North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met June 11.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

West Frankfort Regular Council Meeting

Tuesday, June 11, 2024

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 May 28, 2024 Regular Council Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. 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 5ilcs 120/2 (C) (1), 5ilcs 120/2 (C) (5/6), 5ilcs 120/2 (C) (11). The Mayor Stated Which Would Be Employment, Purchase Of Property, Selling Of Property, And Litigation. We Do Have A Few Things To Discuss In There. I Would Entertain A Motion To Go Into Executive Session At 6:02 P.M. 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. The Mayor Stated I Entertain A Motion To Return To Open Session At 7:10 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 To Accept The Updated Employee Handbook For All The City Of West Frankfort Employees. The Mayor Stated That We Want To Delay That And Want To Table It. We Have Some Updates To Be Made To That, We Will Push That Off To The Next Meeting. This Item Was Tabled.

6. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution For The West Frankfort Recreation Association To Sponsor Their Annual Memorial Day Parade On Saturday June 15, 2024 At 9:00 A.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.

7. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Authorizing Certain Properties Located In The City Of West Frankfort To Be Re-Declared As Surplus Real Estate And To Advertise For Sealed Bids~205 N. Douglas Parcel #11-24-262-016. The Mayor Stated We Did Have A Winning Bidder But He Changed His Mind And Does Not Want The Property. Now We Have To Re-Declare This Property As Surplus. 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 Of An Ordinance Amending Chapter 2.06.020 Meetings Of The West Frankfort Code Of Ordinances For The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated This Is Clearing Up Where And When We Have Our Meetings. Our Ordinances Had East Nolen And The Wrong Date And Time. This Will Clear That Up. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Authorizing A New Intergovernmental Agreement Regarding The School Resource Officer. The Mayor Stated This Is A New Contract For The Sro With The School. The City Attorney Stated The Only Thing That Was Changed Was For The '24-'25 Year And The Wage Has Gone Up. Chief Prudent Stated That Is Correct. The Mayor Stated It Is $25.31 Per Hour. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing The Sale Of Surplus Public Real Estate Pursuant To 65 ILCS 5/11-76-4.1 Located At - 222 East Main Street, Pin #12-19-311-008 To Hudson Property Investments, LLC. The Mayor Stated We Have Two Bids. Keith Jones Is The Second Bid; It Came In After The First Bid, Was Made Closer To The Time Of The Meeting. The City Attorney Stated Looking At The Wording Of The Agenda We Didn't Have A Second Bid, I Don't Think We Can Vote At This Moment Based On The New Info We Have Got. This Item Was Tabled.

11. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Amending The Definitions For Use By The City Of West Frankfort Under The West Frankfort Code Of Ordinances Under Title 15: Buildings And Construction, Chapter 15.40.060 Housing Code For Non-Owner-Occupied Dwellings- Definitions. The Mayor Stated This Is The Ordinance Made For Non-Owner-Occupied Housing. The City Attorney Stated That The Only Change Here Is The Wording On The Contract For Deed. The Codes Officer Stated We Added That In, Before This Didn't Apply Then We Made The Chapter Apply To That, Then We Had To Find Exactly What That Was. The Mayor Stated Adding The Contract For Deed And Defining What It Is. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve Amending These Definitions. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Amending Chapter 5.66.100: Termination And Renewal Of Licenses Of The West Frankfort Code Of Ordinances For The City Of West Frankfort. The City Attorney Stated This Was The Change You Asked For To Define One Year From The Date Of Issue Instead Of On A Certain Date Of The Year. The Mayor Stated That Is What It Was Previously. If Someone Would Happen To Get Their Registration Late, They May Of Only Had It For A Month Rather Than For A Whole Year. Commissioner Harkins 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 Ordinance Setting Guidelines For Qualifications And Training For The Ada Coordinator For The City Of West Frankfort Under Title 18 Americans With Disabilities Act For The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois. The Mayor Stated In Our Last Meeting We Created A Position Of The Ada Coordinator. This Further Fleshes That Out With The Qualifications And Training That Would Be Required For That Person. Again, Not Naming A Person, Just Clearing Up Some Requirements For It. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

14. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Vacating Certain Alleyways In The Area Of Elm Street And Jefferson Street To The Franklin County Public Housing Authority. This Item Was Tabled, The City Attorney Is Still Waiting To Hear Back From The Housing Authority.

15. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Vacating Certain Alleyways In The Area Of Charles Street And Summers Street To The Franklin County Public Housing Authority. This Item Was Tabled, The City Attorney Is Still Waiting To Hear Back From The Housing Authority.

16. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Approval Of A Special Use Registration/Business License. Jan Segatto Stated I Live In Orient And I Am The Mayor Of Orient. I Did Provide You Guys A Brief Summary Of Our Business Operation Plan. Essentially, What We're Wanting To Do Is Bring Four Electric Scooters Into West Frankfort For The Public To Use. They Would Use An App To Create An Account. They Would Be Charged Per Minute And They Would Have To Return Them To The Place That They Got Them. If You Have Ever Been To Carbondale And Seen The Scooters Laying Around Everywhere, It Will Be Nothing Like That. If They Were To Attempt To End The Ride At The Park Or At The School, It Would Not Allow Them To They Would Have To Return The Scooter Back To That Area For The Ride To Be Ended. It's General Liability Insurance For Our Company. We Have Partnered With Local Business Burg's Hair Parlour And Gambit Coffee Bar To Be Able To Put Them At Their Location For People To Go Use. We Have Signage On The Way. I Think It Is An Opportunity For Something Positive In West Frankfort. We've Been Promoting It A Little Bit On Facebook. Got Some Mixed Feed Back, The Only Negative Feed Back Was The Assets Being Destroyed Or Stolen. There Are Safe Guards In Place For That. They Are Equipped With GPS Real Time And Alarms. If Not Activated And Someone Tries To Use It The Alarm Will Go Off. They Are Fairly Expensive So, If Someone Were To Steal One It Would Be A Felony. Hopefully That Would Deter Them From Doing That. If You Have Any Questions About The Operations I Would Love To Give You Some Answers. Commissioner Warren Stated If You Don't Turn It Back In The Clocks Ticking The Whole Time? Mr. Segatto Stated The Way That Works Is When The User Downloads The App And Makes An Account, They Set Up What Is Called A Wallet, Their Wallet Tops Off. If They Have Five Dollars On Their Account And Ride That Five Dollars All Out It Will Automatically Top Their Wallet Back Up And This Is Something They Know About In Advance There Is No Hidden Secrets Or Fine Print. It's Basically Charging Them In Advance. In The Case That Somebody's Is A Mile Away From The Parking Area And They Run Out Of Money, There Is A Risk Of Them Just Dropping The Scooter. We Will Be Notified; We Will Go Get It. We Will Put It Back Where Its Supposed To Go. Commissioner Stanley Stated Any Certain Age Of Riders? Mr. Segatto Stated You Have To Be Sixteen, The Way The App Works When You Register, You Have To Upload A Picture I.D. And Take A Selfie. It Verifies That Who They Are Saying They Are. Commissioner Warren Stated Is This Sidewalk Use Or Street? Mr. Segatto Stated As Far As That Goes, I Am Willing To Work With The City On Different Things Like Setting Up No-Go Zones. If There Is An Area Of Town Where You Say You Don't Want These Scooters, We Can Set That Up In Our App And If A Scooter Enters That Area It Just Stops Working, They Would Have To Push It Out Of That Area And Then It Will Start Again. As Far As Sidewalk Or Street, If You Don't Have An Ordinance In Place, They Fall Under The Illinois Bicycle Law, The Way I Understand That And I Could Be Wrong. If There Is Not A Bicycle Lane Then They Can Use The Sidewalk. Chief Prudent Stated We Do Have An Ordinance In Place That You Can't Have Bicycles On The Sidewalk In The Downtown Area. Commissioner Howard Stated It Is Just In The Downtown Area? Chief Stated Yes. Commissioner Warren Stated The Walking Path Around The Park Says You Can't Also, Doesn't It? Mr. Segatto Stated We Will Work With All Of The Authorities In Those Areas. We Can Set The Park Area Up Like The Walking Path. Commissioner Warren Stated My Golf Cart Can't Go Down Main Street, Is This Thing Going To Be Able To Go Down Main Street? Are They Going To Have To Have A Sticker? Or Do You Have Stickers On Them Already, I Guess? Maybe A Flag Or Something? Codes Officer Snell Stated If You Can't Have Bicycles On Main Street Then How Is This Going To Work? Chief Prudent Stated You're Going To Have To Be On The Edge Of The Road Way Following The Bicycle Laws. The Mayor Stated We Can Set The No-Go For Main Street. Mr. Segatto Stated Part Of What I Want To Accomplish With This Is People Come Up There To Ride The Scooters, They Will Visit The Local Businesses Like The New Pizza Place, The Coffee Bar Things Like That. Obviously, We're Not A Heavy Tourism Area But I Think People Would Use Them For An Activity, A Fun Thing To Do, Or If Someone Needs To Run Across Town And They Don't Have A Car, They Can Go Rent The Scooter For Twenty- Cents A Minute. They Could Run Across Town For A Few Dollars And Then Return It. To Answer Your Question Regarding The Golf Cart Ordinance You Can't Have It On Main Street. Chief Prudent Stated State Road Way. Mr. Segatto Stated We Will Work With You If There Are Any Areas Of Town Where You Don't Want Them To Go Or If The Speed Limited Because They Are Fifteen Miles Per Hours Commissioner Harkins Stated You Don't Want That Past Highway Fifty-Seven You Said. Mr  Segatto Stated We Have The Scooters Already And Built Out The Map And They Can't Go Past The Interstate; They Will Shut As Soon As They Hit About Where La Fiesta Is. Chief Prudent Stated Now Will That Change Once They Do The New Over Pass And Interstate. Mr Segatto Stated I Would Just Talk To The City And You To See If That Is Something They Want. I Know There Are Some Businesses Over There That Won't Be Able To Be Reached, But At The End Of The Day I Don't Want People Getting Hit By A Car. Commissioner Warren Stated Is The Scooter A Sit Or Stand On? Mr. Segatto Stated You Stand On It. Our Goal Is To Branch Out Into Other Smaller Communities Likes This And Get A Regional Thing Going. Mayor Arview Stated This Is A Round-Trip For Them When They Take It, They Bring It Right Back. Mr Segato Stated The Only Thing Down The Road That Would Be Idea If We Had Multiple Parking Places. They Could Leave It At Any Of Those Spots. They Wouldn't Be Able To Leave It On The Side Of The Road. Commissioner Stanley Stated I Wouldn't Think They Need To Be On Main Street, Just Like Golf Carts And Everything Else. Codes Officer Snell Stated That's The Problem I'm Seeing Here If We Can't Ride Them On State Highways Or Anything Like That And We Also Have An Ordinance With Bicycles Downtown. That Limits Him Immediately. Commissioner Howard Stated You Can Cross Main Street. But Our Bicycle Ordinance Says You Can't Ride Them You On The Sidewalks But It Doesn't Say You Can't Ride Them On The Streets. Chief Prudent Stated You Can Ride The Bikes In The Streets You Just Have To Follow The Same Laws. Commissioner Howard Stated You Are Supposed To Stop At Stop Signs And Signal Just Like You Are In A Car. Commissioner Stanley Stated I’m Looking At Mainly Safety Because We've Got These Kids On These Golf Carts And Side By Sides Not Even Sixteen Running Through Stop Signs. Mr. Segatto Stated It Is Like Anything Else There Are Certain Things We Cannot Predict Or Prevent If A Parent Unlocks It And Lets A Kid Drive It, They Could Do That With A Car. Mayor Arview Stated How Quickly Are You Wanting To Get This Going? I Would Like This To Go Before The Planning Commission At Their Next Meeting. Mr. Segatto Stated This Saturday. This Is A Seasonal Business; We Will Take Them Down By Halloween. Every Week Counts Towards Our Success. We Are Partnering With Levy Electric Out Of New York But Locally Managed. The City Attorney Asked What Are The Hours? Do They Have Lights? Mr. Segatto Stated 24 Hours, And Yes, They Have Head Lights And Tail Lights. The Mayor Stated I Make A Motion Contengent On Presenting At The Planning Commission Meeting, For What Ever Reason They Say No Then We Have The Possibility Of Revoking It. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Terrazon And Installing A Fiber Optic Cable In City Right Of Way License This Is For The Schools In The West Frankfort District Area Only. A Representative From Terrazone Stated We Are Running A Fiber Optic Cable Aerial And Underground To Three Locations, There Are Six Underground Spots They Are Small. The Rest Will Be Aerial On Existing Poles With New Strand And Fiber. Mayor Arview Stated What Is The Address? Terrazone Representative Stated 1401 W 6th Street. See Map Area Enclosed In This Meeting For More Information At City Hall. With Aerial We Will Be Good On Clearances Throughout The Whole Township And Then With The Underground, If Any Permits We Need To Go Through We Will Do It. Commissioner Stanley Stated Did We Talk About Coming Down The West Side Of Douglas Street? Because The Other Side Has So Much Stuff In It. Terrazone Representative Stated Yes. The Mayor Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

City Attorney Stated Who Do We Get In Touch With For A Written Agreement? Terrazone Representative Stated I Will Give You My Contact Information If You Email Me, I Can Get You In Touch With Who You Need To Be In Touch With.

18. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Windstream KDL, LLC, And Installing A Fiber Optic Cable In The City Right Of Way License For The West Frankfort School District. Jeremy Smitty With Windstream Communications Stated, Clarification, We're Not Going To The School System. We're Going To 205 West 9th Street. I Believe It's A Cell Tower. Our Customer Is Dish Network. We Have Existing Facilities That Go Down Douglas Street Currently, All Aerial. We Are Going To Go Underground Half Way Between West 5th And West 6th On Douglas, Headed North To 7th, We're Going To Stay Under Ground And Continue To North Ida Street And From There Continue To 9th Street And Turn And Go To The Cell Tower. All Underground. Commissioner Howard Stated Is This For People To Get Dish Without A Dish? Mr. Smitty Stated Essentially Yes, But We Don't Do Anything With Dish Just Providing Them With Back Haul To Make It Work For Them. The City Attorney Stated Started R.O.W. Agreement, I've Looked Them Through; I Think It's Almost At A Perfect Form. We Have Added One Part Since And I Did Double Check, They Can Do Business Here Which Is Part Of Why This Got Paused With Mike. We Were Not Sure There Was No Proof, If You Are Good With The Plan I Think The Rest Should Be Fine. Mr. Smitty Stated Is That The Form You Needed For The LLC, Do You Have A Copy? The City Attorney Stated Yes. We Got It, | Checked And We're Good. The Mayor Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

19. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Bid Received From Joplin Salvage In The Amount Of $5,000.00 For Removal Of Steel Beams At The West Frankfort Business Incubator. Commissioner Warren Stated This Is A Very Precarious Position These Beams Are In. Commissioner Howard Stated Looks Like Some Of Them Are Rusting. City Clerk Bolen Stated None Of Them Are Attached. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Bid Received To Replace Roof On The Fire Departments City Water Tower Building In The Amount Of $1,500.00. Commissioner Warren Stated Is This A Regular Roof? Fire Chief Sailliez Stated It's A Flat Rubber Roof. The Mayor Stated Chief Said The Water Is Getting In And Hitting The Electronics And Things In There. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

21. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Bids Received To Replace Wrap On Fire Chief's Vehicle. The Mayor Stated This Is From T. Hams Signs. Fire Chief Sailliez Stated They Are The Ones Who Did The Ambulance. Commissioner Warren Stated How Long Has This Wrap Been On This Vehicle. Chief Sailliez Stated Since It Was New, It's Starting To Come Off. There Is No Color Left On It. Chief Showed The Council A Picture Of What It Will Look Like. It Matches The Scheme Of The New Ambulance And Getting The Safety Colors Back On The Back Of It And Labeled. Commissioner Warren Stated What's The Problem With It Now? Chief Sailliez Stated It Is Starting To Fall Off And Hang Off, There Is No Color Left To Them. The Mayor Stated How Old Is It? Commissioner Stanley Stated 2016 Or 2017. Commissioner Warren Stated The Problem Is With The Amount Of Money Spent On A Wrap, Is It Desperately Needed? Chief Sailliez Stated If You Go On The Any Of The Highways And Everything You Have Got To Have Your Reflective Stuff On And It's Not Reflecting Anymore Its Coming Off. Commissioner Warren Stated It's Not Reflecting? I Thought It Was Just Peeling Off Or Something. I Didn't Know. Chief Sailliez Stated Its Both. Commissioner Warren Stated Its Not To Just Match The Ambulance? Chief Sailliez Stated There Is Plenty Of Stuff Up There That Doesn't Match, I’m Not Re-Lettering The Whole Fleet. Commissioner Warren Stated That's What You Said It Would Be Similar To The Ambulance That's Why I Was Just Asking, Just Being Reponsible For The Money. Chief Sailliez Stated I Just Threw That Out There, They Are Worth While Of Their Work, They've Done Craftsmanship, Weve Done Business With Them. They Are Established, It's Not Like I Just Picked Somebody. The Mayor Stated They've Done Work For Us Before. Commissioner Harkins Stated It's Not Going To Stop Peeling Off, It Keeps Coming Off It's Going To Be Less Effective. Chief Sailliez Stated The Last Time We Asked The Person In Town He Did Not Have Time To Make The Minimal Amount Of Money, He Was Supposed To Call Me Tomorrow But I Will Revisit The Idea. Commissioner Stanley Stated He Couldn't Do It Or Didn't Want To Do It? Chief Sailliez Stated Before He Didn't Want To Do It. That's Why We Went Out Of Town Before To Do It, He's Too Busy For The Amount Of Money He Makes On It. Commissioner Warren Stated Safety Issues, I'd Say That's The Main Thing. The Mayor Stated If You’re Going To Get A Bid Tomorrow, Figure Something Out. What I Would Word This As Is, A Motion To Approve Re- Wrapping The Vehicle. Chief Sailliez Stated Contingent On The Local Guys Business? The Mayor Stated Yes, If He Will. Commissioner Warren Stated I Don't Want You To Be Out There And Not Be Seen. How Long Will That Take? Chief Sailliez Stated It Took About Three And A Half Days To Do The Ambulance So I’m Thinking Two Or Three. Commissioner Warren Stated Is The Equipment That You Have In Your Vehicle Transferable To Something Else That You're Going To Have To Drive In The Mean Time So That You Can Be Contacted? Chief Sailliez Stated I Can Take The Truck That We Have. The Mayor Stated To Approve Getting The Work Done, Who's Going To Do It Depends On It What He Comes Back With. Commissioner Warren Stated Two Bids Basically. Chief Sailliez Stated If Simple Solution Will Entertain The Idea, We Would Keep It In Town. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

22. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Novacom In The Amount Of $8,473.90 For Digital Radio System In 10 Vehicles For The Fire Department. Chief Sailliez Stated Two Percent Is Upgrading The Radio System For Us To Go To A Digital Repeater, Which Has Been Recommended For Clarity And Dependability In Our Radios And The Mobile Radios In The Vehicles, As We Have Been Replacing Them Over The Two To Three Years, We Have Been Getting Digital Compliant Radios Because That's Where Everything Is Going. However, There Is Still Ten Radios In All Of Our Fleet That Would Need To Be Upgraded. This Would Finish Upgrading Those. The Two Percent Bought $22,000 For The Digital Repeater, They Paid For That, They Paid For The Install And Everything With It That Would Be Included. Commissioner Harkins Stated What's Left Is $8,473.90 That We Will Owe, Right? Chief Sailliez Stated Correct. Commissioner Howard Stated And You Need These For The System To Talk To Each Other? Chief Sailliez Stated All Of Our Portable Radios Are Digital Compliant. We've Been Upgrading Them Over The Last Five Years As We Have Needed Them. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

23. Approval To Pay Invoice From Energy Culvert In The Amount Of $9,510.59 For Culvert For 9th & Madison Street Sidewalk Project. Commissioner Howard Asked Is That The One Out There By The School? The Mayor Stated Yes. Commissioner Howard 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 To Pay An Invoice From Braddy Auto Body And Custom Paint In The Amount Of $1,521.69 To Repairs Made To 2022 Ram 1500 For The West Frankfort Police Department. Commissioner Howard Stated I Only Have One Comment, We Don't Pay Sales Tax So It Should Only Be $1,413.00. Police Chief Prudent Stated I Did Not See The Sales Tax On The Invoice. This Was Damage From When We Had Stopped A Burglary In Progress, Suspect Fled And We Got In To A Pursuit. They Drug One Of My Officers About Twenty-Five Feet With Their Car. Suspect Hit Our Squad Car In The Process, This Is Damage From That. We Will Go For Restitution Through The Courts. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

25. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Weeks Chevy GMC In The Amount Of $5,573.20 To Replace Lifters And Camshaft On 2016 Chevy 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.

26. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Southern Fs In The Amount Of $5,972.69 Regarding Diesel Fuel For The Generators For The Street, Sewer Department, And City Hall. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

27. The Next Item Was Approval To Transfer Lake Lot Lease #86 From Sharon Norton Jordan To Sharon K. Norton And Ronald G. Newbold Jr. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

28. Consent Agenda

A. Approval To Pay Bills In The Amount Of $208,463.59.

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

The Mayor Stated Codes Officer Has An Item He Wanted To Present. Codes Officer Snell Stated I Would Like The Opportunity To Advertise For Bids For Demolition For Four Different Properties. As You Know We Hired Cantrell To Do Somethings For Us As Far As Demolition Things Go. He Has Got Pretty Far, Pretty Quick, On Some Of These Properties. I'd Hate To Have Possession Of Those For Too Long As They Are A Liability Once We Own Them. Can We Go Ahead And Advertise For Bids 1001 E. Clark St., 609 E. St. Louis St., 2309 E. Elm St., 301 E. 4th St.

Those Have Progressed Quickly Because He Filed The Cases And Was Immediately Contacted By The Previous Owners Who Didn't Realize They Still Owned The Properties. They Are Willing To Deed To Properties To The City And We Can Do A Deed In Lieu Of Foreclosure. It Would Save The City A Bunch Of Money. The Mayor Stated I Don't Think We Necessarily Need To Vote On That, We're Just Announcing We Are Advertising For Bids.

29. Building And Sign Permits · Codes Officer Snell Stated The First One Is For Angie Wright, I Believe There Is A Gentleman Here To Talk About This One. You'll Notice This One Is The Only One Without A Cover Page In Your Binder Because I Could Not Put My Official Approval On It Yet And I Believe That Is Why He Is Here To Speak. Gayle, If You Want To Come Up And Talk About It And I'll Kinda Forego Him And Tell You About It Before He Speaks. What This Is, Is A Car Port He's Wanting To Put In For Angie At Her Property Which Actually Belongs To Her Daughter And Her Son-In-Law, With Car Ports Putting In There, It's On The Side Of The House And We Require Certain Set Backs. We Require A Foot And A Half Off Of Our Rear Boundary Lines Towards Our Alleys And A Foot And A Half Off Of Side Properties Lines Towards Other Properties, We Require Five Feet Off Of Side Yards To Our Street Or Our Side Streets. The Way This Was Written In The Permit It Does Not Meet The Set Back Requirement. He Asked If We Could Put It On The Agenda And He Could Speak With You About It. Gayle Stone Stated All I Am Asking Is The Way, I Understand It Originally Was The Foot And A Half Set Back. This Lady Needs Access To Her House And With The Foot And A Half, I Could Have Dealt With. To Do Anything Else To Put Her Car Port In Where She Can Get Into Her House Would Be A Major Expense. All I Am Asking Is The Variance Be A Foot And A Half, I Can Stay Off The Side Walk. The Street Does Not Run Right Up To The Outside Of The Sidewalk. It Is A Wide Access Area, Right Now She Is Parking Out In That Access Area On The Edge Of The Street. She Is Just Trying To Get In And Out Of The Cold, The Rain And Everything. If I Can Go With The Foot And A Half? I Can Make That Work. That's Not A Problem. The Mayor Stated Is This Something The Zoning Board Needs? Codes Officer Snell Stated That's Kind Of What I Said At First, If He Asked For A Variance From The Zoning Board That Would Be The Proper Way To Go About It., We Made A Real Effort On Making These Codes Stick And Doing Things Right. The Mayor Stated I Know In The Past We've Done Things Where We Have Said It Is A Case-By-Case Basis And One Doesn't Necessarily Mean We Let For All. I Feel Like We Should Send It To The Zoning Board And Get Their Recommendation On It. Codes Officer Snell Stated That Is What They're There For, That Is The Proper Channels We Go Through. The Mayor Stated When Is The That Next Meeting? Codes Officer Snell Stated We Set Those Whenever. Upon Setting Notice For Those Dates, They Have To Have Their Meeting Within Seven Days. If We Need To Set That With The Zoning Board Tomorrow, We Can Have That Meeting Within Seven Days But Once They Approve That Variance, This Would Be Reset To The Next Council Meeting. We Couldn't Have The Building Permit Before The Next Council Meeting. The Mayor Stated I Think That Is What We Need To Do. If We Do It Here That Could Set A Precedence But, If They Do It, We Can Say That Was For That Special Case. Codes Officer Snell Stated That Is What The Zoning Board Is For, That's Why We Put Them On A Board, That's Why We Made An Ordinance For Situations Like This. Mr. Stone Stated The Only Reason I Had A Question About It, I Drive Across Town And Everyones Car Ports Comes Right To The Edge Of The Side, I Know You Have To Set A Precedence Some Place But The Area Is Not Crowded. The Mayor Stated I Know What You Are Saying. Hopefully They Will Agree With You On That. They Have Been Pretty Good When Things Need Variances.

The Next Permit Was Solar Permit For Samantha Higgins At 712 E. St. Louis. Roof Mount Solar Panels. The Contractor Already Registered With My Office As A Contractor For The City, They Can Do Business In State Of Illinois. Attached In The Packet Is Their Registration Paperwork. They've Got A Letter From Their Engineer Certifying Their Work. I Recommend We Go Ahead And Approve This. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was A Portable Building For Roberta Walters At 1410 E. Oak St. A Portable Shed Being Moved In. They Are Buying From Flowers By Dave In Benton, They Are Going To Move It In For Them. They Have Given Me Their Map Where Its Going To Be Set. It Meets All Of Our Set Backs, Its Good To Go. 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 Next Permit Was Sign Permit For Easy Coin Laundry At 905 E Main St. Liberty Graphics And Signs, Llc. Will Do The Work, He Is Registered With The City. I Recommend We Approve This Sign Permit. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Last Permit Was A Sign Permit For Neibch Towing. They Have Their Free-Standing Sign That's Already Out There, If You Have Noticed The Pole There Was Into A Bucket That Had Concrete Or Something In It, I Think The Wind Blew It Over. They Are Going To Redo The Base On It And Re-Put That Sign Back In. I Recommend We Approve That Permit. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All

Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

Officer's Report -

Fire Report For The Month Of May 2024. Chief Sailliez

Reported That They Had 204-Ambulance Calls, 3-Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 1-Brush/Field Fires, 3-Motor Vehicle Accidents, 2-Fire Alarms, 1-Vehicle Fires, 77 - Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 2- Structure Fires, 0-Smoke Scares, 4-Mutual Aid Fire Responses, 1-Mutual Aid Ambulance, 3-Ambulance Calls Turned Over To Mutual Aid. For A Total Of 301 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 18,000 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $83,584.41 For May Ambulance Calls.

Police Report For The Month Of May 2024. Chief Prudent Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 1,391 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 17 Were Traffic Accidents, 3 With Injuries. Officers Responded To 37 Domestic Disputes, 9 Fights In Progress, 12 Alarms, 1 Intoxicated Persons, 9 Burglaries, 12 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 24 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 33 Reported Thefts, And 40 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. And Officers Made 30 Street Contacts. Officers Conducted 187 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 42 Citations, 191 Warnings, And 8 Lw-27's. There Were 76 Adult Arrests Made And 9 Juvenile Arrest, Resulting In 120 Criminal Charges Filed.

Dispatchers Answered 1,690 Calls.

Of Those, 637 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 160 Were Walk In Requests. 1,391 Were For Police, 235 Were For West Frankfort Fire, 12 Were For Abbott Ems, And 2 For United Ambulance. For The Month Of May, We Collected $2,380.00 In Fines And Fees.

Codes Report For The Month Of May 2024. Codes Officer Snell Reported Permit: 5~Building Permits, 2~Sign Permits. 2~ Solar Permits. Rental Properties: 10~Rental Inspections Performed. Case Activity Report ~ 60 Which Includes Doors Tagged Verbal Warnings, Vehicles Tagged, Inspections Of Violations, Inspections, Citations Issued, Letters Sent, Etc.

30. Mayors Report~

The Mayor Stated Starbucks Is Making A Lot Of Progress To Their Building It Is Looking Good. Wendy's Is Still In Business; They Are Doing Really Good. We Have A Lot Of New Businesses Coming In, And I Am Really Excited About That.

Commissioner Reports~

Commissioner Harkins Stated The Police And Fire Department Have Been Really Busy, And Doing A Great Job. Chief Sailliez Stated Jeremy Lingle Will Be Leaving, He Works His Last Shift On The 21st.

Commissioner Howard Stated The Operating Budget Is Just About Completed. There Is A Report Showing The Income

And Expenses Through The Month Of February, Year To Date. Those Reports Are Available If Anyone Would Like To See Them.

Commissioner Stanley Stated The Street Guys Have Been Busy The Last Few Weeks Picking Up All Of The Tree Limbs. They Started The Road Project, And They Are Staying Busy Getting All Of The Fields And Ditches Mowed.

Commissioner Warren Stated Water And Sewer Are Working, Everything Is Going Well With Those Departments. We Did Have Some Trees Down At The Old Lake, The Street Department Guys Are Going To Take Care Of It. I Went To Mad Mad's Pizza, Food Was Really Good. I’m Excited That The Starbucks Sign Is Going Up. Kroger Gas Station Is Making A Lot Of Progress As Well. If You Plan On Going Fishing, Remember You Need A Sticker. I Need To Talk To Chief Prudent, About The Possibly Of Selling Stickers At The Police Department On The Weekends. Chief Prudent Stated He Did Not Think That Would Be An Issue And Agreed It Would Be A Good Idea. Commissioner Warren Stated She Will See About Sending Some Stickers Over.

Audience Comments:

Marica Raubach From The Old King Coal Committee Stated I Wanted To Give A Final Comment On The OKC Festival Since The City Is Our Major Partner. We Still Have Some Money In The Bank After We Finalized Everything. We Had A Great Four Days, Weather Was Great, And The Crowds Were Great Everynight. We Had A Lot Of Great Help From The City, And We Were Very Pleased. We Just Want To Thank The City For All You Do.

31. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 8:17 P.M.

https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/4697/CWF/4536107/City_Council_Meeting_June_11__2024.pdf