Du Quoin Council Meeting a Conference Call of Hope
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Du Quoin City Council met Monday in regular session with City Administrator Blaine Bastien attending the meeting through a telephone remote from his home and commissioner Rex Duncan attending the meeting through a telephone remote while on a trip out of state.
Both men listened to the council deliberations, then responded to the roll call vote over a speaker phone.
Bastien's decision late last week to attend the meeting by phone mirrored some cautious optimism on the part of his doctors.
Bastien was placed on hospice care after his condition from pancreatic and liver cancer turned dire two weeks ago with an assessment that the cancer had spread. Yet, doctors say Blaine's genetic makeup now makes him a good candidate for a regimen of something called PAPS inhibitors, which have the capability of targeting the cancer cell and blocking the cells' ability to multiply. "It's as close to a miracle as it gets," Blaine told the newspaper late last week.
He went on to thank Cha and Debbie Hill--longtime friends--for their around-the-clock caring while he gets through this. Bastien--called "indispensable" by many--continues to carry out his weighty day-to-day responsibilities from home with a lap top computer and cell phone.
Monday's conference call meeting was as much about hope as it was city business.
With respect to the city's business, the council approved:
Ordinance 2012-O06-01: An ordinance authorizing the sale by sealed bids of a 1995 Ford F700 dump truck, plow and salt spreader. The minimum bid is $2,000.
Ordinance 2012-O06-02: An ordinance authorizing the sale by sealed bids of two (2) Cub Cadet lawn mowers. Parts from one were used to fix the other. The minimum bid is $900.
Ordinance 2012-O06-03: An Ordinance that amends Chapter 30 and defines the hiring criteria for part time police officers in relation to compliance with Illinois statutes.
Ordinance 2012-O06-04: An ordinance adopting a plan of governance and operation for the municipal aggregation of electricity in the City of Du Quoin. That followed a 5:45 p.m. public hearing on the matter. There were no objections.
Ordinance 2012-O06-05: An ordinance amending Chapter 7, Business, to include coin operated machines and licensing fees.
Resolution 2012-R06-01: A resolution authorizing the expenditure of $100,000 on the Pizza Hut alley/road expansion project which will be completed this summer.
Resolution 2012-R06-02: A resolution in support of the Du Quoin State Fair Twilight Parade and the closure of a portion of Route 51.
Resolution 2012-R06-03: A resolution authorizing application for a $50,000 grant to build a bus/shuttle cover on a city parking lot near the Amtrak station.
Awarded $400,000 in financing at 3.55 percent on a 2012 fire truck over eight years at a total cost of $467,000.
Approved to proceed with emergency clean up measures on the fire-damaged property located at 456 East Park Street.
Members of the council were presented with a new Du Quoin Historic Preservation brochure of downtown Du Quoin by commission president Debbie Chastain which will be featured Friday.