City of Lexington City Council met Sept. 12.
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, Alderwoman Wilson, Alderman Mattingly, Alderman Franklin, Alderman Richard, Alderman Stover and Alderman Little. Members of the public and staff present were: Jason Thomas, Kenneth Sours, Paul Deters and David Belvery.
It was moved by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Little to approve the minutes of the August 22, 2022 regular session of the City Council meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderman Franklin to approve the Treasurer’s Report and paying of the bills in the amount of $43,440.80. Motion carried unanimously.
Public Input: Paul Deters and Jason Thomas were attending from the School Board to speak about the future needs of the school.
The school is in need of an expansion and improvement of infrastructure. They had an architectural firm look at the bare bones of the current high school building and want to bring it into the next generation. They have had conversations with the community through surveys, staff, parents and city council members and have collected ideas and information. They would like to add an addition to the south of the high school across Wall Street. They did not feel they could go east across Cherry Street.
The old space is not handicap accessible to the basement and the chairlift is on its last legs. The new addition would be handicap accessible to all floors. The new location would no longer have kids crossing Cherry Street everyday between periods.
Also under Cherry Street runs the sewer and water so they are saving the city money. With the vacating of Wall Street they are also keeping the same square traffic pattern that they have now. They come up Wall Street to the four way stop at Center Street which is their focal point.
The rest of the vacated Wall Street will become a potential parking lot.
Mr. Deters asked that the council consider vacating Wall Street tonight allowing them to move forward with their plans to purchase the property across the street. They will be ready to move forward in a couple of years on their building plans.
Mayor Johansen did not think moving the water mains and drainage would be a problem.
There was some discussion of enrollment. There are families that are looking but there is no housing for them to move into. This addition will be replacing 14,000 square feet of classrooms that are outdated and need renovation. You will only be seeing 6-8,000 new square feet. The old Industrial Arts building will be used for storage.
New Business:
Discussion/Vote Ordinance 2022-8: Providing for the Vacation of East Wall Street Between Center and Cherry Streets
This still leaves the city an easement on the west side for services. If things work out with the subdivision we should see an increase in enrollment in a couple of years.
Motion was made by Alderman Mattingly and seconded by Alderman Little to approve Ordinance 2022-8: Providing for the Vacation of East Wall Street Between Center and Cherry Streets. Motion carried unanimously.
Old Business:
Discussion/Vote Ordinance 2022-7: Amending Chapter 63 and 68 of Lexington City Code Regarding the Fee for Registration of Video Gaming Terminals
As discussed last time this ordinance raises gaming fees to $150 over three years. This charges the establishment which shares the charges with the owners of the machines.
Motion was made by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Mattingly to approve Ordinance 2022-7: Amending Chapter 63 and 68 of Lexington City Code Regarding the Fee for Registration of Video Gaming Terminals. Motion carried unanimously.
Discussion/Vote Ordinance 2022-9: Amending Chapter 23 and Chapter 251 of the Lexington City Code Regarding Regulation of Residential Rental Property & Water Billing for Rental Property
This is amending the original ordinance waiving the $50 per rental fee for rental property.
Motion was made by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Richard to approve Ordinance 2022-9: Amending Chapter 23 and Chapter 251 of the Lexington City Code Regarding Regulation of Residential Rental Property & Water Billing for Rental Property. Motion carried unanimously.
New Business:
Discussion/Vote Paying a Portion of the Davis Subdivision Preliminary Plan
This is something we have been working on behind closed doors. Carey Davis has paid about $12,000 to get the subdivision started. It is Mayor Johansen, Alderman Stover and Alderman Franklin’s belief that we should pay a portion of this to offset the costs. These things don’t happen unless we get some skin in the game. We have a nice layout of the subdivision with 64 units apartment complex, 30 units for duplexes and 41 single family housing for a total of 135 units.
It was thought that about 1 out of every 3 houses would have an average of 3 children per family or roughly another 100 school age children for enrollment in the school. Realtors currently have a list of people wanting to move to Lexington. Mayor Johansen thought that building duplexes might open up homes for seniors wanting to downsize from their larger home and apartments could draw young teachers that are driving back and forth to Bloomington. He felt we should pay half of the cost.
The comment was made that people do not want to move to the town unless the school is good and they need a place to live.
Motion was made by Alderman Franklin and seconded by Alderman Little to pay one half of the preliminary plan of the Davis Subdivision up to $6,000. Motion carried unanimously.
Vote to go into Closed Session to Discuss Possible Litigation
Motion was made by Alderman Franklin and seconded Alderman Mattingly to go into closed session at 7:27 P.M. Motion carried unanimously.
Vote to go into Open Session
Motion was made by Alderman Mattingly and seconded by Alderman Richard to go into open session at 7:53 .M. Motion carried unanimously
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Mayor’s Report: Mayor Johansen reported on the following items:
Cut and Light Cigar Shop is closing October 1st. His online sales are exceeding his in store sales. There is a young couple from Chenoa wanting to start a dog grooming business. She has been a dog groomer for nine years currently working at Petsmart and Roger from the grocery store, his sister-in-law wants to open a nail salon. She currently has a nail salon in Walmart. The deadline to decide is tomorrow.
April Fritzen is moving forward with the roasting business. It is top priority for her and wants to get it up and running by the end of the year. She has budgeted $100,000 for the building and they are at $120,000 now. Her lease in Bloomington is up soon. Once the roasting is up and running she will start on the coffee shop. He told her when she is ready they will sit down and talk and they could possibly extend the contracts.
There have been two news articles that have reflected very well on Lexington. We have gotten a lot of attention in the last week. Paul Garcia has done a video for Josh at Ultra Fitness and did a nice job. He is going to do one for the city to update the one on the website and put on his podcast.
Center Street is cleaned up. They have gotten rid of a lot of stuff and the dumpster is gone. We will keep an eye on it. A question was asked about the fence. That is on follow up.
Two broadband companies are coming to Lexington. We are asked to locate utilities and that ties Billie and Mike up. When they get here we are going to keep a list of how many locations they do. The Mayor’s Association is going to ask the other towns to keep a tally as well. When they pass out federal funds for broadband updates they need to include funds for marking locations.
Police: Alderman Richard reported that Officer Kolat is doing well and likes his work.
They have had a lot of calls about driving around the school. Students walking around the school area with heads down on the phone. They will put more signage up on Pine Street and maybe some flashing lights around the school.
Building/Insurance None
Finance /TIF None
Water/Sewer/Sanitation Alderwoman Wilson reported on the following:
They are getting ready to start on painting the Water Tower and they have had three water leaks.
Street/Alley: Alderman Mattingly reported that tree cutting time is coming up on the 15th.
There being no further business, a motion was made by Alderman Mattingly to adjourn at 8:11 P.M. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
https://www.lexingtonillinois.org/images/Minutes_September_12_2022_1.pdf
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