McLean County Times

City of Lexington City Council met Sept. 23.

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 Spencer Johansen led the council in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Roll call was taken to find the following physically present: Mayor Spencer Johansen, Alderman Mattingly, Alderwoman Wilson, Alderman Stover, Alderman Little, Alderman Richard and Alderman Franklin. Members of the staff and public present were: Chief Edmiaston and Steve Vioket. Peg Reynolds was attending remotely.

It was moved by Alderwoman Wilson and seconded by Alderman Mattingly to approve the minutes of the September 9, 2024 regular session 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 $59,109.04. Motion carried unanimously.

Public Input: None

Old Business: None

New Business:

Swearing in of New Officer Bryan Blair

Officer Blair had been an officer before under Mayor Johansen when he was Chief of Police. He has retired as Chief of Police at Mclean. He has been hired to act as the city’s Code Enforcement Officer and also has the experience and leadership to be able to fill in when Chief Edmiaston is out of the office. His first assignment is to work on bringing Hilltop Trailer Court up to code.

At this time Officer Blair was sworn in by Clerk Pease.

Discussion/Vote Proposal by Genesis Network

Chief Edmiaston led this discussion. The proposal that they got was to recable City Hall. This will clean up all the cables that have been run in the past and make it easier to troubleshoot in the future. Each workstation needs to be rewired separately and run directly back to the server. All the lines will be labeled for ease of identification. It was felt by doing this now it would save money in the long run.

It was felt this would clean up a lot of problems with multiple cables and the labeling will make problems easier to check.

They are also going to move the fax machine switch. They are also going to move the server from the police locker room to the temperature controlled shop bathroom.

It was felt that they could split the costs between Police, Admin and Public Work. It was felt that this needs to be done and it is not going to get any less expensive.

There was some discussion about the last time the power went out and the generator did not work properly. The battery backup did not last the weekend and Monday the computers were down. They can wire the bathroom to the generator but the generator will not run the entire building.

Motion was made by Alderman Franklin and seconded by Alderman Mattingly to approve the Proposal by Genesis Network. Motion carried unanimously.

Hilltop Trailer Park Update

Mayor Johansen wants to make clear the reason we are addressing these issues are that they are health hazards to the residents of the trailer park. They have been ignored for a while, he believes he was misled by the previous police chief on what they could do out there and when they could do it but we are trying to move in the right direction to get some of these problems fixed. We have run into stalling since we have started this.

After we put the sewer system in in 2012 the previous mayor gave them 10 years to hook up to the sewer system and they have not done this. Mayor Johansen started last year to try to get this done and they have not done it for various reasons. This is Officer Blair’s first assignment and violations he has given is the tip of the iceberg. He did follow up with the McLean County Health Department and since January 4, 2024 they have written 59 violations but nothing has been done or notifications sent. An anonymous person out there brought in the Health Department but they do not have the manpower to come in. They have sent the owner notification but do not know if the owner received it.

The ordinance that covers trailer parks requires that they be licensed to operate by the city. We do not see where they are licensed. We can send them a letter saying they need to be licensed and we can refuse to license them. We don’t want to displace anyone. There are trailers that the underpinning is off, that is a safety issue for children. There was a fire and the siding has been taken off, that is again a safety issue and the trailer needs to be taken out. We can let the attorneys handle this and take them to court to get it cleaned out for the safety of the residents.

The Fire Department has fire extinguishers and smoke detectors that they are willing to install for anyone but have not been allowed to do so. They have a grant through the State of Illinois to do this. There are trailers with no back stairs or their back doors are boarded up which would be their emergency exits. It is not about residents out there but their safety. Trailer fires are devastating.

Officer Blair remarked that in Bloomington the homeless are going into unoccupied homes. We are not that far away from Blooington and there are at least seven trailers that are empty and a prime spot that they could be in and that is a lot more work for us to get squatters out. All trailers are owned by the residents and they pay a lot rent.

The way that our reqs are set up we go back on the owner. Let's put as much as we can on the company. It is not going to be an overnight fix but we need to get it taken care of.

A trailer does not need to have a porch, just back steps. The state is overwhelmed. Unfortunately for the residents, we are trying to make it better for them and make it a safe place to live. Currently there are 57 lots with 12 unoccupied trailers and one empty lot.

The question was asked if we could reach out to the owners of the unoccupied trailers? It was felt that the one with the siding off the owners had probably walked away and would not respond. The trailer court assumes the responsibility once it comes on their property. Once it is abandoned the owners can take action. It is believed that there is no on site manager at this time.

Officer Blair has also been working on other code violations around town.

If the city does not give them a license to operate the attorney would have a civil case. There would be a fine for every day they are not complying with the code. The amount would be set by a judge. This is not a battle that we want to take on but we are being forced to do so. It is disappointing the state will not do anything or does not have the manpower to do anything. We hope the septic issue will bring in the state. If they had a septic system that could not be repaired, the McLean County Health Department would get involved.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

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

He reached out to Brian Hogans and Ben Snodgrass regarding the Hardware Store. They are to start demolition this week on the area.

April Fritzen is moving forward with her drive thru. She has sent him some photos. They will soon be ready to drywall and finish painting. They want to move some events inside for the winter. They have been having events there.

The subdivision is ready to start the curbs and gutters any day. You are able to drive clear through the subdivision now as long as you stay on the gravel road.

He has had a couple of people looking for business spots.

He is meeting with Zach from Farnsworth, Billy and Kaden tomorrow to look at some software that will map sewer and water lines. This will make a good winter project for them and they hope to have everything entered by spring.

Billy Dubois is going to start cleaning water mains around town. Alderman Richard spoke with Hudson about using their truck for the project.

Alderman Richard commented that it will be nice to have all the water mains mapped out, logged and repaired .

Police: Alderman Richard reported on the following:

They have changed their ordinance violations stickers to bright red and are writing what the violation is on the sticker. They also are putting Officer Blair’s phone number instead of Star’s on the sticker. It has made a difference already.

Building/Insurance None

Finance /TIF Alderman Stover reported on the following:

DaT Bar is moving forward with the signed contract and title commitment and should have something by the end of the week. We will be receiving a copy of all work and when they are going to be doing it. They will be doing the lower part of the West wall first and come back and reface the West side and the front.

Public Works Alderman Stover reported on the following:

He and Alderman Richard met with the employees and the meetings went well. They discussed the communication process and what they planned for the future. They are on the right track with the new job board. Putting things on the board and when they have their meetings to prioritize the jobs. If you see something you want on the board, call Alderman Stover or Bill Elias. We are going to try to do a better job.

Alderman Richard thought everyone was doing a better job and everyone is on the same page. There are lots of things that need to be done and without communication no one does it. With all of us working together on the same projects they will get done.

Mayor Johansen wanted to praise the Concert in the Park put on by the Sunshine Shack family. If you are around next Sunday they will have another. If it rains it will be at the old Methodist Church.

There being no further business, a motion was made by Alderman Franklin to adjourn at 7:46 P.M. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.

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