Published: March 15, 2009 08:56 pm      

Budget, zoning issues up for discussion

No more personnel cut

DANVILLE — City officials have cut another $300,000 from the city’s budget, and no personnel were affected.

“Some of these savings were generated by the number of individuals who chose to retire, a number not previously calculated into the budget for next fiscal year,” Mayor Scott Eisenhauer said.

The city council will continue to discuss the city’s new 2009-10 budget which goes into effect May 1 on Tuesday.

Additional expenditure reductions needed due to lower sales tax and other revenues: adjusted the general liability based information supplied from the Illinois Municipal League that there is only one Min/Max claim from prior years that would affect the general fund general liability line this year.

“Unfortunately, there is still a potential in forthcoming years that we will have to pay prior years’ claims from the Min/Max program,” Eisenhauer said.

Health insurance was reduced based on the actual number of expenditures this year.

Eisenhauer said the new insurance plan has continued to produce savings each year and this year was no exception.

“We have a much better projection with only six weeks to go of what this year’s final number will be and we multiplied that by 14 percent for next year’s number. Even with the increase, based on the projected claims number for this year, we will experience some additional savings greater than earlier anticipated. With the total claims anticipated to be lower than budgeted, the request from departments and enterprise funds was reduced also,” he said.

Every department or fund pays the insurance on employees, so any reduction in health insurance decreases the group insurance.

Also, the administration reduced personnel numbers in various departments to reflect changes in salaries, positions, unemployment and training reimbursement through the reorganization; reduced computer support costs to more closely reflect actual expenditures; and reduced other technology line costs based on the new contract which was lower than in previous years.

Eisenhauer said the budget is once again balanced.

Also Tuesday, the council will consider approving:

-- A special-use permit requested by Sam Hazari to operate a packaged liquor store with only a drive-through window at 3164 E. Main St. in the B-2, highway business, zoning district. The site is where the former Bluebird Inn tavern was located.

Neighbor Marge Hanrion told the zoning commission earlier this month that if it grants the permit, she’d appreciate tall trees or appropriate screening to separate the commercial property from her residential property. The commission agreed to require the screening.

The site has been zoned highway business since the 1980s. The property is outside city limits, but within the city’s 1.5 mile jurisdiction. A liquor license would come from the county.

-- A request from Sterling Development of Mishawaka, Ind. for a planned unit development designation for the 2.1 acre, former American Red Cross property, 320 N. Franklin St., for a senior housing complex with associated services.

The four-story complex will house 72 units — 32 one-bedroom and 40 two-bedroom units. The estimated cost for the project is $7.2 million. The facility could open in spring 2010.

-- A three-year agreement, starting in May, for garbage dumping fees paid to Brickyard Disposal and Recycling.

-- A $40,545 professional services agreement with ESI Consultants of Charleston for Danville Stadium improvements.

Danville Public Works Director Doug Ahrens said “we hope it will go a long way,” of the city’s $300,000 state grant for the repairs and improvements, including paving the parking lot.

-- A $16,100 professional services contract with Patrick Engineering of Springfield to evaluate if the land at the public works facility on Voorhees Street could be used for a landscape waste site. Ahrens said the city’s lease at the Brickyard Landfill expires December 2010, and the city’s landscape waste recycling facility must relocate because of landfill growth.

-- A mutual aid response program agreement for the public works division to assist other regional city’s public works departments, and vice versa, in the aftermath of natural disasters or other extreme conditions if personnel are available. There is a $250 annual membership fee, and other costs could be reimbursed.

-- Purchasing an emulsion storage tank for a new method of pot hole patching for $61,415 from Duraco Inc. of Jackson, Miss.

-- Extending the Vermilion County Amateur Radio Association lease by 10 years, for Harrison Park West, and approving a five-year lease agreement with the Winterview ballpark board for the ball park, both for a $1 a year.

-- Preliminary engineering services by Hutchison Engineering of Jacksonville at a cost of $60,000 to study Voorhees Street and where it intersects with Jackson Street and Bowman Avenue.



COMING UP

The Danville City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Robert E. Jones Municipal Building, 17 W. Main St.