City of Carmi
October 20th, 2015
The Carmi City Council met Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 at 5:30 p.m. in the Council Room of the Municipal Building, 225 East Main Street, Carmi, Illinois.
Prior to opening the council meeting, Mayor Pollard asked Alderman Winkleman to give the invocation. The prayer was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Mayor Pollard presided with the following Aldermen present: Steve Winkleman, Mark W. Blake, Keith Davis, and Lance Yearby by speaker phone, Sheila Jo Headlee, Jack Lamont, Doug Hays and Mike Knight.
Minutes for the October 6th, 2015 council meeting were presented. Motion made by Alderman Knight and seconded by Alderman Hays to approve the minutes as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
September 2015 Financial Reports were presented. Motion made by Alderman Headlee and seconded by Alderman Winkleman to approve the financial reports as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
October 2015 Vendor Invoices were presented. Motion made by Alderman Winkleman and seconded by Alderman Davis to approve the vendor invoices as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard presented Holly Healy; the Executive Director for the Carmi Chamber of Commerce to seek permission to stage “It’s a White County Christmas” parade on Saturday, November 28, 2015 and to utilize a portion on Main Cross Street for the Santa House and Christmas Train through the holiday season. Motion made by Alderman Winkleman and seconded by Alderman Blake to approve the “It’s a White County Christmas” festivities as presented. The Motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard then asked the council to consider the closing of Main Cross Street from Main Street to the alley from November 16th, 2015 to January 8th, 2016 (depending on the weather) for the placement of the Santa House and Christmas Train. Motion made by Alderman Winkleman and seconded by Alderman Blake to approve the closure as presented. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
Mayor Pollard presented Citizen Laura Prior regarding an issue she has with Howard Churchwell involving property on Ratcliff Street. She began by saying that her issue is not with Mr. and Mrs. Churchwell, that she has questions that just the city can answer because it involves a city lot. She explained that this started on August 27th when a yard barn was moved in. She would like to ask where the city legally stands on the property tax issue with the Churchwell’s in ground swimming pool being on a city lot. She stated that if a property is not deeded to you, you cannot build on it because you do not own it. Mayor Pollard stated that the Churchwell’s were not aware that they had built on city property. Ms. Prior asked that if it is inadvertent, do you owe anything. She then asked if it is possible that the former Mayor Jimmy Gaines gave permission for the swimming pool. Mayor Pollard answered not to his knowledge. Mrs. Prior asked about the right of way ordinance and the sixty foot (60) easements for city streets. She said that at 412 Ratcliff Street, which Mr. Churchwell also owns, is so grown up and you cannot see around the curve in the road. City Attorney Greg Stewart stated that this issue was brought to him in a different manner than what Ms. Prior was presenting to the council. The first issue had to do with drainage issues because the Churchwell’s had placed a yard barn in the yard blocking drainage.
He stated that the city can still maintain the drainage. The second issue had to do with property lines and who owns what piece of property. He added that the lines on the GIS online map may or may not be correct due to global positioning and that the property needs to be surveyed in order to be sure where those property lines are actually located. Mr. Stewart concluded that the Churchwell’s did not encroach on Mrs. Prior’s property. He also stated that if the property gets surveyed, all citizens would come to the city about other property issues throughout town. Surveying is also very expensive and he did not want the city to have to enforce every inch of land that the city owns. He stated that he is not going to try to answer the tax questions because he does not deal with them; they are handled by the county. He commented that he recognizes this is a problem, but sometimes you can make things a lot worse if you delve into some problems.
Reports and/or updates from Mayor Pollard
Mayor Pollard would like to thank all of the city employees and the police department for all of their hard work during Corn Day weekend. It turned out to be a very safe and successful weekend.
He stated that this weekend is Halloween Weekend at Burrell’s Woods. Friday night is the campsite decorating contest. The city does ask everyone to decorate in a kid friendly manner. Saturday is filled with a lot of fun activities and he hopes that everyone enjoys their weekend in the park.
Saturday October 31st on Halloween night will be the city wide trick-or-treating from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Please watch for children while you are driving around.
Reports from Standing Committees
None
Business or Comments from Visitors
Citizen Cheryl Churchwell wanted to apologize for hurting Mrs. Prior’s feelings over the storage building and property issue.
City Supervisor Mike Buckman then gave a short update. He informed the council that a lot of street patching is going on around town. Burrell Street repairs will start the first of November. They will start at the railroad tracks and then head towards Oak Street. It should be completed in early spring. He added that Brad Atteberry at the Street and Alley Department and himself will be getting a list of sidewalks that have been repaired together soon. The fire hydrant at 10th Street and Lagoon Drive will be repaired on the twenty second (22nd). Also, Ellen Drive water lines will be repaired soon.
Citizen Carla Gott commented that she has heard that some of the city employees are getting perks such as hauling rock and dirt and getting trees cut down. Mayor Pollard stated that they all get the same treatment just as any resident of Carmi. She stated that she was talking about on private property. She stated that last week at 513 Plum Street the city employees were there cutting down a tree for another city employee. Mayor Pollard stated that he was not aware of that incident He added that they set guidelines for what trees need to be cut and they go out and do what they want to do anyway. Mayor Pollard commented that he tried to change things when he came into office. Mrs. Gott stated that she has pictures of the crews cutting the trees at Plum Street. Mayor Pollard stated that she should have called the office or himself to let them know what was going on so he could put a stop to it right then. Mrs. Gott then commented that she heard that the Bradshaw’s used city equipment to haul dirt. Mr. Buckman stated that the city is going to be fixing the street at Gott’s house.
Motion made by Alderman Headlee and seconded by Alderman Winkleman to go into closed session to discuss personnel issues with action to follow. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
At 6:06 p.m. the council went into closed session.
Motion made by Alderman Knight and seconded by Alderman Davis to return to open session and adjourn. The motion carried on roll call by each Alderman answering “yes.”
There was no action taken when council returned to open session.
At 6:17 p.m. the council returned to open session and adjourn.
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Brian K. Allen, City Clerk
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Jeff Pollard, Mayor
Recording on Clerk’s computer: …open with Windows Media Player
Documents / My Documents / COUNCIL MEETINGS / MINUTES / 2015 / 20 OCTOBER MIN / Council Meeting. 10.20.2015.MP3
