(L-R: Triston Reed, Bryn Hobbs, Jayden Lewis Not pictured, Sean McMurray)
The Fairfield City Council met in regular session last (Tuesday) night at City Hall. Just before the regular meeting, a public hearing was held regarding the proposed new tax levy for the city. Mayor Gary Moore asked those in attendance if anyone had any comments concerning the tax levy with nobody attending addressing the council. The council approved the minutes from the previous meeting along with current bills.
The first item on the agenda was awarding a contract for trash collection in the city. Mayor Moore stated that last week, the city received three bids. Those bidding were Sunrise Sanitation, the current trash collector, Republic Services and Bulldog Systems. After some discussion on what services would be offered, the city council awarded the bid to Republic Services as the new trash collector. The contract will become effective March 1st. Mayor Moore says it’s important to educate the residents on which ward they live in moving forward with the new trash collector as this will determine which day of the week their trash will be collected. The city will be sending out a letter to all residents stating what is acceptable and what is not, when to sit out your trash and what items are allowed in large item pickup day which the council decided to continue this service once a month.
Mayor Moore discussed the Fairfield tax levy saying it was talked about at the last council meeting and it was his recommendation that the city take a look at the tax lender of 7.99%. Mayor Moore continued stating that the city needs to fund the police and fire pensions. The police pension is a little behind more than the fire pension which is currently about 72% funded. The city has until 2040 to get that fund to 90%. Mayor Moore presented the dollar figures to what it would do with the increase of the tax levy. After the presentation, the council approved the Fairfield tax levy.
Sam Ramada, representing Triple Crown Hospitality Group LLC was in attendance as he is the individual that is going to invest $10 million dollars or more into the City of Fairfield and construct a 4-story Comfort Inn & Suites on property on the west side of Fairfield just off Williamson Drive. Doug Skaggs, representing the TIF Committee appeared before the council and spoke on behalf of the TIF District and the Business Tax District and shared with the council what the money would be used for in getting the hotel project under construction. Skaggs indicated the committee has made a recommendation to award a total of 2 million dollars from each of the funds towards the hotel project.
Mayor Moore told the council that the current TIF balance is in the millions with the city receiving two of the four payments. Moore says the other two payments yet to be received will be somewhere between $150,000 and $180,000. The Business Tax District has $1,584.000. The city has money earmarked from the Business Tax District in the amount of $300,000 and that money is directed at the new gymnasium that will be built at Frontier Community College in hopes that men’s and women’s basketball come to town which Mayor Moore says just intensifies the need for a new hotel. The city has a few smaller projects with the Business Tax District including 6-juan-8 Bakery and Smash and Dash.
Sam Ramada did address the council saying he just appreciated the opportunity and that his group will be here to do what they can to bring hospitality, more jobs and definitely looking for national tenants as the restaurants on the property along with the hotel. Ramada indicated he is working three different builders and three management companies and once the contracts are done with them, it will take 60 days to start construction and estimated to be completed anywhere between eight to twelve months. Ramada says his group is still deciding if they want to include a pool, community room and the hotel will include 68-75 rooms. After the discussions, the council unanimously approved the ordinance for the TIF redevelopment agreement and the business district agreement with Triple Crown Hospitality Group LLC.
Claire Vaughan with Raylen James Marketing appeared before the council saying she’s applied for a revolving loan in the past where she was the sole employee when she bought their current building. Vaughan says over the past year the business has grown, so she’s hired more employees which has risen her costs and they are wanting to invest in better equipment and trying to upgrade some things. Mayor Moore indicated that Vaughan does the city’s Facebook page, helps out the city with any marketing ideas, streams city council meetings and does Mule Nation and Bobcat Nation. Moore stated her company is an important asset to the city. The city council unanimously approved a revolving loan to Raylen James Marketing in the amount of $15,000.
Mayor Moore discussed an Ordinance Enforcement for the city as he has had meetings with the Police Chief and Assistant Chief regarding complaints, more in the summer months of high grass and inoperable vehicles and how to handle such complaints. Currently, the officers are handling these issues. These calls are fielded by dispatch at the Fairfield Police Department which handles in excess of 1000 calls per month and also serves as dispatch for the sheriff’s department, fire departments and ambulance services for the county. Moore says ordinance enforcement is important to the city as it makes the town more appealing and some requests may sometimes get overlooked due to more priority calls. Officers do have ordinance citations they can issue, but will usually work with the property owner to rectify the problem before issuing a citation.
Mayor Moore also addressed the council on municipal court. Mary Beth Collins, the city’s attorney from Flora has been dealing with personal matters and after the first of the year, the date for municipal court will be the 4th Monday of the month at 2pm.
Fairfield Police Chief, Keith Colclasure introduced three new officers to the council who just recently completed 16 weeks of police academy training at Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville. Colclasure, along with Assistant Chief, Ben Lewis attended the new officers graduation last Friday. The new officers hired in July are; Bryn Hobbs, Jayden Lewis and Triston Reed. The class had 97 individuals. Chief Colclasure also mentioned another officer hired in September was Sean McMurray who was not in attendance at the meeting due to preparing for an upcoming shift. McMurray attended Southwestern Illinois College in April 2022 and was a lateral transfer from Wonderlake Police Department in McHenry County in Northern Illinois.
Mayor Moore reminded those in attendance that the city council chose not to have a second meeting on the fourth Tuesday in December due to the holidays.
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