City of Lexington City Council met Oct. 28.
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 Colclasure, Alderwoman Wilson, Alderman Stover, Alderman Franklin and Alderman Richard. Members of the staff and public present were: Chief David Belvery, Don Cavallini, Dottie Pignotti, Jon Kemp, Judy Thomas, Kenneth Sours, James Scott, Jan Freed, Lori Leake, Kathy Gunther, Joe Gunther, Helen J. Leake, Linda Benedict, David D. Leake, Gordon Hodges, Ron Miller, Wde Pestke, Paul Deters and Eva Ann Beasley.
It was moved by Alderman Colclasure and seconded by Alderwoman Wilson to approve the minutes of the October 14, 2019 meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderman Franklin to approve the treasurer’s report and pay bills in the amount of $14,080.13. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Input: Judy Thomas said she just wanted to address the surveys that were in the Lexingtonian. There were 36 nos and 12 yes that had been returned so three times as many nos as yes.
There are several people that accompanied her here tonight and she would like to relate what people are telling her. One person had taken a trip to Colorado and while they were out there they went into one of the depenseries and they couldn’t wait to get out of there because of the people that were in there. It was very very scary.
You had a developer come and you have all those new apartments and you don’t need to sell cannabis near the apartments and the apartments across the street. It would be a hindrance for a rental.
My main concern is for the men of the city because of the first hand experience of what happens when you have cannabis in your system and step off the side of a semi-trailer and hit the concrete floor and running power tools is very dangerous of men getting hurt. If the man of the house gets laid up that affects the whole family. I would think the business men in town might be saying no because if workman comps go up premiums go up. I talked to a young man in his late 20s early 30s, he said if we approve the sale of cannabis and Normal doesn’t students will drive up here to get their cannabis and 55 and 66 will become more dangerous with more coming and going from Normal. For me personally, I think about the mailbox, the drop box, I look to see if anyone is around there anyway when I go up there. I look around to make sure no one can come up to your car. I look around at the ATM to make sure no one is around. The governor made it legal but he did not make it good.
Linda Benedict wrote a letter to herself listing what the image was that we wanted in Lexington. She is a little shocked that Lexington would even consider allowing a cannabis dispensary. We have such a beautiful family city to raise our kids and grandkids. We have new businesses and families coming to town. Are we going to allow one new business to destroy this? As you drive up Main Street you see colorful baskets decorating our streets and sidewalks creating a great image. Little shops, people sitting on benches and men enjoying Peely’s Pool Hall. Do we really want to jeopardize this as people come to town to buy cannabis?
Do we really need the revenue from this business? Is this going to affect our police department? More man hours? And what if there is a wreck? Will go for cannabis, just take them in and get a blood test. Whose time are we wasting now? Do we really think these people are going to take it home to use? God forbid there be an accident or a fatality. Do people realize the repercussions of this?
As I see kids walking down the street, I can’t help but think, don’t let them be tempted into thinking this is safe, everyone is doing it, adults buying it right here. They don’t realize that the brain does not develop until age 25. The chemicals will stay in their system for six months. Do we really want to accept the liability of possible addiction of a person. Do we really want to contribute to an already drug induced society? What harm is our great town to pay? Do we want a business in Lexington that sells a product that is criminal under federal law?
Jan Freed stated that she had just found out about this meeting and was not prepared to speak except to say that for herself, her family and her grandkids she wishes to say no.
Helen Leake after reading a letter to the editor last week, she has read about Montana and all the problems they have had in the schools and on the streets, 90% of the problems and crime is connected to this drug. She votes no.
Mayor Johansen commented that he appreciated all the comments and thinks everyone saw the notice for the public hearing for the Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals will be November 4th. We will not vote on this until November 11th.
Old Business:
Swearing in of New Police Officer
Chief Belvery swore the new police officer, Robert J. Gunther in as the newest member of the Lexington Police force.
Disposition of Truck
Mayor Johansen said there was some discussion on this last week. They had opened the one bid they had and there was a little bit of confusion around the bid. There is one bid on the truck for $7,250.00.
Motion was made by Alderman Richard and seconded by Alderman Franklin to sell the truck for $7,250. Motion carried unanimously.
Cannabis Discussion
Mayor Johansen put this on the agenda to answer any questions the council would have about the direction we are going. We have heard everybody's comments which he appreciates and respects viewpoints on this. The Planning Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeals will have their hearing on November 4th. Just so everybody knows, neither the Mayor nor the council members will be at that hearing. We do not want it to appear we are trying to influence the committees. They will listen to everyone. We will address it on the 11th.
Discussion/Vote Surplus Property Cedar Street
Alderman Stover started the discussion by stating that there is a party interested in purchasing the Cedar Street property. He wants to put in two retail buildings that he would lease out. He believes the fair value matches the appraisal and the purchaser thinks that is a fair price that we have on it. It appraised at $3,000-$7,000 and he is willing to offer $5,000 for it. Alderman Stover’s thought is we are struggling to get retail businesses into buildings so this is one building that would be open and available for new businesses. He would propose that we offer this property for sale to the gentleman. He is not asking for any additional funding from the city only to make sure the water and sewer are out there.
The way this works, they bring the buildings in and whoever is interested to lease, they finish it to fit the business.
Mayor Johansen stated that they have had several people interested in opening up a coffee shop, problem is they want a drive thru window and we just don’t have a place to put one. We have approached a couple of corner lots and they are not interested in doing anything.
Alderman Stover also said he has had other businesses looking for buildings and what we have available just doesn't work for them. So hopefully this will fit a lot of businesses where they need a smaller building, everything else is too expensive. This should be more in line with businesses that we have offers from.
This purchaser also has two other properties in town.
Mayor Johansen reminded the council that part of the reason we buy property and tear down the building is to bring somebody in to build there. We have that property on Main Street next to Tom Shields. It hasn’t sparked much interest. When we declared all that property surplus, we are kicking around different ways do we start listing them with realtors. The problem with the city, how do you pick a realtor? He thinks when opportunity knocks on the door we should take it if someone is willing to invest in our city.
Motion was made by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderwoman Wilson to sell the Cedar Street property to More Than Talk in the amount of $5,000.00. Motion carried unanimously.
New Business: None Committee Reports:
Mayor’s Report: Mayor Johansen stated that the bids for P. J. Keller North will be opened on November 7th at city hall at 10 a.m. The way that works, Farnsworth will be here and they will open the bids and we will not tell anyone they got the bids until it comes before the council and we will review them all.
Casey’s is moving forward. We have received the check for their building permit. Checkers is going. They anticipate the end of November that they will be open.
The public hearing is coming up.
He has had some interest in the past two weeks in three new businesses coming to town. Envy Fitness opens Friday, November 1.
At the Halloween Party we had 163 kids in the competition. Over 200 hotdogs were served and thank you to everybody who helped.
Police: Alderman Richard reported that they had four applicants answer the ad for a part time police officer. They will start the interview process next week.
Mayor Johansen would like to compliment the police officer who was working on Sunday. He showed up at the school and was handing out candy. It was really nice and the kids loved it and the Mayor loves to see that too.
Building/Insurance: Alderman Franklin has had a preliminary meeting with the employee’s health insurance and they are putting together the final numbers. They will be meeting again. They are expecting an increase but not at the levels they have had in the past.
The surveys on the lot behind the old Water Plant is complete. We need to get with Tom Shields for the best way to sell the property.
Finance/TIF: Alderman Stover invited Mr. Deters to speak about the good news that the school received this week.
Mr. Deters reported that just this week the Illinois State Board of Education announced that Lexington has earned the highest state school designation of Exemplary for the 2018-2019 school year and the second year in a row. Lexington Junior High School received the second highest designation of Commendable.
The designation of Exemplary was created to identify the top 10% of all schools in the state. This designation is based on how well our schools are meeting students’ needs based on multiple measures of performance. This is the second year that the second year that the State Board of Education has used these identifiers through the Illinois School Report Card.
This would not be possible without all the hard work from our teachers, students, and families. It takes a village.
Water/Sewer/Sanitation: Alderwoman Wilson reported that Billy DuBois is back to work after his surgery.
Street/Alley: Alderman Colclasure reported sidewalk repairs and replacement projects have been completed and the superintendent, Bill Elias, reported that six different locations have been replaced or repaired and a total of 47 yards of concrete were used.
This week the Street Department will begin preparing for the winter season with inspection and installing the snow plow blades and other needed materials.
Tree trimming and brush pickup has or is nearing completion depended upon the weather.
As the year ends, a sinkhole near the grocery store has been closely monitored and further inspection investigation has been put on hold and hopefully will be further evaluated in the spring.
There being no further business a motion was made by Alderman Franklin to adjourn at 7:29 p.m. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
https://www.lexingtonillinois.org/images/Minutes_October_28_2019_minutes.pdf
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