Hopefully, the length of last night's meeting was indicative of the new members and mayor getting their footing and not of meetings to come. Meeting started with the Liquor Control Commission at 7 p.m. which quickly approved, 6-0, a liquor license for the soon to open Premier Lounge on West Jackson. Don Monty probably set the tone for his councilship with several questions indicating he had looked over the application quite thoroughly, including questioning the capital reserves the business had and the reasoning behind the shift from a business model relying on 100% liquor sales to one deriving 20% of its revenues from food sales. Newly re-elected councilman Lance Jack was noticeably absent.
Next up was the approval of the Icebox Bar and Grille's application for a A2 license, with requires 51% of sales to come from food. Both Monty and Jane Adams questioned the applicant, Kevin Kirkwood, closely regarding the application especially about such concerns as parking, funding, the track record of other restaurants at the location and the murders that took place after an event there last fall. Several people spoke in favor of the application, most from a "give the man a chance" view, while Sandy Litecky of the Arbor District raised concerns about the effect of the business on the nearby neighborhood. The application passed 3-2, with Chris Wissmann and Corene McDaniels voting against.
Moving onto the regular meeting, Lance Jack arrived and Mayor Fritzler quickly proclaimed this Mental Health Month and Public Works Week and presented a pair of Historic Preservation Awards to two properties on properties on West Walnut.
The consent agenda, which came up next, was the high point of the meeting as Lance Jack asked for individual votes on appointments to boards and commissions and an ordinance approving a right of way license agreement with Delta Communications. The right of way vote was just to emphasize that fiber optic commissions were coming to Carbondale. Jack then proceeded to get very hot under the collar about Mayor Fritzler's appointment of Jane Adams to the Carbondale Main Street board, since Jack has been the council representative to Main Street for several years and wanted to know why he had not been re-appointed. The two men argued for a few minutes with Mayor Fritzler finally summing up his reasoning for Adams' appointment as (and I'm paraphrasing here), "because I wanted to".
The change in the business development plan for the new Goodwill location (moving to the old Rex Video store next to Applebee's) and a couple of rezoning ordinances passed with out any controversy or question, though Don Monty was in his element here, making comments and questioning the applicants about specifications relating to the requests. He likely added 15 minutes to the length of the meeting with his comments on each property. The man knows his stuff, though it's doubtful he changed the outcome as all three passed 6-0.
Up next were resolutions declaring Fair Days for the Sunset Concerts, Southern Illinois Irish Festival and Neghborhood Co-op Local Harvest Picnic (which, in the interest of disclosure, almost all of the council said they were members of). Fair Days designation allows the consumption but not sale of alcohol on city property. These all passed 5-1, with Lance Jack abstaining and Corene McDaniel, as is her wont, voting no. She made a point of saying her vote wasn't against the events but rather the consumption of alcohol on park property and requested the sponsors of the Sunset Concerts look into making one of the concerts at Turley Park alcohol free.
The other high point of the meeting was the attempt to pas an ordinance authorizing the sale of city property at 709 West Pecan to the owner of adjoining property so she could build a garage. When making her statement to council, the purchaser rambled on about people speeding down the alley, the cost of removing trees from her property and flooding before getting to her point that she thought the city was asking too much for its property and she did not want to purchase it at that price. The council, a bit flummoxed, since it thought a deal had been completed, withdrew the ordinance and directed asst. city manager Kevin Baity (who looked really thrilled at the idea) to meet with her and work out a deal.
After citizen and council comments, the council went into closed session for about 2 hours to choose someone to complete Joel Fritzler's unexpired council term. Tom Grant and Mike Riley, both candidates for council in the last election, along with a reporter from the local TV station, hung around for the two hours to find out the council had not selected either of them, choosing Lee Fronabarger, who also ran in the last election, instead.
Next up was the approval of the Icebox Bar and Grille's application for a A2 license, with requires 51% of sales to come from food. Both Monty and Jane Adams questioned the applicant, Kevin Kirkwood, closely regarding the application especially about such concerns as parking, funding, the track record of other restaurants at the location and the murders that took place after an event there last fall. Several people spoke in favor of the application, most from a "give the man a chance" view, while Sandy Litecky of the Arbor District raised concerns about the effect of the business on the nearby neighborhood. The application passed 3-2, with Chris Wissmann and Corene McDaniels voting against.
Moving onto the regular meeting, Lance Jack arrived and Mayor Fritzler quickly proclaimed this Mental Health Month and Public Works Week and presented a pair of Historic Preservation Awards to two properties on properties on West Walnut.
The consent agenda, which came up next, was the high point of the meeting as Lance Jack asked for individual votes on appointments to boards and commissions and an ordinance approving a right of way license agreement with Delta Communications. The right of way vote was just to emphasize that fiber optic commissions were coming to Carbondale. Jack then proceeded to get very hot under the collar about Mayor Fritzler's appointment of Jane Adams to the Carbondale Main Street board, since Jack has been the council representative to Main Street for several years and wanted to know why he had not been re-appointed. The two men argued for a few minutes with Mayor Fritzler finally summing up his reasoning for Adams' appointment as (and I'm paraphrasing here), "because I wanted to".
The change in the business development plan for the new Goodwill location (moving to the old Rex Video store next to Applebee's) and a couple of rezoning ordinances passed with out any controversy or question, though Don Monty was in his element here, making comments and questioning the applicants about specifications relating to the requests. He likely added 15 minutes to the length of the meeting with his comments on each property. The man knows his stuff, though it's doubtful he changed the outcome as all three passed 6-0.
Up next were resolutions declaring Fair Days for the Sunset Concerts, Southern Illinois Irish Festival and Neghborhood Co-op Local Harvest Picnic (which, in the interest of disclosure, almost all of the council said they were members of). Fair Days designation allows the consumption but not sale of alcohol on city property. These all passed 5-1, with Lance Jack abstaining and Corene McDaniel, as is her wont, voting no. She made a point of saying her vote wasn't against the events but rather the consumption of alcohol on park property and requested the sponsors of the Sunset Concerts look into making one of the concerts at Turley Park alcohol free.
The other high point of the meeting was the attempt to pas an ordinance authorizing the sale of city property at 709 West Pecan to the owner of adjoining property so she could build a garage. When making her statement to council, the purchaser rambled on about people speeding down the alley, the cost of removing trees from her property and flooding before getting to her point that she thought the city was asking too much for its property and she did not want to purchase it at that price. The council, a bit flummoxed, since it thought a deal had been completed, withdrew the ordinance and directed asst. city manager Kevin Baity (who looked really thrilled at the idea) to meet with her and work out a deal.
After citizen and council comments, the council went into closed session for about 2 hours to choose someone to complete Joel Fritzler's unexpired council term. Tom Grant and Mike Riley, both candidates for council in the last election, along with a reporter from the local TV station, hung around for the two hours to find out the council had not selected either of them, choosing Lee Fronabarger, who also ran in the last election, instead.
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