City Council Denies Rezoning for Memory Care Center

The Effingham City Council voted 3-2 Tuesday night against rezoning a parcel of property owned by Heartland Human Services for a memory care center.

Neighboring property owners attended the meeting to protest the proposed rezoning. Spokesman Dixie Hartke said their homes are a real neighborhood. Hartke said they didn't oppose the memory care center, but were opposed to the facility being located on the north part of the property rather than the south part, which would have created more separation for the homes from the center.

Mayor Jeff Bloemker, who is Executive Director of Heartland, said their builders indicated it would be more expensive to locate the building on the south part of the parcel, which is located between Heartland's facility and the residences. The mayor participated in the discussion and voted on the issue despite his ties to the petitioner.

The mayor and Commissioner Kevin Willis voted for the rezoning, while Commissioners Kevin Esker, Merv Gillenwater and Don Althoff voted against.

Council members voted to issue a special-use permit to Brian Davis for a recycling center behind Davis Recycling at 801 S. Oak St. A fire at the location damaged the facility owned by Davis but leased by Mark and Mary Anders for their separate operation. Much of the damage done by the fire has still not been cleaned up or removed, but the Anders told the City Plan Commission that was due to waiting on their insurer to settle their claim. The special-use permit was issued with a promise from the Anders to clean up the property within six months, and to erect a 10-foot fence to screen the business from neighbors.

The Council accepted a bid from Hoerr Construction for $258,743 to reline 11,000 feet of sanitary sewers in town. The relining project is designed to extend the life of existing clay tile sewers.

Council members discussed plans to open bids later this month on the reconstruction of Pike Avenue. A concrete street will be built west from Raney Street to Heartland Boulevard, and to build a rural asphalt street with curb and gutter on west to the Beck's Hybrids development south of the Cross at the Crossroads. City Engineer Jeremy Heuerman said the price tag is estimated at $2 million to $2.2 million. Grants totaling $1.7 million have been received toward the project cost. The City pledged to kick in up to $600,000 toward the project cost, with Beck's agreeing to cover the balance. The bid letting is scheduled for January 26.

There was discussion of a water main replacement project to get rid of mains that have been breaking. The work would extend from Walgreen's west to Luther Drive, and then north on Luther to the apartment complex off the north end of the street. A separate project to overlay the frontage road in that are would follow the water main work.

The Council approved the acquisition of property or easements from upcoming infrastructure projects, established a reimbursement policy for emergency response costs against those convicted of arson, contracted with ESS Clean, Inc. for professional cleaning services at City Hall and the police station, purchased aggregate needed for street maintenance work, contracted with Merz Heating and Air Conditioning work for heating work at the street and sewer maintenance building, and heard from City Administrator Jim Arndt that work on the next fiscal year budget is getting started and that a Council retreat has been scheduled for Saturday, January 30 from 9am to 3pm at the Effingham Public Library to plan for the future.