What's Happening at Lanark City Council

The Lanark City Council had a full plate for the Tuesday, November 17 regular meeting. MSA Professional Services was not present, but submitted a project update. The first report was for the Southside Sanitary Sewer Extension. Change Order #4, approved at the November 3rd meeting, has been forwarded to Loberg Excavating's office for execution.

With the Phase 2 Environmental Site Assessment at 111 S. Broad St., the ELUC (Environmental Land Use Control) for the Don Hart property has been recorded with the Carroll County Registrar of Deeds. The City accepted an "on-site groundwater restriction" at the Nov. 3 meeting as part of the No Further Remediation (NFR) letter to comply with the requirements. Upon receipt of a copy of the ELUC (Environmental Land Use Contract) for the property, and next door (former Zier's Garage), recorded with the County Registrar of Deeds, the IEPA will issue the NFR.

MSA will await further direction from the City to provide additional services and technical assistance in regards to the Storm Water Pond Feasibility Study, on hold until 2010, with the possible exception being the demolition of the house at 322 S. Argyle St. The City purchased the property Oct. 30. Discussion followed regarding putting out for bid the salvaging of the home which will be demolished for a retention pond.

In Lanark Cemetery business, Norm Brinkmeier and Conrad Aschenbrenner were present to update the Council on the city cemetery. Brinkmeier showed reports generated by the new computer software, now 100% complete. Brinkmeier explained the different reports available. Some of the head stones now recorded date back to 1858.

Sharon Pepin of Community Funding & Planning Services submitted funding sources with suggestions how to get started with renovating the Lanark Public Library/Municipal building located at 111 South Broad. The process to hire an architect for the renovation was also discussed.

The Thomson Correctional Center was a topic of discussion for a very lengthy period. Mayor Ed Stern attended the tour of the prison Monday, Nov. 16. Chief Magill presented information regarding the prison and prisoners. During the discussion, it was suggested having a town hall meeting in order to clarify confusion within the community. (For more on the prison issue, see this week's and the 11/18/09 issues of The Prairie Advocate News, and by clicking on the "Home" link.)

Improvements have been made to garbage collection. Denny Pate of Moring Disposal was present to follow up on the response to a recent hauler letter, mailed out with the September water bills. The Clerk reported no complaints have been received since the letter was sent out.

The tax levy ordinance did not come up for discussion. Since there were three aldermen absent (Ed Fehlhafer, Tom Kocal and Ken Weaver), no action was taken. It will be placed on the December 1 agenda.

Council members are disappointed it takes so long to receive final copy of the City Annual Audit and Treasurer's Report. This causes the publication of the annual treasurer's report to be late. Therefore, the final tax check from the County is delayed. Discussion included looking at another auditing firm or discussing this with current firm, Lindgren Callihan Van Osdol & Co., Ltd.

The policy for allowing the serving of alcohol at the Heritage Center was discussed. The City's insurance requires a certificate of insurance, with the city listed as "additional insured," must be submitted to the Clerk before the event. With these stipulations in mind, Council approved a request to serve alcoholic beverage at the Heritage Center as long as proof of insurance is submitted.

Time off for city employees at Christmas and New Years were approved. City employees will work until noon on December 24th & 31st, with full pay for each day.

Other Council discussion included:

- a change to the November 3rd minutes. For the Mayor Pro Tem vote, Alderman Macomber abstained.

- water hydrant repairs. Loberg Excavating is currently working on several.

- leaf pick up program. Maintenance.Supervisor Les Guenzler reported the City will continue leaf pick up until the snow flies.

- National Incident Management System (NIMS) training and who all needs to be certified. Chief Magill just attended his last class. Aldermen Anne Lindsay, Ron Strohecker, and Tom Kocal attended training sessions last month.

- the plaque for the volleyball champions and highway signs from IDOT.

- on the Strategic Plan process with John Huggins.

- guidelines for putting liens on properties for overdue water bills.

- attendance and reports of city employees at Council meetings. With winter coming, there are not as many projects. Therefore, attendance and reports could be done only once a month rather than each meeting.

Council also approved:

- the lay off of part time, seasonal maintenance worker Quin Kosmecki at the end of the day on November 20th.

- the lay off of full time, seasonal maintenance worker Chuck Strohecker at the end of the day on November 25th.

- a new revised building permit as submitted.

Meeting adjourned at 10:12 PM. The next Lanark City Council meeting is set for Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m.

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