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$30,000 in Liens on Du Quoin Books

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The City of Du Quoin currently has over $30,000 in condemnation and property maintenance liens on its books and the city's health and safety officer, Ron Darnell, wants to enlist the help of city attorney Aaron Atkins, the courts and the city council in collecting those outstanding liens.

More than a dozen liens have been levied against property owners--many the same person over and over again whom commissioner Rex Duncan called the city's "frequent flyers"--residents who ignore both the bills and court-ordered payments.

At the outset, ideas at Monday's council meeting included seeking contempt of court citations and using foreclosure tools to collect the money. Atkins said it has been his past experience that it could cost upwards of $1,500 to $2,000 to collect what on any other day would seem like simple debts. "It costs $37 or $38 even to file a lien," Atkins said. "You usually don't get the money back until the property is sold," he said. The advent spring property maintenance issues makes this an important subject.

In other action, the council:

Approved to rescind the condemnation order on the properties located at 402 High Street, 801 S. Jefferson St, 349 N. Linden St., 729 S. Madison St., 326 S. Walnut St., and 513 S. Halliday St.

The city has completed work on Ordinance 2009O01-04: An ordinance adopting a Revised Code of Ordinances-Final Approval

The council approved three ordinances relevant to establishing a TIF district in the Du Quoin industrial park.

Approved Ordinance 2009-O04-04: An ordinance establishing the Prevailing Wage Rates for contractual work within the City of Du Quoin, but commissioner Rex Duncan took issue with a new state senate bill SB 43 that would require prevailing wages in TIF districts and Enterprise Zones in a distressed economy.

Approve Resolution 2009-R04-01: A resolution authorizing the mayor to execute any and all documents related to a CDAP Grant to be used for design engineering for a water system in the Old Du Quoin area.

Heard the first quarter treasurer's report which points to having to extract $53,000 from investments to cover pool repairs and points to higher than expected sales tax revenues of $493,504 in the first quarter.

Approve to enter in to an agreement with Direct Energy to supply the energy for the City of Du Quoin and authorize the Mayor and/or City Clerk to execute any/all necessary documents