Olney, Illinois Approves New Contract Language with IBEW

City council pushes for grant to deal with storm-water drainage
By Matt Courter

€The council approved a new set of IBEW wage schedules.

Berry said the city reached an agreement with IBEW about two months ago for a 2 1/2-percent salary increase each year for three years.

He said the city uses a spreadsheet in its figures that goes to 15 decimals and rounds the 100th place up or down.

He said IBEW numbers were based on going to three decimals and resulted in a difference of one cent up or down during each year of the three-year contract.

There are 25 employees covered under the contract.

Under the IBEW's numbers, Berry said, the first year showed no change. The second year showed that 13 employees lost a penny an hour and 12 gained a penny. The third year showed that 14 employees lost a penny an hour and 11 gained a penny.

Berry said that using the numbers IBEW wants, the city stood to gain $83.20.

Fehrenbacher wondered why the city should change anything.

Berry said the IBEW would take the matter to arbitration, which would end up costing the city $4,000 to $5,000.

He said he did not agree with the IBEW in principle, but he did not see the point of paying to go into arbitration when doing what the union wants will result in no financial loss to the city.

Fehrenbacher asked Taylor if there would be any legal ramification to changing the contract or any precedent set.

"It's ludicrous, but what difference does that make?" Fehrenbacher said.

Taylor said the city would not be setting a precedent by approving the change.

The council approved the change unanimously.
Olney City Council approved pursuing a grant for a project to reduce flooding during its meeting Monday.

The council approved pursuing a CDAP grant application for a $1.4 million project to run a forced main from Olney City Park to the water plant and upgrade the lift station at the park. City Manager Dave Berry said the city would also continue to check for other areas of storm-water infiltration such as manhole covers and private drainage systems.

The forced main and lift station project has been discussed for a long time and Mayor Tom Fehrenbacher said he felt it was time to act on it. He said this $1.4 million project was presented as a solution to the city's flooding problems that would deliver the best results for the money spent.

City Manager Dave Berry said after the meeting that the grant application must be submitted by October 1. He said the city would hear something by February or March.

The city will be pursuing a 60-40 match of state and local funds.

City Councilman Bob Ferguson asked how the city would pay for its portion of the project.

Berry said the city could issue bonds and possibly raise water-sewer rates to pay them off. "We don't have any reserves," he said.

The council briefly discussed rates, saying that even with recent hikes, they are still below what other area communities charge.

Berry said the city could also examine the possibility of getting money through the IEPA revolving loan fund.

In other business:

€The council heard a presentation from Air Evac Lifeteam.

Company representative Shanna Goldsmith explained the services of the company, which offers helicopter emergency medical transportation to rural areas.

She said the company started in 1985 and is based in West Plains, Mo. She said the service for a year costs $50, $55 and $60, depending on how many people are covered in the household. She said this is a savings when considering a helicopter medical transportation bill from another company can cost around $8,000.

Goldsmith said Air Evac Lifeteam is an independent company not associated with any hospital.

She said patients are transported to the nearest appropriate medical facility or to the medical facility of their choice. Goldsmith said there are bases in Marion, Mt. Vernon and Effingham. In answer to a question from Fehrenbacher, Goldsmith said there is one helicopter at each of these bases and the company tries to keep a spare for a certain number of bases.

She said they are looking for members in order to keep bases operating. She said Olney does not have as many members as some other nearby communities. Councilman George Rumsey was the only one to raise his hand when she asked how many members were present Monday.

Fehrenbacher asked if there would be a delay if a helicopter at a local base was in service.

Goldsmith said this is why they keep a number of bases in each area at about the same distance apart. She said if one base's helicopter is busy, the second closest will be called. If this is busy, the company will contact the closest helicopter in the area even if it is not affiliated with Air Evac.

Councilman Bill Weems wondered who would pay for this third choice.

Goldsmith said any charges for services from another facility's helicopter would be out of Air Evac's hands.

Weems laughed and said it was a two-way street.

Councilman Greg Erwin said if someone is hurt, they probably won't care what company's helicopter transports them from the scene.

Weems said he would care when he was healed up.

Erwin joked that Weems could have instructions not to have any other company's helicopter lift him from the scene and he could lay there and die.

Weems laughed and said Erwin must be in the insurance business.

Goldsmith said the charge to an Air Evac member for a helicopter lift for a life-or-limb-threatening emergency is covered by the patient's insurance, whatever it chooses to pay.

Goldsmith said the company is also offering a new service in which the patient receives a medical bracelet and ID so that emergency personnel have access to emergency contact numbers and medical background information, such as allergies and blood type.

She said a member's medical information is kept in the company's database and is not on the Internet.

The council took no action on the presentation, but said it would keep information on the service at city hall if anyone wants to become a member.

For more information, call 1-800-793-0010, or visit www.lifeteam.net.

€The council approved spending $500,000 from Motor Fuel Tax money for a Main Street re-paving project.

The area to be re-paved will go from Ill. 130 to U.S. 50. The city will also examine the cost of having a concrete divider on Main Street at the U.S. 50 intersection removed, either by city crews or through a firm the city would contract.

Money for the project will come from the Main Street jurisdictional fund that was established about five years ago when the city took over Main Street from the state in exchange for $783,000.

After the city received this money, it used $107,000 of it to complete Hall Street widening from East Street to Van Street and $181,764 to complete work from Van Street to Holly Road. The balance was placed into a fund for Main Street maintenance.

The council also approved a $35,000 contract with Charleston Engineering for the Main Street project.

€The council approved annexing Travco Motorsports. The annexation agreement was approved at the council's last meeting and this was the next step in the process, City Attorney Larry Taylor said.

The property spans 1.77 acres.

Fehrenbacher said the issue was discussed enough at the council's last meeting and called for a motion.

The annexation passed 4-1 with Fehrenbacher voting no.

Fehrenbacher also opposed the annexation agreement presented at the council's last meeting.

Fehrenbacher asked about other properties in that area that are surrounded by the city.

Taylor said there are four properties for which annexation agreements will be considered at the council's next meeting. Two weeks after that, they could be annexed, he said.


€The council eliminated from the agenda a discussion on waiving bidding procedures for the purchase of East Lafayette Street culverts.

The cost came in at around $3,200. Berry said the city manager is authorized to make the purchase if the cost is under $3,500.

€The council heard from Ferguson, who wondered if Berry had heard any response to a recent letter he'd sent regarding a large hump at the CSX railroad crossing on Whittle Avenue. Berry said he had not, nor had Taylor heard a response from a recent letter he'd sent.

Berry said the hump is the result of work done by CSX on the crossing last spring.

Ferguson said the hump is too large to be safe considering the speed limit on Whittle Avenue is 30 miles per hour.

He said he drove over the crossing at this speed and his vehicle became airborne.

Berry said the next step is to contact the CSX office in Louisville.

He said that if Ferguson's vehicle became airborne, perhaps a speed-limit change in this area should be considered.

Ferguson and Fehrenbacher also brought up problems with street lights in areas of Main Street and Whittle Avenue.

Berry said that about 50 are affected because they are in a loop in which the circuitry is old and there are no spare parts available to fix them.

Berry said he will try to get to the problems on Whittle Avenue soon. He said Main Street lights may wait until next year's budget.

He said the city's contract with Ameren will have to be examined more carefully when it comes up for renewal in order to address these kinds of repairs in the future.

(Note: All votes are unanimous unless indicated otherwise. Council members include Mayor Tom Fehrenbacher, Greg Erwin, Bob Ferguson, George Rumsey and Bill Weems.)