City of Fairfield City Council met Dec. 10.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
Meeting called to order by Mayor Brent Maguire at 6:00 P.M.
Prayer led by Mayor Maguire followed by the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
City Clerk Tina Hutchcraft called the roll:
Mayor: Brent Maguire
City Clerk: Tina Hutchcraft
City Treasurer: Julie Duncan
City Attorney: Darrin Rice
Aldermen: Ralph Barbre; Brett Coale; Jim Griffith; Tyler Lampley; Eugene McGill; Jerry Lisenbee; Terry Stahl; Gary Moore
Also Present: David Mills, Wayne County Press; Ken Otey, WFIW Radio; Andrew Miller, Fire Chief; Keith Colclasure, Police Chief; Dian Downs; Tyler Lashbrook, Electric Department; Kevin Leonard, Water Distribution; Josh Boyd, Water Filtration; DuWayne Nobles, Gas Department; and other citizens from the community.
The minutes of the meeting of November 26, 2019, agendas and bills of December 10, 2019 were sent out to those entitled to receive them. Mayor Maguire asked for approval of the minutes for the November 26, 2019 meeting. Motion by Alderman Griffith, seconded by Alderman Lampley to approve the minutes of the meeting of November 26, 2019.
Vote yes: Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Mayor Maguire asked for approval to pay the bills for the December 10, 2019 meeting. A motion was made by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Coale to approve the bills for payment.
Vote yes: Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Public Comments – Jewel Poole addressed the Council about property she owns on NW 7th Street. She doesn’t feel it would be beneficial to her to make it into rental property because of the high property taxes. She would like to build a storage facility there instead but that would require a zoning change. She asked the Council to consider changing the zone from residential to commercial.
Public Comments – Carroll Sanders addressed the Council concerning allowing marijuana sales in the city. He stated he has extensive knowledge on the subject of marijuana. It is a plant and it is beneficial to many people. He grew up in Kentucky and his family grew marijuana.
Public Comments – Jason Mason addressed the Council and stated that the addicts will be the ones to suffer if marijuana is allowed to be sold in the city. He asked the Council to vote no on the issue.
Ordinance No. 19-1210-190/Tax Levy - Mayor Maguire presented the tax levy for the fiscal year ending April 30, 2020. This ordinance is for levying the general taxes for the City of Fairfield. The amount of the levy is $782,744.00. This amount is a 4.96% increase over last year’s levy which equates to approximately $37,000. We will be putting more money into the police and fire pension funds. A motion was made by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Coale to approve Ordinance No. 19-1210-190 being the Fairfield Tax Levy Ordinance.
Vote yes: Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Moore
Vote no: Lisenbee; McGill; Stahl
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 19-1210-190 approved and duly adopted.
Ordinances Regarding Cannabis Regulations – Mayor Maguire stated that we need to address the issue as to whether or not we will allow cannabis sales within the city.
A motion was made by Alderman Barbre to approve the ordinance for cannabis business prohibition. This motion was seconded by Alderman Lisenbee.
Vote yes: Lisenbee; McGill; Barbre
Vote no: Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Moore; Stahl
The motion failed.
A motion was made by Alderman Lampley, seconded by Alderman Coale to approve the ordinance to impose a municipal cannabis retailers’ occupation tax.
Vote yes: Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; Moore; Stahl
Vote no: McGill; Barbre
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 19-1210-191 approved and duly adopted.
Attorney Rice stated that since the ordinance passed that would allow the sale of cannabis in the city we should pass an ordinance to make zoning restrictions on the business establishments. He suggested the Council make a motion to refer this to the Zoning Board for their consideration and then an ordinance for zoning will be brought back to Council for approval. A motion was made by Alderman Moore, seconded by Alderman Lampley to refer this matter to the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Vote yes: Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; Moore; Stahl; Barbre
Vote no: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Resolution Authorizing a Highway Authority Agreement – Attorney Rice stated that Dersch Energies owns underground storage tanks under an area along SW 4th Street between 308 and 400 West Main. The City of Fairfield owns the right-of-way in this area. They are being required by the IEPA to perform remediation work. CW3M will be performing the work. They have asked the city to enter into this authority agreement granting them permission to perform this work. A motion was made by Alderman Lampley, seconded by Alderman Griffith to approve the resolution authorizing a highway authority agreement with Dersch Engergies.
Vote yes: Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 19-1210-325 approved and duly adopted.
Executive Session – Alderman McGill made a motion, seconded by Alderman Moore to go into Executive Session to discuss Section 2(c)(21) – discuss minutes of closed session meetings and Section 2(c)(1) – the appointment, employment, discipline, performance, or dismissal of specific employees of the public body.
Vote yes: Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith
Vote no: none
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried.
Alderman McGill left the meeting at 6:45 p.m.
Return to Regular Session – Alderman Lampley made a motion, seconded by Alderman Moore to return to regular session.
Vote yes: Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley; Lisenbee; Stahl; Moore
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Council returned to regular session at 7:00 p.m.
Resolution No. 19-1210-326/Release of Executive Session Minutes – Alderman Moore made a motion, seconded by Alderman Stahl to approve Resolution No. 19-1210-326 regarding the release of executive session minutes.
Vote yes: Lisenbee; Moore; Stahl; Barbre; Coale; Griffith; Lampley
Vote no: none
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Resolution No. 19-1210-326 approved and duly adopted.
Resolution No. 19-1210-327/Authorizing Destruction of Recordings – Alderman Griffith made a motion, seconded by Alderman Stahl to approve Resolution No. 19-1210-327 authorizing the destruction of audio recordings for closed session meetings.
Vote yes: Moore; Stahl; Coale; Griffith; Lisenbee
Vote no: Barbre; Lampley
Absent: McGill
Mayor Maguire declared motion carried and Resolution No. 19-1210-327 approved and duly adopted.
Adjourn Meeting – Motion by Alderman Barbre, seconded by Alderman Moore to adjourn the meeting.
Vote yes: 7
Vote no: 0
Absent: 1
Mayor Maguire declared meeting adjourned at 7:08 p.m.
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