North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met June 24.

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 Deputy City Clerk. The City Attorney Was Not Present.

2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Agenda. The Mayor Stated We Do Not Have Any Changes To Be Made. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

3. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Minutes From The June 10, 2025 Regular Council Meeting. The Mayor Stated If Everyone Has Had A Chance To Review The Minutes, And No Changes To Be Made I Entertain A Motion To Approve. 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 The Tif Iii Residential Public Hearing Minutes From June 10, 2025. The Mayor Stated This Was A Hearing We Had With Moran Development Regarding The New Tif District We Are Proposing. There Was A Few Public Questions, I Feel Like Moran Handled Them Pretty Good. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Accept These Minutes, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval To Adopt An Ordinance Establishing A Budget For Corporate Purposes For The City Of West Frankfort For The Fiscal Year Commencing On The First Day Of May 2025 And Ending On The Last Day Of April 2026. The Mayor Stated Before We Do This, We Had To Make A Change Prior To The Meeting. Before We Proceed To Vote On The Fiscal Year 2026 Budget, I Would Like To Bring Attention To Line Item Listed Under General Fund Revenue As Other Taxes In The Amount Of $4,275,997.25. Upon Review This Figure Appears To Reflect Funds Transferred From Our Investment In The Illinois Funds Account. In Other Words, It Is Not New Tax Revenue, But Rather A Movement Of Existing Cash Assests Into The General Fund. In The Interest Of Accuracy And Transparency, I Believe This Should Be Reclassified Appropriatley And Not Reflected As Tax Revenue. I Would Like To Have A Motion To Amend The Budget To Reflect This Adjustment Before We Proceed To Final Approval. This Is What I Need For A Motion: I Need A Motion To Amend The Proposed Fiscal Year 2026 Budget By Removing The Amount Of $4,275,997.25 Currently Listed Under General Fund Revene In The Other Taxes Categorey. And Instead, Reclassifying It Appropriatley As A Tranfer From Illinois Funds To Reflect The Accurate Source Of The Funds. If Anyone Would Like To Make That Motion You Can Say So Moved. Commissioner Howard Stated So Moved, And Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

6. The Mayor Stated With That Addition Is There Anything Else That Needs To Be Changed? Does Any Of The Commissioner Have Any Questions With How The Budget Is Proposed? We Did Have A Public Hearing For The Budget Prior To The Meeting; There Were No Questions From The Public At That Meeting. Commissioner Howard Stated The Only Thing I Am Going To Say, Is That This Is A Budget And An Appropriation Ordinance. Meaning If It Is Not Approprated We Can Not Spend It. There Is Money In Access That The Appropration Is What We Would Like To Do If We Had All Of The Money In The World. Just Because It Is In The Budget And This Appropriation Ordinance Doesn't Mean We Are Going To Spend All Of That Money. We Put Some Extra Things In It In Hopes That We Get Some Grants. If We Do Not Have It In Here, We Can Not Spend It. As The Law States If It Is Not In The Approprations You Can Not Exceed Your Appropriation. If We Don't Appropriate It Then It Would Actually Take A Refrendum That Would Have To Be Put On The Ballot To Try To Change It. It Is A Wish List, But We Try To Be Realistic As Much As We Can As Far As We Expect To Receive. We Have Room To Accommodate For Those Emergencies That May Come Up. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

**The Mayor Stated I Will Have An Updated Print Out Of The Budget Ready As Soon As I Can** 

7. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Sixth Amendment To Lease With Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation D/B/A Wps At The West Frankfort Mall. The Mayor Stated We Had Already Approved An Ordinance That Allowed For This. We Do Not Have A New Ordinance. We Are Just Approving The Renewal. Our Attorney Did Say He Has No Concerns With The Renewal. He Also Said That It Looks Like This Is The Last Year They Can Renew. They May Be Approaching Us With About Changing The Lease Within The Next Year. Per The Ordinance They Are Allowed One More Renewal And That Is What This Is. 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 Section 5.88 Of The West Frankfort Municipal Code Regarding The Time Restrictions And Limitations On The Number Of Solicitors. The Mayor Stated We Do Have Some Solicitors That Are Out Later Than People Would Like. I Want To Amend It To 10:00a.M To 7:00 P.M. Any Weekday Or Saturdays, No Sundays, No State Or National Holidays. We Do Have A Limit Of Five Solicitors Actively At One Time. The Only Two Things We Are Changing On That Are: The Time They Can Solicit And The Number Of Active Solicitors At One Time.

This Is Legal It Complies With Supreme Court Rules. We Can Not Ban Soliciting All Together. But We Can Put Restrictions On What They Do. Commissioner Howard Stated Is There An Exemption For Religious Organizations.

The Mayor Stated Per Federal Law They Do Not Need A Permit. Basically, Anyone That Is Not Trying To Solicit Money From You For Things, Generally Is An Exception To The Rule. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance For The West Frankfort Tax Increment Financing Iii Redevelopment Plan And Redevelopment Project. The Mayor Stated When We Approved The Minutes, We Did Have A Public Hearing For The Tif Iii Project. To Remind Everybody It Is Covering The North West Part Of Town. This Is The Next Step In The Project. We Had Feed Back From The Public, Now We Have The Plan Ready To Be Approved By The Council. We Are Not At The Point Where The Tif Is Active Even If We Approve This. This Is Just The Next Step Towards That Goal. The Picture That Is Out There Of What The Tif District Is Of The Boundary, Which Is Just A Visual Representation Of The Legal Description. Someone From The Audience Stated My Mother Died A Few Years Ago, We Have Been Trying To Sale Her Property. She Owns 902 & 904 W. Poplar. It Is Now Transferred To My Sister And I Through A Will. It Is Not Currently Developed, All Of The Access To City Water And Sewer Are Still On That Property. How Can I Go About Finding Out If Those Property Tax Numbers Are Included? The Mayor Stated I Am Thinking They Are Included, But I Can Look It Up And Let You Know. Commissioner Warren Stated Basically This Moves Us Along In The Process, Right? The Mayor Stated Yes, It Is The Next Step. Commissioner Howard Stated I Am Not One Hundred Percent Sure This Is In The Best Interest Of The Citizens Of West Frankfort. Commissioner Warren Will This Be Like When They Go Through Crosswalk How They Get Those Grants, And People Fix Their Homes? The Mayor Stated Similar. We Can Always Table This Until We Have Time To Discuss It Further. We Can Maybe Work Something Out With Moran To Come Talk To Us. This Item Was Tabled.

10. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Designating

The West Frankfort Tax Increment Financing Iii Redevelopment Project Area.

This Item Was Tabled 

11. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Adopting Tax Increment Financing.

This Item Was Tabled 

12. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Authorizing An Agreement With Atlas CPA's & Advisors PLLC. For The 2023 And 2024 Municipal Audit Program. The Mayor Stated We Had Originally Spoken With Lauterbach & Amen About Doing Our 2023 Audit, We Had An Engagement Letter With Them That We Had Signed. Our Attorney Looked It Over; There Is Nothing In There That Is Really Contractual Or Anything That Obligates Ither Party. We Feel Like Atlas Is A Better Choice For Us Because They Are Local, And They Were Recommended By The Same Organization That Is Helping Us Out. Commissioner Howard Stated They Said They Could Get It Done Once They Got The Information Within Twelve Weeks Which Would Meet The October Deadline. The Plan Then Is To Get The Next Year Done; We Apply For An Extension For The 2024 Audit That Will Be Good Until January. They Said They Can Get That One Done Before That Too. 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. The Next Item Was Discussion, With Possible Action, Regarding Approval Of An Ordinance Establishing Crime - Free Housing Requirements In The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated I Am Going To Table This Also, Since Our Attorney Is Not Here. I Ran This By Him, He Had Some Feedback And I Made The Adjustments. It Would Be Better To Have Him Here To Be Able To Answer Any Legal Questions.

This Item Was Tabled.

14. The Next Item Was Approval For The Family Of Janet Dutton To Hold A Road Block On July 11, 2025 From 9:00 A.M. To 4:00 P.M. And July 12, 2025 From 9:00 A.M. To 4:00 P.M. At The Intersection Of Route 149 And Hwy 37. Commissioner Stanley Stated They Had One Scheduled But It Got Rained Out. Commissioner Stanley 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 An Invoice Form Era, A Waters Company In The Amount Of $ 1,554.95 For EPA Testing For The West Frankfort 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.

16. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Sandner Electric Company Inc. In The Amount Of $6,384.71 For Flygt Pump On North Douglas For The Sewer 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.

17. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Derksen Bros. Ag In The Amount Of $21,525.00 Regarding Land Application Of Sludge For Sewer Dept. 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 To Pay An Invoice From Wiggs Excavating, Inc. In The Amount Of $1,520.00 Regarding Water Break Memorial Day Weekend. 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 Approval To Pay An Invoice From Executive Out Sourcing In The Amount Of $19,554.51 For The City Of West Frankfort Audit Prep From 6/16/2025-6/24/2025. The Mayor Stated This Is The Person Helping Us Get Our Books Straightened Out. Commissioner Howard 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 Approval To Pay Invoice From Pana News Group (Owner Of Franklin County Gazette) In The Amount Of $1,944.00 Regarding Tif Iii Residential Public Hearing. The Mayor Stated We Had To Publish It In The Newspaper To Have The Public Hearing. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

21. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Illinois

Public Risk Fund In The Amount Of $16,972.00 Regarding August 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.

22. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills.

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

Building And Sign Permits ~

The First Permit Was For The Old Social Security Office Building - Remodel At 1005 Frankfort Drive. Owner Is 43 Re Holding LLC. Contractor Is Wright Building Systems Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was Six Solar Permits All Approved At The Same Time. The Mayor Stated Thad Said They All Meet The Requirements.

607 E. Elm- Zachary Leschke- Roof Mount Solar- Contractor Is Freedom Forever

2106 E. Main- Joseph Hanks-Roof Mount Solar- Contractor Is Arf Solar 

710 Franklin Ave-Lisa Cooksey-Roof Mount Solar Installed On Garage With Underground Conduit To Home Supplying Power. Contractor Is Freedom Forever

706 N. Hughes-Marvin Rosenbalm-Roof Mount Solar- Contractor Is Freedom Forever

304 S. Rains-Sandra Loyd-Roof Mount Solar- Contractor Is Freedom Forever 

1802 E. Charles-Wynetta Wooliver-Roof Mount Solar- Contractor Is Freedom Forever

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

The Next Permit Was For Sarah Bethune Mcvicker At 2010 E. Main St For A Billboard Style Free Standing Sign. Billboard Advertisement For Business Other Than Business At This Site. The Mayor Stated Thad Stated He Was On The Fence About It Because We Do Not Want A Whole Bunch Of Bill Board Signs Put-Up All-Over Town. However, We Have People That Own Their Buildings And Have Signs On Their Buildings. This Isn’t Much Different Than That. This Is Not On Our Property Or Anything Like That. This Wont Interfere With Traffic Or Vision. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For Gregory Tyler Broy At 902 E. Main For A Billboard Advertisement Sign. Mr. Broy Stated There Will Be A Couple Different Spots On It Along With His Business. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For Wesley Poling At 1208 E Lindel For A Fence Permit. White Vinyl Privacy Fence/ Self Construction. Commissioner Stanley 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 Was For Ronald Smelcer For A Temporary Camper Occupation Due To Remodel Of Structure On Site At The Harvesters Fellowship Tabernacle At 509 S Odle. The Mayor Stated Thad Did Have Some Concerns About This One Because They Have No Proof, They Own The Structure/Site, Second Application For This Permit, Exceed Time Aloud Between Start And End. We Had Previously Approved A Permit For Him And There Was No Work Done To The Site. I Did Some Digging My Self He Was Or Is The Pastor Of That Church, It Is Very Likely He May Own The Building. It Is Owned By Harvesters Fellowship Tabernacle But Whether Or Not Ronald Smelcer Owns The Property We Do Not Know. Thad Failed The Permit, But He Said It Is Up To Us, His Recommendation Is Not To. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Deny The Permit, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For A Commercial Solar Farm On East 9th Street For Ewing Creek Solar, LLC. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For A Fence Permit For The Solar Farm On East 9th Street For Ewing Creek Solar, LLC.

Commissioner Howard Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Deny The Permit.

Motion Carried.

23. Mayors Report~

Mayor Arview Stated I Am Glad We Have The Budget Approved. We Got Some Good News On The Audit Getting Things Moving In The Right Direction.

Commissioner Reports~ 

Commissioner Harkins Stated Chiefs Do You Have Any Reports For The Departments? Fire Chief Saillez Stated We Are Finishing Up The Preliminary Testing For New Hires. Six Of The Eight Passed The Written Portion, Now We Move On To The Oral Interviews. Deputy Police Chief Willis Stated All Of The Police Cars The City Purchased For Us Are Now All Equipped As Of Today. I Am Waiting For Novacom To Come And Program Them All, Then They Will Be On The Road. Commissioner Harkins Stated What Are We Going To Do With Those Old Police Cruisers? Deputy Police Chief Willis Stated That Will Be Up For The City To Decide. We Would Still Need To Keep Some Extras Incase Something Was To Go Down. The Mayor Stated I Think We Should Surplus Property Auction Those.

Commissioner Howard Stated I Feel Like We Can Finally See Over The Hump On Getting The Audits Done. It Has Cost Us Some Money, But We Have To Get It Done. As I Said About The Budget, We Put Some Stuff In There That We May Or May Not Be Able To Spend, Especially On Some Of The Bigger Equipment Items. My Hope Is That We Can Do Some Of That Through Grants.

Commissioner Stanley Stated The Street Department Has Been Busy, They Fixed The Sidewalk At Strand Park That Was Busted. They Put Side Walks In On 5th And Adams. Been Doing A Lot Of Mowing. Water And Sewer Said They Are Doing Good.

Commissioner Warren Stated I Have A List Of The Approved Solicitors We Have Three Of Them. Freedom Forever Solar, South-Western Advantage, And Clearwave Fiber. If You Get Anyone Else Ask Them To Show You Their City Permit. You Can Always Call The Police Department.

Surplus Property For Sale: 1216 E. Oak, 202 N. Douglas, 1309 E. Oak, 706 N. Illinois Ave. Bids Are Due July 8, 2025 At City Hall. You Can Call City Call If You Have Any Questions.

We Have Sold Approximately Three Hundred And Twenty- Five Lake Permits To Fish And Hang Out At The Lake. You Can Get Those At The Police Department On The Weekends. We Had An Inspection Out At The New Lake, It Passed. The Dam At The New Lake Is In Good Shape. We Are Due For The Old Lake

Inspection.

Fire Chief, Do We Do Anything On CPR Training, Do We Provide Classes Or Anything Like That? Fire Chief Sailliez Stated We Have Certified Instructors. It's A Case-By-Case Basis, We Run It Through The American Red Cross. Commissioner Warren Stated I Wondered If It Would Be A Good Idea To Do. We Had That Incident Happen, Where The Child Was Saved By CPR. Since It Is Swimming Season, I Wondered If We Could Do Something Like That. If They Would Have To Pay To Come To It Or If It Was Free? Chief Sailliez Stated If Anyone Is Interested, They Can Call The Fire Department. The Fee Is The American Red Cross Fee Around $27.00 Per Person To Get Certified. We Could Get With The Ema And Do Some Out Reach With Ema To Do 

Certified Classes.

24. Audience Comments: 

No Public Comments Were Made

25. 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) (6), And 5 Ilcs 120/2 (C) (11). At 6:48 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.

26. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was

Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:27 P.M.

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