North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Aug. 26.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

1. Commissioner Howard Stated In The Absence Of Our Mayor, I Have To Act As Mayor Pro Tem, Tonight I Will Call 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. Mayor Arview Was Not Present.

2. Commissioner Howard Asked For Approval Of The Agenda. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

3. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Minutes From The August 12, 2025 Regular Council Meeting. Commissioner Howard Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

4. The Next Item Was Approval To Accept Bids For Demolition At 404 E. 5th Street. Commissioner Howard Stated We Have Two Bids. We Have One From Accelerated Excavation For $28,900.00 And We Have One From Joplin Salvage For $7,500.00. I Entertain A Motion To Accept The Lowest Bid From Joplin Salvage. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

5. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Park Use Permit For The Old King Coal Committee To Use Coal Miner's Park For A Flea Market To Be Held On September 6, 2025. Commissioner Howard Stated They Have Provided Us With Their Insurance. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve That Application. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

6. The Next Item Was Approval To Amend An Ordinance Regarding The Codes Officer Residency Requirements. Although It Says On The Agenda, Codes Officer, Actually It's For All City Employees. There's Some Conflicting Ordinances And This Is An Attempt To Clarify It, That The Residency Requirements For City Employees, They're Not Required To Live Inside The City Limits, But There Are Some Geographical Boundaries Which, As I Understand, It's Roughly Thirty Miles At Radius? The City Attorney Stated I Think That's Right. There's A Map That's In Our Ordinances That Show That Section Is More Recent, I Think It's The One That's Been Applicable For Years, But We're Just Cleaning Up The Book By Eliminating The Other One. The Old One That Said City Limits. Commissioner Howard Stated I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve This. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

7. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Annexing Agreement Between Farrell Farms, LLC And The City Of West Frankfort. Commissioner Howard Stated The Next Three Items Are Related. Just So The Public Will Understand, That Is The Property North Of The School On 9th Street Where They're Planning On Putting In A Solar Farm. As Part Of That, They're Being Annexed Into The City, This Agreement Is Just A Pre-Annexation Agreement, Then We'll Actually Do The Other Agreements In Order. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve This. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Annexing Parcel Index Number 12-17-300-007 Owned By Farrell Farms, LLC Into The Corporate Limits Of The City Of West Frankfort, Franklin County, Illinois. Commissioner Howard Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Approval Of An Ordinance Approving The Zoning Variance For Farrell Farms, LLC. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve This Ordinance. Commissioner Howard Stated This Zoning Variance Allows For The Solar Farm To Be In This Area Until The Solar Farm Either Ceases Operation Or Fifty Years, Whichever Comes First. When This Variance Expires, Then The Property Shall Be Zoned As Residential Property In Accordance With The City's Codes. I'll Entertain A Motion To Approve This Variance. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve. Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

10. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice To The Franklin County Treasurer For Real Estate Property Taxes In The Amount Of $123,929.92 For City Owned Property. Commissioner Howard Stated I Will Want To Let The Public Know, And The Rest Of The Commissioners If They Don't, That The Original Bill Has Been Reduced By $7,795.98 Thanks To Our City Clerk Who Did Some Work On These And Got Some Of Them To Zero And Some Of Them Reduced. That Is Greatly Appreciated. I Would Entertain A Motion To Pay This Bill, It's $123,929.92. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Diamond Equipment, Inc In The Amount Of $1,790.35 To Replace Differential Sending Unit On Backhoe For The WF Street Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Allmax Software In The Amount Of $1,985.00 For Renewal Of The Annual MSP Subscription For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Howard Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

13. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Atlas In The Amount Of $5,000.00 Regarding The Preparation Of The 2023 Audit For The City Of West Frankfort. Commissioner Howard Stated This Is From Atlas, Which Is Our Auditors Now. They Have Done Some Work On The Audit And Have Sent Us A Preliminary Bill For The Work That They Have Done. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve This. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

14. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Executive Outsourcing In The Amount Of $17,619.43 For The City Of West Frankfort Audit Prep From 7/28/2025-8/10/2025. Commissioner Howard Stated We Are Getting Really Close; We Are About There. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

15. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Diamond Equipment, Inc In The Amount Of $1,549.20 To Fix Hydraulic Leak And Hoses On Backhoe For The WF Sewer Department. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

16. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Illinois Public Risk Fund In The Amount Of $16,972.00 Regarding October 2025 Workers Compensation. Commissioner Howard Stated I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Ems Mc- Accumed In The Amount Of $4,319.94 For Billing July 1, 2025- July 31, 2025 Medical Billing Fee For The WF Fire Department. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Johnson's Auto & Truck Repair In The Amount Of $2,734.90 For Complete Headlight Replacements On Unit #6 For The WF Police Department. Deputy Chief Willis Stated It Was The Whole Assembly On Left And Right. There Was A Short And It Melted The Wiring So They Had To Replace All Of It. I Believe Left Was $1,300.00, Right Was $1,700.00. We Tried To Even Shop Around For Aftermarket. We Couldn't Get Them For That Model In The Police Package. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

19. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Johnson's Auto & Truck Repair In The Amount Of $3,239.49 For Replacement Starter And Fuse Panel For Unit #4 2020 Dodge Durango For The WF Police Department. Deputy Chief Willis Stated This One Had Some Issues. The Starter Had Went Out. Apparently, It Was The Relay Switch But Wasn't Explained To Me. I Guess When He Kept Trying To Push Buttons To Start It, It Shorted Out Everything And It Melted The Whole Fuse Panel. They Had To Replace The Whole Fuse Panel In The Starter. The Problem With It Was Where The Starter And The Fuse Panel Was At, A Lot Of It Was Labor. Commissioner Howard Stated I Entertain A Motion To Approve. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Brown & Roberts, Inc In The Amount Of $7,429.00 For Sewer Project 2022-151 Admin Invoice #2. Commissioner Howard Stated It Is Funded Through DCEO Grant. We Will Be Reimbursed For This. Commissioner Stanley Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

21. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills.

Commissioner Warren 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 - Codes Officer Snell Stated The First Permit Was For William Nolen At 1412 E. St. Louis St. For A Privacy Fence On The Back Side Of His House. It Will Be Self Construction. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

Codes Officer Snell Stated The Next Three Are Solar Permits We Can Approve Them All Together. James Gossett At 203 N. Bryan St. For Roof Mount Solar, Sandra Loyd At 304 S. Rains St. For Roof Mount Solar Micheal Jude At 205 S. Gardner For Roof Mount Solar. The Contactor For All Of Them Is Off Grid Energy Solutions, LLC Ambia Energy, LLC. I've Got Engineer Stamp Plans For All The Designs As Well As Engineer Load Calculations For All The Roofs. Everybody's Registered As A Contractor. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Stanley. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

22. Mayors Report~

Mayor Arview Was Not Present

Commissioner Howard Stated But I Will Tell You That Sloan's Gym Has Sent Us A Couple Of Plaques Thanking Us For Helping Support Their Athletes And Sent A Nice Letter. Some Of Their Young Competitors Did Very Well. One Of Them Finished Third On The Beam, Sixth On The Bars And Floor. Another One Placed Sixth In The Nation On Floor Routine. Another Young Lady Was The Level Six Junior Olympic Floor Champion. She Won Her Championship. She Was Also Second On The Beam, Fourth On The Vault And Fifth On The Bars.

Commissioner Reports-

Commissioner Harkins Stated Police And Fire Department, Are Busy. We Got A Mess Up There At The Fire Station. You Guys Have Been Getting Things Looking Better Inside. Far From Being Done, But It's Looking Better. Police Department Doing Okay, If We Can Keep Our Units Running. Deputy Chief Willis Stated Which Unfortunately Has Been A Challenge.

Commissioner Howard Stated Cash Has Now Been Reconciled For All Funds Through April 30th Of 2023, The Audit Year We're Trying To Get Done. We Have Sent Lots Of Documents And One Or Two Of The Trial Balances. We Anticipate That We Will, By The End Of This Week, That We Will Send Them All Of The Trial Balances. It's Been A Challenge To Say The Least. I Will Just Read You Some Of The Things That The Young Lady Who's Been Here Working On It Said. Large Adjustments That Do Not Tie Into Cash Receipts. Some Entries Totaling $400,000.00 Per Month Because Of The Need To Confirm Where Items Stem From. Debit Expenses Entered Incorrectly, Need To Re-Enter Expenses, Ninety Plus Entries Per Month. There Are Lots Of Funds. It's Not Just One Fund. She's Also Estimating That Within Six To Eight Weeks We Can Get 2024 Done. Then We'll Be Up To Date. Just Report On That.

Commissioner Warren Asked For To Explain The $400,000.00 I Don't Want It To Be Misunderstood. Commissioner Howard Stated Entries Totaling $400,000.00 Per Month. There Were Entries In There, They Were Not In The Right Place. She Had To Confirm Them And Put Them In The Right Place. Commissioner Warren Stated So That Part Is All Straight Now? Commissioner Howard Stated Yes. Commissioner Warren Stated I Don't Want Anyone To Think We Are $400,000.00 In The Hole. Commissioner Howard Stated No, It Is Just That She Had To Get Them Reclassified And Get Them In The Right Place.

Commissioner Stanley Stated The Water, Street, And The Sewer Guys Are Doing Okay. I'm Not Out To See What's Going On, But They're All Keeping Busy, I Know.

Commissioner Warren Stated I’m On Public Property And The Lakes. We Have A Surplus Property List Again For Next Time, If You're Interested In This Area Of Town. The Bids Are Due On September 9th And It's 717 North Horn, 715 North Horn, 1907 East Garland, 305 East St. Louis, And 905 West St. Louis. Minimum Bid Is $500. If You Want To Do Something In That Part Of Town, Have Your Bids In By September 9th. I Talked To Don Today Out At The Mall; Everything Is Going Well. We Have The New Lady That We Approved, Terry, Last Time. She's Starting To Move Her Business In There That She's Going To Have Like A Flea Market Type Stuff, Excess Stuff From Malls And Things Like That. She's Moving In And Getting Ready. I'm Not Sure Of Her Open Date Yet, But The Mall, He Said, Looks Beautiful And Shiny. They're Doing A Great Job Out There.

City Attorney Report: The City Attorney Did Not Have Anything To Report.

23. Audience Comments:

Commissioner Howard Reminded The Audience Of The Public Comments Ordinance, Come Up To The Podium And State Your Name, Five Minute Limit, Be Respectful.

Danny Loeh Stated I'm Vice Curator Of The Military Museum Here In Town. We Attended The Gold Star Day At DuQuoin It Went Really Good. We Took Several Items From The Military Museum There To Display. One Of The Items There Is A World War II Decoder That Was Brought To The Museum Several Years Ago Before I Got There. They Could Not Believe That We Had That At Our Museum, Which Is Amazing. We Have So Many Items There. People Need To Come Out And See Us. Sundays, 2 To 4. Or They Can Call Me During The Week Anytime, And I'd Be More Than Happy To Open That Museum Up For You All. 4,000 Items In There. All The Way Back To The Civil War.

24. 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) 5ilcs 120/2 (C) (11). At 6:28 P.M. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion For Approval, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

25. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:25 P.M.

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