City of Lexington City Council met Jan. 27.
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, Alderman Richard, Alderman Franklin, Alderwoman Wilson and Alderman Stover. Members of the staff and public present were: Kenneth Sours, Paul Deters, Luke Smuckers and Chief Belvery.
It was moved by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Colclasure to approve the minutes of the December 23, 2019 council meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderman Franklin to approve the January 13th Treasurer's Report and pay bills in the amount of $18,240.05. Motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderwoman Wilson to approve the January 27th Treasurer's Report and pay bills in the amount of $66,782.17. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Input:
None
Old Business;
Discussion/Vote Ordinance 2020-1: Declaring Certain City of Lexington Owned Real Estate
Property to be no longer Necessary or Useful to the City of Lexington
This is the parcel of land that the county deeded us for Casey's, we have to declare that surplus property before we can deed it over to Casey's.
Motion was made by Alderman Franklin and seconded by Alderman Colclasure to approve Ordinance 2020-1: Declaring Certain City of Lexington Owned Real Estate Property to be no Longer Necessary or Useful to the City of Lexington. Motion carried unanimously.
Discussion Salaries of Elected Officials
Alderman Stover had hoped to have more information on this but his thinking was that we could do a one time across the board increase. This would not be something that would be an annual increase.
It was felt that the clerk and treasurer's pay was not up to what it should be compared to the hours put in. This is a public service but it is hard to encourage people to take these jobs when so much time is required and there needs to be a little more incentive.
Mayor Johansen spoke with Attorney Shields about what we are discussing and he agreed that we could call around but, the bottom line was, we need to decide what we want to do and move forward with it. One concern the Mayor had was the amount of work Star has been involved in, with assisting on helping with new businesses, and she has no overtime. He thinks this needs to be addressed. He reminded the Council we must pass this 190 days prior to the next election.
Mayor Johansen will check with the IML to see if they have any guidelines for the positions that we are talking about. If they do, there is some justification and we are not just making up a number.
The Mayor feels we can't dictate from a mayor's standpoint how many hours needs to be put in. It has been very successful with a fulltime position. Should we have some expectations for each position? For what people are supposed to do? We can't create job requirements for elected position's but he believes we can create job expectations. If we have some expectations of what people are supposed to do, maybe we can tie that to the salary increase.
Alderman Stover feels that whoever sits as mayor needs to continue doing what we are doing and there is no guarantee they will continue doing what Mayor Johansen is doing. He asked Mayor Johansen to call IML to see if they have any guidelines but he thinks we should do as Attorney Shields suggested and decide what the people are worth.
It is also hard to find someone to backup Star if she needs to leave.
Mayor Johansen has a mayor's meeting coming up and he will see what he can find out from the other mayors.
New Business:
None
Committee reports:
Mayor's Report:
Mayor Johansen reported on the following items:
The Mylar for Casey's has been sent to the title company in Morris and all documents have been signed by the mayor, he anticipates the closing to be very soon. They have been pursuing their liquor license and construction should start in the spring or early summer.
Checkers training will start February 18th with an opening date of February 21st. It looks really nice inside. It was noted that the signage looks good from 1-55. They may serve breakfast at a later date,
Lexington Social is putting in a tile floor in the kitchen, two ADA restrooms in and is working hard. They have plans in the future to rebuild the front of the building to make it ADA accessible,
A meeting with the hotel people is being scheduled within the next two weeks.
As soon as the weather permits, Dave Leake will start the earth work on the road for Casey's. His work will not exceed $25,000. Talks are underway with Hanson about entering a redevelopment agreement and he would pay for the road, then we would reimburse him.
He and Star have met with three different people about new businesses coming to town. One of them is one of the largest retail businesses in Downtown Normal.
The new website goes live this week. If you have not done your bio try to get it to Star this week so it will be up to date. It is really pretty nice.
New water billing will be in place March 1st. She and Sue are taking the training,
There are a couple of new events this year. March 8th is "Down the Aisle on Main" and will feature businesses that can help plan and provide services for weddings. In September there will be an event geared toward craft breweries and distilleries.
Police: Chief Belvery reported that he had received a letter from the Illinois Department of Transportation regarding testing of a high speed rail automated system that will stop the trains if the engineer or conductor can't if something is on the tracks. Their plan is to start in March. They want to have trains running at 110 miles per hour by the end of 2020.
Building/Insurance: Alderman Franklin reported on the following items:
Attorney Shields never got the documents to declare the Water Tower surplus property. All that needs to be done is amend the ordinance.
He met with Bill Chaney to talk more about his plans and what he foresaw about the rec-center. He wants to talk with Mr. Deters to see if the school had any interest and the Park District. It is one thing to get it built and then someone has to see who will pay the bills.
Marc First does not want the senior living segregated from the other residents.
Activities that require a wood floor would be beneficial to the school
Finance/TIF:
None
Water/Sewer/Sanitation:
None
Street/Alley:
None
Mayor Johansen commented on an article in the IML magazine regarding municipal revenues. Motor Fuel numbers are down a little but there should be a little tax on cannabis when that starts later in the year.
There being no further business a motion was made by Alderwoman Wilson to adjourn at 7.28 p.m. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
https://www.lexingtonillinois.org/images/agenda-minutes/2020/minutes/Minutes_January_27.pdf
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