North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met July 8.

Here is the agenda 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. I Do Not Know Of Any Changes That Need To Be Made. I Entertain A Motion To Approve The Agenda For Use Tonight. 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. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Minutes From The June 24, 2025 Regular Council Meeting. If There Are No Additions Or Changes To Those, I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve Those As Well. 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 Of The Special Meeting Minutes

From The June 30th, 2025 Meeting. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. 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 At 305 East St. Louis Street. The Mayor Stated I Just Need A Motion So We Can Advertise 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.

6. The Next Item Was Approval To Open Bids And Potentially

Approve Ordinances Selling Real Estate At 202 North Douglas, 1216 East Oak, 706 North Illinois Avenue, And 1309 East Oak.

1309 East Oak:

Kaytlyn Kramer Bid For $3,500, Deposit Is $350.00 Check

Ron Perry With Minerva Holdings Bid For $1,075.00, Deposit Is $107.50 Check.

1216 East Oak.

Nicanor Bello-Ibanez Bid For $2,000.00, Deposit Is $200.00 Cash Mark Morhet Bid For $1,002.00, Deposit Is $102.00 Check

202 North Douglas.

Margaret McClintock Bid For $1001.00, Deposit Is $100.10 Check

It Looks Like For 1216 East Oak, The Highest Bid Is The Nicanor Bello-Ibanez, The Bid Of $2,000 With A Deposit Of $200.00 For 202 North Douglas, There Was Only One Bid, $1,001 From Margaret McClintock. And For 1309 East Oak, The High Bid Was $3,500 From Kaytlyn Kramer. And There Was No Bid For 706 North Illinois Avenue. I Recommend We Make A Motion To Approve The Highest Bids On All Three Of These Properties. Commissioner Stanley Made The Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

7. The Next Item Was Approval To Publish Notice Inviting Bids For The Sale Of Real Estate Located At 406 North Bryan, Which Is Three Lots, 301 East 4th, 303 East 4th, And 306 East 4th As Surplus Property In The City Of West Frankfort. 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 For 406 North Bryan, It Is Three Lots, It Would Need Separate Bids For Each Of Those Lots And $500.00 Minimum Bid For Each Lot. If You Wanted To Bid On All Three, It Would Be A Minimum $1,500.00 Bid.

8. The Next Item Was Discussion With Possible Action Regarding Approval Of A Donation Toward The Back-To- School Bash Being Held At The West Frankfort Mall Organized By Jessica O'Daniel From Which Would Be Paid From The Gaming Fund. It Looks Like Last Year We Gave $2,500.00 For This. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve $2,500.00, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Approval For Sloan's Gymnastics To Hold A Roadblock Fundraiser On July 19th From 8:00 A.M. To 3:00 P.M. At The Intersection Of Route 149 And Highway 37. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Discussion With Possible Action Regarding Approval Of A Donation Towards Sloan Gymnasts Headed To The AAU Junior Olympic Games In Houston, Texas, Also To Be Paid From The Gaming Fund. The Mayor Stated Is Anyone Here That Wants To Speak On This? I Am Sandra Bate I'm The Head Coach Of Our Gymnastics Team Here At Sloan's. I Was A Gymnast There Since I Was Probably Five Years Old. We Go To The Nationals That's Usually Held Somewhere Far Away And We Plan On That Expense. Now They Have Started Within The Last Couple Of Years, If You Place In The Top Six Of Your Level, So Levels One Through Ten. If You're In The Top Six, No Matter What The Age Group, Which Is Actually Very Hard To Do, You Can Qualify For The Junior Olympics. This Year We Took Nine Gymnasts Down To The Nationals. We Had Five Qualify. So That's Unheard Of. We Represent Our Central Division Through The AAU And Out Of The Central Division, I Think There Was Only Nine Total That Qualified. For Us In Our Little Small Town Of West Frankfort, We Represented Pretty Well. With That, It Comes An Expense Because When You Go Down To The Junior Olympics, It's Kind Of Set Up Like The Actual Gymnastics Olympics And You Compete First Day In The Preliminary Round And They Take The Top Three On Each Of That And You Get To Compete For The Event Finals And All-Around Finals. They Have To Be There A Minimum Of About Four Days, So It's Kind Of A Big Expense For The Girls, But It's Quite An Honor So We Didn't Want Them To Miss Out On It.

The Mayor Stated Last Year It Looks Like We Gave $2,500.00 For That. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve $2,500.00, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. The Next Item Was Approval To Hire A Temporary Seasonal Worker For Mowing At The West Frankfort Mall And West Frankfort Business Incubator. Commissioner Warren Stated That's With All Of The Rain And Stuff We've Had, They've Gotten A Little Behind. There's Only Two People Out There, So We Just Need A Seasonal Lawn Care And Maintenance Person. Don Gass Will Be In Charge Of Talking To People About That. It Would Just Be For The Season. It Will Just Be Temporary. 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. Discussion With Possible Action Regarding A Tax Increment Financing Redevelopment Agreement With Hollywood Star, Located At 410 East Main Street In The City Of West Frankfort. The Mayor Stated Now We Do Have Some Information From Jake With Moran Economic Development Regarding That. Looks Like They Are Asking For The Estimated Total Project Cost Of $16,814.25, And They Were Asking For The Full Amount. But It Looks Like, If You Look Later In The Moran's Recommendation, They Show Different Percentage Amounts, And It Goes Up To 50%, Which Would Be $8,407.00 Of Course, He Has Different Steps In There, Too. He Also Gives On The Back Page Of That Kind Of What We Can Expect To Get Back From That Investment Over Time. Commissioner Warren So In 10 Years, We Would Expect Possibly $11,000.00 Back. Is That Right? In Tax Revenue? The Mayor Stated Yes, Normally, We Have Been Doing The 50% For Things Like This, And That's What I Would Personally Recommend We Do. And It Is For Some Emergency-Type Things That They Need, Like Roof Resealing And Things Like That. And I Didn't Print Something Out For This, But We Do Have The Funds Available In That Tif District To Be Able To Do That. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve To Give $8,407.00, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried 

13. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Lease Agreement With Marmic Fire Equipment At The West Frankfort Business Incubator. The City Attorney Stated I Was Just Going To Say It's A Very Simple Extension. They're Already There, They've Been There Since 2015, And They Wanted An Extension At Their Current Rent, So The Draft Might Increase For An Additional Three Years, So Up To Six Years. That Would Only Apply If They Chose To Stay After Three Years. They Would Have The Option. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried

14. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance For The West Frankfort Tax Increment Financing Iii Redevelopment Plan And Redevelopment Project. Item Number 13, 14, And 15 Are The Agenda Items Regarding The Tif Iii That We Had Tabled And Had Discussion With Moran, Got Some Clarification On How The Tif Works, What We Can Expect. I Think We All Agree They Highly Recommend It. He Said That There's Not Really A Downside. We Talked About The Impact To The Schools And That We Can Make An Agreement With The Schools Like We Have For The Other Tif Districts. Once These Three Are Passed, Assuming They're Passed, Then That Will Actually Establish The Tif District And Then The Next Step Will Be Kind Of On Us To Set The Rules For How People Apply, When They Apply, All That Sort Of Stuff. This Is Really Kind Of The Last Step As Far As The Legalities Of Getting The District Set Up. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Designating The West Frankfort Tax Increment Financing Iii Redevelopment Project Area. So That's The Image That We've Shown A Few Times. We've Got The Legal Description There As Exhibit A. That's The Actual Description. The Image Is Just A Visual Representation Of It. For The Most Part; It Is The Entire Northwest Corner Of Town. Commissioner Howard 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 Of An Ordinance Adopting Tax Increment Financing. So Now This Is Incorporating The Two Ordinances We Just Did And Making It Official As Setting Up The TIF. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried

17. The Next Item Was Discussion With Possible Action Regarding Approval Of An Ordinance Establishing Crime- Free Housing Requirements In The City Of West Frankfort. Just To Kind Of Give A Summary Of What This Is, I Know There's Been A Lot Of Talk, A Lot Of Issues With Property Thefts And Drug Crimes In West Frankfort. We All Have Seen The Effects Of That. There's Limits On What We Can Do As A City To Combat This Because Our State Is, Is A Little Too Lenient In My Opinion On What We Can Arrest People For And Actually Send Them To Jail For. And So That Kind Of Ties The Hands Of Our Police Officers A Bit. There's A Back And Forth All The Time. You Know, It Can Sound Like Excuses, It Can Sound Like We, We Don't Care, We're Not Really Trying To Do Something About It. That's Why I Drafted This Ordinance. The Idea Is Most Of The People Who Are Involved In Those Kind Of Activities Do Not Own The House That They're Actually Doing The Crimes In. They're Either A Tenant Or Maybe It Was A Contract For Deed Type Thing But They Aren't The Owner Of The Property. What This Does Is It Requires The, The Actual Landlord Of The Property, For One, To Register With The City, Which They Already Do. They Already Register The Rentals. But Then They Also Will Participate In Training Given By Our, Our Chief Of Police To Help Them Identify Criminal Activity In Their Properties. If We Inform The Landlord That There Has Been A Crime, And I'm Not Talking About, This Isn't For Speeding, This Isn't For Things Like That. These Are For Serious Crimes. If They're Notified That, You Know, Your Tenant Has Committed A Drug Felony Or Whatever It Might Be, Then The Landlord Has The Ability And The Requirement Based On This Ordinance To Take Action. They'll Have The Support Of The City. It Allows Thad Some Flexibility On Being Able To Declare These Properties Nuisance Properties So That We Can Actually Start To, You Know, Do What We Can Do As A City To Be Able To, To Combat This. We Can't Really Send Them To Jail, But We Can Fine Them. That Is Kind Of What This Establishes. Now I Will Say For The, For The Commissioners, I Put On The Summery Email, Fines Up To A Thousand Dollars. Jonathan Pointed Out Rightly, I Missed It In Our Ordinances. We Set Our Own Self A Limit Of $750.00. So That, That Top Limit Would Be $750.00 On There, Not The Thousand, But In The Ordinance Itself, It Already Says That. The First Offense, And This Is A Landlord Who Fails To Respond To Notification Of Criminal Activity. Shall Be Subject To First Offense, A Written Warning, Second Offense, Fine Up To $300.00, Third And Subsequent Offenses, Fine Up To $750.00 And Potential Suspension Of The Rental License. This Isn't In Any Way, We're Not Trying To Hurt Landlords Through This, But We Do Have, I Believe Some Properties In Town That Are Being Quote Unquote Rented, But It's Someone That May Be Associated With The Whole, You Know, Criminal Activity. I Would Assume If I Was A Landlord, I Wouldn't Want A Tenant That Was Participating In Criminal Activity Out Of The House That I Owned. I Would Want To Do Something About It. If I Could Say, Well, I Can Put It In The Lease Now, The City Requires That This Language Be Put In The Lease, You Sign The Lease, You're, You Committed A Whatever Act, So, You Know, We Can Evict You Now Based On This. The Landlords Who Are Doing Things Right, Aren't Going To Have An Issue With This Ordinance. It's The Ones Who Are Maybe Aiding And Abetting Or, Maybe Even Being Part Of It But Those Are The Ones That We Need To Target. Do You Want To Speak To Anything Here, Jonathan? The City Attorney Stated No, I Think You've Summarized It Pretty Well. Like Anything Else, There's A Little Bit Of Communicating With The Landlords If There's An Issue. The First Offense Is A Written Warning. Everybody Will Have The Opportunity To Remedy Any Issues Before Fines Are Issued. The Mayor Stated Actually, I'm Glad You Brought That Up Because It Also Does Allow For An Appeal Process. If They Feel Like, That Was Unjustly Put On Them For Some Reason, They Can Appeal It. And Like I Said, My Intention Is Not To Put Some Kind Of Burden On Them For Something Like A Traffic Offense Or Something Like That. This Is For Actual, Stealing Kids' Bikes, Things Like That. Those Are The Things That We're Trying To Target. If For Some Reason, Hopefully This Would Never Happen, But If For Some Reason One Of Our Officers Got A Little Too, You Know, Gung-Ho About It And Decided To Take An Action On Somebody Who It Wasn't Even A Serious Offense, Then They Could Appeal That To The City. Then I Could Make The Judgment To Say, No, We're Not Taking Action On That, You Know. Have I Explained It Sufficiently For You Guys? What This Does Is It Allows The Landlord To Be Able To One, Put It In The Lease To Say, You're Not Going To Commit Crimes While You're Here, Which You Would Think That Would Be A No-Brainer, But, You Know, People Can Get Around That Sort Of Thing. Makes The Eviction Process Easier For The Landlord. It Also Helps Thad To Be Able To Declare These Properties. If The Landlords Don't Do It, Then He Can Declare It A Nuisance Property Because They're Not Trying To Stop The Crime From Happening In The Property. As Long As The Landlords Are Making An Effort, I Have No Issue. I Know Evictions Take A Long Time. My Parents Have Rented To People. I Know How That Works. But If They're At Least Trying, That's Where We Say You Should At Least Try, Do Something To Try To Stop This. 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 Invoices From Executive Outsourcing In The Amount Of $19,689.90 For The City Of West Frankfort Audit Prep From 6/22/25-6/29/25. The Mayor Stated This Is For The Person Helping Us Get Our Booking Straightened Out To Be Ready For The Audit. Commissioner Howard Stated The Estimated Completion Date For Fy2023 Is July 18th, 2025. FY2024 Is Estimated To Take Three Weeks. She Has Found The Problems And Knows How To Correct Them Now. Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

19. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoice From Moran Economic Development, LLC. In The Amount Of $17,728.00 For The City Of West Frankfort New Tif Iii District Plan Progress 5/30/25-6/30/25. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Sicjtp-Mtu15 S In The Amount Of $1,900.00 For Fy26 Membership Dues July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026 For The West Frankfort Police 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.

21.The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Division Of Water Pollution Control In The Amount Of $17,500.00 For The Fy2026 Billing. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried

22. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Mid America Fire & Safety LLC. In The Amount Of $2,567.10 For An Intake Valve For The WF Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

23. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Rend Lake College In The Amount Of $2,255.00 For 2025 Summer Semester Paramedic Program For The WF 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.

24. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Kevin Peterson In The Amount Of $1,500.00 For Renewal Of Recertification Of Paramedic Cards For The WF Fire Department. Chief Sailliez Stated This Is A Required Continuing Education Course. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

25. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Accumed Group In The Amount Of $6,577.52 For Ems Billing Service For The WF Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

26. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Public Consulting Group In The Amount Of $ 14,385.53 For Administrative Fees For The Gemt Program For The WF Fire Department. Chief Sailliez Stated This Was Agreed Upon When We Agreed To Go Into The Gemt Program. They Quoted Their Price They Thought It Was Going To Be $30,000.00 A Year. It Is Now Half Of That. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

27. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Greater Egypt In The Amount Of $14,954.95 For Reimbursement On The Stormwater Grant Using Funds Received From Delta Regional Authority. The Mayor Stated We Received Money From Delta Regional Authority, Greater Egypt Spent Money On This Stormwater. The Money We Got From The Dra Is To Go To Greater Egypt. It Does Not Cost Us Anything. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

28. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown & Roberts, Inc. In The Amount Of $1,638.00 For The STP-NPDES Permit Renewal. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

29. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills.

B. Approval Of Addendum 7 To Update The Employee Handbook. 

The Mayor Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve The Consent Agenda. I Have Uploaded These Bills On Our Website. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

30. Building And Sign Permits ~ No Permits

31. Officer's Report -

Fire Report For The Month Of June 2025. Chief Sailliez Stated We Are Now Are On Board With Franklin County Operating On The Same Cad System. If My Numbers Are Alittl Skewed Them The Police Report For Fire, We Are Working On It. Chief Sailliez Reported That They Had 182-Ambulance Calls, 6-Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 0-Brush/Field Fires, 8-Fire Alarms, 9 - Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 0- Structure Fires, 0-Smoke Scares, 1-Vehicle Fires, 6- Mutual Aid Fire Responses, 1-Ambulance Calls Turned Over To Mutual Aid. For A Total Of 215 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 5,000 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $52,910.49 For June Ambulance Calls.

Police Report For The Month Of June 2025. The Mayor Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 903 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 19 Were Traffic Accidents, 4 With Injuries. Officers Responded To 34 Domestic Disputes, 3 Fights In Progress, 10 Alarms, 7 Intoxicated Persons, 12 Burglaries, 19 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 22 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 27 Reported Thefts, And 37 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. And Officers Made 13 Street Contacts. Officers Conducted 207 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 60 Citations, 173 Warnings, And 18 Lw-27's. There Were 65 Adult Arrests Made And 1 Juvenile Arrest, Resulting In 95 Criminal Charges Filed.

Dispatchers Answered 1,143 Calls.

Of Those, 606 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 109 Were Walk In Requests. 903 Were For Police, 240 Were For West Frankfort Fire, 4 Were For Abbott Ems, And 1 For United Ambulance. For The Month Of June, We Collected $3,155.00 In Fines And Fees.

Codes Report For The Month Of June 2025.Codes Officer Snell Reported Permit: 4~Building Permits, 4~Sign Permits. 7~ Solar Permits. Rental Properties: 30~Rental Inspections Performed. Case Activity Report~ 41 Which Includes Doors Tagged Verbal Warnings, Vehicles Tagged, Inspections Of Violations, Inspections, Citations Issued, Letters Sent, Etc.

Collected $75,697.09 In Permits, Collected $1,550.00 In Rental Inspection Fees.

Water Report For The Month Of June 2025. Water Superintendent Reported Julie Locates-102, Emergencies-6, Meter Maintenance- 109, Water Samples - 78, Customer Requests-428, Collected $237,468.81.

32. Mayors Report~

The Mayor Stated I Want To Thank The Commissioners For Supporting Tif Iii. I Am Excited To See What That Will Do For Our Town. I Believe Everyone Up Here Does What They Think Is Right For The City, They Really Do Care About The City.

Commissioner Reports~

Commissioner Harkins Stated You Heard The Report From The Fire And Police They Are Doing A Good Job Keeping Our City Safe.

Commissioner Howard Stated My Number One Focus Is To Get The Books In Shape And Get The Audits Done. We Are Making Progress. It Is Taking Longer Than We Had Hoped, But The Problems Were Bigger Than We Forsaw. Hopefully Within The Next Month We Will Have Everything Done And To The Auditors.

Commissioner Stanley Stated You Heard My Guys Reports They Are Doing Good, Keeping Their Guys Busy. There Is Always A Lot To Do With All Of The Departments. They Are Helping Each Other Out.

Commissioner Warren Stated The Lakes Look Nice; We Finished Up Mowing Today At The New Lake. The Buildings Are Good So Far.

Audience Comments: 

The Mayor Stated I Will Remind The Audience Of The Ordinance Regarding Public Comments: Limited To Five Minutes, No Back And Forth.

Robin Connors Stated Our Nieghbor Was Buring On A Burn Ban, He Totaled Out Their Home, Our Home, And Two Other Homes Were Involved. We Have Since Then Cleared Our Lake Lot; We Have Done Everything That Has Been Asked And Required. As Far As Trees Down, Bringing In Dirt And Have A Clean Lot Now. Our Neighbor Has Left A Nasty Lot. He Has Cut None Of The Pine Trees Down, Which Are At A Risk And A Hazard. Our New Home Is Due To Be Coming In About Three To Four Weeks. We Are At A Stand Still; Our New Home Is At Risk Of These Trees Coming Down. The Neighbors On The Other Side Are Concerned As Well. We Want To Know Why These People Moved Off Of The Property, They Have A House In Town Now And Dropped The Ball On Their Responsibility. We Want To Know What Could Be Done? The Mayor Stated I Know A little Bit, Thad Has Filled Me In On The Situation A little Bit. I Have Not Looked At The Property. One Of The Issues I Have Is Determining Who's Responsibility The Trees Would Be And If They Actually Are At Risk Of Coming Down. We Would Have To Have Someone Assess That To Determine That. The Codes Officer Stated Some Sort Of Professional Would Have To. Ms. Connors Stated We Had To Have A Tree Service Come Out, And They Took Down Fourteen Burnt Trees. Our Neighbor Has Twice That Many That Our New Home Is In Jepordy Of If They Don't Come Down. His Insurance Assumed Liability On The Situation. I Feel Like He Needs To Be Held Accountable For What He Has Done. The Mayor Stated You Said You Had A Tree Service Come Out Was That Through Your Insurance? Ms. Connors Stated We Had To Find Someone On Our Own The Insurance Company Said We Had To Have The Whole Property Checked Out. Commissioner Warren Stated Is That A Leased Property? Ms. Connors Stated Yes. The Mayor Stated That Is Something We Can Discuss. If It Is Something That Is A Requirement And We Can Figure Out How Can Determine That. Commissioner Warren Stated If He Just Has Up And Left It, Who Is Going To Take Over? Is It Going To Sit Empty? Ms. Connors Stated Rumor Has It They Have Traded The Property For A Small Home In Town. The Mayor Stated They Would Have To Advertise It For Sale. We Will Take Some Action To Get This Resolved.

Viki Wolfe Stated I Live At 306 E. Oak Street In Front Of The High Rise. We Are Asking For Assistance With A Challenge In The Neighborhood That Involves Both Of Our Driveways, Noise, Trash And Privacy Of Our Homes. I Have Spoke To Thad Before. They Have Been Working On The Parking Lot To The High Rise And They Have Also Moved The Dumpster. I Appreciate Because It Was Bringing Rodents. The Problem Is, Where We Live At. They Have Recently Redid The Parking Lot, And Put In A Levy But Have Stopped It At Our Entry To The Alley Way. The Problem Is My Driveway Is Private, But All Of The People From The High Rise Use Our Driveways As A Sidewalk. It Scares Me For Safety Reasons For Them And My Self. My House Has Been Attempted To Be Broken Into Twice Now; It Was From The People Crossing Through There Through The Highrise. That Road Is Very Busy; There Is No Need For Them To Use Those Alleyways As Public Areas. It Would Be Easier For Them To Use The Nice Sidewalks That You Guys Have Been Working Hard On Than Using The Alley Ways Or Our Rocked Driveways. Codes Officer Snell Stated I Have Had Conversations With The Housing On Trying To Come Up With A Solution. The Problem Is That Is The Shortest Route For People. I Do Not Know What The City Can Do. William Spain Stated I Feel The Same Way; I Am Her Neighbor To The East. My Driveway Is Shared Between Three People, Myself Access To The Highrise And The Neighbor On My Right. Mr. Snell Stated When We Did Easement And Property Work With The Housing Did We Give That Property To Them Or Did We Do A Permanent Easement On That? Could We Require Them To Put A Fence On The Back Side? The Mayor Stated We Will Talk About It With Them.

33. The Next Item Was Approval To Go Into Executive Session For Discussions Pursuant To 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (1), 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (5), 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (6), 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (11) Opioid Litigation. At 7:15 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

34. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 8:17 P.M. Where No Action Was Taken.

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

35. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 8:17 P.M. 

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