Pinckneyville considers limiting fund-raising collections in town
Commissioner Kevin Hicks said he received a number of complaints about the City Council allowing the Coulterville VFW to collect funds at locations around the square and four-way stop in town. He suggested the council consider limiting the collections.
Commissioner Leonard Heisner suggested only allowing groups to collect when the funds will be used in Pinckneyville.
The council discussed the systems used by other towns. Du Quoin limits the number of collections to six per year. The six slots are first come, first served and are open only to state-approved non-profit charities.
Commissioner Sam Fulk suggested looking through the collections approved over the past year then making a decision.
There are a number of groups which have annual collections in Pinckneyville, including the Fire Department, Chamber of Commerce for Mardi Gras, Laborer's Local, KC Hall, Humane Society and more.
The council will address the issue at the next meeting. No specifics were decided, but all agreed that limits should be set.
"It's out of hand," Mayor August Kellerman said.
In other business, the council:
• placed on file for public inspection a contract with Mutual Medical Insurance for coverage beginning June 1. David Andreas and Jeremy Billington said that the city has been with Mutual Medical for four years and has saved each year. The original promise was to save $1,000 per employee per year. The actual savings over the past four years have been closer to $1,300 per employee per year. Andreas offered the city two options for renewal. The first has a four percent increase in fixed costs for Mutual Medical's administration fee and no increase in Symetra's reinsurance. In order to keep the same reinsurance fixed costs, Pinckneyville would have to agree to make available to employees an Affordable Care Plan (ACP). Under the ACP, employees who have planned a major surgery such as a hip replacement or back surgery that will cost $50,000 or more can choose a plan through the state's insurance exchange. The city pays the entire premium and all out-of-pocket costs. Andreas said that the city's stop-loss insurance covers costs that exceed $35,000 per employee. The cost of a plan on the exchange and the out-of-pocket costs are typically about $13,000 per year. That's a savings of $22,000 for the city. The second option is to renew without the ACP. The result will be a nine percent increase in reinsurance.
• approved the 2014 motor fuel tax program. Total cost is estimated to be $131,000. Beelman Ready Mix Inc. was the low bidder on concrete at $75 per yard at $15,000 for 200 yards. Barr Trucking was the low bidder on road rock with a total of $19,400 for CA-6, CA-16 and CA-10.
• passed a resolution approving a contract with HMG for the streetscape lighting project around the square at a cost of $50,000 for engineering and design.
n agreed to hire an additional police officer. Commissioner Hicks said the city used to have six uniformed officers, but is now down to four. He suggested hiring one more to keep costs down.
• approved the final payment of $37,356 to Walden Technologies for the ultraviolet unit installed at the east sewer plant. Total cost of the project was $69,466.
• passed a resolution authorizing Commissioner David Stone to apply for a permit to install a 21-inch sanitary sewer line under Route 127. The work will be done only if the city receives a grant for it.
• agreed to donate $100 from the hotel/motel tax fund to Perry County Gold Plate for Older Americans Month.