North Egypt News

City Of West Frankfort City Council Met Nov. 26.

Here Are The Minutes Provided By The Council:

1. Mayor Arview Called The Meeting To Order At 10:00 A.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 Agenda. The Mayor Stated We Do Have Some Amendments. The Items That Are In Red Are The Changes To Be Made To The Agenda. Items Number Four And Five Was Brought To Us Late Friday, It Still Falls Within The Forty-Eight Hours. Also, A Change Of The Date On Item Number Two. Do I Have A Motion To Amend The Agenda To Make The Changes. Commissioner Warren 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 To Approve The Agenda For Use In The Meeting Today. 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 The Minutes From The November 12, 2024 Regular Council Meeting. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval To Advertise For Demolition Bids. The Mayor Stated This Is For 411 N. Parkhill St. And 702 W. St. Louis St. Commissioner Stanley 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 Of A Redevelopment Agreement Between The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois And Crosswalk Community Action Agency Utilizing Tax Increment Financing For Property Located At 410 West Main Street. This Was Approved At The Last Meeting, Today We Have To Approve The Agreement Paperwork That Follows. 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 A Resolution Authorizing The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois And Crosswalk Community Action Agency To Enter Into A Redevelopment Agreement. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, To Finalize The Sale Of 222 E. Main Street Which Has Previously Been Deemed As Surplus Property. The Mayor Stated This Is To Colton And Chelsy Squibb. The City Attorney Stated I Suggest A Motion To Approve The Contract That Is In Your Packet With The Squibb's To Sell The Property. Previously Deemed Surplus There Was A Contract With Another Buyer That Pulled Out, And This Offer Was Revised At Some Point. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve The Contract, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A New Offer Received To Purchase Real Estate Property At 228 E. Main Street Which Has Been Deemed As Surplus Property. The Mayor Stated The Double Bogey Was Previously Located At The Country Club And Now Wants To Open On Jefferson And Main St., I Think That Would Be A Nice Addition. The City Clerk Stated This Purchase Price Offer Meets The Eighty Percent Required. The Mayor Stated The Purchase Price Is $15,200.00. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve The Offer. Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, For Approval Of An Application For Liquor License For A Business Located At 1102 West Main Street. The Mayor Stated This Is The Property We Have Had Some Back And Forth With. Gayle Wade Is The Owner Of The Property And She Is Wanting To Sell The Property. The Person That Is Wanting To Purchase The Property Is Looking To Get A Liquor License To Open A Gas Station/Convenience Store. We Have Been In Discussion With Gayle Before, If You Recall Last Year, She Was Wanting To Sell It And Wanted Us To Sign A Highway Authority Agreement. We Let Her Know We Are Not Interested In Signing The Agreement. If They Can Make The Sale With Out That Then I Don't See Any Issue With That. Background Check On The Applicant That Is Wanting The Liquor License, Came Back Ok. According To The Agent, The Person In Between All Of This, They Are Wanting An Assurance That They Will Be Getting A Liquor License If They Bought The Property. They Do Not Want To Buy The Property To Find Out They Couldn't Get A Liquor License. I Told Them I Would Be Fine With Approving A Liquor License Contingent On Them Actually Buying The Property. How I Would Like To See A Motion Is To Say Approval Of A Liquor License Contingent Upon Sale Of The Property With Out A Highway Authority Agreement Signed By The City. Commissioner Warren Asked What Kind Of Liquor License Are They Going To Have? The Mayor Stated Packaged And Gaming. Commissioner Howard Stated If They Have Gaming, They Have To Have A Pour License. The Mayor Stated No, They Just Have To Have A Liquor License Any Of Them Will Qualify. The City Attorney Stated There Is Some Type Of Restriction, But I Think The Ordinances Were Amended. Commissioner Howard Stated I Didn't Know If It Was A State Law. The City Attorney Stated I Think The Ordinances Were Amended Before My Time In Order To Take It In To Account The State Law, You Are Right Keith There Is Some Kind Of Unusual State Law. The Mayor Stated What About A Place Like Hucks? Commissioner Howard Stated They Serve Liquor There. The Mayor Asked The City Clerk, What Class Were They Asking For? The City Clerk Stated, I Thought That Was The One You Were Going To Do Two Licenses? The Mayor Stated It Is Yes, That Is How We Are Able To Get Around That. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Donation To Redbird Live For Promoting The Youth Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated We Donated $1,000.00 To Them Last Year. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve The Gold Package Of $1,000.00, 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 The Hiring Of A New Accountant. The Mayor Stated As We Mentioned Before Our Treasurer Is No Longer With Us. Keith And I Spoke With A Couple People And Landed On One Particular Individual, We Offered Her The Position And She Accepted The Position. She Won't Be Able To Start Until December 9th, 2024. Abra Phillips Is Her Name She Is Basically Doing Now Exactly What She Will Be Doing Here. We Were Really Impressed With Her. Commissioner Howard Stated Since The Next Meeting Is Not Until The Day After She Starts, I Think We Need To Have A Motion To Hire Her And Then We Can Appoint Her The Next Day. The Mayor Said We Will Approve To Hire Her As An Accountant Starting December 9th, 2024. Then At The Next Meeting I Will Appoint Her As Treasurer. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve To Hire Abra Phillips On December 9,2024, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

13. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Continued Coverage Of Key Benefit Administrators As The Third-Party Administrator Of Record For The City Of West Frankfort's Health Insurance. The Mayor Stated We Are Looking At A Total Estimated Five Percent Decrease In Our Costs. Our Fixed Cost Is Expected To Go Up Two Percent For Claims And Things Like That They Expect To Go Down. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

14. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay And Invoice From Illinois Public Risk Fund In The Amount Of $16,971.00 Regarding Workers Compensation Policy Effective January 1, 2025 Through January 1, 2026. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding A Pre- Annexation Agreement For Potential Solar Development. Seth Uphoff Is Here With A Team Called Nexamp Who Is Looking To Develop A Community Solar Project On Your Northeast Corner Of Town. It Is At A Location At The North Side Of East 9th Street, Right Across From The Junior High School. Along With That Is A Pre- Annexation Agreement, I Have Been In Discussions With Your City Attorney. We Have Gone Through It; I Think We Have An Agreement In Principle. He Will Want To Talk About Those Details With You Before You Go To Take Action On It. The General Outline Of The Agreement Would Be, Is The Land Owner Who Is Farrel Farms, LLC, Nexamp The Developer, And The City Would All Enter Into A Pre-Annexation Agreement Indicating That If The Zoning Board And The City Council Approves This Property For The Development Of The Project That Would Be Under The Intention To Annex Then Once The Project Begins Construction. Once The Project Gets To The Point Of Starting Construction, Then Within Thirty Days Of That Time The Land Owner Will File A Petition For Annexation. Then Will Go Through The Typical Annexation Process Bringing The Parcel Into The City. That Way, It Will Allow It To Be Under The Control Of The City Both For Code Ordinance Purposes And For Taxation Purposes. Overall, The Agreement Is Fairly Simple, There Are Some Additional Terms In Their About Allowing Land To Continue To Be Used For Agriculture Until Such Time As The Property Is Developed. We Would Also Like To Talk To You About The Project Itself, So You Have An Understanding Of What Will Be Put There. A Representative From Nexamp Stated He Is With Nexamp The Developer Of The 4.75 Mw Community Solar Facility. Nexamp Was Founded In 2007, And Has Grown. Nexamp Is Not Only A Developer That Sells These Projects They Also Own And Operate Them Throughout Their Life Time. They Are Considered Small Scale Generation, They Do Not Go Through The Transition Lines, The Electricity Stays Local. Its On The Three Phase Line That Runs Along The Streets. Community Solar Is Referred To As Shared Solar, Where Electricity Is Generated And Shared By Multiple Parties. It Is On The Distribution Grid; The Energy Stays Local. It Is Free To Sign Up. Once It Is Built And Generating Power, People That Subscribe Will Receive Credits On Their Utility Bill. The Credits Once They Sign Up Is A Fifteen Percent Discount On Electricity. This Allows People To Partake In Energy Savings Even If They Can Not Install Solar On Their Roof Or Property. Parcel Size Is Forty Acres, Project Size Is Twenty-Two Acres Within Proposed Fence. Project Capacity Is 4.75 Mw, Project Life Is Thirty To Forty Years. The Components Of The Solar Facility Will Include An Equipment Pad That Houses The Transformer, And Inverters, Pollinators Inside And Outside Of The Fence, PV Modules And A Farm Fence, Posts And Racking. An Engineer With Stan Tech Stated We Have Been Putting Together The Engineering Plans And Doing Studies For Nexamp. We Make Sure We Are Following All State, Federal, And Local Rules And Requirements For This Facility. The Landscape Screening Will Screen From The Road Way, And From The Neighboring Property. The Equipment Pad Would Be The Only Concrete On The Site Depending On What Is Required For The Driveway From The Road Department. Some Of The Corner Posts Will Require Concrete Depending On The Sizes. Since We Are Converting A Farm Property To A Native Grass Prairie There Is A Decrease In The Amount Of Run Off From The Site. More Water Will Be Infiltrating, Which Would Be Good For The Soil. Solar Decommissioning Is A Requirement By The Agricultural Impact Mitigation Agreement That Nexamp Signs With The Illinois Department Of Agriculture. Everything On The Site Will Have To Come Off, We Will Plan For That And Set Up A Decommissioning Agreement With The City And Nexamp Showing They Will Be Taking All Of Those Materials Off And Returning It To A Blank Slate. We Are Still Working On Getting The Township Access Permit. Once The Solar Farm Is Built And Operational, We Are Leasing The Whole Parcel. It Will Get A Separate Pin Number, And Tax Accordingly. They Are Taxed Per Mw. (They Had A Powerpoint Presentation They Presented, That Is Available At City Hall To Look At.) Mr. Uphoff Stated This Is A Project That Brings Great Benefits To The Community Without Any Additional Burdens As A City. The Public Can Be Subscribers And Get Savings On Their Electric Bills, And Benefit The Extra Tax Dollars Going Into The Local Schools. The City Attorney Asked Are The Residents That Are Geographically Closest To The Project Going To Have The Best Opportunity To Participate? Nexamp Representative Stated Yes, Typically Once A Project Goes Through Our Approval Process, We Have A Team That Targets The Area That It Is In. Generally, For A Couple Months They Would Keep Subscriptions Local. With A Farm Like This We Would Be Able To Subscribe Five Hundred And Fifty To Six Hundred. There Is No Fee To Sign Up. If Anyone Decides They Don't Want To Be Apart Of The Program Anymore They Can Cancel It Anytime Without Extra Fees. Mr. Uphoff Stated They Will Mail Out Post Cards To Residents. They Are Scheduled With The Zoning Board On December 17, 2024. After That It Would Come Back To The Council For Final Consideration And Approval.

16. The Next Item Was Approval To Publish 2025 Meeting Dates For City Council, Planning Commission, Lake Board, Police & Fire Pension Boards And Police & Fire Merit Board. The Mayor Stated This Will Go Up On Our Website. 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 To Pay An Invoice From Sandner Electric Company Inc. In The Amount Of $13,220.42 For New Flygt Pump For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Stanley 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 Approval Of A Design Engineering Invoice #6 From Brown & Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $7,584.60 For The Downtown Streetscape Project, Section 18-00060-00 Sw. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. 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 $177,833.58. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

Building And Sign Permits Codes Officer Snell Stated We Have A Fence Permit For Jennifer Springhorn At 1106 E. Lindell St. This Is One Of The Ones We Had At Last Meeting That Was Denied. It Has Been Redone With A New Site Plan That Meets Our Code Requirements, I Recommend We Approve It.

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 We Have The Fantasy Of Lights Parade Tonight At 6:30 P.M. I Will Be There To Light The Tree. I Hope To See Everyone Out There.

Commissioner Reports-

Commissioner Harkins Stated Police And Fire Departments Are Doing Okay. We Are Working On Getting Our New Squad Cars On The Road.

Commissioner Howard Stated I Am Excited About Our New Hire We Just Talked About. She Has A Degree In Accounting, Familiar With Governmental Accounting, And Grants. I Just Want To Report, So Far, This Fiscal Year That Started In May Up Through November 7,2024 The City Has Collected In Real Estate Taxes Including What We Collected For Other Entities Two Million Eight Hundred And Twenty-Six Thousand One Hundred And Sixteen Dollars And Twenty- Four Cents. Of That Amount Only Eight Hundred And Sixteen Thousand Dollars And Change Is Money That Can Be Used For The City's General Operations, The Rest Of It Is Special Things Like Fire And Police Pension, We Collect Taxes For The Library That We Turn Over To Them, Tif Money To Be Used On Certain Projects. If Anyone Wants To See The Schedule I Would Be Happy To Show You. We Have Received Payments On Three Different Dates This Year, In July We Received Final Payments After They Had The Tax Sale And Collected Delinquents For The Year Before, In September We Received The First Installment On The Current Years, In November We Received The Second Installment. We Will Received Another Installment For People Who Paid Late. After They Have The Tax Sale Next Spring We Will Get Another Payment.

Commissioner Stanley Stated Water Department Has Been Busy. Street Department Has Got All Of The Lights Ready To Go For Tonight At The Parade. Sewer Department's System Project Is Going Good.

Commissioner Warren Stated All Of Our Properties Are Doing Fine.

No Lake Board Meetings For A Few Months.

I Am Excited We Are Going To Have Representatives There If You Want To Have A Voice On The Board. It Is On A Regular Scheduled Night. This Will Make It More Official To Get Some Recommendations To The City About Some Things Out There.

21.Audience Comments:

No Audience Comments

22. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session

Pursuant To 5 ILCS 120/2(C) (1), 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (6), And 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (11). The Mayor Stated I Don't Know That We Have Any Need To, And The City Attorney Did Not Have Anything.

23. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 10:52 A.M.

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