Met Sept. 12.

Here Are The Minutes Provided By The Council:

West Frankfort Regular Council Meeting

Tuesday, September 12, 2023

1. Mayor Arview Called The Meeting To Order At 6:00 P.M. Requesting A Roll Call. All Commissioners Except For Commissioner Harkins Were In Attendance Including, The City Attorney And City Clerk.

2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The August 22, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

3. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution For The FCHS Homecoming Parade To Be Held Friday, October 6, 2023 At 2:00 Pm. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

4. The Next Item Was Approval To Hire Seasonal Worker For The Downtown Beautification Group. Commissioner Howard Stated The Person That Was Doing It Before Was Steve Cook And He Had Fallen And Broke His Hip, So He Is Not Able To Do It Now. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Property Taxes In The Amount Of $115,029.92 Regarding City Owned Property. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

6. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Donation Of $3,000.00 To Redbird Ready From

Our Gaming Fund. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

7. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Automatic Aid Agreement Entered Into By West Frankfort Fire Department And Cave Eastern's Fire Protection District. Mayor Arview Stated We Are Already Doing Mutal Aid With This, It Would Just Enhance That And Kind Of Clear Up Some Discrepancy, And Some Issues Between The Two Districts So That We Can Help Them. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval To Authorize The City Of West Frankfort To Obtain Financing In The Amount Of $250,000.00 For The West Frankfort Fire Department To Purchase Ambulance Equipment From Stryker. Mayor Arivew Stated This Is Something We Have Talked About Before, Commissioner Howard Discovered This Could Be More Financially Feasible For Us To Finance Directly Through Our Bank Than To Finance Through Stryker, That Way We Can Get The Equipment And Save A Little Bit Of Money In The Process. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action Regarding Amending A Contract With Bulldog Trash Services To Include Containers For Residents. Mayor Arview Stated We Had Some Issues Were People Would Talk About Trash Cans Being Damaged, This Would Help With That. Our Current Contract Ends In 2026, With This Agreement We Would Extend It Three More Years. All Residents Will Receive One Trash Can At Their Homes. The City Would Also Have An Extra 25 On Hand For New Residents Or Damaged Cans. Additional Trash Cans Can Be Supplied For $10.00 Per Month Extra Onto Their Water Bill. This Would Start January 2024 Billing Cycle; A $1.00 Extra Charge Will Be Added To Bill Going Forward Every Month. Also A City Wide Clean Up Will Be Announced At A Later Date.

Kenneth Melvin From The Audience Stated A Situation That Happened To His Trash Two Weeks Ago, He Had His Trash In And On His Trash Containers, In Good Order When He Left For Work, When He Returned It Was Picked Through, Bulldog Would Not Clean Up The Mess. He Was Not Happy With The Services Bulldog Has Provided, And Asked The City To Not Extend The Contract.

Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action Regarding Consideration Of Application For Financial Assistance For Starbucks Development Project. Mayor Arview Stated The Best Option For Us Is A One Time Grant In The Amount Of $85,000, Payable Upon Completion Of The Project, As Well As Annual Payments In The Amount Of $40,000 For A Period Of 5 Years. Toal Value Of $285,000. Mayor Arview Also Stated Our Tif Is Starting To Get Tapped Out With This, Which Is Good Because We Are Helping People Out, And Doing What We Are Supposed To Do With It, But It Does Put Some Hesitation On Any Future Projects For A While Until We Can Start To Recoop Some Of This Money. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action Regarding The Purchase Of Equipment From Sinc In The Amount Of $2,372.91 For A New Speaker System For Council Meeting Area. Mayor Arview Stated We Have Some Issues

With Our Current System, Having A Better Speaker System Will Help With Broadcasting On Facebook Live As Well As In Person. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding An Application For A License To Sell Alcoholic Liquors. Mayor Arview Stated This Is For Farm Fresh He Had Spoke With Mr. Patel, And Was Informed That Mr. Patel Was Not Running It, His Wife Was. So We Have A New Application From Nipaben Patel For The License. The Mayor Stated He Has Not Heard From Chief Purdent To See If He Ran A Background Check, So At This Time He Recommends To Table This Discussion. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Table, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Table. Motion Tabled.

13. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Highway Authority Agreement At 330 East Main. Mayor Arview Stated The City Owns 330 East Main, And We Are In An Agreement With Ourselves, We Are Responsible For Any Contamination. This Agreement Will Allow Us To Sell This Property As Is, Without Any Hicups, Basically Saying If We Won't Clean It Up, We Will Have Clean It Up. Commissioner Stanley Asked, Is There A Guy Who Comes And Checks This Property Every 1 To 2 Years, And They Have Not Seen Any Issues? The City Clerk Answered Yes, That Is What She Was Told. This Is Nearing The End Of It, Everything That Was Wrong Was Hauled Off Already. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

14. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action To Approve An Intergovernmental Agreement For Nutrient Assessment Reduction Planning With The Greater Egypt Regional Planning And Development Commission. Mayor Arview Stated That He And Commissioner Warren Have Met With Some People From Greater Egypt, And This Does Seem Like It's The Best Route To Go. This Is An Environmental Group Type Of Thing, They Will Require Us To Do It, We Could Either Go Alone And Do It Or Enter Into This Agreement With Other Communities. Mayor Arview Stated He Feels Like This Agreement Is The Best Option For Us. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanely. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoices From Xylem In The Amount Of $40,742.00 Regarding Pump Rental And Accessories For The Street Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval Of Contractor's Pay Estimate #3 To Followell Construction Co., Inc. For The West Frankfort-Water System Meter Replacement Phase 2 In The Amount Of $53,015.00. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval Of Construction Engineering Bill #1 From Brown & Roberts, Inc. For West Frankfort- Water System Meter Replacement-Phase 3 In The Amount Of $1,782.12. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. The Next Item Was Approval Of Contractor's Pay Estimate #1 To Followell Construction Co., Inc. For The West Frankfort- Water System Meter Replacement-Phase 3 In The Amount Of $327,443.65. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

19. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Change Order #1 For The West Frankfort-Water System Meter Replacement-Phase 3 In The Amount Of A $632.50 Increase. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. The Next Item Was Approval Of Construction Engineering Bill #3 From Brown & Roberts, Inc. For The West Frankfort- Water System Meter Replacement- Phase 2 In The Amount Of $6,672.07. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

21. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills In The Amount Of $162,862.83. The Mayor Stated That $115,000 Of This Amount Is For The 2022 Payable 2023 Property Taxes Which Was Approved To Pay Earlier Tonight, So The Bills Are Not That High.

B. Approval Of To Pay An Invoice From Iworq In The Amount Of $7,200.00 For Yearly Subscription Program For The Codes Department.

C. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Suits Equipment Rental Inc. In The Amount Of $2,400.00 Regarding Cleaning Up Property Around WFBI.

D. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Bailey's Heating And Cooling LLC. In The Amount Of $6,800.00 For Installation Of New HVAC Unit For The Novacare Building.

E. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Bailey's Heating And Cooling LLC. In The Amount Of $7,200.00 For Installation Of New Heating Units For The New Street Department Building.

F. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Diamond Equipment In The Amount Of $4,138.12 For Repairs Made To The Case 580sn For The Street Department.

Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

22. Building And Sign Permits ~ The First One Is For A Pole Mounted Illuminated Sign At 702 S. Logan Street For Melissa Walden With Shelter Insurance. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Second One Is For Wendy's - One Large Main Pole Sign, A Directional Entrance And Exit Signs, All Wall And Menu Signage Included For Wendy's Located At 231 W. Main Street. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

23. Officer's Report

Fire Report For The Month Of August 2023. Captain Jeffords Reported That They Had 173-Ambulance Calls, 1- Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 1-Brush/Field Fires, 4-Motor Vehicle Accidents, 4-Fire Alarms, 0-Vehicle Fires, 7 Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 5- Structure Fires, 2- Smoke Scares, 2-Mutual Aid Fire Responses, 0-Mutual Aid Ambulance, 2-Ambulance Calls Turned Over To Mutual Aid. For A Total Of 202 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 16,000 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $48,735.09 For August Ambulance Calls.

Police Report For The Month Of August 2023. Captain Bernardini Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 1,363 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 21 Were Traffic Accidents, 0 With Injuries. Officers Responded To 31 Domestic Disputes, 1 Fight In Progress, 19 Alarms, 1 Intoxicated Persons, 5 Burglaries, 16 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 20 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 29 Reported Thefts, And 31 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. And Officers Made 21 Street Contacts. Officers Conducted 260 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 68 Citiations, 210 Warnings, And 11 Lw-27's. There Were 60 Adult Arrests Made And 8 Juvenile Arrest, Resulting In 86 Criminal Charges Filed.

Dispatchers Answered 1,712 Calls.

Of Those, 585 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 93 Were Walk In Requests. 1,363 Were For Police, 183 Were For West Frankfort Fire, 7 Were For Thompsonville Fire/Ems, 12 Were For Abbott Ems, And 2 For United Ambulance. For The Month Of August, We Collected $1,765.00 In Fines And Fees.

Codes Report For The Month Of August 2023. Permit: 1-Building Permits, 0~Sign Permits. Rental Properties: 6-Rental Inspections Performed. Case Activity Report ~ 36 Which Includes Doors Tagged Verbal Warnings, Vehicles Tagged, Inspections Of Violations, Inspections, Citations Issued, Letters Sent, Etc.

Planning Commission Brought Up Old King Coal: The Trailer Where The Workers Stay, Possibly Getting A Hook Up For Those If We Continue To Have The Festival There It Would Be A Good Investment.

The Zoning Board Started Last Month And Accomplished A Couple Things For Starbucks To Get Them Zoned Correctly And Get Them Started.

24. Mayors Report~

The Mayor Stated We Had The Ribbon Cutting For Deaconess, It Was Really Good And It Was Streamed On Tv. He Stated We Are Happy To Have A Late Evening Medical Service Here In Town. The Building Looks Really Nice, They Have Done Really Good Work In There.

The Mayor Stated He Has Got Plans For The Planning Commission; If Some One Wants To Open A Business In Town, They Will Need To Go To The Planning Commission And Present Their Business Plan To Planning Commission Before It Goes Before The Council.

Zoning Board: We Have Some Businesses That Are In A Residential Area, One In Particular That We Are Dealing With Right Now. In The Past There Has Not Been Any Recourse On That. Now That We Have The Zoning Board Of Appeals They Can Come And Say Hey, We Have Been Here For Years And We Are Helping The Community. The Zoning Board Then Can Decide How They Want To Handle It. They Can Tell Them To Put A Fence Up Or Whatever It Might Be To Continue Doing Business.

Wendy's Is Still In Construction, They Are Not Shutting Down.

Commissioner Reports~

Commissioner Howard Stated He Just Wanted To Explain Several Reasons Why We Are Going To Borrow $250,000 To Buy The Ambulance Equipment Instead Of Paying Cash For It. First, Is Cash Flow, Second, Is Right Now We Are Earning 5% On Our Money That Is With The State So Instead Of Drawing It Down And Spending $250,000 Up Front, If We Continue To Earn 5% Over The 5 Year Period That Will Amount To $62,500 Over That Same Period We Would Be Paying Out Interest Of $33,000 That Was One Of The Things That Convinced Him That We Should Do This. If The Rate Would Even Go Down To 4%, We Would Still Earn $50,000 And Would Be Only Paying Out $33,000. If It Goes Down To 3%, We Are In About Break Even. He Does Not See That In The Next Five (5) Years That Interest That We Earn On That Will Go Below 3%. Worst Case Senario We Would Break Even. Because We Can Pay With This Out Of Future Revenue, And Not Have To Keep The Loan That Long. With This New Program That They Are Entering Into, They Are Projecting We Will Make $400,000 A Year Extra For Fire Revenue Through The Gemt Program Through The State. We Might Able To Pay It Off Early, And Come Out Even Further Ahead.

Commissioner Stanley Stated Superintendent Micheal Bonner Has Got The Guys Finishing Up Sidewalks And Getting The Pole Barn Ready To Pour Concrete. They Are Picking Up Limbs, Digging Out Ditches, But Mainly Doing Sidewalks Trying To Get Them Finished Up Before The End Of The Year.

Commissioner Warren Stated The Water Department Is Making Repairs, Fixing Things, And Taking Care Of People. The Sewer Department Is Maintaining The Lab. Lake Committee Meeting Is This Thursday At 6 P.M. It Is A Week Early This Month Because The Chamber Has A Dinner Next Thursday.

Audience Comments:

Danny Loeh Showed Another Example Of History That Will Be At The Museum, A Horse Watering And Feed Pan From World War 1. He Has Attended The Veterans Day And Gold Star Day At The DuQuoin State Fair, Also Marions Veterans Day Parade. A Women From West Frankfort Her Son Was Matthew Vosbein Who Was Killed In 2006, They Have His Name On A Monument Up At The Museum. She Got To Ride In The Parade And They Took Good Care Of Her. He Has Been Invited To Speak At The Rotary Club Next Tuesday At A Dinner They Are Going To Have.

Derek Watkins Mentioned About An Incident That Happened At The Old Lake With His Buddy While Fishing, A Lady Came To Them At 8:15 P.M. And Said She Was Going To Lock The Gate At 8:30 P.M. They Took 15 Minutes To Leave, And The Lady Called The Cops. His Buddy Went To Try To Help Her Lock The Gate, She Said No That She Had A Pistol. Mr. Watkins And His Buddy Then Went To The New Lake, And Then Came Back To The Old Lake. The Cop Chased His Buddy Down The Road, And Used Lethal Force To Ram Into His Four-wheeler. Mr Watkins Said The Cop Tried To Pull His Buddy Over And He Ran. He Is Now Sitting At Home After Spending Four (4) Days In The ICU, And Has A Shattered Elbow. Mr. Watkins Wants To Know How Going Fishing Lead To Lethal Force To Be Used.

Captain Bernadini Stated There Is An Open Case On This So We Can Not Comment. The Mayor Said He Will Check Into Who The Lady Was With The Gun Locking The Gates.

25. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session To Discuss Contract Negotiations, Personnel, And /Or Pending Litigation. At 7:15 P.M. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

26. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 8:21 P.M. Where No Action Was Taken. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

27.With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Howard At 8:22 P.M.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e4320cfbb00196160c23a75/t/651b16f5996f0b276c9840a3/1696274165810/Minutes+Sept+12%2C+2023+Council.pdf