City of Lexington City Council met Oct. 26.
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 Colclasure, Alderman Franklin, Alderman Stover and Alderwoman Wilson. Alderman Schreiber was attending remotely and Alderman Richard was absent. Members of the staff and public present were Don Cavallini, David Belvery, Kenneth Sours and Mike Frank.
It was moved by Alderman Colclasure and seconded by Alderman Franklin to approve the minutes of the October 12, 2020 regular meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderwoman Wilson to approve the Treasurer’s Report and pay bills in the amount of $601,726.00. It was noted that there were Water and Sewer Plant loan payments along with a payment to McLean County Asphalt included in this amount. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Input: Mike Frank asked for an update on the Ameren progress along the Ollie and Dorothy Myers Trail.
The original plan was to start in November but it had been pushed back. They were to start in Bloomington and come this way and be here in 4-5 months.
Mayor Johansen was first told about it at a Mayor’s meeting about a year ago and had proposed to the council that we could get some lighting for that section of the trail. He is waiting for Ameren to get a little closer to propose it again. Ameren is planning on using a short section of the trail, not all of the trail, the south half of the south section.
The question was asked about how many trees they were going to remove? They should not remove any trees along the trail. Alderman Stover thinks they will remove some dead trees so they do not fall on the power lines but will do as little as possible. They may need to do some trimming where it crosses over the trail closer to town but that could be 30 years down the road and there may be some minimal impact on the west side.
Old Business:
Discussion/Vote Bids for Surplus Real Estate Property
Bids were opened this afternoon for the property at 1003 N. Orange Street. There was only one bid from Brandt Agronomic Services, LLC in the amount of $34,350.00 which is per our agreement with them.
It was moved by Alderman Franklin and seconded by Alderwoman Wilson to accept the bid of $34,350.00 for the Surplus Real Estate Property located at 1003 N. Orange Street, Lexington, Illinois 61753. Motion carried unanimously.
Discussion of Derelict/Abandoned Property
The first property discussed was 305 E. Wall Street known as the Lockenvitz House on the corner of Wall and Oak Streets. The city has been dealing with this property for 6-7 years. The final court date was Friday and no one showed up. The city now owns this and there was discussion as to what should be done with it. The location is a corner lot 2 blocks from the school. The plumbing has all been taken out of it and they do not want to tear it down if they can find someone to take it over.
Next was the property on 405 E. South Street that belonged to the Boerma’s. Evan Leake bought this before we went to court and is going to fix it up and flip it. There is a 30 day continuance on it to make sure all his paperwork is correct. It will cost $20,000 to tear it down.
Last was the Koch building on Main Street. The Kochs have decided to no longer pay real estate taxes on the building and insurance has declined to pay for the damage to the building.
There followed a discussion as to what the city could do about the building including ways to fix it to extend the life of the building such as a quote from Devore for $14,500 to cement block part of the upper floor where bricks are bad to stop the falling of bricks which would help the building make it through the winter, putting a new roof on the building and looking at it again in the spring, or tearing it down and we know that removal of the asbestos is $68,000 and demolition will run around $31,000.
The question was asked about grants to which Mayor Johansen replied that he had looked into that and also had talked with Dan Brady about the possibility of grants but didn’t think that was possible for this building.
Alderman Stover commented that from a budget standpoint the city does not have the funds at this time to make a commitment to tear this building down. Cost of asbestos removal and demolition of the building is around $100,000. He feels that liability will remain with the Kochs until we are forced to take it over.
Council agreed to let it stand at this point and take no further action.
New Business: None
Committee Reports:
Mayor’s Reports: Mayor Johansen reported on the following items:
Casey’s is ahead of schedule by three weeks and is going to pour concrete this week. Target date to open is still December 17th. Our road is complete except for the guard rail and some signage. The county went in and seeded all of that for us at a fraction of the cost that was on the bid. The city has saved $30,000 by doing some of the work ourselves and the county will reimburse us.
Joyce Hightower from Beyond Normal will be renting Sondra Wisdom’s building and will be open for Christmas on the Prairie and officially January 1, 2021.
For Halloween we are working with Kelly’s and will hand out sandwiches to the first 100 kids.
Alderwoman Wilson also noted that Shake and Bake Nutrition will be handing out protein donuts and protein shakes which will be given out at Envy Fitness Center.
He is meeting with the Snyder Group again this week on the Orange Street subdivision.
Police: Chief Belvery reported that they should have the new police car by Election Day.
Building & Insurance None
Finance & TIF Alderman Stover has started the budget process.
Water/Sewer/Sanitation None
Street/Alley None
There being no further business a motion was made by Alderwoman Wilson to adjourn at 7:33 p.m. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
https://www.lexingtonillinois.org/images/Minutes_October_26_2020.docx.pdf
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