Murphysboro City Council to solicit bids for senior center roof repair

By Louie Torres

Oct 13, 2016

Murphysboro City Council met Tuesday, Sept. 6.

Here are the minutes as provided by Murphysboro:

Murphysboro City Council Meeting

September 6, 2016

The Murphysboro, Illinois, City Council met in regular session, pursuant to its ordinances, on the 6 th day of September 2016. Mayor Stephens called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. and Alderman Hughes led the council in prayer. Following the invocation, Mayor Stephens led the council in the pledge of allegiance to the flag.

Mayor Stephens then directed City Clerk Cottonaro to call the roll. The roll was called with the following

Present: Barb Hughes, Linda Porter-Smith, Russell Brown, Herb Voss, Gary McComb, Bill Pierson, Danny Bratton, John Erbes, Gloria Campos

Absent: Tom Ridings

Motion: To approve the minutes of the August 23, 2016 council meeting. All aldermen received a copy of the minutes, for their review, prior to the meeting.

Motion by Alderman Hughes Second by Alderman Brown

Mayor called for a voice vote. All were in favor.

Motion Carried

Alderman Bratton questioned the $999 shown as a subscription expense. Chief Hollo will explore and let the council know what the charge entailed.

Motion: To approve the accounts payable, register #653 through September 6, 2016, with the exception of $999 to First BankCard, accounts receivable through September 6, 2016 and payroll through September 6, 2016. All aldermen received a copy of the accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll for their review, prior to the meeting.

Motion by Alderman Bratton Second by Alderman McComb

Mayor called for a voice vote. All were in favor.

Motion Carried

COMMITTEE/COMMISSION REPORTS

Alderman Bratton opened Budget & Finance Meeting.

Funds received from the Smysor Trust were discussed. We spent approximately $3700 for concerts and $5200 for Lawless so we have approximately $16,000 left.

Mayor talked to Bert Ozburn regarding use of these funds. Mr. Ozburn will poll the members and ask a few more questions o see what they do not want us to spend it on. We need a new mosquito truck; the fogger is nine years old.

Joe Hoe of 1014 Marlinda addressed the council regarding picking up sticks on his boulevard. He is disabled and was told we do not pick up sticks unless you are a senior citizen. However, his 42 year old neighbor says he gets special treatment.

There are bushes over the sidewalks so he can’t walk his dog. His aldermen are Voss or Pierson.

Alderman Brown opened the Building and Grounds Meeting.

Attorney Heller informed the council that Richard, Brian and a local citizen who is an Ameren employee went through the Ameren franchise agreement and they pointed out several items to be addressed. The next step is to send the agreement back to Ameren for approval.

Roof at the Senior Citizens Center and the roof at the Daum Building were discussed. There is a leak at the Senior Citizens Center and Tim fixed it temporarily.

However, there is also a leak on the north wall in the kitchen and it is bringing the roof down-we need to do something with the roof. Senior Citizens has foam sprayon it. Sandra called one roofer and Alderman Bratton called one roofer regarding the leak and they were told it is like looking for a needle in haystack to repair.

Repair man says we tear off the roof and put rubber on. Baume is looking at the Daum Building roof. Mayor Stephens instructed Sandra to solicit roofers and see if we can get an estimate to repair the roof. Alderman McComb inquired if we could just fix it for a while. Clover had said there is something we could use to fix it temporarily.

Motion: To approve soliciting qualified roofers regarding repair of the Senior Citizens Building roof.

Motion by Alderman Hughes Second by Alderman McComb

Mayor Stephens called for a voice vote. All were in favor.

Motion carried.

No public comment.

Alderman Bratton opened the Community Relations Committee Meeting.

Water drainage issues on North 16th Street and Roberta Drive were discussed.

What will it cost to fix? We need an approximate estimate as to what to do to fix the issue and when.

Harold Sheffer and Alderman McComb are meeting with a contractor here Friday/Saturday to see about cleaning that out on the school property. Discussed easements from some property owners. Prior cost was $60,000 to clean out school property only. Mayor Stephens wants to proceed so residents can see some improvements and when it is budget time we can budget.

Mayor Stephens has two 40’ poles we can have; however can we pick them up from Pinckneyville. Darrin stated we have a low boy trailer to pick them up. Once they are picked up then we would have installed.

Feed the Team will be Friday, October 21. Alderman Hughes will have a sign-up sheet next time. You can help or donate dollars or both.

Harold Sheffer stated that the 7 th Street Project is 75 to 80% done. This is the road widening project for businesses along there.

Mayor Stephens stated he had been contacted by James Taylor regarding no parking on the south side of Gartside Street. Mr. Taylor is disabled and needs to be able to park there. He wants the no parking moved to the north side of the street.

He has a driveway and he does park in it. After discussion it was determined to maintain consistency to leave the no parking where it is.

No public comments.

Alderman McComb opened the Public Improvement Committee Meeting.

Alderman McComb discussed landscape waste pickup/storage area fees. Mayor Stephens does not have storage fee information put together in language to use. He will get that information for the next meeting.

Discussions were held regarding improvement to the road leading to the wastewater treatment plant. Darrin has pipe in to go under road to the pond. We are putting in a culvert to drain the pond then we need to raise the road 7-8 feet. We will leave the dirt we have and just put down grass seed. Harold Sheffer informed the council that there is a way to use some of the dollars left from the loan for the road improvement.

After we do the demo there is some $100,000-$400,000 left over. Although we cannot use the loan dollars to directly pay for the road improvement we are able to use the loan to reimburse the city for what we’ve paid for and then we could use that reimbursement to pay for the road. Mayor Stephens thinks we should do this.

No public comment.

Alderman Pierson opened the Public Works Committee Meeting.

Mayor Stephens discussed a new mosquito truck. This is a public health issue for residents and a safety issue for employees. Alderman McComb stated we could purchase a 2012 Colorado with 90,000 miles for $7,000. The truck is in good shape and both Darrin and Tim had driven the truck and like it. We will hold a special meeting Friday, September 9, 2016 at 2 pm. to discuss the purchase of this truck.

Jim Stewart informed the council that we will have an extra generator. Both Alderman Pierson and Jim think we should keep it and put it on a trailer so we have a portable extra generator.

No public comment.

Alderman Brown opened the Public Safety Committee Meeting.

Mayor Stephens discussed the installation of fencing at the old Washington School property. The City of Murphysboro owns this property, we bought it for $300. An eight foot chain link fence is needed to keep people out of the debris. We could use the money in the rehab fund to use for this until TIP dollar are available. How much is the cost? Do we have a local fencing company? Ranger Fence is in the area and we should solicit bids for an eight foot fence. Alderman Bratton asked Ed Heller to check to see if it is okay to use the rehab money. Mr. Heller saw no problem with that. Mayor Stephens instructed Eric to compile measurements and solicit bids.

Motion: To approve soliciting bids for an eight foot fence for the old Washington School property.

Motion by Alderman McComb Seconded by Alderman Brown

Alderman Brown called for a voice vote. All were in favor.

Motion Carried

Alderman Campos discussed 16th Street and Snyder Lane. She requested a Children at Play sign.

Alderman Hughes opened the Personnel Committee Meeting.

FOP negotiations meeting scheduled for the 14th. Six applicants are interviewing on Thursday for the police chief position.

No public Comment.

MAYOR’S REPORT

Mayor reminded the council the pre Apple Festival Clean-Up is Sunday, September 11th at 1 p.m.

The Wine Festival is September 10th from noon to 8 p.m. at Riverside and Murphysboro Community Night Out is Tuesday October 4 from 5-7 pm. This will be our last year to host the Community Night Out, this is the transition year.

Mayor Stephens requested to appoint John Erbes as Mayor Pro Tem.

Motion: To approve the appointment of John Erbes as Mayor Pro Tem.

Motion by Alderman McComb Seconded by Alderman Pierson

Mayor Stephens called for a voice vote. All were in favor.

Motion Carried

ALDERMEN ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS

Barb Hughes Nothing.

Linda Porter-Smith Calling everyone’s attention to the Art, Wine Blues Festival posters. Spread the word. 16 artists and 7 wineries and

Music all for $10.

Russell Brown Can we get Mark’s property cleaned up for Apple Festival?

Herb Voss Nothing

Gary McComb Nothing.