McLean County Times

City of Lexington City Council met July 8.

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 Mattingly, Alderwoman Wilson, Alderman Stover, Alderman Richard, and Alderman Franklin with Alderman Little absent.

It was moved by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Mattingly to approve the minutes of the June 24, 2024 regular session meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

It was moved by Alderman Stover and seconded by Alderman Richard to approve the Treasurer’s Report and paying of the bills in the amount of $26,121.34. Motion carried unanimously.

Public Input: None

Old Business: None

New Business:

5-10 Year Vision For the City of Lexington

There were five areas that Mayor Johansen wanted to discuss under this vision. The first being, what does the council think we have done right so far?

He started the discussion by saying that they had talked some time ago about where they wanted to be in 5-10 years. He felt they were doing a good job with the economic development and bringing new businesses into town and keeping their older businesses.

Alderman Richard felt that the way they were doing the TIFF money now was an improvement over past years, with the loans and the smaller grants. It was felt that the idea of the loans and getting their money back was a good improvement.

The problem with economic development is where to put everyone who wants to come to town.

Alderman Richard also has been complimented that Mayor Johansen is here a lot for the residents of the town.

Mayor Johansen talked about how at the Mayor’s meeting a lot of the small towns are struggling and we are getting compliments but they do not have the option to have someone in the office as much as he is. It helps to have someone here in the office whether it is him or someone else.

Alderman Mattingly said people liked it when they looked down Main Street and they saw activity, people out walking, seeing the small shops open, the flags, planters and activities. Alderman Franklin agreed with this, it is the small details that make the difference. Mayor Johansen agreed that the things that we do each year for Christmas on the Prairie, Christmas decorations, the songs, etc. The little things are what set us apart.

Alderman Stover also thought that communication was something we are doing right. We are getting the word out there, we have made a lot of stuff available. If they don’t know it’s because they don’t want to know.

Some of the areas that we need improvement on are: follow through on ordinance enforcement new and old. We recently passed an abandoned or vacant building ordinance but nothing has been done on it and we need to enforce some of the older ordinances. We don’t follow through until we get a complaint then we say we should have done something before now.

We need to get a better handle on them rather than depend on the Police Department to follow through on them. We need to go through the ordinances and update where needed. We can break them down by section and look at them that way or divide them up. Ordinances can be found on our webpage, in the code book or in a book in the safe. We need to change the dangerous animal code.

Alderman Richard would like to be more involved with the codes but seems to always be working when things come along.

Mayor Johansen thinks it won’t be too long to where we will be big enough to where we will need a part time code enforcement officer, maybe as soon as next year. We could probably keep the Police Department busy with code on a full time basis now. The thought was that there might be previously employed police officers or retired police officers that might be interested in a part time code enforcement job. Mayor Johansen and Chief Edmiaston have discussed this. They would know how to handle this type of situation with the public. It felt like there were a lot of situations. One in particular now that had been reported before and is now out of hand again. They need to look at the ordinance to stop it and keep it from happening again. Alderman Richard has filed a complaint against this home owner. They need to improve on the ordinance and put some teeth into it. With a code officer they could leave it up to him and the Police Department. Mayor Johansen asked everyone to review that ordinance so they could figure out how to approach the homeowner. Alderman Richard has completed the new form for complaints and feels everything can be addressed on the form.

Communication between the council, employees and the public is something that needs to be worked on. Social media and the Lexingtonian is the only way to get the word out. Mayor Johansen thought a new program, TextMyGov, might help a little. Residents need to take the initiative to do that, look at the minutes from the meeting, come to the council meetings, etc. TextMyGov will send city notifications and events.

Alderman Stover felt that we needed to look at and should move forward with the employee handbook. He felt that there were changes that needed to be made to it. Mayor Johansen felt we had moved forward on that a little. We need to look at it again, review it and get it passed and have something in writing.

Alderman Franklin felt that we could not force someone to do things to their buildings that they have on Main Street. We have all these opportunities but no one can get in to open up a business. From Thrift Avenue on the West end of Main to Back Door Brewery on the East end of Main. We have all these opportunities to put businesses on Main Street. The two buildings by the park are nice brick buildings. Mayor Johansen felt that the vacant and abandoned building ordinance would cover those businesses. The owners are required to register those buildings with City Hall but you cannot require them to fix their building. DaT Bar’s building is falling down, the wall is in bad shape. Jolly’s building could be brought up to code. When they register their building, that starts communication. We can say to the owners that we can get you renters.

Mayor Johansen has sent people to Lyndell Armstrong but it has fallen on deaf ears. Someone will come along and build a new building and they will lose out.

There was discussion about the house behind the brewery that has all the windows out of it. That needs to be addressed. Everyone needs to review the ordinance. It describes vacant property. We can discuss this at the next meeting. What is vacant and abandoned with their choice of what they want to do with them. We are not trying to force anything on anybody but we need to approach them and ask them to do something.

Alderman Franklin commented that with the new subdivision going in one of the things that home buyers look at is the schools and that is one of the keys to growth.

When people relocate to town the first thing they look at is the schools and then what the city has to offer. With the school expansion he feels the subdivision will fill up fast. We will need to look for another area for a subdivision. The school is landlocked. When most of the council was in school, there were no teachers aids and smaller classes. There is now more help and education should be better. It is growing too fast and we can’t keep up is not a valid argument.

We are doing the right thing to bring in housing. If we get the opportunity for another subdivision we should take it and the school will keep up.

Some of our biggest challenges moving forward are: storm sewer, housing, retail space, balancing the budget: moving forward as salaries go up, as equipment goes up, as infrastructure goes up, how are we going to pay for all that without raising property taxes? At some point we will need revenue to come up and do a better job of controlling expenses.

Mayor Johansen started the discussion by bringing up the 1% grocery tax. He wanted feedback as to whether the city should pass it. The dollar amount is $16,000 to $18,000 per year that is put toward city streets and sidewalks. He worries that they will need to raise property taxes down the road but property taxes, and we can bring in more businesses to bring in more sales taxes, and sales tax will not make up the difference alone.

Alderman Stover reminded him that water is paying for water and sewer is paying for sewer. We can get to where property tax and sales tax are used for police, streets and admin expenses.

It frustrates Mayor Johansen when the governor is dropping the tax which is $16,000 to us and we need to find a way to make it up. The 1% doesn’t amount to much for the average grocery shopper but you break it down to the communities it is substantial.

Raising the local sales tax will not affect the residents that much but he hates to lose that source of income that benefits Pritzker more than anyone else.

The question was asked if we could do this with an ordinance or if we would need to do a referendum. The state has changed some regulations and Mayor Johansen will need to check to be sure of the proper procedure to do this

Alderman Franklin thought one of our biggest challenges in the future would be the need of a city manager. If something happened to Mayor Johansen what would we do? He spends about 35-40 hours a week in the office. It might be possible to share a manager with another small town to be here a couple of times a week at some point down the road.

It was felt he might need an exit strategy for down the road. Elections are in April and anyone can run against him. The office cannot set any guidelines on the hours that need to be put in. It could be one day a month. It was noted the council could also drop the pay.

Heyworth has a city manager. The council would like to know how that works. Maybe the IML could help them out with some guidelines. LeRoy and El Paso might help us out as we could be at a population of 3,000 in a few years. It would be interesting to see what their budget is like.

Mayor Johansen thought our growth in the next 5- 10 years should be slow and steady and we could see a population of 3,000 in five years and still maintain our identity. Will that burden the school? It will cost us more money and more in taxes to pay for the school. Alderman Franklin reminded them that that is still two separate facilities.

Alderman Richard is hoping that the condos that are going in at the new subdivision will entice older people and widows to sell their houses and buy the condos. They would be glad to have something all on one level.

Mayor Johansen remarked that Tentac has now backed down from investing in the subdivision. Carey Davis and another investor are thinking of senior duplexes or single houses with a building with an activity center and a storm shelter. He is meeting with Neil Finley from Farnsworth soon about this. It might be a good possibility. This would free up houses that have 3-4 bedrooms. Seniors do need someplace where they can down size and still stay in town. In 5-10 years we are still going to need that. Carey already has 6-7 people interested in lots out there already.

Moving ahead, our top priorities should be, storm sewers, that needs to be addressed in the near future, how to create some retail space on Main Street and TIF. The owner of the space between the old bank and the grocery store wants to put up a building that will have three retail stores in it. Mayor Johansen has people call him wanting to come to town and he has no place to put them. He would like to rent out the old doctor’s office.

Another item is keeping our infrastructure strong. One of the oldest is on Chatham Street, it has had several breaks, and we need to replace that behind the school and down by the pool.

He would like for everyone to go home and prioritize what they feel we need to do going forward and create a 5-10 year mission statement. This is so the next council following us will have the groundwork laid out for them and how we are going to pay for it. Give it some thought.

The question was asked if we had hired a grant writer? Chief Edmiaston has been using someone through law enforcement. It would be useful to have someone who watched for grants. He is not educated enough to write a grant. It was mentioned that the school has one that we may be able to share.

The Bloomington Normal Economic Development Committee helps cover growth and business. He could see if they could help.

The long term plans of ours, if a lot of people know they may be willing to help for far less than we can do it on our own.

They can do the testing. He doesn’t know what we are paying for the testing but when they set their labs up we need to get something that is compatible with them and with our budget. We need to be able to pay for it. Ten years ago we didn’t need to be able to pay for it.

He felt this was a good start.

The council wants some cross training and to understand the employee jobs. They need to ask them on a daily basis what they are doing.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

Mayor’s Report: Mayor Johansen reported on the following:

He had a meeting on Thursday with WGLT regarding the Leaders Conference which led to broadband in rural McLean County. Frontier came and made improvements but did not do out of town. This ruffled some feathers in Springfield. He is meeting with someone from the governor’s office via zoom concerning broadband in the rural areas soon. McLean County Board members have overlooked this issue. They come to Lexington but they don't go to farms and ask what they can do to improve their life.

Years ago everyone had a telephone. Why can’t they put the internet out in the rural areas? Frontier says to go just five miles out of Lexington they couldn’t get enough customers to pay for it. We have heard there is all kinds of federal grant money out there.

He also was going to ask why we cannot put up roadside attraction signs to advertise what Lexington has to offer. They are very expensive to put up along the interstates and there are so many stipulations. He feels that they need to widen the curve for the smaller towns so they can advertise what they have to offer without spending money.

The Cornbelters won their game 14-2 and it was a fun evening. Lexington set a record attendance.

The brewery wants to have an event at Circle Park in August. He has mixed emotions about alcohol in the City Park.

Police: Alderman Richard reported on the following:

He has the forms back from the lawyer for the ordinance complaint violations. After completion of the complaint form, a click of the button should send it to the mayor, Star and the Police Department. The form will be available on the City website. The one receiving the complaint should receive four letters, a certified letter and a window sticker to contact city hall within 5 days or they will be subject to fines. If they do not pay the fines the city may put a lien against their house. We are only talking about 4-5 people and he has already started the process against one of the property owners.

Chief Edmiaston presented a new police report showing the activity for the month of June: 2 Misdemeanor Arrest, 10 Traffic Stops LXPD, 8 UTT’s, 2 Warnings, 13 Traffic Stops MCSP, 13 Warnings, Reports Taken: 6 LXPD, 4 MCSP, Calls for Service: 50 LXPD. 29 MCSP/Other, 0 School Patrols (walk through/meetings/teaching /programs), 14 Business Checks, 64 QR Code Checks and 3 Extra Patrols/Foot Patrols.

In June all Lexington PD officers qualified with their duty weapons, off duty weapons, and rifles. Officers also participated in range training that consisted of various job related drills.

Assistant Chief Chambers conducted an audit of the BWC’s and in-car video system and no issues were noted.

Building/Insurance None

Finance /TIF Alderman Stover is finishing up the appropriation.

Public Works Alderman Richard reported that the committee has met with everyone and are ready for the next go round. Things are shaping up better than they had thought they would. They are keeping communication open with almost everyone is on the same page.

The question was asked if there were any updates on the irrigation system? Kaden has been talking to Valley about wiring. We have been out there to discuss how to get it off the pivot so it will work but Alderman Mattingly has not heard from Valley about where they are at in making the end. Alderman Mattingly will find out more by the next meeting.

There being no further business, a motion was made by Alderman Mattingly to adjourn at 7:58 P.M. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.

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