North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Sept. 26.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

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

2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The September 12, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins 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 To Accept Bids For The Purchase Of Surplus Property. The Mayor Stated We Have One Bid From Margaret Willis For Parcel No. # 11-24-130-004, 708 N Palmer For The Amount Of $1,500.00. Commissioner Howard 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 Get An Appraisal For A Parcel Of Land The City Of West Frankfort Owns Parcel No. #11-13-479-001. Mayor Stated This Is A Piece Of Property Over By The Sewer Plant, Its An Old Railroad Bed, Part Of It Is Currently Being Used By Neibch Towing. We Will Never Need To Use This Property For City Purposes, He Has No Issues Selling This Property. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Appointing Alexa Lee As Deputy City Clerk Of The City Of West Frankfort. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

6. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing The Hiring Of An Employee To The Fire Department. Chief Sailliez Stated We Are In The Process Of Retiring Firefighter Chambers, He Has Been Using His Accrued Time, And Officially Retires October 20th. Chief Recommends Hiring Cory Rasmussem For A Full Time Position. Commissioner Harkins 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 A Resolution Appointing A New Member To The City Of West Frankfort Planning Commission. Mayor Stated He Recommends Appointing Joelyn Raby. Commissioner Howard 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 Of A Resolution Appointing A New Member To The City Of West Frankfort Zoning Board Of Appeals. Mayor Stated He Recommends Appointing Mike Karoski. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Setting The Dates And Times For The Trail Of Treats And For Trick Or Treating. The Mayor Stated Doing Both On October 31st 2023. Trail Of Treats Will Be From 3 P.M. To 5 P.M. Trick Or Treating Will Be From 5 P.M. To 8 P.M. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Approval To Authorize The Mayor And City Clerk To Sign Necessary Documents For The Loan For The Purchase Of Equipment From Stryker In The Amount Of $250,000.00 For The West Frankfort Fire Department. The Mayor Stated This Is A Loan That We Have Already Approved, But The Bank Said They Need Something Documented Saying The Mayor And City Clerk Has The Authority To Sign The Loan Documents. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. This Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Agreement With The Storage Vault, LLC For Phase 2 Located In The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois. The Mayor Stated This Is For $100,000.00. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Consideration Of Tif Reviewal Of Agreement For Financial Assistance For Starbucks Development Project. The Mayor Stated For Public Knowledge We Have Two Different Tif Districts. Last Meeting, He Stated We Are Getting To Our Limit On The Tif Funds, That Is Specifically For The Tif District That Starbucks Is Going Into. He Believes This Is A Good Project To Put Tif Money Into. The City Attorney Stated At This Is Point Knowing That Their Lawyers Will Want To Look At The Agreement And Make Comments. We Can Vote To Send This Agreement To Them Or If We Need More Time To Look And Make Comments. Commission Howard Asked Is The Ten Years Going To Be A Problem? City Attorney Stated That Is Something We Will Be Discussing With Their Lawyers. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Send The Agreement To Them For Their Review, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

13. The Next Item Was Discussion, Regarding Frontier Wanting To Run Fiber To The Home Project In The City Of West Frankfort. A Representative With Frontier, Charles Scott Stated Once They Get Approval From The City, The Plan For Frontier Is They Will Replace The Old Cable With Fiber.

Some Residents May Want To Keep The Old Cable, So Frontier Will Have A Dual Network That Can Be Used For Old Cable And Fiber. Eventually Everyone Will Need To Go To Fiber, Because It Is Much More Efficient And The Repair Activity Will Drop. Fiber Will Be Ran Directly To The Home, A Fiber Optic Is Going Directly To The Backside Of The Home, Unless There Is Already A Hook Up In The Front. Inside The Home Will Have A Battery Back Up Supply, Incase You Loose Commercial Power. Costs Will Be, $40 A Month For 500 Mega Bytes Per Second, $59.00 For 1 Gig, And $99.00 For 2 Gigs. Marketing Department Will Determine What Is Going To Be The Price Point That They Will Offer To Residents To West Frankfort. When Frontier Comes Into Your Neighborhood Before Construction Starts, They Will Put A Door Hanger On Your Door That Will Tell You What Is Going On, There Will Be A Phone Number On The Tag To Call If You Have Any Questions. They Will Clean Up Their Mess, If Something Is Broken, They Will Fix It.

Charles Introduced Some Employees That Was In The Audience. Pat Kelley, He Is The Inspector. Ken Ingram Is The Local Manager For The Area, He Is In Charge Of The Install And Repair Technicians. Rick Shaw, He Runs The Engineering Department For Frontier, He Works Out Of The Marion Office. Rick Stated Construction Time Line Will Vary, But They Will Try To Hook Up As Many Customers As Fast As They Can, Weather Can Slow Them Down And Also Depends On How Fast The Crews Can Complete The Job. Commissioner Warren Asked If It Will Cover The Whole Town? Rick Stated No, It Will Cover Eighty To Ninety Percent. They Will Have A Detailed Meeting With Commissioner Stanley, Street Supervisor And The Mayor. Item Was Tabled, Until A Further Detailed Meeting.

14. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding An Application For A License To Sell Alcoholic Liquors. Mayor Stated This Is For Farm Fresh. The Background Check Came Back Clear On Nipaben Patel. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve And Mayor Arview Voted No. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoices From Xylem In The Amount Of $32,721.00 Regarding Pump Rental And Accessories For The Street Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval Of Lake Lot Lease Transfer From Lola M. Nicols, D. Earl Jordan, And Sharon Norton Jordan Lake Lot Lease #86 To Sharon Norton Jordan. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval Of Lake Lot Lease Transfer From Lindell Blades (Deceased), Johnnie Martha Blades, Lindell Ray Blades, Kevin Bruce Blades, And Deanna Davidson For Lake Lot Lease Sportsman Addition #1 To Johnnie Martha Blades And Aaron S. Tyner. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

a. Approval To Pay Bills In The Amount Of $40,155.69.

b. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Dana Safety Supply, Inc In The Amount Of $3,044.00 For Accessories For The New SRO Squad Car.

c. Approval To Pay An Invoice From The Concrete Guy In The Amount Of $6,000.00 For Installation Of Concrete To The New Street Department Building.

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. Building And Sign Permits ~ The First One Is For Ryan Smelcer For Building An Addition To His Home At 1612 West Rd. Commissioner Warren 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 Michael Wright For A New Manufactured Home At 13430 Lawrence Rd. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. Mayors Report~ Mayor Arview Stated He Found Out Today That We Had A Solicitor In Town That Did Not Have A Permit. He Just Wants To Clarify If Someone Is Soliciting In Town, They Do Have To Have A Permit By The City. If Anyone Sees Someone Out Soliciting And Your Not Aware If They Are Allowed To Or Not, Call City Hall. If They Are Not, We Will Get The Police Department Involved.

21.Commissioner Reports- Commissioner Harkins Stated Police And Fire Department Are Doing Good. Chief Sailliez Stated Last Monday They Were Down Two Engines, And Two Ambulances And They Limped Through, In The Future They Will Need To Purchase A Fire Engine. Update On The Financial Side They Have An Extension For The Gemt Registration Program Through The End Of October For The City And His Self To Get Paperwork Finalized, And Applied To Get Approved To Start Receiving Gemt Funds In January Of 2024.

Commissioner Howard Stated He Has Been In Contact With A Lady Who Was A Grant Manager For Kaskaskia College, And Has Written A Lot Of Grants, She Is Hunting For A Lot Of Grants For The City, One For The Body Cameras For The Police Department, And Commissioner Howard Will Ask Her To Look For One For A New Fire Truck.

Commissioner Stanley Stated The Guys Brought The Dozer To The Burn Pile They Have Been Moving Dirt Around And It Is Looking Good, Mowing Ditches, Took Care Of The Old Bricks That Was Left From The Angeli Building, Getting Ready To Put Down Rock And Level It Off.

Commissioner Warren Stated Sewer And Water Are Working And Staying Busy. During The Last Lake Meeting, It Was Brought Up From Residents At The New Lake That People Are Speeding Over The Bride, And She Just Askes That You Take Your Time, Slow Down, And Watch For Fisherman.

Commissioner Warren Stated On Water Shut Off Day If Anyone Has An Issue We Could Talk About It, There Are Also Agencies Around That Can Help With Your Bills, And We Also Offer Auto Deduct If Anyone Is Interested In That.

22. Audience Comments:

Danny Loeh Stated That The Museum Was Given A Donation Of Another Piece Of History From The Battle Of The Bulge, Master Sargent Manahan Brought Back From The Battle, A German Helment.

Danny Loeh Met With Rotary Club, And Several Veteran Groups That Might Help Out With The Museum. Been In Contact With The High School, Some Students Might Come To The Museum.

Cindy Braman Stated She Is Having Problems With The Abandoned Alley Behind Her Property On S Jefferson And Emma Street, And Is Asking To Run Fence Along The Alley. People Have Been Coming Down The Alley And Dropping Off Items Such As Cars, Bicycles, Generators, And Tires. The Codes Officer Will Get With Her And Give Her More Information.

Daniel Regil Thanked The Council, And Appreciates Their Support In His Business.

23. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session To Discuss Contract Negotiations, Union Grievances, Personnel, Sale Of Surplus Property And/Or Pending Litigation. Mayor Arview Stated We Have Some Things To Talk About That We Are Going To Vote On Later So We Need To Have Some Discussions About That. At 7:09 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

24. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 7:50 P.M. Where No Action Was Taken.

Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All

Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

25. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:51 P.M.

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