Pinckneyville Council Revisits TUMS Contract
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Pinckneyville City Council continued their regular meeting to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25 to allow City Attorney Roger Seibert to examine the latest purchase agreement on the sale of the TUMS building.
Higman LLC asked the City to accept a downpayment of $150,000 instead of the originally agreed upon $300,000.
Mayor Joe Holder said that Higman needs their working capital to renovate the building. He added that it is not easy for a business to get credit in the current economic climate.
Holder said Stuart B. Milner, the firm that conducted the sale of surplus equipment at the TUMS building, also renovates large industrial buildings to house smaller businesses. He has spoken with them and hopes to help the new owners of the TUMS building divide the space.
Holder said Higman will not need all of the space in the TUMS building. They are working on a lease agreement with Hush Bullet, Inc., the ammunition manufacturer which had previously signed a purchase agreement for the facility. That deal fell through when Hush Bullet Inc. was unable to make the down payment.
Seibert received the documents Monday evening. He said a quick review did not reveal any problems, but he would like time to thoroughly review the contract before the city proceeds.
In other business, the council:
passed an ordinance adopting the 2009-2010 levy. The projected levy aims to collect $508,703. Total budget for the city is $2,091.728. Holder pointed out that the levy is less than 25 percent of the total budget. He anticipates a $250,000 to $300,000 deficit this year. The total levy was less than 105 percent of last year's levy, making a truth in taxation hearing unnecessary.
approved the purchase of $30 gift certificates for all full and part-time city employees for Christmas. The certificates will be redeemable at either Perry County Market Place or Save-a-Lot. There are approximately 65 employees.
briefly discussed the redevelopment agreement for the alley between McDonalds and Thomas Home Improvement. Seibert said that business redevelopment funds can be used if the business district ordinance is amended to include the alley and the project. The necessary documents will be available at the next regular meeting.
approved the donation of $1,000 to help build a new concession stand at Rigdon Field. The donation will come from the Hotel/Motel tax revenue.
heard from Mayor Holder that the Director of Prisons will not dispute the city's claim that the Pinckneyville Correctional Center was underbilled for utilities by more than $650,000. The bad news is that the city must go through the court of claims to get their money. He does not know how long it will take to get through the court of claims. Commissioner Auggie Kellerman said the state currently owes $303,000 in overdue utility bills to the city. Holder said he has not raised the issue of the overdue bills. He is dealing only with the underbilling issue.
heard from Commissioner Sam Fulk that the city will collect leaves next fall. It is too late to do anything this year, but he will begin drawing up a plan for leaf collection in 2010. The $3 debris collection fee will not be reinstated. The city will collect leaves only one time per year in the future. "We've gotten a lot of complaints about smoke from burning leaves," Fulk said. "We will work to come up with a solution."
heard that Commissioner David Stone has locked in prices for 85 percent of the anticipated natural gas for this winter. Mayor Holder said that Stone's work is expected to lower heating costs by about a third for city natural gas customers.