North Egypt News

City Of West Frankfort City Council Met Oct. 22.

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 The City Council Meeting On October 22nd, 2024. Mayor Arview Stated We Do Have Two Items That Have To Be Added To The Consent Agenda Invoices. One Is For An Emergency Sink Hole In Front Of Mcdonalds From Odum Concrete Products In The Amount Of $1,545.00. The Second Item Is For A Survey For Lake Lot 116b For Ken Langdon To Record The Survey. I Would Want To Amend The Agenda To Add These Two Items To The Consent Agenda. I Entertain A Motion To Amend And Approve The Agenda. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, 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 October 8th, 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.

4. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution For The Voorhees/Goforth Family To Sponsor The Fantasy Of Lights Parade To Be Held On Tuesday, November 26th, 2024 At 6:30 P.M. Commissioner Stanley 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 Certain Properties. Mayor Arview Stated We Have Two Properties Involved, 1202 W. Oak Street And 406 N. Bryan Street. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

6. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding The Procedure For The Sale Of Surplus Properties. The City Attorney Stated There Are Two Options. This Is All In The Illinois Municipal Code, One Option Is To Advertise In A Local Newspaper, Publishing A Notice That Says At The City Council Meeting On X- Date, That Date Has To Be At Least Thirty Days Later, Will Open Sealed Bids And We Will Award It To The Highest Bidder. Then We Would Vote By Ordinance And It Takes A Three-Fourths Vote To Approve It. What You Need To Keep In Mind Is The Cost Of The Publication Which Continues To Increase. The Other Method Is The Method You've Used Most Commonly, Which Is To Pass A Resolution Declaring Surplus Properties As Surplus Properties. That Is Very Minimal Cost To You. After You Do That, You Can Get An Appraisal Before If You Want Too, In Some Order You Have To Get An Appraisal By A Licensed Appraiser. Then You Are Allowed To Sell The Surplus Properties For At Least Eighty Percent Of The Appraised Value. We Have Discussed This Internally Recently, I Took The Liberty Of Contacting An Appraiser, I Know There Are Other Appraisers In West Frankfort So You Guys Can Call Around And Compare. Thad Or Andrea Told Me That You Have About Ten Vacant Lots To Sell. This Appraiser Is Roberta Tabor, She Is Located In Benton. I Asked Her If She Appraised Ten At The Same Time, Would You Give A Discount? She Said Yes, She Normally Charges $400.00 Per Lot But She Would Do $2,000 For All Ten. That Is $200.00 A Lot. She Also Said, If She Has An On-Going Relationship With The City, And As You're Moving Forward And You Give Her More Of The Appraisals, She Would Charge $250.00 Per Lot. In My Opinion, That Is Less Than The Publication Fee. For One Publication $160.00. I Don't Know If I Said It, When You Publish A Notice, It Has To Be Three Times For Three Weeks In A Row. That Is What The State Requires. This Bid Would Come Out To $480.00. You Can Choose Your Preference Tonight If You Want To But Also, I Think You Can Approach This Case-By- Case Basis. In My Opinion, The More You Get Rid Of The Better. It Is Good To Get Vacant Lots Out Of The City's Hands Unless You Have A Need For Them. Codes Officer Snell Stated If The Lot Does Not Sell On The Sale Date, Then We Have To Publish Again For Three Weeks? The City Attorney Stated Yes. It Does Seem A Little Cheaper To Go The Route Of The Appraisal. The Law Doesn't Have A Time Limit As To How Long It's Good For, I Would Assume If You Sell It Within A Year Or So, Give Yourself Time To Find Buyers. Commissioner Howard Stated A Lot Of These Properties Have Been For Sale For Some Period Of Time Over The Years, The Minimum Bid Is A Thousand Dollars And We Have Never Received A Bid On Them. My Concern Is If We Get An Appraisal And We Have To Sell Them At Eighty Percent. If They Appraised For $2,000.00, How Are We Going To Sell It For $1,800 If They Won't Sell For $1,000.00. The City Attorney Stated That Is A Great Point. Each Appraiser Is Different, I Have Seen A Lot Of These Vacant Lots Appraised For About $500.00. You Are Right, People May Not Be Willing To Pay $400.00 In That Hypothetical. Keith Is Pointing Out The Benefit Of The Other Method. That Would Be A Good Reason To Maybe Do These Case-By-Case Basis. No Action Taken.

7. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills In The Amount Of $213,291.71

B. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Fw Electric, Inc In The Amount Of $2,488.35 For Repairs To Street Lights On 37 For The Street Department.

C. Approval To Pay An Invoice From Odum Concrete Products In The Amount Of $1,545.00.

D. Approval To Have Lake Lot 116b Survey Recorded. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. Mayors Report~

Mayor Arview Stated We Had A Meeting For The Bike Master Plan. It Is Something We Can Get A Grant For. They Have A Grant To Do The Plan. If The Plan Is Approved Then There Is Possible Money To Get The Bike Routes. However We Decide To Do It. It Is A Conversation, Nothing Definite At This Point. It Is Greater Egypt Regional Planning And Development That Is At The Forefront Of This. There Is A Website Www.Westfrankfortbikeplan.Com For Residents To Take A Survey To Gauge Our Interest In That And What We Would Like To See. They Asked For People To Fill The Survey Out To Keep The Conversation Going. December 10th, 2024 They Will Be Here From 5 P.M. To 6 P.M. To Do A Public Hearing On It And Answer Any Questions The Public May Have About It. Still In The Early Stages And We Will Put It On The Website And The App For You To Do The Survey.

Commissioner Reports~

Commissioner Harkins Stated We Got The Arrow Ladder Back And Is Back In Action. The Police Department Is Working On The New Squad Cars. Everything Is Okay As Far As I Know.

Commissioner Howard Stated We Have A New Treasures Report For September. We Are Making Progress In Some Areas We've Been Working On For A While, Including The Audit. Happy About That. Commissioner Stanley Stated How Is The Project At The Sewer Plant? Michael Serena Stated It Is Going Well.

Commissioner Stanley Stated Jim Do You Have Anything Going On? Jim White Stated We Are Working On The Meter Network And Getting It Up, We're Over 99%. We're Doing Much Better On That. Had A Few Repairs Along The Way.

Commissioner Stanley Stated Michael? Michael Bonner Stated Just Finishing Up Sidewalks And Getting Ready To Start Christmas.

Commissioner Warren Stated We Have Somethings In The Process For The Lakes And The Buildings. Nothing Has Been Done Yet, We Are Going To Fix Some Leaks In Some Of The Roofs. We Are Getting Ready To Form The Lake Committee.

9. Audience Comments:

Tina Rose Was In The Audience And Stated I Will Address My Conversation To Mr. Cantrell. Mr. Cantrell You Gave Me A Letter Telling Me To Reapply For My Permit For My Fence And That You Did Not Want Me Communicating With These Lovely Folks, I Get It. I Sent You A Message That I Had Already Put That In To Thad And The Mayor And If You Could Let Them Know To Present It This Evening, Then I Wouldn't Have To Communicate With Them At All. But Thad Didn't Do It. The City Attorney Stated I Can't Speak For Thad But I Will Say I Think You Sent Your Email On Saturday And I Didn't Read It Until Today, You Can Blame Me For That If You Want But The Agenda Is Set On Friday. I'm Sure If Your Application Is In, It'll Be Addressed. Tina Rose Stated So Another Two Weeks For A Meeting But The Ground Is Getting Colder. Is It Possible To Be Approved Without A Meeting Consent? I Would Appreciate It If The City Would Look Into Emailing And Saying I Could Finish My Fence. Then We Can Work Out That Fee. Whatever I Owe You. The City Attorney Stated You And Thad Can Communicate About The Fence Directly. My Bigger Concern Is The Lawsuit. Tina Rose Stated I Understand. I Have To Address Because At Some Point I Feel Like This Is Retaliation. Codes Officer Stated I Do Not Have An Application For You For A Fence Permit. Tina Rose Stated I Sent That To You Mr. Mayor. Because Of The Communication Problems We Are Having. Codes Officer Stated We Do Not Have It, If We Did It Would Be Here. Mayor Arview Stated As Far As I Am Aware, If It Is Not On The Agenda We Cannot Discuss Or Vote On It. The City Attorney Stated Correct.

10. 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 Personnel, Buying And Selling Property, And Litigation. We Will Not Make Any Action During Or After Executive Session. At 6:27 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.

11. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 7:51 P.M. Where No Action Was Taken. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

Mayor Arview Stated I Entertain A Motion To Set The City Clerk's Pay As Discussed In Executive. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Approval To Purchase Property On Cleveland Street With Raven Security. Mayor Arview Stated We Already Discussed Some Of This Stuff In Executive Regarding This. I Need A Motion To Approve The Contract. The City Attorney Stated I Would Suggest A Motion To Approve The Contract With Contingencies. Commissioner Howard Stated I Make A Motion We Approve The Contract Subject To A Clean Title Search. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

13. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:56 P.M.

https://core-docs.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/documents/asset/uploaded_file/4697/CWF/5023214/November_12_2024.pdf