Council Re-Hires Arndt as City Administrator

Print

Published on August 3 2016 11:19 am
Last Updated on August 3 2016 11:19 am
Written by Greg Sapp

The Effingham City Council Tuesday approved a new three-year contract for City Administrator Jim Arndt.

(JIM ARNDT)

Arndt's previous contract was to expire November 15. The new agreement grants Arndt the same percentage pay increases as other non-union City employees. Typically, those increases have been the same as received by union employees.

The Council discussed an ordinance that would establish an Enterprise Zone that would include the City of Effingham and the Village of Teutopolis. A current Effingham City/County Enterprise Zone is due to expire soon. 

A representative of the firm working on behalf of the Enterprise Zone indicated that nine applications will be considered by the State and expects the Effingham/Teutopolis Zone request to be at the top of the list.

Businesses and industries located within an Enterprise Zone get tax breaks and other incentives to expand while entities locating to a Zone get other perks.

The Council approved amending the city code to accommodate Crisis Nursery of Effingham County at 924 North Merchant, approved the rezoning of 1714 South Banker to allow the construction of a car wash on the property now occupied by Ichabod's, rezoned land for Deb Sanders adjoining her realty office off Keller Drive, agreed to permit the EHS Homecoming Parade on September 28, approved engineering work on an extension of Calico Trail from Calico Road to the interstate as part of the TREC Trail network, and awarded a $470,000 contract for the reconstruction of South 3rd Street from Fayette Avenue past the CSX Railroad tracks, plus another $158,000 in sanitary sewer work in that same area.

Also approved was a downtown redevelopment program agreement with Boris Bonutti and Register Building LLC for work underway on the former Dorothy Chrysler School of Beauty building along Jefferson Avenue.