North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Jan. 9.

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 Were In Attendance Including, The City Attorney And City Clerk.

2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The  December 27, 2023 Regular Council Meeting. The Mayor Stated The Minutes Are Available To The Commissioners, If They Have Had A Chance To View Them, And Do Not Need To Make Changes. I Recommend Approval. 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 Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Purchase Of Snowflakes And Candy Canes For The Downtown Area To Replace Old Christmas Decorations On The Light Poles From The Beautification Fund And Tourism Fund. The Mayor Stated Some Of The Old Ones Have Gone Out, And Because Of Arrangement For Size Wise We Will Need To Get Some Replaced. We Do Have The Funds Available; I Recommend We Do That.

Connie Howard From The Beautification Committee, Spoke And Stated The Chamber Of Commerce Will Give Us $5,000.00 Towards The Snowflakes They Are Just Like The Ones We Have Now. The Total For Ten Six Foot Snowflakes Is $6,880.00 After The Chamber Pays $5,000.00, We Will Owe $1,880.00 Out Of The Tourism Fund. The Total For Fifteen Snowflakes Is $10,070.00. Our Goal Is To Replace Down Main Street From Up In The Heights To Eventually The Interstate With The Snowflakes. We Understand That They Can Not Go On All Of The Poles, A Lot Of Them Do Not Have Outlets On Them. We Do Not Know How Many That We Will Need To Do That, We Will Figure It Out Eventually. It Will Take Us Awhile To Replace Them All.

The Mayor Stated We Can Do A Proposal For Them 

Separately Or Them Together. Commissioner Howard Asked How Many Candy Canes Were They Wanting? The City Clerk Stated They Were Wanting Forty-Eight Candy Canes Originally But The Price Is Too Much To Do At One Time. These Are Four Foot With Just Lights, It Does Not Have The Tinsel. This Was The Cheapest Vendor We Could Find, And It Is The Same Vendor Connie Is Using For The Snowflakes. They Talked About Just Doing Twenty-Four For Right Now, And Replacing The Others In The Next Couple Of Years. The Mayor Stated The Total Amount For Twenty-Four Candy Canes Is $9,827.00, And For Ten Snowflakes Is $6,880.00 Which We Will Pay $1,880.00 For The Total Would Be $11,707.00 To Be Taken Out Of The Tourism Fund. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

4. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Proposed Water/Sewer/Trash Rate Increase. The Mayor Stated Unfortunately We Have To Raise Rates. We Have The Rate Sheet Available If Anyone Wants To Look At It, The Commissioners Have It In Front Of Them. Commissioner Warren Stated The Current Rate For A Minimum Bill Is $35.16 And Is Going Up To A Total Of $36.36. We Have Just About The Lowest Water Rates Around.

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 To Advertise For Bids For  Demolition Of Property.

A. 1309 East 8th Street

C. 205 North Douglas 

B. 312 East Garland 

D. 1507 East 4th Street

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

6. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Key 

Benefit Administrators In The Amount Of $2,500.00 Regarding 2023 Tax Year Aca Reporting Services. The Mayor Stated Key Benefits Takes Care Of The Benefits We Have For Our City Employees. Commissioner Howards Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

7. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Stryker 

In The Amount Of $71,509.50 Regarding Procare Service Contract For New Equipment. Commissioner Harkins Asked Chief Sailliez How Are Things Going With The Equipment? Chief Sailliez Stated Very Good, We Have Got All Of The Equipment In, And It Is In Service. This Is The Service Contract For Maintenance For Those That We Could Have Financed It Through Stryker If We Would Have Financed Everything Through Stryker, But We Saved Some Money Going Through Local Banks. They Would Not Just Finance The Procare, So This Will Be A Cash Payment Like We Have Talked About Before. The Council Had Approved The Purchase Agreement, I Had Signed It On October 31st, 2023 For The Total Package Of $324.890.91, And Of That This $71,509.50 Is The Procare That Was Not Financed. It Was Already Approved In September For The Mayor And City Clerk To Sign The Check For $250,000.00 For The Equipment Loan Paper Work And This Is Just The Balance Of What Has 

Already Been Approved, We Could Not Find It In The Minutes Anywhere, So We Wanted To Make Sure We Put It On Here To Get Approved. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From Complete 

Equity Markets, Inc In The Amount Of $12,910.50 Regarding 2024 Unemployment Compensation Insurance Program For January 1, 2024 To January 1, 2025. Commissioner Warren 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 Approval To Pay An Invoice From Illinois 

Public Risk Fund In The Amount Of $17,048.00 Regarding Workers Compensation. Commissioner Warren 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 Pay Invoice From Xylem In

The Amount Of $70,317.01 For All Repairs To The Flygt Model 7081 Pump At The Sewer Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From McBride 

Mack Sales & Service, Inc. In The Amount Of $28,592.43 Regarding A New Engine, Hoses, Turbo And Fuel Tank On The 1998 International For The Street Department.

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

Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills In The Amount Of $184,287.47.

B. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Ferrell Electric In The Amount Of $9,669.48 Additional Lighting Around The WFBI. 

C. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown And Roberts,

Inc. In The Amount Of $2,775.20 Regarding Survey Of 800- 900 East North Madison To Bryant.

D. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown And Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $4,968.21 Regarding Survey Of Armstrong Subdivision.

E. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Civic Systems, LLC In The Amount Of $2,059.00 For Semi Annual Support Fees January 1,2024 Through June 30, 2024. 

F. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown And Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $13,306.42 For The 157 & Il Rt 149 Interchange Modification Phase 1 Engineering Invoice #33- Billing Period 7/31/2023-12/31/2023.

Commissioner Warren Asked Is That Survey From Brown And Roberts For 9th Street? Commissioner Stanley Stated One Of Them Is. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried 

13. Building And Sign Permits Code Officer Snell Was Not 

Present. The Mayor Stated Mr. Snell Had Let Me Know That He Has Looked Over All Of These, And Everything Looks Good On Them. The First One Is A Sign Permit For Warren Sign Co. For Starbucks They Are Wanting An 80-Foot-Tall Sign To Be Seen Over The Trees, I Think That Is A Great Idea. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For David Castellano, A Portable Storage Building That Will Be Self Built, At 813 West Worden Street. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For Stacey Turner, A Metal Garage Kit For Storage And Vehicles At 301 West 7th Street.

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

The Last Permit Was For Eric And Amy Davis, A 50x60 Pole Barn At 811 West St. Louis Street. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

14. Officer's Report ~

Fire Report For The Month Of December 2023: Chief Sailliez Reported That They Had 183-Ambulance Calls, 3- Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 4-Brush/Field Fires, 1-Motor Vehicle Accidents, 1-Fire Alarms, 0-Vehicle Fires, 8 - Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 1- Structure Fires, 3-Smoke Scares, 3-Mutual Aid Fire Responses, 3-Mutual Aid Ambulance, 5-Ambulance Calls Turned Over To Mutual Aid. For A Total Of 215 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 8,000 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $19,987.20 For December Ambulance Calls.

Fire Report For The Year Of 2023: 1720-Ambulance Calls, 225- Lift Assists, 29-Brush/Field Fires, 46- Illegal Burns, 13-Motor Vehicle Accidents, 34-Fire Alarms, 10-Vehicle Fires, 85 - Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 36- Structure Fires, 10-Smoke Scares,2- Hazardous Materials Incidents, 125-Mutual Aid Fire Responses, 39-Misc. Category Fire Responses. For A Total Of 2,374 Calls During The Year Of 2023.The Department Collected $651,979.66 For The Year Of 2023 Ambulance Calls.

Commissioner Howard Stated I Think I Know, But Just For Clarification When You Say Lift Assist Is That Like When I Call You And Say Hey My Wife Is Down And She Can't Get Up, Your Guys Will Help Her Get Up? Chief Sailliez Stated Yes, We Classify It As A Lift Assist If There Are No Injuries And They Just Need Assistance.

Police Report For The Month Of December 2023. Chief Prudent Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 1,286 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 29 Were Traffic Accidents, 1 With Injuries. Officers Responded To 29 Domestic Disputes, 4 Fights In Progress, 17 Alarms, 0 Intoxicated Persons, 8 Burglaries, 9 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 21 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 24 Reported Thefts, And 37 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. And Officers Made 10 Street Contacts. Officers Conducted 193 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 45 Citations, 180 Warnings, And 12 Lw-27's. There Were 63 Adult Arrests Made And 7 Juvenile Arrest, Resulting In 97 Criminal Charges Filed.

Dispatchers Answered 1,521 Calls.

Of Those, 557 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 99 Were Walk In Requests. 1,286 Were For Police, 235 Were For West Frankfort Fire, 9 Were For Abbott Ems, And 1 For United Ambulance. For The Month Of December, We Collected $2,070.00 In Fines And Fees.

Police Report For The Year Of 2023: Officers Answered A Total Of 14,721 Calls For Service, Conducted A Total Of 2,608 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 734 Total Citations, There Were A Total Of 782 Adult Arrests And 70 Juvenile Arrests.

Dispatchers Answered A Total Of 19,000 Calls. For The Year Of 2023 We Collected $42,460.00 In Fines And Fees.

Codes Report For The Month Of December 2023. Permit: 2~Building Permits, 5-Sign Permits.4 Solar Permits. Rental Properties: 8~Rental Inspections Performed. Case Activity Report ~ 26 Which Includes Doors Tagged Verbal Warnings, Vehicles Tagged, Inspections Of Violations, Inspections, Citations Issued, Letters Sent, Etc.

15. Mayors Report ~ The Mayor Stated I Know Bulldog Has Been Putting Out Their Trashcans That We Have Talked About. They Have A Note Attached To All Of Them. It Has Caused Some Confusion So I Just Wanted To Take A Moment To Clarify.

One Of The Things It Says At The Top Of The Letter, Is That The Cart Is Yours To Use Free Of Charge. There Is A $1.00 A Month Added To Your Water Bill For This Which We Already Just Agreed Upon. This Is A Charge Whether Or Not You Take The Trashcan From Them, You Might As Well Take Advantage Of Their Service. We Have Had Some People Say Just Come And Get The Trashcan Because They Thought, By In The Note From Bulldog Says You Can Rent An Additional Tote For $10.00 A Month, But This Is In Addition To The One They Are Providing. You Do Not Have To Do That If You Do Not Want The Second Trashcan, But Some People Are Thinking They Are Paying An Extra $10.00 A Month, So They Want To Give The Tote Back And Lower Their Bill. It Is Not Going To Work Like That, You Do Not Have To Rent The Additional One. The One That Is Provided To You Is A $1.00 Extra To Your Bill. But You Can Get The Extra If You Want. I Would Recommend If You Are Going To Pay $10.00 A Month To Rent, You Can Buy One For $100.00. Unless You Are Only Going To Keep It For A Couple Of Months, You Might As Well Buy One For $100.00 And Save Yourself Some Money. It Would Be $120.00 A Year To Rent It. Bulldog Trash Service Has The One-Man Trucks, So They Can Get To The Trash Easier. The Whole Point Of This When We Had Talked About This Originally Was Because (Myself Included) A Lot Of People Had Issues With Trashcans Being Damaged. Bulldog Made A Good Argument That Some Times Those Trashcans Are Cheaper Than The Ones They Would Use So Of Course When It Gets Cold, They Could Crack. I Understand If You Did Not Want To Spend A Lot Of Money On Trashcans, But You Still Do Not Want Your Trash Spread Everywhere. This Agreement With Bulldog Was A Compromise For Us To Alleviate Some Of That As Much As We Can. They Also Provided Us With The Pick-Up Calendar, We Have It Available At City Hall If You Would Like To Look At It. Basically, The Way It Works Is There Are Certain Holidays That They Wont Pick It Up On The Holiday But They Will Make It Up During That Week. Some People Think They Missed Me This Week Or They Picked It Up On The Wrong Day. They Are Trying To Make Up For That Missing Day, Otherwise They Would Be Pushed Back A Day Everytime There Is A Holiday And They Do  Not Want To Do That. If Your Day Falls On A Holiday, Do Not Put It Out That Day But Put It Out The Next Day They Will Try To Get To You. We Will Be Happy To Answer Any Questions You Guys Have. 

16. Commissioner Reports~ 

Commissioner Harkins Stated The Police And Fire Department As You Heard Their Reports, They Have Had A Busy Year. Of Course, You All Know Gary No Longer Works With Us. Chief Sailliez Stated, We Have Been Down A Couple Guys, Been Trying To Replace Them, And Getting Some Promotions Going. Tests Were Given Over The Weekend And We Are Waiting On The Results On Those For Promotions. Chief Prudent Stated Our Two New Officers Went To The Academy Sunday Afternoon To Start, We Are Looking Forward To Having Them Back In April We Also Did Promotion Testing Over The Weekend That Will Be Coming Up As Well.

Commissioner Howard Asked When You Say They Are Going To The Academy, Do They Have To Go Somewhere And Stay? Chief Prudent Stated Yes, They Go To Swic In Belleville, And They Are There For Fifteen Weeks, They Live In A Dorm And Get To Come Home On Weekends. They Will Be Graduating April 26th 2024. Commissioner Harkins Stated And When They Come Back, They Still Have To Have And Officer With Them. Chief Prudent Stated Yes, They Will Have Eight To Ten Weeks Of Field Training Before They Are On Their Own. When We Hire A New Officer, You Are Looking At Roughly Six Months Beofre They Are On The Street, If They Have To Go Through The Academy.

Chief Sailliez Stated He Got A Report On Director Buckingham With Ema, He Is Doing Better He Actually Got Out Of Bed Today And Got In The Chair. He Has Been Extubated A Week Now Breathing On His Own, And Starting To Make Improvements. All The Commissioners Said That Is Great News To Hear.

Commissioner Howard Stated Our Grant Writer Has 

Submitted A Grant For Us, For The Cameras, And Equipment For The Police Department. We Won't Know For Awhile If We Have Received That. If We Don’t, We Will Find Something Else To Apply For. Chief Sailliez Stated He Has Received A Grant Today That Is Opened For Some Staffing, And Different Things I Will Forward That To Her. Commissioner Howard Stated We Are Working On Getting The W2's Out, We Are Double Checking Them All Making Sure They Are Correct Before We Send Them Out.

Commissioner Stanley Stated Micheal Had His Crew Out All Week Taking Down Christmas Decorations. Now They Are Working On Getting The Snow Plows And Spreader Boxes Ready To Go For The Weather. The Guys Have Been Busy And Ready To Go.

Commissioner Warren Stated Water And Sewer Are  Working, They Are Making Repairs In The Water Department. Trying To Keep The Pumps Going At The Sewer Department.

17. Audience Comments:

Danny Loeh Stated I Want To Thank Everyone In The Police And Fire Department They Do An Outstanding Job For Our Town. I Wanted To Bring Something Small To Show You Guys, This Is The Smallest Item That We Have At The Museum. This Is A Rock From Omaha Beach From World War Two. This Was Donated To The Museum By Gayle Dawson. I Also Brought A Japanese Atlas, It Has Our Map Inside Of It With Black Markings Put In The Book Over The United States. I Have Also Been In Contact With The Benton Highschool Trying To Get Students To The Museum, They Seem Really Interested. I Was Talking To The Mayor Earlier, We Have A Young Kid That Was Killed In 2006, Sargent Matthew Vosbien, I Want To Honor Him By Having A Sign Like We Do Have For Bruce Fasol Way On Main Street. Commissioner Howard Stated We Will Have To Get IDOTS Permission For That. The Mayor Stated I Think We Could Come Up With Something. Also Talked With The Mayor About The Sign On The Interstate That Says Museum, It Needs To Say Military Museum. If You Go Down Highway 37, My Buddy Has The Museum Hours, And Tour Dates On His Sign.

Connie Howard Stated She Is With The Beautification, I Just Wanted To Bring To Your Attention, Some Of You Know, And Some Of You Don't. Class Of 1961 Reached Out And Wanted To Clear Out Their Checking Account, What We Decided Is For Old King Coal Since They Do A Lot For Us At The Coal Miners Park. We Bought A Gazebo, The Old King Coal Festival And The One Hundred Year Class Of Fchs Combined Money. We Bought Three Benches, Six Flower Pots, Three Hanging Baskets That Went Inside The Gazebo. If You Have Not Been Passed The Coal Miners Park, It Really Looks Beautiful. We Have Replaced Three Trees Downtown In The 100 And 200 Block, With Minature Rose Of Sharon Blooming Trees. I Just Want To Thank The Street Crews On The Behalf Of Myself, Harriet, Danella, And Sharon There Is No Way We Could Do A Quarter Of What We Do. I Want To Thank Them For Putting Up With "No Move That Over There", "No I Don't Like It There", "Put That Over Here", And My Crazy Ideas. I Had Told Them I Found A Tractor It Has No Engine We Need To Put It Up Here. They Took Chains, A Truck, And Pulled It Where I Wanted It. I Am Also Looking For An Old Pick-Up Truck Does Not Need An Engie. We Got The New Section To The Tree Put Up This Year, It Was Twenty-Eight Foot Tall. I Want To Thank The Council; I Had Asked For $2,000.00 I Have Only Spent Under $500.00 For Ornaments Not Because I Did Not Want To Spend The Money, I Just Couldn't Find The Really Big Ornaments. At The Miners Park When We Were Down There Working, A Young Man Was Over There For A Long Time And Then He Came Over And Got In The Car In Front Of Us I Asked Him If He Enjoyed Our Park, He Said He Was Here For A Funeral, I Have Family That Died In The Mine Explosion I Have Not Been To This Before. Thank You This Is So Beautiful. I Thank This Is Just So Important That We Keep It Up And Make Things Look Good. On Behalf Of Myself, Mr. Loeh And Harriett We Need Younger Volunteers, We Will Keep Doing It As Long As We Can.

Katherine Rice Stated I Live At 1002 East Elm Street; I Am Here Tonight To Ask The City Council For A Piece Of Property That Is Behind Me That Is Falling Fast. It Is Known As 1001 East Clark Street, On The Corner I’m Not Sure If You Are Familiar Or Not. Between The Animals And The People 

That Are Looting, Getting In There Are Making A Huge Mess. I Try To Keep My House Neat And Clean, And I Would Like This Piece Of Property To Be Demolished As Soon As Possible. I Would Like To Thank The Codes Inspector, Mr. Snell He Has Always Been So Gracious When I Talk To Him, I Have Talked To Him A Number Of Times About This Property. Please Help Me To Get This Down So I Don't Have To Look At It, You Don't Have To Look At It, And It Is On The Way To The City Park. I Am Just Asking For Your Support On This. While I Am At This Meeting, I Would Like To Thank The Codes Inspector, The EMTS In This Community, The Police And Fire Department, Commissioner Stanley, And Main Street Beautification. I Also Would Like Trashcans Put On Main Street To Help With All Of The Trash On The Ground. The Mayor Stated We Do Have That Property In Process, We Are Working On It.

18. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session To  Discuss For Discussions Pursuant To 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (11) And 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (5). The Mayor Stated They Will Not Be Making Any Decisions Afterwards. At 6:49 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.

19. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 7:21 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. 

20. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:22p.M.

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