North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Feb. 27.

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, Execpt For Commissioner Stanley. Including, The City Attorney And City Clerk

2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The February 13, 2024 Regular Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

3. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session To Discuss For Discussions Pursuant To 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (1), 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (5/6) And 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (11) At 6:02 P.M. The Mayor Stated This Is Regarding Employment, Collective Bargaining, Purchasing Property, Selling Property, And Litigation. Commissioner Harkins 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 Approval Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 6:39 P.M. Commissioner Harkins 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 Of A Proposed Wage Agreement Between The City And City Hall Office Staff And Other Non- Union Employees To Cover The Period Of March 1,2024 Through February 28,2025. The Mayor Stated Scheduling Salary Reviews For Department Heads Because They Would Not Fall Under This Category. I Would Propose A $1.00 Per Hour Pay Increase For The Non-Union Full Time Employees Other Than Department Heads. To Take Affect March 1,2024. All Department Heads Would Be Scheduled An Annual Review With The Mayor And The Appropriate Commissioner No Later Than April 1, 2024 With Any Agreed Upon Salary Adjustments To Be Made Effective March 1, 2024 And Paid Retroactively Upon The Next Available Pay Day.

Commissioner Howard Made A 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 Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding An Application From Greg Murphy For Redevelopment Of Certain Property Located At 216 E. Main St. Utilizing Tax Increment Financing Located In The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois. The Mayor Stated This Is The Same One We Approved Last Meeting. Commissioner Howard 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 Of A Resolution Authorizing The Execution Of A Redevelopment Agreement Between The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois And Greg Murphy Utilizing Tax Increment Financing For The Redevelopment Of Property Located At 216 E. Main St. The Mayor Stated This Is A Resolution Of What We Had Just 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 Of An Ordinance Creating A Stormwater Detention System For The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated This Is Something That Was Brought To My Attention By Our Zoning Administrator/ Codes Officer Snell, With The New Developments We Have Going On By The Mall We Are Looking At More Water Run Offs That We Have To Deal With That We Are Already Dealing With A Lot Of As It Is. We Have Looked At Other Cities Around Us And They Have Ordinances To Regulate This, It Will Be Put On The Commercial Developer Versus The City Having To Deal With It. Whenever They Are Building, They Will Have To Build In This System To Deal With The Water Run Off. This Ordinance Establishes That To Protect The City And The Citizens Of West Frankfort. I Entertain A Motion To Approve This Ordinance. 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 An Ordinance Agreement With Frontier For Residential Installation Of Fiber Optic Cable For The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated This Was Something That Was On The Previous Agenda, We Had Some Issues With The Agreement That They Were Proposing. We Countered With Some Changes And They Have Agreed To Those Changes. I Entertain An Motion To Approve This Ordinance To Establish That Agreement. Commissioner Harkins 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 Discussion, With Possible Action, On Renewing A Lease Contract With Konica Minolta Or To Purchase Equipment Outright. The Mayor Stated There Are Four Individual Machines That Are Covered With This. Commissioner Howard Stated He Had A Conversation With Jessica The Office Manager And She Tried To Reach Out To Other Companies And Could Not Get Anyone To Propose Anything. The Toner And Some Other Things That Costs A Lot Of Money Will Be Included In This Lease Agreement. She And I Are Both In The Opinion That Leasing Is Better Rather Than Buying Because All Of The Extras You Get With Leasing. The Mayor Stated I Think The Lease Option Is A Good Idea Too, Versus Purchasing It Out Right. I Entertain A Motion To Lease Or Purchase. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve Leasing The Equipment, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. The Next Item Was Approval Of Design Engineering Bill #1 From Brown & Roberts, Inc. For The West Frankfort- Wwtp Effluent Disinfection. The Mayor Stated The Amount Is For $133,759.00. Matt Tosh Stated That Is For Billing, The Funding Is All In Place The Dceo Grant And The Iepa Grant Loan That The City Recently Received That. The Funds For This Bill Will Come From The Iepa Portion Of The 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.

12. The Next Item Was Approval Of Dceo Administration Bill #1 From Brown & Roberts, Inc. For The West Frankfort- Wwtp Effluent Disinfection. Matt Tosh Stated This One Will Come From The Dceo Grant Portion Of The Funding For That Project. 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. The Next Item Was Approval Of Contractor's Pay Estimate #4 To Followell Construction Co., Inc. For The West Frankfort-Water System Meter Replacement-Phase 3 In The Amount Of $27,140.65. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

14. The Next Item Was Approval Of Construction Engineering Bill #4 From Brown & Roberts, Inc For The West Frankfort - Water System Meter Replacement-Phase 3 In The Amount Of $6,485.54. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval Of Contractor's Pay Estimate #6- Final To Followell Construction Co., Inc. For The West Frankfort-Water System Meter Replacement - Phase 2 In The Amount Of $ 41,953.85. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval Of Change Order #2- Final For The West Frankfort-Water System Meter Replacement- Phase 2. Matt Tosh Stated At The End Of The Contract We Have To Adjust Quantities And Anything Like That. This Does A Final Adjustment Of Quantities, It Reduces The Contract Amount By $34,470.00. This Did Come In Under The Contracted Amount, A Part Of That Reason We Estimated Quantities But The City Water Department Handled As Much Work They Could That Was Originally Estimated For The Contractors. It Does Increase The Contract Time For Seventy-Two Days, We Had To Do Extra Work At The Plaza Motel And It Took More Time To Get That Done. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted

To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval Of Construction Engineering Bill #6 From Brown & Roberts, Inc. For The West Frankfort – Water System Meter Replacement – Phase 2 In The Amount Of $4,803.24. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. The Next Item Was An Emergency Added Item. Approval To Pay Corrected Invoice From Illinois Epa Laboratory In The Amount Of $3,717.84. The Mayor Stated The Amount Of $2,880.00 We Approved Previously Was Incorrect, An Amount Was Missing From The Total. The Corrected Amount Is $3,717.84. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

19. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills In The Amount Of $31,802.04. B. Approval To Pay Invoice From A&W Plumbing And Heating, Inc. In The Amount Of $1,900.00 To Replace Water Heater In The Wf Mall Restroom. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

Building And Sign Permits ~ Codes Officer Snell Was Not Present. The Mayor Stated The First Permit Is For New Commercial For Easy Coin Laundry Mat, Located At 905 E. Main St. They Are Eager To Get This Approved Because They Are Wanting To Start Construction And Break Ground Tomorrow. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Last Permit Was For Jordan Culpepper At 310 N. Emma St. She Is Wanting To Add A New Single Room Addition To Her Home. She Is Working With A Local Contractor To Get This Done. Codes Officer Snell Has Looked Over The Plans And Recommends This Gets Approved. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. Mayors Report~

Mayor Arview Stated A Lot Of People Are Eager For The Solar Eclipse Coming. I Have Seen On Facebook How There Are People That Are Fearful Because The Ema Is Saying Make Sure You Have Enough Gas In Your Car, Make Sure You Have Groceries. The Solar Eclipse Its Self Will Not Affect Those Things. The Reason Why They Are Saying Those Things Is Because There Is Going To Be A Lot Of People In Town Using Those Things. The Stores Can Not Always Handle That Compacity. It's A Good Idea To Prepare A Head Of Time And Know You Might Not Be Able To Get Out And Do Those Things During That Time. I Would Encourage People The Same Thing, Just Make Sure You Do Not Wait Until The Last Minute. We Are Expecting A Lot Of Traffic, Which Is Great For The City, But Can Cause Some Travel Issues.

Commissioner Reports~

Commissioner Harkins Stated Police And Fire Departments Are Doing Good. Chief Sailliez Stated We Have Been Busier Than We Can Be. We Have Had Over Four Hundred And Twenty Ambulance Calls For The Year. We Burned Three Structures Down In Two Calls Between The Mutal Aid Call To Zeigler The Other Night, And The Call Over On South Sunnyslope With Us. We Don't Have Enough Equipment And Man Power To Keep Going Like That. Chief Purdent Stated Our Guys Are Half Way Through The Academy, They Have About Eight More Weeks. We Will Be Glad To Get Them Back.

Commissioner Howard Stated I Am Disappointed We Are Not Further Along With Our Audit; They Have Been Putting This Off. I Talked To Mr. Veteto Our Treasurer We Are Trying To Push Them As Much As We Can. I Hope We Are Successful At Getting That Done.

Commissioner Warren Stated Sewer And Water Are Working, And Staying Busy. Grid Is Mostly Fixed, A Small Piece Needs Fixed On It At The Sewer Plant. Water Superintendent White Stated Business As Usual, I Went To A Water Conference In Effingham Last Week.

21. Audience Comments:

No Audience Comments

22. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was

Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 6:59 P.M.

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