North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Aug. 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 Including, The City Attorney And City Clerk.

2. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Agenda For City Council Meeting On August 27, 2024. Mayor Arview Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve The Agenda For This Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

3. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The August 13, 2024 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.

4. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution For The FCHS Homecoming Parade To Be Held Friday, September 20th, 2024 At 2:00 P.M. 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 Authorizing Signers For Loan Documents To Purchase Squad Cars For The West Frankfort Police Department Through Banterra Bank. Mayor Arview Stated That I Would Be Appointing Myself And Commissioner Howard To Be Signers For That Loan. Commissioner Harkins 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 Approval To Pay Franklin County Treasurer For Real Estate Property Taxes In The Amount Of $118,336.72 For City Owned 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. Mayor Arview Stated That Items Six, Seven, And Eight Go Together. I Would Like To Mention What It Is We Are Doing Here. State Statue Specifies That Our Commissioner Of Streets And Public Improvements Is Exofficio The Commissioner Of Public Works. We Have Divided Those Duties In The Past Between The Street Commissioner And The Commissioner Of Public Property But We Have Quite A Few Issues Going On With The Lakes And Different Public Properties That I Feel Like That It Would Best Serve The City For Us To Put All Of The Public Works Under The Commissioner Of Streets And Public Improvements. The Properties, The Buildings, The Maintenance Of The Buildings, The Mall, The Incubator, And We Have Some Other Upcoming Projects Possibly In The Works To Place All Those Under The Commissioner Of Public Property. That's What These Are.

7. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Amending The Chapter 2.21.010: Powers And Duties Generally (Commissioner Of Public Property). Mayor Arview Stated I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve This Amendment. I Know Normally We Want A Motion Before Discussion But With This, We Can Discuss It. Commissioner Warren Stated This Is Moving All That From Me To Somebody Else? Mayor Arview Stated I Believe With This Particular One Is The Water Works. The Water Mains Were Already Under The Streets And Public Improvements, It Was Just Water Works For Whatever Reason Was Put Into Public Property. It Is All Speculation Because Nobody Was There But That Change Was Made In 1947. My Speculation Is That The Commissioner Of Public Property At That Time, The City Didn't Have A Lot Of Properties So There Wasn't A Lot For The Commissioner To Do So They Divided That Up That Way. Commissioner Howard Stated Commissioner Of Public Property Is Linda? Mayor Arview Stated Yes. Commissioner Warren Stated Are We Illegal Or Is This Just Cleaning Up Of The Roles? Mayor Arview Stated We Have The Ability Through State Statue To Designate The Departments. Commissioner Warren Stated I Am Just Wondering Why It's Being Done Midterm? Since We Were Sworn In And Given Our Jobs, Why It's Switching Me From Water And Sewer To Buildings And Lake, And Putting All That On Roger? I Am Just Wondering What The Reasoning Was For Switching Midterm If We Were Appointed Already. If We Were Illegal, Fine. I Understand How It's Under The Umbrella But I Need An Explanation Because I Enjoy My Departments. Mayor Arview Stated For One, We Can Do It Whether It's At The Beginning Or Not, The Statue Allows Us To Do That. As For Why Now And Not Before? Commissioner Warren Stated Why Not Next Term? Mayor Arview Stated Well, I Mean There Are A Lot Of Ordinances I Have Been Trying To Clean Up And Go Through. Commissioner Warren Stated I Have Done My Job. Mayor Arview Stated Yes, You Have. You're An Elected Official, It's Not A Hired Position. Commission Warren Stated I Am Just Wondering Because When We Were Sworn In And Appointed, Why We're Doing This Midstream? Mayor Arview Stated That Would Be For The Commissioner Of Public Property, The Other Side Of That Is We Don't Really Have A Commissioner Of Water And A Commissioner Of Sewer. Commissioner Warren Stated It's Always Been That Way Though. My Husband Did It For Two Terms And Other People Did It For A Long Time. I Just Don't Know Why The Roles Are Being Cleaned Up In The Middle Of The Term? Mayor Arview Stated There Isn't A Reason For The Timing Of It, It Just Came Up. This Is Not Any Reflection On Anything That You've Done. Commissioner Warren Stated I Know; I Just Think There Are Other Things That Can Be Changed Besides That. Mayor Arview Stated Other Cities Have It This Way Too. Even The State Statue Says Exofficio Commissioner Of Public Works So It Falls Under That. In Fact, On The First Or Second Meeting That We Had Someone Mentioned That Its Technically Under Roger But I Explained Our Ordinances Spelled It Out To Be Under The Commissioner Of Public Property But I Feel Like It Makes Sense Logically To Be Under Public Works Because It's Public Works. Commissioner Howard Stated I Was Going To Make A Suggestion That We Table It For Now, Have More Time To Look At This, And To Discuss With The Commissioner Stanley And Commissioner Warren. Commissioner Warren Stated I Was Under The Impression When You Called Me That Roger Was Going To Be Buildings Because He Knows More About Building A House And Looking At Electricity And Stuff Like That Than I Do. I Guess I Was Confused Or Didn't Understand. I Am Perfectly Clear Here, I Thought We Were Just Moving Somethings Around And I Would Still Be Sewer And Water And He Would Be The Buildings. Evidently, It Came Across Wrong. Commissioner Harkins Stated I Personally Think We Leave It The Way It Is. Mayor Arview Stated The Problem Is The Way It Is, We Don't Have Anyone That Is Over The Public Property. We Have The Lake Committee And I Have Mentioned About Formalizing That, Making It An Actual Committee Of The City. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: Commissioner Harkins And Commissioner Warren Voted No. Commissioner Stanley, Commissioner Howard And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried. 

8. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Repealing Chapter 2.21.030: Appointment Of Superintendent Of Water (Commissioner Of Public Property). Mayor Arview To Clarify Here, We Don't Have Anywhere In Our Ordinances That Say Who Appoints The Superintendent Of Sewer. I Am Not Sure Why The Superintendent Of Water Was In Our Ordinances And The Superintendent Of Sewer Is Not. It Just Follows If The Commissioner Of Public Works Is Over Those Department, That Would Be Where The Appointment For The Superintendent Would Come From. Ultimately, State Statue Says That I Would Be Appointing The Department Heads Anyways, I Like To Get All Of Your Inputs On Those As It Is. In My Opinion, This Is Just A Formality Because I Would Want Your Input On Whoever Is Appointed Whether You're Over That Department Or Not. Commissioner Howard Stated We Are Repealing This Because Commissioner Of Public Works Would Automatically Be Over It. Mayor Arview Stated The Way Kate Got This For Us, Seven And Eight Go Together Where It's Moving The Appointment Of The Superintendent Of Water From Public Property To The Commissioner Of Public Works. I Would Prefer To Repeal It And Not Added It To Anyone And We As A Council Decided Who Is Going To Be Over Those Departments. 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 Approval Of An Ordinance Amending Chapter 2.18.030: Appointment Of Superintendent Of Streets (Commissioner Of Streets And Public Improvements). Mayor Arview Stated I Can't Tell You How To Vote But I Would Like To See Done Is That It's Voted Down And Not Put Under Anybody. Commissioner Warren Stated Explain That One To Me? Mayor Arview Stated We've Now Removed The Appointment Of The Water Superintendent From Our Ordinances. Item Eight Would Put That Back But Put It Under Roger. My View Is That It Shouldn't Be Under Anyone. As A Council, We Should Be Decided Who The Superintendents Are. Commissioner Warren Stated Commissioners They May Recommend? Mayor Arview Stated Yes, The Way We've Done It Is That I Am Making The Appointment Officially. I Just Feel Like All The Commissioners Should Equally Have A Voice On Who The Superintendent Is. Mayor Arview Made The Motion To Approve. Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted No And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Failed.

10. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Regulating Public Camping Within Corporate Boundaries And Other Actions In Connections Therewith For The City Of West Frankfort. Code Officer Snell Stated This Is A Model Ordinance That Was Passed And Backed By A Supreme Court Case. An Ordinance That Regulates Vagrancy And Camping Within City Limits On Public Property, Not Private Property. This Is City Owned Property Such As Streets, Parks, And Benches. That Type Of Thing. We Can Regulate And Do Away With That In The City. The Reason We Cannot Amend That To Include Private Property Into It Because Then It Is No Longer Backed By A Supreme Court Case. We Are Looking At Some Avenues To Change That In A Different Way When It Comes To Private Property. For Now, Public Property Is A Model Ordinance And It's Back By The Court Case. Mayor Arview Stated This Is Within City Limits? Codes Officer Snell Stated Yes. Mayor Arview Stated This Doesn't Control Any Kind Of Camping On Public Camp Grounds, If We Had Those. This Is Just For City Limits To Say You Cannot Camp On City Property. Commissioner Harkins 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 Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Approval Of An Ordinance For An Easement Agreement At The West Frankfort City Lake. Mayor Arview Stated Per Recommendation From Jonathan Cantrell We Will Need To Table It. This Item Was Tabled.

12. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Diamond 

Equipment In The Amount Of $3,368.33 For The Additional Repairs Needed On Backhoe And Boom 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.

13. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From Lauterbach & Amen, LLP In The Amount Of $13,000 For Progress Billing For The City Of West Frankfort Financial Statement Audit. Commissioner Howard 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 To Pay Invoice To Intact Insurance/Brown & Joseph In The Amount Of $10,000 For The Deductible In Insurance Claim For Police Department. Mayor Arview Stated This Is Something That Should Have Been Paid A While Back. It Was An Emergency Situation We're Approving Now. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval To Authorize Brown And Roberts, Inc To Conduct An Inspection Of The West Frankfort New City Lake Damn, As Required By The Illinois Department Of Natural Resources. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval Transfer Lake Lot Lease #67b From Charles And Steve Heyder To Chase And Taigan Mclaren. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval Of Lake Lot Lease #67a And #67b Surveys For Steve Heyder. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. 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 $325,807.44.

B. Approval To Pay Franklin County Tax Agent In The Amount Of $1,632.00 For The Purchase Of Two Lots Through The County's Tax Liquidation Program.

C. Approval To Pay Invoices From Odum Concrete, In In The Amount Of $3,297.00 For The Sidewalk On 9th Street For The Street Department. Mayor Arview Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve The Consent Agenda As Presented. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

Building And Sign Permits ~ Codes Officer Snell Stated We Have Four Solar Permits. These Are Pretty Simple And They All Come With Stamped Plans From Engineers. There Are No Setbacks To Deal With Just Stamped Plans To Certify The Roof Can Hold Them. I Recommend We Approve All Of Them. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Is For Marsha Pappas At 810 E St. Louis St. A New Pole Barn Style House. Setbacks Work And Everything Looks Good, Contractor Is Registered And Insured. I Recommend We Approve That. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Is For Andrew Prak At 506 S. Monroe St. For Portable Shed. He Is Putting It On A New Lot To Make It Work With Our Setbacks And With Our Zoning. I Recommend We Approve That. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Is For Llyod Otterson At 1802 E. Elm St. For A Portable Storage Barn. He Already Had Two And He Is Removing One Of Those And Moving One To Deal With Our Setbacks. I Recommend We Approve That. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Is For Steve Kiser At 708 E Candy Cane Lane For A Wooden Fence. It Was Built Into The Right Of Way And He Is Moving It Back. Everything Is Good On His New Plan. I Recommend We Approve That. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

19. Mayors Report~

Mayor Arview Stated I Have Been In Contact With Lauterbach & Amen, LLP, There Was Some Information They Needed From Our Previous Auditor That They Were Not Getting. I Called Them And Left A Voicemail With No Response. Then I Finally Emailed And They Responded That They Would Get The Information To Them. I Haven't Heard Whether It Has Happened Or Not But I Passed The Information To Lauterbach & Amen, LLP And As Far As I Know, That Is The Only Real Hold Up They Had. Monica Is Our Contact At Lauterbach & Amen, LLP And She Didn't Indicate There Were Any Other Issues Other Than That. Fingers Crossed That's Done And We Will Be Able To See Some Progress On The Audit. They Were Not Able To Give Me A Time Line But I Will Follow Up This Week To See If She Has A Date To Give Me. Another Thing I Wanted To Bring Up, We Had A Planning Commission Meeting Last Night And There Was A Couple Who Was Looking For Tif. I Think People May Be A Little Bit Confused, The City Can't Make Loans Or Things Like That For Those Things. That Has To Come Through Tif And Our Economic Developer That Decided Whether Or Not And How Much The Tif Is Going To Be. There Is A Lot Of Factors Involved With That. That Is Why We Have A Firm Take Care Of That For Us. So, We Don't Have To Crunch All The Numbers And Figure That Stuff Out. What You're Going To Run Into When You Apply For A Tif, They Will Pay For A Small Portion Of What It Is You're Wanting To Do And It's A Reimbursement. If You Don't Have The Money Up Front, Then You Probably Won't Be A Good Candidate For Tif. I Just Wanted To Clarify That And How Tif Works So We Don't Run Into That Situation In The Future. 

Commissioner Reports~ 

Commissioner Harkins Stated I Was Up There Checking; They Are Getting Our New Brush Truck Ready To Use. It Looks Like It's Getting Dryer Out And We Will Be Using It Pretty Quickly. They Are Getting The Pump Installed And Hopefully It Will Be Finalized And Put In Use. It Looks Good. It's Something We Need Really Bad.

Commissioner Howard Stated A Couple Of Things, One Is The Squad Cars. The Bank Is Willing To Finance Those For Sixty Months At Five Percent, Which Is A Good Deal. The Monthly Payment Would Be $4,126.00, Annually That Would Be $49, 512.60. We Had Initially Thought That The Payment Was Going To Be $78,000 Annually, So We Are Saving $28,000 A Year Over What We Thought On The Payment Because It Is Stretched Out Over A Little Longer Period Of Time. Second Of All, Michael Bonner Was Able To Procure Guard Rails For The Side Walk On 9th Street. He Found A Farmer That Had Some In Missouri And He Got Them For Less Than $600. Had We Bought Them New, It Would Have Cost Us Twenty Thousand Plus. Michael Has Inspected It; They Are In Great Shape And It's Like They Are Brand New. Kudos To Them For Saving Us A Bunch Of Money.

Commissioner Stanley Stated The Sidewalk Looks Good; They Spend A Lot Of Hot Days Out There. They Have To Get The Guard Rails Up. And It Will Look A Little Better And Safer For The Kids In That Section. It Will Be All Painted Up And Reflectors On It. They Are Getting Ready To Start Road Work Now, Oiling And Chipping. They Are Busy, They Have A Lot Going On. I Am Proud Of Them.

Commissioner Warren Stated Well, It's My Last Report For My Sewer And Water Guys. I Love My Guys; They Are Great And They Do A Good Job. It's Been A Great Learning Experience And Working With Them. I Am Going To Go On To Other Things Now. They Are All Busy. The Lakes Are Busy Too.

20. Audience Comments:

Danny Loeh Stated I Want To Give You An Update On Gold Star Day At Duquoin. It Was Amazing. We Had Our Best Showing At Gold Star Day In Several Years. 773rd Brought A Bunch Of Volunteers In To Help With The Handicapped Ones And Delivered Meals And Deserts To Them At Their Tables. They Delivered Everything, They Didn't Have To Do Anything And They Cleaned Up. We've Had A Lot Of Good Comments About The Stuff We Brought Down And Showed Them. They Could Not Believe Some Of The Stuff We Took Down There. I Want To Send A Big Thank You Out To Our Ambulance Department For Helping Me.

Mayor Arview Stated I Forgot To Add To My Report, Starbucks Is Open. They Are Open, Give Them Some Of Your Business And Shop Local Too.

Robert Stanley Was In The Audience And Stated I Own The House At 1109 1/2 E. Lindell St, Which My Tenant Is In The Back, The House Has Caused Some Issues, I Guess. The House Used To Be Called The Moore's Compound, It Used To Be Two Houses Built Together. I Bought Both And Sold One Of Them. I Don't Own The One On The Corner Anymore. We Put New A Roof On It, We Are Actually Complying With Things Thad Has Asked And We Have Put A New Window On The Side. The Issue I Am Here For And I Would Like To Resolve It But I Saw All The No Trespassing Signs. I Got Fifty Texts About Your Facebook Comments, I Don't Have Facebook, I Want To Stop That. I Am Not A Slum Lord; I Am Not All These Negative Things And Nor Is She. I Would Like To Ma'am, If We Could, Come To A Peaceful Solution. Illinois Law States That Off Of Any Building You're Supposed To Be Fifteen Feet But I Am Not Even Going To That. I Agree With You Where The Property Lines Are, We Can Work Out Something. We Have To Take Care Of Your Side Of The Fence And The Back Of Her House. If There Is A Fire, People Have To Be Able To Get Out. I Understand You Went To The City With All Of Your Paperwork And It Was Approved. But I Think It Was Approved Without A Little Thought, Because No One Thought You Would Build Within One Inch Of The Back Of The House. There Is A Dog In The Back Yard. If There Is A Fire, My Tenant Cannot Get Out. She Has Already Been Attacked By The Dog; I Can't Have That. All I Am Asking Is Give Us A Couple Feet So She Can Get Out The Window And Not Go Into Your Yard And Get Bit By A Dog. I Don't See What The Problem Is, It's An Existing Structure. For The City Side Of It, I Spoke With Thad, It Is A Reasonable Request, Is That We Have A Little Spot That Her And Her Children Can Get Out Of The House Because That Is A Bedroom. The Other Thing She Has Done Is Put The Dog Cage By The Window. At Five O'clock She Puts The Dog Out, I Spoke With Mr. Willis Over Here And Start A Nuisance Thing Because She Keeps Doing That. She Is Making All The Comments About The City And Everyone Else On Facebook, She Doesn't Even Know Me. I Just Want A Sensible Solution That The City Looks At This Project And Give My Tenant A Couple Feet So That She Can Get Out If There Is A Fire. Mayor Arview Stated Is That Something That Would Have To Go To The Board Of Appeals? Codes Officer Snell Stated Yes, The City Definitely Owes It To Him To Look Into Some Safety Code And See If Something Applies In That Case. Commissioner Warren Stated Are The Houses The Same Age? Tina Rose Stated No. Robert Stanley Stated The Houses Are Close To The Same Age. This House Initially Was Built In The Same Time Frame But Has Been Added On. The Structure Has Been There Thirty Or Forty Years. It Has Never Changed In Thirty Or Forty Years. Tina Rose Was In The Audience And Stated Since 1965 The City Codes States That A Dangerous Building Is Not Allowed. Anyone Who Boards Their Home Admits Legally That Is It A Hazardous Building. It Can Be Boarded At Most Ninety Days. After Ninety Days, The City Shall Fine The Owner $100 To $500 Per Day. Any Building Left Boarded For More Than Ninety Days Must Also Prove That Is Has A Minimum Of $300,000 In Home, Fire, And Liability Insurance And File This Proof With The City. Every Boarded Building Should Have This Insurance On File And Be Paying Daily Fines. Residents Should Inquire About The Insurance And Fine Requirements If You Live Near A Boarded Home. Many Residents And I Have Experienced, It Happened Before I Got Here, The Code Was Not Enforced. The City Officials Have Witnessed This Comment And It Is A Form Of Gaslighting And It Has Been Destroying Peoples Lives. This Response Is A Residential Problem And It Has To Stop. If Codes Had Been Enforced In The Last Three Years, The Drug Home Would Not Currently Be There And I Firmly Believe I Would Have Not Endured A Violent Home Invasion If The Building Codes Had Been Enforced. 1109 And 1109 1⁄2 East Lindell Are Both Dangerous Buildings. At One Time They Were Connected And All Of Those Connections Were Built Without Approval And It Caused A Fire. 1109 E Lindell Has Been Boarded For Fifteen Years After The Fire Had Caused The Building Additions To Come Down Without The Permits. The Home At 1109 E Lindell Has Been Boarded Continuously For The Last Three Years. Has Anyone Initiated The Required Fine? Anyone? Okay. When Does The City Have Records Indicating The Required Insurance Coverage For The Previous Fifteen Years? Neighbors Must Contend With Airborne Mold Spores, Pests, Bugs, Skunks, Opossums, And Odors. If Fines Were Implemented From 2010 And Forward On That One Property Alone, The Owner Would Owe The City Over Two Million Dollars. However, The Council Taxed Our Food Rather Than Implement Fines That Protect Residents From Unsafe Buildings. 1109 1⁄2 E Lindell Does Not Comply With State Landlord/Tenant Safety Regulations. Since 1965 The City Code Stated That No Building Can Be Built On A City Road, Street, Or Alley Way. We Know The Building Was A Garage And Initially Part Of And Connected Physically To 1109 And Then Converted Against Code. 1109 1⁄2 E Lindell Is Built To The Sidewalk In The Front. It Is Two And A Half Feet Into The Alley Way On City Property And The Back End Was Built On Additionally And Close Up The Entire Piece Of The Property To One Inch Of The Property Marker, Which Was Surveyed. The Building And Its Additions Are In The Alley Way. The Gas Meter Is Further Sitting In The Alley And Is Federally Required Three-Foot Minimum Clearance. Federally Any Gas Meter That Is In A Road Way Must Have Three Feet Between It And The Bars That Should Be There To Protect It. If Those Bars Were There, We Wouldn't Have An Alley Way. An Explosion Or A Vehicle That Could Hit This Gas Meter At Any Time Could Create Severe Danger To Everyone On The Block. An Explosion Of This Type Could Level Multiple City Blocks, And Ultimately The City Would Be Liable Because It's On City Property And In The Alley Way. I Have Formally Requested Independent Reviews On 1109 And 1109 1⁄2 E Lindell Street Properties, I Seek Evidence That The Building Next Great. We Help Each Other And We're Like One Family. At This Time Where All These People We Don't Know Who Are Coming Into West Frankfort, We Need Somebody Who Can Watch Over Us. I Told Her, You Keep It Up, One Of These Days You Will Be Laying In Your Yard And Everybody Is Going To Go In Their Houses And Shut The Door. You Have To Be Nice To Your Neighbors, They Will Be Like Family. She Wants That Property, That Is Why She Is Doing This. Whether She Wants To Admit It Or Not. William Green Stated I Have Lived In This House For Thirty Years. Somebody From Indiana In December Comes Here And Wants To Run Everything. My Place Is About Cleaned Up, Which It Did Need Cleaned Up. The Way She Is Going With It, After I Came Out Of Thads Office Once I Seen That Deal Was On There. I Went Home And Built A Little Fire To Burn Some Of The Stuff Up. She Called The Fire Chief; He Comes Down There And The Fire Truck Comes Down There. She Has This Dog That's About Twelve Feet From Me. Would You Like To Come Down And Smell It All The Time? Donna Stated The Complaint She Made About Our Yard; Hers Is Just As Bad. William Stated She's Got Pallets, Which I Had And Now I Don't Have One Now. The Yard Is Cleaned Up Now. 

Mayor Arview Stated We Do Have Ordinances Regarding Public Comments, You Are Allowed One Time. You Had Your Time. This Isn't Judge Judy; We Are Trying To Have A Council Meeting.

Lauren Hawkins Was In The Audience And Stated I Have Been Robert's Tenant For About Ten Years At This Point, I Have Been At This Place For Five To Six Years. When We Moved In, He Gave Me A Great Deal Because The House Needed A Lot Of Work. I Never Knew Thad, I Knew The Guy Before Him. We Did Have Some Issues When We First Moved In, My Husband And I Did A Lot Of Work, We Have Four Children So You Can Imagine The Work We Put In. I Do Work Two Jobs, So There Are Some Nights Where I Don't Come Home Until One In The Morning. I Confronted Her About Her Dog Barking, She Made Some Ill-Mannered Comments So I Went Ahead And Spoke To Thad The Next Day. I Explained My Comments And Concerns. Today I Spoke With The Police Chief And He Explained To Me The Process And What My Rights Are. The Problem Is, Being There And Her Just Moving In, I Don't Get Much Sleep Anymore And My Kids Can Hear The Dog Bark. I Replaced The Window Thad Asked Me To Way Before The Time Frame Expired. He Also Gave Me A Ticket Saying I Need To Mow My Grass In The Alley Way Because Someone Made A Complaint. When It Stopped Raining, I Mowed It, Even With The Dog Bite Injury. I Have Complied With Everything The City Has Asked Me. This Fence Is Directly Outside My Home; I Literally Can't Put An Arm Through It Which Tells You How Close It Truly Is. If I Was To Simply Open Up My Window And I Could Pour A Bottle Of Water On Her Head Because She Has A Chair Planted Right Outside My Bedroom. She Has Another Chair Planted Facing Inside My Bedroom. It Makes Me Uncomfortable But Because All Of The Drama You Guys See, It Just Not Worth It. I Just Wanted To Come Into Defend Myself Since I Am The Tenant Dealing With It. Sheena Is Not Here But She Is Trying To Fix Up 1109 E Lindell St.

21. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session Pursuant To 5 ILCS 120/2(C) (1), 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (5/6), And 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (11). The Mayor Stated Regarding Employment, Buying Selling Property, And Litigation. We Will Not Make Any Action During Or After Executive Session. You Are Free To Leave, You Do Not Have To If You Do Not Want To. At 7:11 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

22. The Next Item Was Approval To Return To Open Session.

Mayor Arview Stated I Entertain A Motion To Return To Open Session At 7:37 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

23. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:38 P.M. 

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