Category: Mayor & Council

The City of Decatur is proud to announce that the Decatur Fire Department has been awarded a Class 2 rating by the Insurance Services Office (ISO), the Department’s best rating ever which could mean savings to property owners on insurance premiums.

The new Class 2 rating places Decatur in the top 3% of the over 48,000 fire departments evaluated by ISO.

ISO evaluates communities according to a uniform set of criteria, incorporating nationally recognized standards developed by the National Fire Protection Association and the American Water Works Association.  The City’s rating is determined by evaluating the Fire Department, Water Department & Dispatch Center and the rating agency in issuing the improved rating cited operational items that included:

• The organization’s use of Computer Aided Dispatching (CAD) combined with the City’s Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Automatic Vehicle Location programs.
•  The Fire Department Training Program
• The Department having a fulltime professional fire prevention bureau which represented the largest point increase

The ISO rating used by most insurances companies to establish premiums for homeowners and commercial fire insurance. The best possible PPC rating for any community is one (1) and the poorest possible PPC rating is ten (10). Decatur was last evaluated by ISO in 2012 when the rating improved from a Class 4 to a Class 3.

The new rating goes into effect June 1, 2017. Contact the Decatur Fire Department at 217-424-2811 for more information.

The labor agreement the Decatur Public Library governing board and its represented employees was tabled Monday night by the Decatur City Council so that the council members could gather more information on the proposed nine-year eight-month agreement.

A portion of the library’s employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees – or AFSCME – and the group’s labor agreement with the Decatur Public Library expires on April 30, 2017. The parties have negotiated a successor agreement and the City is required to consider and ratify the contract for it to go into effect because the library’s tax levy is authorized by the City.

The City Council received the ratified agreement this week and had several questions related to various items contained in the document.

In other business, the Council approved the funding of more than $1.2 million in infrastructure improvements to be funded through the city’s annual State Motor Fuel Tax allocation. The work will include more than six miles of street restoration and rehabilitation, traffic signal maintenance and repairs and funding will also cover the city’s road salt purchase.

Contact Billy Tyus at 217-424-2727 for more information.

The groundwork has been laid to move forward with plans to revitalize the city’s neighborhoods with demolitions to take down dilapidated structures and programs to help revitalize properties that can be saved set to kick off this year.

That was the message from City Manager Tim Gleason to members of the Decatur City Council Monday night during a study session to discuss ongoing neighborhood redevelopment efforts. While final plans are still being formulated, the discussion centered about taking a strategic, targeted approach to demolition and rebuilding problem properties as part of a comprehensive program in an effort to make sure that the city makes the best use of taxpayer dollars going forward.

“Simply demoing properties could be seen as being very short cited and simply turning vacant lots into side-lots, while better than doing nothing, doesn’t match the opportunities we have (if we proceed strategically).”

While the council has previously discussed options for financing up to $1 million in demolitions and programs, an opportunity could exist to secure upwards of $2 million or more to make a bigger impact in a shorter amount of time. While Monday’s session was held to gather additional council input and no final decision has been made, M, Gleason stressed that the City will be moving forward with demos and rebuilding programs in 2017.

In other business, Council members voted unanimously in support of $2.3 million in water main replacement work to include the installation of new water mains, fire hydrants, valves and services south of Garman Park off of Ravina Park Road, and Turner Drive off of East Cantrell.

Contact Billy Tyus at 217-424-2727 for more information.

You are invited to attend the Stormwater Quality Open House on Wednesday, March 22, 2017 from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at the Decatur Public Library.

Rain water from strong storms runs over roofs and driveways, picking up debris along the way. Stormwater can pollute our streams and Lake Decatur. You can help slow the flow of stormwater and help keep our waterways clean!

Ask municipal staff and engineers from around the county how you can implement Best Management Practices at your home or business. Learn simple design tips for rain barrels, rain gardens, wet detention ponds, and more.

Contact 217-877-5670 ext. 3 for more information.

The Decatur Police Department now offers the public the opportunity to report some crimes online. Deputy Chief Jason Walker stated the online reporting system is meant to be a public convenience for the reporting of nonemergency offenses by those affected, in which there is no identifiable suspect and no physical evidence to collect.

To file a report online, the affected party must have access to the internet, valid email address and is reporting a nonemergency offense that occurred in the City of Decatur.

The public can find the online reporting option by going directly to www.dpdconnect.com, or by going to the City of Decatur web page www.decaturil.gov and select Departments/Police, where a quick link to “file a report” can be located.

Offenses currently available for online reporting include: Civil Matter/Information Reports, Criminal Damage to Property Under $500, Theft Under $300, Theft of Lost or Mislaid Property, Retail Theft Under $300 (Businesses Only), Illegal Dumping/Littering and Nuisances.

Once an online report is received, a detective sergeant will review the report, determine if the report is accepted, denied, and if additional investigation is warranted. The reporting party will receive an email indicating if the report was accepted or denied.  If denied, the email will provide a reason for the denial.

Deputy Chief Walker hopes that online reporting will make the reporting of some crimes a more effective/efficient option for the public and the police department.

Contact Deputy Chief Walker at 424-2711 for more information.

The Decatur City Council on Tuesday took steps to fix critical sewer problems as is being required by the USEPA that today lead to backups throughout our community, approving agreements for flow monitoring and engineering necessary to complete the work.

Members during a regularly scheduled meeting voted unanimously to support a professional services agreement with ADS Environmental Services for target area flow monitoring for a fee not to exceed $462,944.28 including contingency. The Council also approved an agreement with Crawford, Murphy and Tilly, Inc. to provide professional engineering services for a not to exceed fee of $723,008.

Both agreements are necessary to fulfilling an Administrative Court order (ACO) with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency identifying proposed repairs and future alternatives to avoid ongoing overflow and backups of sanitary sewers. The Order binds the city to provide both a Capacity Management, Operations, and Maintenance (CMOM) Program and a Sewer System Alternatives Analysis (SSAA) with work identified in both to be completed by December 31, 2018.

The CMOM Program provides a comprehensive review of the City’s sewer collection system which includes a review of system management, maintenance and capital improvements funding. The SSAA focuses on efforts to prevent storm water from entering into the separated sanitary sewer and combined sewer system in areas identified as experiencing sanitary sewer overflows and back-ups during storm events.

Contact Billy Tyus at 217-424-2727 for more information.

The Decatur City Council on Monday approved a citywide reorganization that will flatten the organization, lead to additional efficiencies and is anticipated to save city taxpayers in excess of $300,000 annually.

Council members voted 6-1 in favor of the plan as presented, an opportunity that comes about in part as a result of existing, expected and unexpected vacancies in 2017. The changes will also create a work environment that allows employees to operate most effectively and continue to provide critical public services to the community without layoffs, although authorized staffing will be reduce by three positions through attrition.

There are no anticipated direct increases in costs associated with the restructuring, which will include the following steps in the coming months:

• Establishing a Human Resources Department and Director
• Establishing an Economic and Community Development Department and Director, moving the Mass Transit Division and incorporating the Neighborhood Services Department and the Economic Development, Planning and Sustainability, Building Inspections and Neighborhood Inspections (Code enforcement) Divisions to the department.
• Having the City Clerk’s office report directly to the City Manager and establishing the Information Technology Department and Director.
•  Eliminating one Assistant Corporation Counsel position in the Legal Department and (as seen above) relieving the Legal Department of the responsibility of supervision for the Neighborhood Inspections Division.
• Incorporating the functions of the Water Management Department into the Department of Public Works.
• Eliminating both Assistant City Manager positions through attrition and creating the position of Deputy City Manager.

Contact Billy Tyus at 217-424-2727 for more information.