City golf cart discussions continue

Aug. 7—EFFINGHAM — Crossings was the topic as Effingham City Council members continued to discuss allowing golf carts in the city.

Public Works Director Jeremy Heuerman said during a council meeting last week his office reached out to the Illinois Department of Transportation about golf cart crossing possibilities around the city.

"We reached out to IDOT as far as the crossing locations we identified last time. There were 10 of them we identified that would be good locations to cross the state highways throughout the city," Heuerman said. "They had a safety committee that reviewed this and unfortunately they did not approve any of them as being safe to cross with golf carts due to accident counts within the last three years and traffic counts and number of semi traffic."

He said even though IDOT made that decision, it doesn't prevent golf carts from crossing state highways.

"We can put those (crossing locations) in the ordinance as a crossing and you're still allowed to cross state highways if you wish. They (IDOT) are highly discouraging it due to the safety aspects," said Heuerman. "They advised us to reduce the number of crossings if we decide to move forward."

Heuerman said the reason he suggested the 10 golf cart crossings was to allow more people access to either downtown, a park or a point of interest.

"If you decide they can't cross anywhere (on state highways), they could stay within their subdivisions," he said. "There are still some options the council can approve."

"I think no matter what we do it's not going to be perfect," said Mayor Mike Schutzbach. "Not every community member is going to be able to get everywhere in town. Some will be able to get further than others."

He said a majority of the community should be able to use the routes.

"Do we scrap the whole thing? Do we reevaluate it? And there are some concerns they would get on collector streets," said Schutzbach. "Will we be able to maneuver a map that will let the golf carts be used in the community and keep them off the main collector streets? We're open for discussion."

Schutzbach said the collector streets would be defined as streets similar to Willow, Temple and Evergreen.

City Administrator Steve Miller said a possibility would be reducing the number of crossings and come up with a map where golf carts are authorized.

"I don't like the idea of golf carts on Temple and Willow particularly at 7 or 8:30 in the morning and 4:30 and 5:30 at night they are just busy. There are certain times I don't ride my bicycle because of the traffic and then throwing golf carts into the mix bothers me," Commissioner Hank Stephens said.

"As I've said all along, I conceptionally am OK with it. We are just not very well designed for it in this community with two railroad tracks crossing and state highways crossing the interstate," Stephens said. "If you can limit these (golf carts) to neighborhoods, I'm fine with it."

Heuerman said currently the plan would be to hand out a map when a golf cart permit is issued and giving the designated locations where they are allowed to cross.

However, Commissioner Merv Gillenwater questions if golf cart operators would follow the rules and regulations.

"I'm very concerned about it," Commissioner Merv Gillenwater said. "I know it's going to pass, but I am very concerned about it."

"My preference is to look at some of the collector streets, put out a map and then move forward to see if we can get it approved," said Schutzbach.

In other matters, the council discussed passing a joint ordinance that would amend the City of Effingham/Effingham County Enterprise Zone boundaries. The joint ordinance would have to be passed by the Effingham City Council, Effingham County Board and the Village of Teutopolis.

If approved by the three municipalities, it would add 5.25 acres (four property parcels) into the enterprise zone after an application request was made by EL Holdings LLC, which wants to construct a 6,300-square-foot commercial building, make improvements to existing buildings and improve infrastructure on the four parcels of land, according to Effingham Economic Development Director Todd Hull. The property is located on North Third Street on the east side of U.S. Route 45.

Hull said the plan was presented to the Enterprise Zone Board, which unanimously approved the boundary amendment following a public hearing with no opposition.

The addresses of the four parcels are 900 North Third Street, 1000 North Third Street, 1008 North Third and 1010 North Third.

"If you're familiar with 900 North over the last couple of years, we improved that property that houses Express Appointment, Imagine This!, Grunloh Building and Edward Jones," said Ed Grunloh of Grunloh Building Inc. of Effingham.

The council already approved the construction of the commercial building in November. Grunloh said he constructed a similar building for Dr. Rick Workman in Springfield, Missouri.

Once the joint ordinance is approved by the city, county and Village of Teutopolis, it would go to the State of Illinois for final approval.

The council also discussed granting a resolution to close select city streets in downtown Effingham at the request of Village Wine for Effingham Cruise Night to be held Sept. 10 and discussed a resolution authorizing engineering services from Civil Design Inc. for $69,935 for the Merchant Street reconstruction project (from Eden Drive to Evergreen Avenue).

Meanwhile, council members adopted a resolution accepting a proposal for the 2022 oil and chip project with Larry Heuerman Trucking in the amount of $150,750 and adopted a separate proposal for the Second Street and Jefferson Street pavement replacement project with Feutz Contractors in the amount of $802,010.85.

The council authorized a retainer with Napoli Shkoinik PPLC Attorneys at Law to prosecute any legal claims from water contamination caused by per- and polyfuloroalkyl and related substances (PFAS/PFOA) and 1.4 Dioxane and other emerging hazardous contaminates. The city currently is not experiencing water contamination, however, the law firm would be on retainer if such a contamination incident were to take place.

A change order was approved in the amount of $14,000 by the council for additional labor and materials needed to recoat the Rickleman Standpipe water storage tank.

In other action, the council:

—Adopted a resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement between the city and the Illinois Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 209 for Effingham Police Department recruits, patrolmen, corporals and sergeants and a separate agreement for telecommunicators effective May 1 through April 30, 2025.

—Adopted a resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement between the city and International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 26 for union staff employed in the city public works departments effective May 1 through April 30, 2025.

—Adopted a resolution authorizing the execution of an agreement between the city and Effingham Firefighters Association Union Local 3084 effective May 1 through April 30, 2025.

—Granted a special-use permit to Polygone Recycling LLC for a recycling center to be located in the M-1 light industrial and Non-Urban district. The permit is only granted to Polygone Recycling LLC, Kirk Hartke and/or Emily Hartke and non-transferrable to future property owners for recycling Type 2 and Type 5 plastic for shredding. The permit does not allow the business to be open to the general public and any future expansion would require a new special-use permit.

—Adopted a resolution authorizing an execution of an agreement for engineering services with Milano and Grunloh Engineers LLC in the amount of $15,000 for the Rollin Hills subdivision road improvement project Phase II.

—Adopted a resolution authorizing the renewal of a one-year contract between the city and DDI Media from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31, 2023, in the amount of $13,800 for two tourism billboards, one in Brazil, Indiana, and another in Warrenton, Missouri.

—Adopted a resolution authorizing the execution of the South Central Industrial Tax Increment Finance Redevelopment Agreement with Fritz Krampe Enterprises LLC Lisa Development, which is interested in purchasing property in the business park with plans to construct a 50,000-square-foot warehouse facility.

—Adopted a resolution accepting a proposal from Effingham Asphalt in the amount of $700,296.45 for the Rollin Hills Subdivision Street Phase II project.

—Approved a certificate of completion and release of bonding for the 2022 Crack and Seal program performed by CASCO in the amount of $39,300.

Charles Mills can be reached at charles.mills@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300126.