North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met May 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. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Agenda. The

Mayor Stated We Have A Typo On Item Number Three. We Do Not Need To Amend. It Should Say May 13th Instead Of May 1st. I Entertain A Motion To Approve The Agenda For Tonight’s Use. Commissioner Harkins 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 May 13, 2025 Regular Council Meeting. I Entertain A Motion To Approve. Commissioner Howard 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 To Accept The Minutes From The Hearing Held On May 13th 2025 Regarding The TIF III Residential Taxing Bodies. The Mayor Stated This Was Not An Actual Council Meeting, It Was A Joint Review Board Meeting For The Tif Iii Planned Project. We Have The Minutes Available For The Commissioners To Review. We Need A Motion To Accept The Minutes. We Are Not Approving Since It Was Not Our Meeting. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Accept These Minutes, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval For Sloan's Gymnastics To Hold A Road Block Fundraiser On June 21, 2025 From 8:00 A.M. - 3:00 P.M. At The Intersection Of Route 149 And High Way 37. 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 An Ordinance Limiting The Number Of Video Gaming Licenses In The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated Currently The Way The State Statute Is Written, In Order To Have A Gaming License They Define A License Establishment As Any License Retail Establishment Where Alcoholic Liquor, Is Drawn, Poured, Mixed Or Otherwise Served For Consumption On The Premises. Whether The Establishment Operates On A Non- Profit Or For-Profit Basis. Based On That Definition, It Is Not Just A Class A License They Will Have To Have, Any Pour License Gives Them The Ability To Have A Gaming License. Which Means We Could Have Potentially Twenty-Five Video Gaming Licenses In West Frankfort. I Feel Like That Is An Excessive Number, It Pulls Away From The Ones That Already Have Them. I Would Like To See The Number Down To Ten. Currently We Have Fourteen Active. The Way This Ordinance Would Work Is, It Wouldn't Eliminate The Other Four They Are Grandfathered In. They Can Renew As Many Times As They Want. As Businesses Fall Off, If They Are Expired And Didn't Renew, Sell Business, Or Whatever It Might Be Then It Will Drop Those Licenses Down Until We Reach Ten. Commissioner Warren Stated If One Of Our Businesses Wants To Sell, Their License Drops Off? The Mayor Stated Yes. Commissioner Warren Stated If We Are Going To Drop To Ten And Have No More Then Ten, The New People Will Not Be Able To Get A License? The Mayor Stated Correct. Commissioner Warren Stated They Can Not Sell The Business To Somebody Else To Run It As Bar Or Gaming Place. The Mayor Stated They Couldn't Have Gaming But Could Still Have The Liquor License. Commissioner Howard Stated No One Would Want To Buy It Then. The Mayor Stated The Thing Is Those Licenses Are Not Transferable Anyway. Commissioner Howard Stated If A New Business Comes In, They Will Not Be Able To Get A License. Commissioner Stanley Stated The Laundry Mat Had It And Would Still Have It If They Didn't Get Broken Into So Many Times. I Am Thinking To Keep The Fifteen, Because There Is Another Business That Would Like To Have This License. They Have Been In Business For Over Fifty Years. The Mayor Stated I Fell Like We Need To Specify A Limit For Gaming Licenses.

Commissioner Warren Stated I Say We Leave It As Is. The Mayor Stated We Can Table This And Come Back To It A Different Day. This Item Was Tabled.

7. The Next Item Was Discussion With Possible Action, Regarding A Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Agreement With Silver Jewels Company Located In The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois. The Mayor Stated This Is Malisa Broy's Business On 37. She Is Looking For $30,000.00 To Remodel Inside, HVAC, And A Roof. According To Moran, The Tax Revenue By Doing That Would Not Increase That Much. What We Would Be Paying To Improve, Does Not Really Improve The Property Value Necessarily. It Would Allow For Her To Have More Sales Tax Revenue. That Is How We Would Recoop That Money. This Is A Local Business That Has Done Really Well. Commissioner Howard Stated Because Of The Downtown Streetscape Project, Are We Going To Have Enough Money To Do That And To Do This Too? The Mayor Stated That Is An Issue, Currently Both Of Our Tif Districts Are Kind Of Over Promised. The Way The Tif Statute Is Written Is, If We Do Not Have It, We Do Not Have To Pay It. We Pay It As It Comes In. It Will Eventually Come In. That Is A Question Here Too Because, My Thought Was To Pay It Out Of The General Fund And Then We Can Repay Ourselves From Tif When It Comes In. We Are Allowed To Do That. Commissioner Howard Stated I Would Not Be In Favor For That. Commissioner Warren Asked How Long Do You Have To Wait Until You Repay Ourself? The Mayor Stated It Is Twice A Year We Get Money From The County For The Property Tax. Commissioner Howard Stated I Would Love To Help Them Out, If We Do Not Have The Money, We Just Can't Do It. We Can Put It On Hold And Wait Until We Get The Money To Do It. The Mayor Stated I Do Not Know If This Is Time Sensitive Or Not. The City Clerk Stated A Lot Of That Money That Has Been For The Tif District Has Been Promised For The 57 And 149. You Are Not Going To Use All Of That Money All Up Front, So You Should Be Fine. Commissioner Stanley Stated Do We Have The Money To Do It Then? The City Clerk Stated There Are Certain Things That Come In At The End Of The Year, You Would Have The Money From That. Depending On What You Give Without Having To Borrow From General Fund. The Mayor Stated This Is A Different Tif District Than The 157 One. The City Clerk Stated That's True And The Streetscape Project Is Not Going To Be Done Until The End Of The Year As Well. It Is Up To You Guys I Just Wanted To Clarify That. The Mayor Stated Moran Put An Example Of Fifty Percent. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve To Enter Into An Agreement With A Fifty Percent Reimbursement, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. The Mayor Stated We Have A Motion To Enter Into A Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Agreement With Silver Jewels Company For Fifty Percent Of The Thirty Thousand Approved Costs. For Fifteen Thousand Dollars. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing The Execution Of A Redevelopment Agreement Between The City Of West Frankfort, Illinois And Silver Jewels Company Utilizing Tax Increment Financing For The Redevelopment Of Property Located At 303 South Logan Street. The Mayor Stated We Need To Wait On This Item Until We Have The Resolution.

9. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Payment To The Storage Vault In The Amount Of $6,688.60 For The Final Payment Of Phase Ii Tif Agreement. The Mayor Stated We Have The Email Chain In Your Books Commissioners. There Was A Reply From The Storage Vault Saying That They Confirm, That Is The Amount That Is Remaining. All Parties Are In An Agreement That Is What Is Left To Pay. We Just Need A Motion To Pay It. The City Attorney Stated As Long As The Funds Are In The Tif Fund. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Authorizing The Hiring Of Three (3) Police Officers For The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated They Are Jackson Sailliez, Brett McCreaken, And Jacob Kinsman. Deputy Chief Police Willis Stated As I Have Made It Known To You Guys; We Have Been Down Six Officers. Two Retired, Two Resigned, One Is Deployed And One Is Injured. Back In February, The Police And Fire Merit Board Conducted To Establish A List Of Candidates. They Did The Power Test (Which Is Physical), Then They Did The Written Test. Those That Completed Did Oral Interviews. Once That Was Done The Police And Fire Merit Board Created An Eligibility List. These Three Are Currently The Ones On The Eligibility List. We Have Police Academy Coming Up In August, They Will Graduate Mid December. When They Get On The Road After Field Training, It Will Be February Until They Will Be Useful To The City. I Know We Were Budgeted For Three Officers, That Is Why I Am Requesting The City To Move Forward With The Hiring. Commissioner Stanley Stated Once They Get Out Of The Academy You Will Be At The Right Number Of Men? Deputy Police Chief Willis Stated We Will Still Be Short One. 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 Approval Of An Ordinance Amending Chapter 15.40 Of The West Frankfort City Code To Add Exemptions For Non-Owner Occupied Dwelling Registration And Inspection. The Mayor Stated Thad Explained To Me That This Has Been The Way, We Have Done It In The Past But We Didn't Have It Documented In The Ordinance. He Had Asked If We Get That Put In There. The Exemptions From Registration And Inspection Requirements For Non-Owner Occupied Dwellings Are:

1. Owner-Occupied Residences: Properties Where The Owner Of Record Maintains Their Primary Residence, Including Single Family Dwellings And Duplexes Where One Unit Is Occupied By The Owner.

2. Immediate Family Occupancy: Properties Occupied Exclusively By Immediate Family Members Of The Legal Owner Of Record, Including A Parent, Sibling, Niece, Nephew, Grandparent, Child, Or Grandchild, Whether Or Not Rent Is Exchanged.

3. Temporary Vacancy: Properties That Are Unoccupied But Have Not Been Vacant For More Than Six Continuous Months.

4. Properties Listed For Sale: Residential Properties Actively Listed For Sale With A Licensed Real Estate Broker.

5. Government Owned Property: Properties Owned Or Operated By Any Unit Of Local, State, Or Federal Government.

6. Probate And Estate Settlement: Properties That Are Undergoing Transfer Or Administration Through Probate Or Similar Estate Settlement Processes.

Commissioner Warren 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 Approval To Pay An Invoice From A&W Plumbing & Heating, Inc. In The Amount Of $1,951.40 For Repairs At The West Frankfort Business Incubator. Commissioner Warren Stated We Had Some Restroom Issues Out There. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

13. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Mes Services Co. LLC. In The Amount Of $2,653.00 For Replacement SCBA Bottles For The West Frankfort Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins Stated This Is Their Oxygen Bottles. Commissioner Harkins 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 Invoice From Accumed Group In The Amount Of $4,163.58 For Ems Billing Fee For The West Frankfort Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From Novacom In The Amount Of $2,695.00 For Repairs To (3) Outdoor Warning Sirens For The West Frankfort Fire Department Out Of The Civil Defense Fund. Commissioner Harkins Stated We Got Them All Working Now. The Mayor Stated Where Are They Located? Commissioner Warren Stated The Invoice Says Park, Tower Heights, And Behind The Post Office. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From Eso Solutions, Inc. In The Amount Of $5,120.38 For Yearly Record Keeping Software For The West Frankfort Fire Department. The Mayor Stated This Is A Subscription Thing That They Have. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From Mid-America Fire & Safety LLC In The Amount Of $2,206.70 For Miscellaneous Items Needed For The West Frankfort Fire Department. Commissioner Warren Stated I Have A Question About This. It Is For Two Ladders, And We Are Not Supposed To Be Spending Any Money. Were They Needed Now, Or No? I Know We Were Told Not To Buy Things. I Am Wondering If They Broke At The Same Time? Commissioner Harkins Stated I Think They Needed Them After The Test They Went Through. Commissioner Warren Stated So They Were Tested And Had To Be Certified And They Were Bad? Commissioner Harkins Stated I Believe They Failed At Their Test. Deputy Police Chief Willis Stated It Is My Understanding That The Equipment Had To Be Tested, And When They Failed A Certain Inspection It Was Requested, They Had To Be Replaced For Safety Issues. Commissioner Warren Stated I Was Just Checking For Clarification. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Illinois Public Risk Fund In The Amount Of $16,972.00 Regarding July 2025 Workers Compensation. Commissioner Warren 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 Approval To Pay An Invoice From Executive Outsourcing In The Amount Of $19,491.20 For The City Of West Frankfort Audit Prep From 5/5/2025 – 5/18/2025. The Mayor Stated This Is For The Person, We Have Helping Us Out Getting Us Ready For Our Audit To Get Our Books Straight. Commissioner Howard Stated Last I Heard Would Be Done At The End Of This Month. The City Clerk Stated She Said Today June 6th, 2025. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Revised Municipal Estimate For Maintenance In The Amount Of $387,653.37 For The MFT Program. Eric Boe Stated I Work With Brown & Roberts. I Worked With Mike Bonner To Set Up The MFT Maintenance Program. What We Have For You Is A Revised Estimate Of From What We Have Already Have. This One Is A Minor Increase. We Have Made A Couple Decreases To Line Item Number 2 But Also Added A Couple Of Line Items. The Revised Amount Is $387,653.37. Commissioner Howard Stated This Is Motor Fuel Tax Funds, It Is Not General Fund Money. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

21. The Next Item Was Approval Of A MFT Supplemental Resolution In The Additional Amount Of $10,000.00. Mr. Boe Stated The Total Revised Maintenance Went Up An Additional $7,000.00. We Have To Authorize An Additional Resolution Amount To Cover The Overage. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

22. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From Plantscape Nursery And Landscape Service In The Amount Of $10,145.75 For Flowers For The Main Street Beautification Project To Be Paid From The Beautification Group Account.

Commissioner Howard Stated This Is A Separate Account. There Are Generous People In This Town That Has Made Donations To This. This Is Not The City's Money.

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

23. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Survey For Lake Lease Lot #29e1/2 For Wayne & Lee Summers. Commissioner Warren 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 The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills.

The Mayor Stated For Anyone Present The Bills Are Printed Out On The Table, Anyone Online I Have Uploaded Them To Facebook As Well. Anyone Who Would Like To Look Through Them Is Welcomed Too. 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 ~ No Permits

25. Mayors Report~

Mayor Arview Stated We Had A Good Memorial Day Service Out At The Military Museum. We Had A Water Break, The Boil Order Is Still In Effect. We Will Make A Post When It Is Lifted.

Commissioner Reports- 

Commissioner Harkins Stated I Am Thankful We Will Have Three More Policemen Out There.

Commissioner Howard Stated I Know I Keep Saying This, It Appears Very Shortly We Will Have The Books All In Order. Once We Do That, I Will Be Able To Give The Public More Reports.

Commissioner Stanley- Sewer Department: Everything Is Going Good, Doing Everyday Things, Water: Been Working On The Water Break, Street: Bush Hogging, Mowed The Lakes.

Commissioner Warren Stated I Want To Thank The Street Department For Pick Up The Sticks And Cleaning Up Out At The Lake. Our Buildings Are Doing Well. We Had A Meeting With Troy, He Is The IDNR Guy. We Are Trying To Set The Hunting Rules. We Are Waiting To Have A Meeting Until We Get More Information.

26. Audience Comments:

Lori Raubach Stated I Would Like To Say Thank You For Not Taking Down The Gaming At The Moment. For The Next Meeting I Would Like For You To Take In The Consideration, I Know That There Are Other People That Would Like The Gaming And Liquor License. We Have Been In Business For Many Years. It Is Not That We Want A Liquor License, It Is Just Something We Have To Have With The State For That Effect. We Are Not Opening A Bar Or Anything Like That. We Are Opened Every Day Of The Year, And We Do Work It Our Selves. We Also Have Employed Many People Over The Years And Still Do. I Would Just Like For You To Consider That For The Next Meeting Please.

27. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session For Discussion 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 Buying Selling Property, Employee Issues, And Potential Litigation. At 6:46 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.

28. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:29 P.M. 

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