City of Lexington City Council met Feb. 28.
Here are 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 Franklin, Alderman Richard, Alderman Mattingly, Alderwoman Wilson and Alderman Little with Alderman Stover absent. Members of the staff and public present were: David Belvery and Billie Dubouis.
It was moved by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Mattingly to approve the minutes of the February 14, 2022 regular city council meeting. Motion carried with four yes and Alderman Franklin voting present.
It was moved by Alderman Franklin and seconded by Alderman Mattingly to approve the Treasurer’s Report and paying of the bills in the amount of $208,459.90. It was noted there was a payment of $150,000 in property tax rebate. Also noted that the payment to BC Investments for the condos would be the last ones we pay as all of the units had been sold. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Input: None
Old Business: None
New Business:
Discussion/Vote: Ordinance 2022-2: Terminating the Development Agreement Between the City of Lexington, L&T, LLC, and Terry Bittner
Our attorney advised us that we should do an ordinance to terminate the agreement with Terry Bittner before we could put the property back up for RFP. All interested parties have been notified that the property has been republished for the RFP request and they can resubmit their bids by March 18th on the property.
Motion was made by Alderman Mattingly and seconded by Alderman Franklin to approve Ordinance 2022-2: Terminating the Development Agreement Between the City of Lexington, L&T, LLC, and Terry Bitter. Motion carried unanimously.
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Mayor’s Report: Mayor Johansen reported on the following items:
He has met with the operations director of Frontier and they will be doing a major upgrade by summer to the fiber optics. This will be increasing the speed and they will be doing Lexington before they do the Bloomington/Normal area. They will be replacing the fiber from the box to the house starting in the spring.
The Mayor’s Association will meet with the Executive Committee on March 7th and the entire McLean County Board on March 10th over the federal money we are trying to get for infrastructure.
It is time to start working on the budget and committees should start to meet. They do not need to go over it line by line but if there are any needs for equipment it needs to be in the budget this year. Everyone needs to think about salaries. Mike Beard is going to be retiring soon and we need to think of a replacement for him and hiring another person and we will need to pay them a decent salary. Get your information to the Mayor or Alderman Stover. One of his concerns for next year is the cost of fuel. At $3.69 a gallon we need to figure out how to shut off the squad cars. It wastes too much fuel to leave them running all day long.
Red Carpet Corridor is May 7th and The Fort is bringing back the house tour and a driving tour and the city is bringing back the picnic. The Fort is also planning on having a Civil War band playing during the picnic.
The TIF Review Board Hearing will be March 28th before the regular council meeting. The new brewery is coming along well.
The cigar shop is pleased with business.
Dollface Desserts is still looking for a plan where they can move forward.
The Post Office is still wanting to do a feasibility study and he has contacted Ray LaHood’s office to see if he could do something. Terry Bittner wants to get someone in the Commerce Bank building and he would hate to see him pull the lease on the Post Office and they have nowhere to go.
Police: Alderman Richard reported that he is still going to get together with the Chief and go over the applications for a part time officer.
Building/Insurance None
Finance /TIF None
Water/Sewer/Sanitation Billie Dubois reported on the maintenance of the pumps for the Water Plant. He had maintenance performed which included greasing and new bearings installed. He also gave a report on the chemical structure of the water and how he managed it.
Street/Alley: None
There was a question asked about who to call if a street light was out. Star is usually the one who takes care of calling the power company when an outage is reported to her. It was suggested that if a patrol officer at night sees an outage he could make a list and give it to Star to report the next day.
Alderman Little brought up the issue of garbage around the gas stations and Dollar General. There was more discussion on this topic and Mayor Johansen reminded the council members that they could go in and say something to the manager. Chief Belvery also commented that the next complaint at Casey’s would go to corporate. A suggestion to put a fence around the property was also made. Mayor Johansen will draft a letter to the property owners to keep their property cleared of garbage.
There was also a discussion about rental property. The Fire Department was called to one property due to a bad wiring issue and the landlord would do nothing about it. Another instance where the furnace was out and the landlord would do nothing about it. The city has no ordinance to cover rental property if there is a safety or health issue and something comes up and these people have nowhere to go. It was felt that maybe the city needed a better handle on who owns rental property in case of a safety or health issue or an unpaid water bill. In other municipalities this comes under the Fire Department responsibility to do an inspection on those properties for public safety. Mayor Johansen will reach out to other communities and see what they do.
There being no further business, motion was made by Alderman Franklin to adjourn at 7:39 P.M. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
https://www.lexingtonillinois.org/images/_Minutes_February_28_2022.pdf
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