City of Fairfield City Council met April 12.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
Meeting called to order by Mayor Mike Dreith at 6:00 P.M.
Prayer led by Ken Otey followed by the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
City Clerk Tina Hutchcraft called the roll:
Mayor: Mike Dreith
City Clerk: Tina Hutchcraft
City Attorney: Darrin Rice
Aldermen: Dewey Eckleberry; Cody Attebery; Clifford Reever; Tyler Lampley; Eugene McGill; Jerry Lisenbee; Terry Stahl; Gary Moore
Also Present: Ken Otey, WFIW Radio; Tom Mathews, Wayne County Press; Richie Fulkerson, Police Chief; Keith Colclasure, Assistant Police Chief; D.E. Young, Garage Department; Josh Boyd, Water Filtration; Claire Vaughan; DiElle Rogers; Dian Downs; Libby Lingafelter; Doug Skaggs; and other citizens from the community.
The minutes of the meeting of March 22, 2022, special meeting minutes of April 7, 2022 agendas and bills of April 12, 2022 were sent out to those entitled to receive them. Mayor Dreith asked for approval of the minutes for the March 22, 2022 meeting. Motion by Alderman McGill, seconded by Alderman Eckleberry to approve the minutes of the meeting of March 22, 2022.
Vote yes: Reever; Stahl; Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
Mayor Dreith asked for approval of the minutes for the special meeting for April 7, 2022. Motion by Alderman Lampley, seconded by Alderman Reever to approve the minutes of the special meeting of April 7, 2022.
Vote yes: Stahl; Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Reever
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
Mayor Dreith asked if there were any corrections or objections to the bills for the April 12, 2022 meeting. Motion by Alderman Stahl, seconded by Alderman McGill to approve the bills.
Vote yes: Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Reever; Stahl
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
Public Comments – Betty Ray addressed the Council and said she feels it is wrong to fine someone for not being able to clean up their properties and can’t afford to rent a dumpster. She said there used to be a county dump site and since that is gone the problem has become worse.
We used to have a trash company that would pick up more items than our current trash company does and the city used to provide a dumpster for residents to take their items to. She suggested the city provide a dumpster again and feels this would eliminate the problem of unkept properties.
Public Comments – Claire Vaughan invited the Council and Mayor to an open house on April 21st from 1-3 p.m. for the Small Business Development Center. This is a free service offered through Frontier Community College for small business owners with 500 employees or less. It will a great time for networking.
Ordinance to Approve the Sale of Property-Rt. 45 South – The only bid for this property was received from the Fairfield Industrial Trust in the amount of $120,000. A motion was made by Alderman Lampley to approve the sale of this property to the Fairfield Industrial Trust with the stipulation that the Trust will sell the property to Vaughan Trucking not to exceed $120,000. This motion was seconded by Alderman Moore.
Vote yes: Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Reever; Stahl; Attebery
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 22-0412-280 approved and adopted.
An Ordinance Establishing the Fairfield Business District; Approving a Business District Plan; Authorizing the Imposition and Collection of a Sales Tax Within such Business District; and Approving Certain Actions in Connection with the Establishment of such Business District – The business district plan was discussed. If approved, we could possibly model the administration of the business district after the City of Harrisburg but it will all be open to suggestions by the Council. Alderman Eckleberry feels if the business district is approved the money should only be spent on tennant owned businesses and the landlords that own property should be responsible to their own upkeep. Alderman Moore stated he is not for the business district. He feels we should take more time before voting. He thinks we should take a look at the boundaries and suggested they be redrawn to include all businesses before even considering a vote. Mayor Dreith stated the boundaries has been studied for several months and reminded Alderman Moore that he had input on the boundaries and a change was made at his request to include his competitor. Moore just feels it needs to be studied more. If the district is approved tonight the boundaries could be changed in the future if the city decided to do so with additional public hearings and additional paperwork. If Council feels the business district is not working then it could be stopped by a majority vote. Moore stated also that there seems to be a misconception that TIF is broke and he said that is not a true statement. There is money that has been allocated for various projects such as the water tower, senior center, and the highway paving. He said that doesn’t mean the money will actually be spent on those projects. At this time the unallocated funds in TIF is $33,000. Moore said the city will be receiving $900,050 in TIF monies next year. Mayor Dreith stated that 40% of that money will be distributed to the taxing bodies. Moore thinks if the business district is approved the Council should declare 100% surplus and give it to the taxing bodies because we shouldn’t double dip. Alderman Attebery stated that his generation thinks we are a town that is okay with just sitting back and waiting. We have done that and have not really made any moves. As a governing body the business district will give us tools to go forward and see what the options are such as cleaning up our town and investing in ways to bring more business in. Moore feels putting a facade on a building is not going to make people want to shop here and Alderman McGill stated he feels now is not the time because our community is becoming a retirement city. A motion was made by Alderman Reever, seconded by Alderman Lampley to approve the ordinance establishing the Fairfield Business District; Approving a Business District Plan; Authorizing the Imposition and Collection of a Sales Tax within such Business District; and Approving Certain Actions in Connection with the Establishment of such Business District. The motion included a five-year look back of the business district.
Vote yes: Lampley; Lisenbee; Reever; Attebery
Vote no: McGill; Moore; Stahl; Eckleberry
Mayor Dreith voted yes to break the tie and declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 22-0412- 281 approved and adopted.
Ordinance Amending the Utility Payment Dates – A motion was made by Alderman Lisenbee, seconded by Alderman Eckleberry to approve the ordinance amending the utility payment due date from the 10th of the month to the 15th.
Vote yes: Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Reever; Stahl; Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 22-0412-282 approved and adopted.
Ordinance to Approve Second Equipment Sale to Wayne-White – A motion was made by Alderman Lampley, seconded by Alderman Eckleberry to approve the ordinance to sell tools and equipment to Wayne-White in the amount of $285,845.40
Vote yes: McGill; Reever; Stahl; Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee
Vote no: none
Abstain: Moore
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried and Ordinance No. 22-0412-283 approved and adopted.
Award Bid for Influent Screen at Wastewater Treatment Facility – A motion was made by Alderman Stahl, seconded by Alderman McGill to award the bid for the influent screen at the Wastewater Treatment Facility to Followell Construction in the amount of $214,777.00
Vote yes: Moore; Reever; Stahl; Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; McGill
Vote no: Lisenbee
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
FCHS Request to Close Streets for Prom – The Fairfield High School Prom is scheduled for Saturday, April 23 and they have requested permission to close the 100, 200, and 300 blocks of West King Street and the section of SW 4th Street that joins both West Center and West King Street from 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. A motion was made by Alderman Eckleberry, seconded by Alderman Lampley to approve the street closing request for prom.
Vote yes: Reever; Stahl; Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
Recreation Fund Requests – Alderman Lampley made a motion to approve the request to give recreation funds in the amount of $500 to the Chamber of Commerce for the Easter Egg Hunt
and $500 to the FCHS Horticulture Class for the downtown plants. The motion was seconded by Alderman Reever.
Vote yes: Stahl; Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Reever
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
Dangerous Buildings – City Clerk Hutchcraft reported that she has received letters from Chief Fulkerson concerning three fire damaged buildings. Notices will be sent to the owners of the property concerning these properties.
Mayor’s Report – Mayor Dreith reported that negotiations with the FOP are scheduled to begin April 26th. The Trust which owns the former Vaughan Grocery Store on the East highway has applied for a building permit for roofing repairs and renovations to the building. The full Mayor’s report is attached.
Miscellaneous – Alderman Lampley asked if the building permit for the Vaughan Grocery Store is legitimate or are they just stalling for more time. Attorney Rice stated the Trust has requested permission from the court to spend funds for these repairs. Mayor Dreith will look into this further and will report back to the Council. Alderman Moore stated the Fairfield Police Department has written tickets for ordinance violations and said the two main eyesores are Barry’s and Hugh Sons. He asked what the status is on these properties getting cleaned up. He said we have the ability to give citations on these properties every day and that might be what it takes to get their attention. Alderman McGill thanked Bill Bankston for the time he worked at the airport.
Executive Session – Alderman Eckleberry made a motion, seconded by Alderman Moore to go into Executive Session to discuss Section 2(c)(21) – discuss minutes of closed session meetings; Section 2(c)(2) – collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives; and Section 2(c)(11) – pending litigation.
Vote yes: Attebery; Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Reever; Stahl
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
Return to Regular Session – Alderman Moore made a motion, seconded by Alderman Lampley to return to regular session.
Vote yes: Eckleberry; Attebery; Reever; Lampley; McGill; Lisenbee; Stahl; Moore
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried and Council returned to regular session at 7:32 p.m.
IBEW Union Contract – A motion was made by Alderman Moore, seconded by Alderman Reever to approve the IBEW contract. The term of this contract is May 1, 2022 – April 30, 2025.
Vote yes: Eckleberry; Lampley; Lisenbee; McGill; Moore; Reever; Stahl; Attebery
Vote no: none
Mayor Dreith declared motion carried.
Adjourn Meeting – Motion by Alderman Moore, seconded by Alderman Stahl to adjourn the meeting.
Vote yes: 8
Vote no: 0
Mayor Dreith declared meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m.
https://cityoffairfieldillinois.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/7-Min.-Apr.-12-2022.pdf
Alerts Sign-up