By
Jim Rawlins
After over a month, all the seats have been filled on
Carlinville City Council. At Monday night’s meeting, Mayor
Bob Schwab appointed John Koster as Ward 1 alderman. He
replaces Lea Hudson, who resigned earlier this summer.
Koster has been involved with Carlinville for many years. He
has been the owner of Koster Construction for several
decades. He also has served with the Carlinville Fire
Department for many years.
Schwab chose Koster from several persons in Ward 1 who
applied for the vacancy. After a 20-minute executive
session, Schwab announced his decision near the end of the
meeting.
Koster is the second new alderman to join the council
recently. Bill Pranger was appointed to replace Don
Daugherty in Ward 2 after Daugherty’s death.
Both Pranger and Koster are expected to be sworn-in at the
Aug. 18 council meeting. Because there are over two years
remaining in their terms, both positions will be on the
primary and general elections in 2009.
Council removes permit, fee for general maintenance
Homeowners will no longer need a temporary Zoning permit to
do general
maintenance around the home.
By a 7-0 vote, the council agreed to suspend the rules and
amend the Zoning Ordinance. The changes affect just what
work homeowners may do without a temporary Zoning permit.
Under the old ordinance, a permit was required for anyone
wanting to do even general maintenance. In addition,
homeowners had to pay the city a $20 fee.
“I looked at the ordinance,” said Zoning Administrator Beth
Toon, “and decided that it was time for that to come out. We
really don’t want to penalize anyone who just is doing
maintenance around their home.”
The ordinance, however, does require a permit for any
alterations to windows or doors (fee is $20.) A temporary
permit is also needed to install a fence or storage unit.
“Before the ordinance said storage unit construction,” Toon
explained. “What was happening is that people were buying a
storage unit and saying that they were just ‘installing’ it.
Well, unless they only want it up for 90 days (which is a
temporary unit), they need the permit.”
Porches and patios will now also require a $30 fee.
The penalty for not obtaining a permit before starting work
has also gone up. The council voted to charge anyone who
didn’t obtain a permit four times the permit fee for the
project.
“Our intention is to get everyone to get a permit before
starting the project,” Toon explained. “Hopefully, this will
serve as an incentive.”
But Alderman John Malin pointed out the ordinance required
written notice before any violation could be presented.
“Don’t you have to give them a written notice first before
applying a fee?” he asked.
City Attorney Will Hebron explained that, in the case of a
speeding ticket, police didn’t have to file a written notice
first. “You just get the speeding ticket and have to pay it.
My reading is that the Zoning administrator isn’t required
to file notice in this case.”
Hebron also added that failure to comply with the Zoning
Ordinance could be charged as a misdemeanor. There was also
some question as to whether the penalty also covered the
cost of the permit fee itself. Toon explained, “Yes, if you
pay the penalty, that also includes the fee.”
City discusses Carlinville Southern litigation in
executive session
The council spent most of Monday night in executive session
discussing its ongoing litigation with attorney Eli
Rosenbloom.
Last Wednesday, the city received a victory in federal
court. U.S. District Judge Jeanne Scott rejected a motion by
the church to enforce a lawsuit settlement.
Carlinville Southern Baptist purchased the former Wal-Mart
with the intent of using it as its new church. The city
denied a request by the church to rezone the property as
Religious.
Both the city and the church entered into negotiations to
end a lawsuit by the church. An agreement was apparently
reached, but in June Schwab vetoed a settlement. Daniel
Dalton, a Michigan attorney who has been representing the
church, argued Carlinville had acted in bad faith. Because
city representatives had negotiated with church
representatives and come up with a settlement, there was a
binding agreement.
Under the settlement agreement, the city agreed to issued a
Special Use permit for Carlinville Southern Baptist to use
the building as a church. Carlinville would reimburse the
church $175,000 in legal fees, and the matter would be
dropped in court.
But Scott ruled that no binding agreement was ever in
effect. Schwab has pointed out any agreement by the city had
to be approved by the council at a council meeting. Because
the settlement agreement had not yet been voted upon by the
council, no binding agreement was ever made.
