Lincoln Considers Road, Property Improvements

LINCOLN —At its regularly scheduled May 15 meeting, Lincoln City Council began work to identify, list and prioritize city streets and roads to be paved or repaired.

In other business, Council members voted unanimously to stick to the established deadline for making improvements at one property and to extend the clean-up deadline at a separate property.

To start off the meeting, City Attorney Steve Zega acknowledged the absence of three aldermen, which meant ordinances on the agenda could not be considered because six aldermen must be present for that level of business.

Council members absent were Bobby McDonald, Troy Myers and Doug Hutchens. Rhonda Hulse, city business manager and grants coordinator, expressed concern about timing due to the planned purchase of a new fire truck. Those present voted to table the ordinances and to consider them at a May 21 special meeting.

They then voted to continue the meeting with the amended agenda.

Under new business, the Council discussed streets that needed to be paved. Council members Doyle Dixon, Gary Eoff and Johnny Stowers agreed all of Main Street should be paved and Adams Street from Mitchell west needed to be paved.

Stowers provided a typed list of specific sites that need pavement improvements or repairs. He later said after the meeting that “about half” the streets in Lincoln need paving work.

Dixon, who lives on Adams Street, said some parts of Adams Street were cut away three years ago for other work, and those parts have not been filled in or repaired. Rhonda Hulse and Mayor Rob Hulse expressed surprised work on Adams had not been completed, and Rhonda Hulse said she would look into it.

Rhonda Hulse asked the men to email her their lists of streets that need work.

Under unfinished business, the council considered an apartment building located at 119 N. Carter that has been determined unsafe and not up to code, according to Jeff Hutcheson, city building inspector, and Jay Norton, city fire administrator. Rhonda Hulse said the owner of the property, James Stewart, has not applied for any permits that would be required for any improvements. Hulse said she believes at least four families are living in the complex but the water, electric utilities are all under one name.

Zega said he drove by the building and “the outside looks the same as it did six weeks ago.” If Stewart does not do anything, Zega can petition the court for contempt and request a court order to raze the building. A motion was made and passed unanimously to proceed.

The council then voted unanimously to start the bidding process for demolition.

Moore expressed concern about the residents becoming homeless. Both Rob Hulse and Rhonda Hulse said they have been helping them to the extent possible. Rhonda Hulse said she does not know if any of the families has children.

The second item of unfinished business dealt with property located on Highway 45, near U.S. Highway 62. A Washington County Circuit Court order to clean up the property within 30 days has resulted in many loads of debris being carried off, said Rhonda Hulse. The city has received several calls from people who have complimented the work and said the debris is getting better.

Zega said the property owner, Debbie Cain, is now “on week three of her 30 days” to clean up the property. The council voted unanimously to extend the deadline another two to three weeks, contingent on clean-up work showing visible signs of progress.

Zega said the resident “might hit a wall” when the cleanup gets to tires and car batteries which require payment of disposal fees. Stowers said other types of hazardous materials on the property may also interrupt progress.

The property is partially located within city of Lincoln boundaries with the rest in Washington County. Zega said a contractor may legally “walk the entire property once” to inspect the work being done.

The last order of unfinished business dealt with a new water tank, and Rhonda Hulse reported she was given two prices depending on the height of the pedestals. She said depending on the height chosen, the location may need to be moved. The proposed location is off Jackson Highway.

In other business, the Council agreed to sell a 2004 Chevrolet truck and an International dump truck, and voted to change the city’s “engineering on-call services” contract to Garver Engineers in Fayetteville in order to continue working with Juliet Richey, who recently was hired by Garver. Richey served Lincoln as a professional planning consultant in her former position with Brooks Landscape Architecture.

Rob Hulse said Richey “has done a good job for us, “and this “will set up engineering services” which “will help us set ourselves up for growth.”