North Egypt News

City of West Frankfort City Council met Sept. 9.

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, Except For Commissioner Stanley, He Was Not Present.

2. Mayor Arview Asked For Approval Of The Agenda. There Are No Changes That I Know Of That Need To Be Made Tonight. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve The Agenda For Use Tonight. Commissioner Harkins 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 Approval Of The Minutes From The August 26, 2025 Regular Council Meeting. The Mayor Stated I Was Not Able To Be Here For That Meeting, But Thank You Commissioner Howard For Standing In And Running That Meeting. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve The Minutes From That Meeting. 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 To Open Bids And Potentially Approve Ordinances Selling Real Estate At 715 North Horn, 717 North Horn, 1907 East Garland, 305 East St. Louis, And 905 West St. Louis. The Mayor Stated I Have Those Here And I Will Open Them One At A Time. 

717 N. Horn-

1. Chad Turley Bid Deposit- $80.00 Cash, Bid Is For $800.00 Plans For The Property: Build A New Home.

715 N. Horn-

1. Chad Turley Bid Deposit- $80.00 Cash, Bid Is For $800.00.

Plans For The Property: Build A New Home. 305 E. St. Louis-

1. Duke & Terri Watson Bid Deposit - $60.10 Check, Bid Is For $601.00. Plans For The Property: We Own The House Next Door; We Wish To Expand Our Driveway And Yard Hopefully Down The Road Build A Garage And Put Up A Fence.

2. Beverly Marshall Bid Deposit - $50.00 Cash, Bid Is For $500.00. Nothing In The Plans For The Property. 1907 E. Garland- 

1. Rocio Rosales/Debany Torres Bid Deposit - $ 100.00 Cash, Bid Is For $1,000.00. Plans For The Property: Build A Home. 2. Waww- Daniel Reigal Bid Deposit- $65.00 Check, Bid Is $650.00. Plans For The Property: We Own 1903 And 1905 Already, Our Tenant Would Like A Bigger Yard For Her Children To Play In. She Has Been Great Person To Work With For The Past Two Years.

3. Beverly Marshall Bid Deposit- $100.00 Cash, Bid Is For $1,000.00. Plans For The Property: A Homesite For My Daughter.

905 W. St. Louis-

1. Eric & Amy Davis- Bid Deposit- $100.00 Check, Bid Is $1,000.00. Property Plans: This Is At The End Of The Block That We Live On, No Plans For Property. We Will Keep It Mowed And Nice Looking.

2. Beverly Marshall-Bid Deposit - $50.00 Cash, Bid Is $500.00. No Property Plans. The Mayor Stated What I Would Want To Do Is Deal With 1907 East Garland Second Since There's Two High Bids On That One. But For The Other Four Properties, Do We Have A Motion To Accept The High Bid On Those? Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried. Then For 1907 East Garland, We Need To Decide Whether To Award The Bid To Beverly Marshall Or To Rosales And Torres. Commissioner Warren Stated How Do We Pick That? The City Attorney Stated It's The Highest Bid That's In The Best Interest Of The City. The Mayor Stated Rosales And Torres Just Said Build A Home, And Beverly Marshall Said A Home Site For Her Daughter. The City Attorney Asked Are Either Of Them Present, Mr. Mayor? Beverly Marshall's Son Was In The Audience. The City Attorney Stated, I Don't Know If Mr. Marshall Can Get A Hold Of His Mom. Contact Her And See If She's Willing To Raise Her Bid. Beverly Marshall's Son Stated Can I Have Two Minutes To Step Outside? The City Attorney Stated Yes. Commissioner Warren And Howard Asked What About The Other One? The City Attorney Stated I Don't Know If You Can Get That Phone Number. Our Notice Says That Potential Bidders Can Be Present And Competitively Raise Their Bids. That's Why I Suggested We Try It. Commissioner Warren Stated Are They Marked As One Received Sooner Than The Other One On The Mail? Or Does That Matter? The City Attorney Stated It Doesn't Matter. The Mayor Stated We Got All But One Of Those Done, 1907 E. Garland We Will Need To Revisit.

5. The Next Item Was Approval To Publish Notice Inviting Bids For The Sale Of Real Estate Located At 302 West 6th, 507 West 7th, 213 East Clark, 309 East Poplar, 305 And 307 East Poplar, And 712 North Jefferson, Which Is Two Lots As Surplus Property In The City Of West Frankfort. Bids Due By October 14th, 2025. Commissioner Howard Made The Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Mayor Asked Is Beverly Marshall's Son Was Able To Get Ahold Of Her, He Was Not

6. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Of The Revised Fire Protection Agreement With Frankfort Township. The City Attorney Stated Commissioner Harkins, I Can Help Out Here. I Participated In A Meeting With Our Insurance Company And The Fire Chief. We're Not Changing Any Of The Substance Of The Agreement. Basically, The Old Version Of The Existing Items. But It Wasn't Clear That We Would Provide A Certificate Of Insurance That Names The Townships For Items Five And Six. We Basically Added A Sentence That Says We Will Provide A Certificate Of Insurance. The Sentence We Added Also Says We'll Have A Million Dollars Minimum Of Insurance. But We Already Have That. This Is Just To Clarify Something In The Existing Agreement. Our Insurance Company Wanted It In There. And They Said, Once You Have That In There, We Will Provide The Townships With The Certificate They Want. So That They Have Proof That There's Insurance In Case Anything Happens When We're Responding To A Call. Commissioner Harkins Made A 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 Of A Resolution Of The Revised Fire Protection Agreement With Denning Township. The Mayor Stated I Assume Same Thing For Denning Township? The City Attorney Stated Yes Same Exact Thing. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

8. The Next Item Was Approval Of A Resolution Of Appointing A Board Member To The West Frankfort Library Board. The Mayor Stated Regina Sanders Resigned From The Library Board. There Was A Recommendation Made For Amanda Jacobs To Be Named. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve Appointing Amanda Jacobs In Regina's Place Term Expiring May 31st, 2027. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

9. The Next Item Was Approval Of The Opioid Litigation Update. The City Attorney Stated It Looks Like The Most Recent Email We Received That We Had Already Done. They Seem To Use Different Terms Sometimes. If You Guys Don't Mind, I'll Ask For A Motion. I Think This Is A Motion It's Probably Already Been Read Out These Three Different Pending Settlements. One Is The G8 Secondary Manufacturers Settlement. That Was Not The Main Company That Was Manufacturing The Opioids, But Eight Other Companies. The Second Motion Would Be To Approve The Purdue Bankruptcy Plan. Third Motion Would Be To Approve The Governmental Entity Settlement Agreement By A Motion To Approve The G8 Secondary Manufacturers Settlement. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, 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 Regarding Increase In Price For Rental Of The West Frankfort Mall Event Center. The Mayor Stated Don Gass Is Asking This Because We Do Have An Employee Working On A Saturday. That Can Incur Some Extra Costs There. We're Looking At Increasing The Cost From $50.00 Per Event To $100.00 Per Event, Which To Me Is Still Very Inexpensive For An Event. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

11. The Mayor Stated We Do Have An Update From Rosales And Torres. The Updated Bid From Rosales And Torres Is $1,500.00. Then Do We Want To Make A Motion To Approve That Bid? Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve That Bid Because The Other Person Tried And Didn't Make Contact, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

12. The Next Item Was Discussion With Possible Action Regarding Quote Received From Johnson's Auto And Truck Repair In The Amount Of $9,304.30 To Replace A Blown Engine In Unit Number 5, Which Is A 2020 Dodge Durango For The West Frankfort Police Department. Deputy Chief Willis Stated It's The Price For A New Engine. We Had Already Put Some Work Into It. It's In Very Good Shape; It's A 2020 Dodge. It Just Hit 60,000 Miles. The Research I Looked Into, It Was An Issue With Some Dodge Motors. It Was Used As A Patrol Vehicle. It's A Six-Cylinder. I Don't Know If That Caused The Wear And Tear. I Know That If We Replace It, We're Happy To Move It Back To A Chief's Vehicle Or Admin's Vehicle To Keep The Wear And Tear Down, Because It Would Still Have A Lot Of Life Left In It If We Replaced It. I Know The Market Value Was Still Right Around $25,000.00 To $27,000.00. Commissioner Howard Stated I Would Point Out That They've Charged Us Sales Tax. So, The Actual Price Should Be $8,728.00. The Mayor Stated We Need A Motion To Approve The Quote For $8,728.00. Commissioner Harkins 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 Approval For Payment Of An Invoice To West Frankfort Chamber Of Commerce In The Amount Of $1,620.00 Regarding The Annual Chamber Dinner. The Mayor Stated We Have Thirty-Six People Rsvp, This Is The Cost For Those Individuals. 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 Invoices From Executive Outsourcing In The Amount Of $18,610.16 For The City Of West Frankfort Audit Prep From 8-11-25 To 8-24-25. The Mayor Stated As I've Said Previously, When We've Had These Items, This Is For The Individual That Has Been Helping Us Get Our Books In Line To Send To The Auditors. This Had To Be Done Before We Could Even Get The Audit Started. Commissioner Howard 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 From Tabor Appraisal Service In The Amount Of $5,800.00 For The Appraisal Of The Old West Frankfort Lake. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried. The Mayor Stated I Will Just Add There For The Public, That Does Not Mean That We Are Selling The Old Lake. It Was Just A Question Of, We Wondered What It Might Be Worth If We Ever Did Decide To Sell It. So, We Asked For An Appraisal Of It. But That Doesn't Mean We're Intending To Sell It.

16. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Cummins Sales And Service In The Amount Of $2,920.17 For Service To The Storm Pump Generator For The Street Department. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

17. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Cummins Sales And Service In The Amount Of $2,503.67 For Service To The City Hall Generator. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

18. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay Invoices From Cummins

Sales And Service In The Amount Of $8,731.29 For Service To Three Generators For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried. The Mayor Stated To Clarify With Those Three, Those Generators Are What Keep Us Up And Running In The Case Of A Power Outage, And Especially When You Consider A Storm Pump Generator And Sewer Department, Those Are Pretty Vital In The Case Of A Storm Where The Power May Go Out Because Of A Lightning Strike And Cause The Power To Go Out. These Generators Would Kick In, That Way The Pumps Still Work. Everything Still Works The Way It's Supposed To Do. We Have To Get Those Serviced Occasionally To Make Sure That Stays The Way It's Supposed To Be.

19. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice From Clinton Electric, LLC In The Amount Of $2,680.00 To Install A New Pole For The Lift Station On Cleveland Street For The Sewer Department. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

20. The Next Item Was Approval To Pay An Invoice Number 2 From Lockmuller Group In The Amount Of $49,274.47 For Phase 2 Engineering Services For Section 18-00061-00-Es I-57 Illinois 149 Interchange Modification. The Mayor Stated Matt Tosh Is Here With Brown And Roberts, I Asked Him To Speak To This So We Know Where That Money's Coming From. Mr. Tosh Stated This Is A Progress Payment For Services For The End Of July For This Project. The Funding For This Is Set Up To Be Eighty Percent IDOT Grant Reimbursement And Twenty Percent Is The City's Share. The City's Share, I Think, Is Obligated From A Rebuild Illinois Grant And Maybe Some Tif Funds. The City Will Periodically Request An IDOT Reimbursement For These Bills As They Approve Them And Pay Them. This Is A Two-Year Project Or So Approximately For Design. The Mayor Stated This Does Not Come From Taxes On Residents Of West Frankfort Or Anything Like That. This Was Money That Was Specified For This Purpose Through Grants And Different Project Funds. Commissioner Howard 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 New Lake Lot Lease #23 For Larry Ruff. The City Clerk Stated His Survey Has Previously Been Approved. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

22. The Next Item Was Approval Of A New Lake Lot Lease #23a For Larry Ruff. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

23. The Next Item Was The Consent Agenda:

A. Approval To Pay Bills.

The Mayor Stated I Posted A Copy Of The List Of The Bills On Our Website And Facebook. I Seen Someone Asked Can We See The Actual Bills? I Just Wanted To Clarify, What I Posted Is What We Have In Our Books. This Is The List Of The Bills. In The Future I Might Make A Post Explaining How The Bills Get To This Point For Us To Approve. There Is A Procedure Of Approvals Before. The Purpose Of The Meeting Tonight Is We Are Approving Generally Paying For All Of These Bills. I Would Entertain A Motion To Approve The Consent Agenda. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins, Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

24. Building And Sign Permits ~ Code Officer Snell Stated The First One Is For A New Home For Ronda Conaughty At 810 E. Summers St., She Has Given Me Her Building Plans And All Of The Contractors Are Registered. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For John Mize At 718 N. Palmer For Fence Permit. He Is Going To Re-Arrange Some Of It That Is Already There And Then Put In Some New Structure As Well. Contractor Is David Ross; He Is Now Registered. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was A Solar Permit For William Bagley At 1208 E. Oak For Roof Mount Residential Solar. Contractor

Is One World Energy And Is Registered. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was A Solar Permit For Toni Tonazzi At 413 N. Walnut St. For Roof Mount Residential Solar. Contractor Is Freedom Forever Illinois LLC. And They Are Registered. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was A Solar Permit For Kyle Stroud At 603 S. Odle For Roof Mount Residential Solar. Contractor Is Freedom Forever, They Are Registered. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For A Solar Permit For Kelly Caldwell At 1105 E. Poplar St. For Roof Mount Residential Solar.

Contractor Is Tron Solar, They Are Registered. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was A Solar Permit For Amy Pelton At 605 N.

Gardner St. For Roof Mount Residential Solar. Contractor Is Advanced Energy Solutions Group, Inc., They Are Registered. Commissioner Harkins Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Howard. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried. 

The Next Permit Was A Fence Permit For Andrea Carter At 514 S. Emma St. For A Privacy Fence. She Is Doing Self Construction On This Project. This Is A Solid Six Foot Privacy Fence. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

The Next Permit Was For Kyle Brown For Residential Building At 1009 Michael Lane. This Building Has Already Been Constructed To His House, But He Realized He Didn't Get A Permit. He Came In And Applied That Way He Is Doing Things Right. I Recommend Approval. Commissioner Warren Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Harkins. Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

25. Officer's Report 

Fire Report For The Month Of August 2025. The Mayor Reported That They Had 179 -Ambulance Calls, 4- Rubbish/Illegal Fires, 2-Brush/Field Fires, 1-Fire Alarms, 2- Vehicle Fires, 7 - Fire Emergencies; (Gas Leaks, Power Lines Down, Etc.), 2- Structure Fires, 2-Mutual Aid Fire Calls, 9- Ambulance Calls Turned Over To Mutual Aid. For A Total Of 208 Calls During The Month. The Department Used Approximately 3,000 Gallons Of Water. The Department Collected $98,237.43 For August Ambulance Calls.

Police Report For The Month Of August 2025. Deputy Chief Willis Reported Officers Answered A Total Of 617 Calls For Service. Of Those Calls 16 Were Traffic Accidents, 3 With Injuries. Officers Responded To 35 Domestic Disputes, 5 Fights In Progress, 10 Alarms, 3 Intoxicated Persons, 9 Burglaries, 11 Reports Of Criminal Damage To Property, 21 Complaints Of Juvenile Problems, 32 Reported Thefts, And 33 Complaints Of Disorderly Conduct/Disturbances. And Officers Made 13 Street Contacts. Officers Conducted 134 Traffic Stops, Where They Issued 39 Citations, 95 Warnings, And 11 Lw-27's. There Were 69 Adult Arrests Made And 3 Juvenile Arrest, Resulting In 124 Criminal Charges Filed. Dispatchers Answered 789 Calls. Of Those, 571 Were 9-1-1 Calls, 117 Were Walk In Requests. 617 Were For Police, 217 Were For West Frankfort Fire. For The Month Of August, We Collected $4,124.46 In Fines And Fees.

Codes Report For The Month Of August 2025. Permit: 8-Building Permits, 0~Sign Permits. 4~ Solar Permits. Rental Properties: 11-Inspections Performed. Case Activity Report ~ 81 Which Includes Doors Tagged Verbal Warnings, Vehicles Tagged, Inspections Of Violations, Inspections, Citations Issued, Letters Sent, Etc.

Street Department Report For The Month Of August 2025: The Street Superintendent Reported This Is For The Month Of August 2025 And On-Going Work. Sidewalk Replacement On The South East Side Of Town, Replacing Damage Spots And Trying To Improve Safety On Walk Ways. Tile Installation For Residents/ Customer Requests. Tree Trimming Along The Streets Trying To Improve Right Of Way Visions. Mowing, Brush Pick Up, Sign Maintenance, Patching, Alley Clearing, Equipment Maintenance, Alley Rocking. We Mixed Asphalt And Bam For The Year So We Can Continue Patching Road Ways. Any Customer Requests That Comes In. The Next Step We Are Going To Finish Up Mowing, Boom Arm The Big Ditch, And In Preparation We Get To Start Going Through Christmas Stuff. 

Water Department Report For The Month Of August 2025: 122 Julies, 4 Emergencies, 128 Samples, 316 Customer Requests (Connects, Disconnects, Reconnects, Meter Change Outs, Meter Checks, Transfers, Shut Offs), We Purchased $20,044,301.00 Gallons From Rendlake. 3,731 Water Customers, 3,153 Sewer Customers, West Frankfort Customers Used 16,327,500 Gallons Of Water, Orient Used 780,000, Plumfield Used 979,200, Sewer Dept Used 32,000, Fire Dept Used 3,000. We Collected A Total Of $244,838.64 Broken Down $108,374.31 For Water, $81,897.39 For Sewer, $44,126.65 For Sanitation, And Some Misc. Items.

Sewer Department Report For The Month Of August 2025: 122 Julies, 4 Emergency Julies, 3 Sewer Call Outs Not On The City Side, 1 Alarm At The Plant, We Had The Training For The UV Rays Last Week. We Are Still Doing To Narp Testing The Numbers Are Really Good, The Plants Numbers Are Good Too, Everything Is Going Fine.

26. Mayors Report~

The Mayor Stated For Those Of You Watching We Have An Upgraded Stream. We Have A Gentleman Who Has Volunteered His Time To Help Us Out. Last Meeting I Wasn't Able To Be Here. Facebook Has Some Crazy Rules About Business Pages Have To Be Connected To A Personal Account, And That Happens To Be My Account Because It Has To Be A Personal Account. Now We Have An Admin To Actually Run It For Us. If I’m Not Able To Be Here The Stream Can Still Go On. I Do Like Having It Online For People To Watch. Facebook Issued A New Policy Where They Deleted Some Old Videos, And That Lead To Some Questions Of Whether The City Was Deleting Videos And We Were Not. Those Are Archived. Early On, We Got In Touch With A Company That Does That Archiving. We Do Have Those Videos Available, If Anyone Wants To FOIA A Video. For The Time Being Now, We Have A New Step Up. I Want To Say Thank You To Micheal Oliver, He Is The Individual Who Is Doing This For Us.

Commissioner Reports~

Commissioner Harkins Stated You Heard The Police And Fire Department's Reports. I Was At The Fire Station This Morning And They Are Still Doing Their Work Inside. They Are Getting The Floor Refinished. It Is Going To Look A Lot Better. They Guys Refinished The Wall Themselves.

Commissioner Howard Stated I Am Happy To Report That All Of The Trial Balances And The Supporting Documentation For The Fiscal Year Ending 4-30-23 Have Been Completed And Submitted To The Auditors. Cash Has Been Reconciled For All Funds. There Is No Eight Million Dollars Missing According To The Rumors, That Is Not The Case At All. Within Six To Eight Weeks, We Will Have The Next Year Completed And That Will Be Submitted. Then We Will Be Up To Date On Our End. Then The Auditors Will Finish Their Work.

Commissioner Warren Stated No Issues With Public Property. If You Are A Duck Hunter And You Want To Get In The Drawing For A Blind. We Have A Meeting Tomorrow Night At 6:00 P.M. At City Hall. You Have To Be Present, To Be In The Drawing For A Duck Blind. 

City Attorney Report: 

The City Attorney Stated All I Have Is An Update On A Real Estate Issue And Pending Litigation In Closed Session.

Audience Comments: 

The Mayor Stated I Will Ask Everyone Who Speaks To Keep Your Comments To Five Minutes. The Reason For That Is If Anybody Does Have Something They Would Like To Talk About Will Have A Chance Too. Please Keep Your Comments Respectful, No Fowl Language. Ruth Teel Stated I Am Here Representing The Old Goshen Trail And National Society Daughters Of The American Revolution. I Am Going To Read Something From Our National Website. In 2025 We Recognized The 70th Anniversary Of Constitution Week. The Constitution Of The United States Is The Binding Document That Held Our Country Together Since It Was Conceived And Designed In 1787. The Ratification By Nine States June 21st,1788. With Out It We Would Not Be Celebrating Two Hundred And Fifty Years Of The United States In 2026. Sdar Past President General Gerturde S. Carraway Was Responsible For The Annual Designation Of September 17th – 23rd, As Constitution Week. The Dar Made Its Own Resolution For Constitution Week With Was Adopted April 21, 1955. Members Of The United States Congress Received The Dar Resolution On June 7, 1955. The Resolution Was Discussed In The Senate The First Resolution To Observe Constitution Week Was Made On June 14,1955 By Senator William F. Nolen. Following The Passage Of Resolution By Both Houses Of Congress, President Eisenhower Entered His Proclamation On August 19, 1955. The First Observation Of Constitution Week Was So Successful On January 5,1956 Senator Nolen Introduced A Joint Resolution To Have A The President Designate September 17th - 23rd Annually As Constitution Week. The Resolution Was Adopted On July 23, 1956. Mayor And Commissioners, My Request Is That Our Community That We Proclaim September 17th Through The 23rd As Constitution Week. I Gave You Some Bells. On September 17, 2025 At 3:00 P.M. Central Time I Would Like To Hear Some Bells Ringing. Southern Illinois Accountability Stated Is What I Go By, They Call Me Jebb. (He Would Not State His Name.) The Quorum Rules Are For You Guys, Us The Public, We Can Use Any Language We Want To Up Here. I’m Not Going Too, But We Can It Is Our Right. Some Of You May Have Seen The Video Online Of What Happened At The Park. It Has Happened Several Times, And It Happened Again I Went Back There After The Stalking Order. He Has Been Told I Have A Right To Be There; I Went There With A Sign Because The Police Department Told Them It Was Ok For Them To Go Get A Stalking Order Against Me. For Some One Who Works For The Public It Is Not True, It Is False Information. The Judge Threw It Out. I Went Back With A Sign Exercising My Rights The Guy At The Park Lost His Stuff. I Had A Swear Word On The Sign He Told Me That If I Come In To The Public Lobby It Was All Going To Be Over. I Was Peacefull Never Stepped Inside The Building. The Last Time I Was Here The Mayor Seemed To Think That Because They Are The Park And Its Not The City Of West Frankfort, That They Won't Hold No Liability. Where He Is Wrong Is That The West Frankfort Park, They Can Not Put Me In A Jail Cell, It Is The West Frankfort Police Department. When They Came There And Violated My Rights And Trespassed Me Illegally. That Is Where I Will Have To Sue The City Police Department And Then Go After The Park. That Is How A Federal Civil Lawsuit Works. I Think It Is Sad No One Has Tried To Reach Out To Me To Make Up For This. This Is Going To Be An Issue For The City And The Tax Payers Because They Are Not Wanting To Do Anything About It. You Were Wrong Saying Because They Told Me I Had A Right To Be There. Every time, They Call The Police On Me And Threaten Me With Something, That Is Where The Liability Falls On You. You Need To Do Something With His Actions Because He Is Going To Get Some Body Hurt. I Have Every Right To Defend My Self, But I Don't Do That I Follow The Law, I Am There To Educate On Our Rights. If He Does That With The Wrong Person And That Is In The City Of West Frankfort If He Hurts Somebody On Your Property You Will Find Your Self In Another Law Suit. Be Ready For The Paperwork Is All I Can Say.

William Nolan Stated I Have Questions Regarding The Audits, Good News Indeed That There Is Progress On Getting That Stuff Resolved. Is There A Public Resource Or A Website Or A Link Or Such Where The Public Can Go To Get Caught Up Where We Are Now And How We Got Here And What The Resolution Is? The Mayor Stated The Minutes Of The Meetings. Mr. Nolan Stated So There Is Not Going To Be Any Further Information Released? The Mayor Stated When There Are Meetings And We Have Information. Commissioner Howard Stated When The Audit Comes Out That Will Be Release. Mr. Nolan Stated When Is That Due To Come Out? Commissioner Howard Stated That Is Up To The Auditors, But It Is Supposed To Come Out Before The End Of October. The Mayor Stated That Is From What They Have Told Us.

Tina Rose Stated I Am Here Tonight Because I Can No Longer Stand By While This Council And Mayor Continues To Betray The People Of The City. I Am Not Speaking Just For Myself But Every Tax Paying Resident Who Is Being Ignored, Exploited And Endangered. The Council Has Been Changing Municipal Codes During On Going Lawsuits. Not To Protect You, Not To Protect Your Home Or Your Family, Not To Protect Tax Payers, But To Sheild Slumlords And Cover For An Unqualified Code Officer. Let Me Be Clear When You Protect Slumlords You Lay Out The Red Carpet For Drug Houses, Crime, Meth Heads, Blight, You Name It. You Are Not Defending West Frankfort, You Are Selling It Out. People Live Here Who Owns Their Homes Here, People Pay Taxes Here. They Are Sick And Tired Of The Petty Crime, Home Invasions, The Kids Bicycles Getting Ripped Off Of The Porches. You As A Group Lay Out The Red Carpet And Invite More Of It. Why Are All Of You Destroying What Is Left Of West Frankfort. While This Happens What Do You Spend Your Time Doing In These Meetings Approving More Gambling Licenses, Feeding Addiction Instead Of Addressing Safety. Meanwhile You Are Still Talking About The Audit, He Is Telling Us It Is Going To Be Here In October, But I Recall Your Language At The Very Beginning You Said They Might Have The Paperwork To Get Started On It. Which Means They Haven’t Started On It At All. There Is A Responsibility You Have That There Are Three Years Of Missing Audits, And Bringing Back One Year's Audit Will Not Fix Anything. Because Of The Situation Of Approving These Gambling Licenses And Not Having An Audit. You Are Giving The Appearance Of The City That We Have Organized Crime In Our City Government. West Frankfort Has Been Ranked A Nine Out Of One Hundred In Safety. Equivalent To Some Of The Worst Neighborhoods In Chicago. That Is A National Embarrassment, Especially For A Town Of Seven Thousand Plus Residents. Everyday Residents See More Drug Houses, Crime, Fear In Their Neighborhoods Making Families Want To Leave. They Can't Sell Their Homes Fast Enough Because Of The Slum Conditions. Everyone Wants Out Of West Frankfort, But Your Answer Is Protect The Slum Lords And Hand Out Gambling Licenses. I Ask When Will You Stop Protecting Slumlords Over The Tax Payers Who Elected You? At What Point Will The Residents And Homeowners Be At Equal Or Higher Value To You Than The Slumlords Who Are Breaking The Laws And Renting Unsafe Structures To Individuals. The Same Individuals Who Commit The Majority Of The Crime In The City. There Is A Direct Coralation Between Code Enforcement And Increase In Registered Sex Offenders Living In Your Area. How Can You Justify Rewriting The Laws Benefiting Your Buddies. While The Rest Of Us Are Living With Crime, Flith, And Fear. I Am Asking All Residents How Much Longer Will We Tolerate Being Lied To, Used And Sold Out. If You Are Not Capable Of Doing Your Jobs For Whatever Reason It Is Grossly Wrong Of You To Hold Onto Power. If You Are Not Capable Of Doing Your Jobs It Is Horrendously Selfish If You Insist On Keeping It At The Demize Of Seven Thousand Plus Residents. I Demand That Every Official Here Who Has Participated In This Betrayal Resign Immediately And For The Safety Of Our City

I Demand That Thad Snell Be Fired At Once. He Never Obtained Any Certification Which Were Required Of Him As Part Of His Employment. You Basically Have An Unqualified Dog Walker Threatening People Over Codes That He Wont Enforce On His Slumlords Or Buddies. Everyone Is Sick To Death Of The Threats. West Frankfort Deserves Better.

27. 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) (6) And 5 ILCS 120/2 (C) (11). At 7:09 P.M. Commissioner Harkins 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 Of A Motion To Return To Open Session At 7:40 P.M. Where No Action Was Taken. Commissioner Howard Made A Motion To Approve, Seconded By Commissioner Warren.

Roll Call Vote: All Commissioners And Mayor Arview Voted To Approve. Motion Carried.

29. With No Further Business To Be Discussed, The Meeting Was Adjourned On A Motion By Commissioner Harkins At 7:42 P.M.

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