City of Lexington City Council met Feb. 11.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
The regular meeting of the Lexington City Council was called to order at 7:00 P. M. by Mayor Spencer Johansen in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.
Mayor Johansen led the council in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Roll call was taken to find the following physically present: Mayor Johansen, Alderman Schreiber, Alderman Stover, Alderwoman Wilson, Alderman Franklin, Alderman Richard and Alderman Colclasure. Members of the staff and public present were: Chief Belvery and Ben A. Klein.
It was moved by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Colclasure to approve the minutes of the January 28, 2019 regular City Council meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderman Franklin to approve the Treasurer’s Report in the amount of $8,835.49. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Input: None Old Business:
Discussion/Vote to Proceed with Intersection Design Study, P. J. Keller & Douglas Drive
Mayor Johansen started the discussion by reminding the Council that this was discussed at a previous meeting. To move forward on this project it will cost $10,800. This needs to be done.
Motion was made by Alderman Franklin and seconded by Alderman Stover to proceed with the intersection design study of P. J. Keller & Douglas Drive. Motion carried unanimously.
New Business:
Discussion/Vote Agreement with Mark Hansen to Extend Douglas Drive, Pending Signed Agreement with Casey’s General Store
Mayor Johansen started the discussion stating that pending a signed agreement with Casey’s General Store the City agrees to enter into an agreement for the first 225 feet of the extension of Douglas Drive. Documentation must be made that Hansen has sold land for the remaining lot to a purchaser approved by the City of Lexington who will utilize the property for commercial use or other use approved by the City of Lexington and we will construct the remainder of the roadway. As of now, we are only committing to 225 feet of road. We have made that clear. Casey’s is wanting it made to the back of their property and Casey’s may not need all of that. The cost of the road is $400 per square foot or $90,000-$120,000. Mayor Johansen has spoken to the school about TIF money that they would receive, 60% over $650,000. Their portion over a three year period ($31,000 per year) would pay for the road. They agreed to a three year freeze during that time period. In three years Casey’s should be up and running and the City should be seeing the revenue from it.
Motion was made by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Franklin to approve the agreement to extend Douglas Drive pending signed agreement with Casey’s General Store. Motion carried unanimously.
Committee Reports:
Mayors Report: Connie Bork, Lexington Township Clerk’s, sudden death has left Lexington Township in a bind as to who would do their books, write checks, etc. The City and the township use the same program to run their books, so Star has agreed to do their books and train whoever will take over the township clerk job. Payroll and bills are run once a month and Star felt she would be able to work this in along with her regular duties.
The money market account that we had in 2018 was transferred into a higher interest earning account. There was a balance of $500,000.00 and we were earning $30-$40 interest a year. Last year we reinvested that into two different investments, a 6 month and a 12 month investment, and the first one matured in November of 2018. We saw interest earned of $12,253.69. So that will be about $25,000 a year off of that.
We have talked about future subdivisions in the past and Mayor Johansen sent out five letters to land owners of possible subdivisions and has had one positive response back. He is also meeting with a group this week that is interested in starting a possible subdivision. So there a two possible subdivisions. One behind Dollar General and this new one should it work out.
Mayor Johansen attended a mayors meeting on a modified 911 system. Before when you used your land line to call 911 they knew your location. With a Cell phone that is not the case. With all the cell phones they are going to a modified 911 system. We are looking a Lexington addresses now. There was no play book when addresses where assigned in Lexington. It starts at the City Park and that is the 100 block and goes from there. During this audit we have found some of the addresses for the new system are off. One street name may need to change and some addresses may change. Some houses have stone house numbers and those will need to be replaced with an average price of $269. Farnsworth will need to do a grid and we send that off to the board. The board will review and send a list back to us. He would like to have an idea of who has to change and the cost of that before we do the budget. What he would like to do, is send out invitations and have the board explain to the residents what the changes will entail. When you call 911 you will get a faster response, health and safety first. All utilities will be changed by the board.
Mayor Johansen put an article in the newsletter about incentives for new businesses, there seemed to be a lot of interest in a coffee shop.
Mayor Johansen, Alderwoman Wilson, Billy DuBois and Heather DuBois will be attending the Illinois Rural Water Assoc. meeting in Effingham February 19th. Billy and the City is one of three finalist for Rural Water System of the Year. We should be proud that he is a finalist even if he doesn’t win.
Police: Officer Lorsbach graduated on February 9th from the Police Academy and starts his field program February 11th.
Building/Insurance None
Finance/TIF: Alderman Stover requests that all budget information be given to him as quickly as possible. A reminder that the TIF annual meeting will be before the next regular council meeting, February 25, 2019 at 6:45 P.M.
Water/Sewer/Sanitation: Alderwoman Wilson reported that the cold days that the city was off but that Billy did work till midnight when things froze up. He had to wait for Jason Birkenbiel from William Masters. These are unforeseeable expenses so he is going to be a little over budget due to the breaks.
Mayor Johansen stated the part of that is freezing up because the units sit outside. We have spent $4M and we are outside with heat tapes and electric blankets trying to thaw things out and they froze up last year. They are going to try and build some kind of enclosure this spring and insulate it and see if that helps. We need to figure something out so this does not happen again.
Street/Alley: None
There being no further business, motion was made by Alderman Colclasure to adjourn at 7:25 P.M. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
https://www.lexingtonillinois.org/images/Feb1119.pdf
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