Pinckneyville approves agreement for new soccer fields

Following comments from the Foundation for Pinckneyville on the process involved in planning the proposed sports complex, the city approved an engineering agreement with Curl and Associates for services in connection with moving the soccer fields to a new location. The contract The contract sets a deadline of Dec. 31, 2015 and is for $72,300.

Foundation President Dave Pirsein said that the proposed soccer and football fields serve several purposes. IDOT has indicated that they will purchase the land where the current soccer fields are located as part of the Route 13/127 expansion to four lanes. The fields will have to be moved. The proposed sports complex doubles the size of the city park and makes use of land that is not living up to its full potential.

Pirsein said the sports complex will help the city project an image of prosperity and growth, which may help attract new residents and businesses.

"The purpose of the Foundation is to make the city a better place to live and work," Pirsein said. "We've had some success with grants."

The OSLAD grant in question is a $400,000 50/50 matching grant to build the sports complex. The city would have to fund the entire $800,000 project then be reimbursed for half the costs.

Pirsein said the city treasurer recently reported that there is $1.6 million in unrestricted funds in city accounts. If the city council does not wish to fund the project in-house there are other options.

The sports complex is part of a long-range plan developed by the Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce several years ago. The Foundation paid Curl $20,000 to do the initial work on the plan, which was used to secure the grant.

The sports complex is Phase I. There are no other defined phases at this point. The city can send the project to bid then tweak the design to fit their needs. The council could determine whether or not restroom facilities at the sports fields are financially viable at this time.

Pirsein concluded by saying the Foundation will support the city in any way they can. The council simply needs to define the role they wish the Foundation to play.

In other business, the council:

• heard from Mayor August Kellerman that the city received a check from the state for $91,566 for prison utilities. The state is now behind just over $100,000 or one month's bill.

• heard from Commissioner Leonard Heisner that the first installment of real estate tax revenue ($384,837 for the city, $189,268 for TIF and $27,464 for the library) has been received. Heisner said the Garden Apartments is a tax exempt property and as per a court settlement, the city must refund $45,956 in real estate tax receipts. City Attorney Roger Seibert said he would contact Supervisor of Assessments John Batteau to determine how much should come out of each of the city funds which receive real estate tax revenue.

• authorized Commissioner Kevin Hicks to begin the procedure to hire a new police officer. Officer Nathan Murry is leaving the department to take a position with IDNR.

• placed on file for public inspection an ordinance authorizing the settlement of certain ordinance violations with the city. Once the ordinance is approved, those cited for ordinance violations in Pinckneyville will be able to pay their fines directly to the city at the Police Station. Moving violations citations will still have to be paid through Perry County Circuit Court.

• approved leasing a folder inserter machine for the City Clerk's office at a cost of $119 per month for 60 months. The machine folds and seals utility bills.

• approved hiring Odesco Industrial Service to clean the south sewer plant at a cost of $3,000 per day. The project should take one or two days.

• accepted the low bid of $31,926 from Walden Associated Technologies, doing business as Visusewer of Missouri LLC to line the sewer pipe running from the gates of the city park to the lift station near the railroad tracks next to FS.

• approved the annual flu and pneumonia shot clinic on Sept. 16. The city pays $30 for flu and $75 for pneumonia shots for employees.