The Minonk City Council approved a special use variance request to
allow a residential dwelling within a business to front a street in the
downtown dommercial district. The request for the variance was made by
Richard Voitik who is planning on reopening the antique mall if he is
allowed to reside within his building located at 551 Chestnut Street.
Conditions pertaining to this permit include that he would immediately
reopen his antique business and the permit will be revoked if the
business ceases to operate OR the residential area is vacated by all
family members. Other stipulations are that the residential address
shall be on Oak Street, that there shall be no outside storage or
loitering allowed, residential parking shall be on Oak Street, any
change of commercial use must be approved by the City and the
residential square footage shall not exceed 2,350 square feet.
Race track update
Mayor Koos explained the need for the city to have a completed
developers agreement with the developers of the proposed raceway park
north of Minonk. Koos said "What came to mind was in the event this
project does start to happen this sitting City Council may not see the
completion of this entire project. There could be a lot of different
changes taking place within the City during the construction of this
project and my concern has always been how are we going to basically
insure that the racetrack on the night that we approve the
redevelopment agreement, how it looks that night, is how the next
council and councils after that can use as a resource and say this is
what the City was led to believe that it was going to look like back
then."
Koos continued, "If construction starts and something is not
on that drawing, then the City has something to go back to and say when
the redevelopment agreement was signed because inside this agreement is
the requirement that they produce this drawing. One of the things that
I want to insure is that no matter who sees this project to its’
conclusion, that they have something to draw from as to the original
intent of when the redevelopment agreement was signed. This agreement
is going to last a minimum of 23 years (life of the TIF), but chances
are this agreement is going to last well into the future of the
racetrack development itself."
"What we do not want is for
them going out there and construct things at will without the City at
least knowing what is going on or what the master plan is. What
we have done now is that we have agreed on the redevelopment agreement
in language and now what we have come to is this drawing. The City has
a letter from the engineer to Randy Hellyer stating that this drawing
will be in front of the City Council within 30 days. Basically that is
the final leg on the journey to the signing of the redevelopment
agreement."
Koos said the City Administrator has planned for a
Zoning Board meeting and a Public Works Committee to review this
forthcoming drawing to make sure that they see no major conflicts or
problems before the agreement is signed. and hopes that by the second
council meeting in September the redevelopment agreement and drawing is
sitting here and ready to be signed.
In response to a question
by Julia Voss of the Woodford County Journal, Koos said that the map
drawings will be available for public inspection.
Gene Oncken
asked when the City Council signs the agreement will the public know if
the money flows. Koos responded that we will not know where they are on
the money when the agreement is signed. They have until March 1, 2007
to come up with the money.
Public comments on unlicensed vehicles
Gene Oncken told the council that just about every day he sees golf
carts and unlicensed vehicles on the streets in Minonk. He asked the
Mayor if the City passed an ordinance allowing this.
Mayor Koos
responded absolutely not. Koos said they are not licensed
vehicles and he will address this and have the City Administrator
address it with the Chief of Police. He added, "If it does not have a
license on it, it is not legal. Those little scooters can be on a
sidewalk and I would strongly recommend that they should have helmets
on when riding those things."
Oncken also asked the Mayor if
tickets will be issued stating that his son received a ticket 1 ½ years
ago for $75 and he paid it. Mayor Koos responded that the issuing
of tickets is at the on-duty officer’s discretion and are issued
according to the law.
Larry Hill asked the Mayor does this
include lawn mowers and lawn maintenance equipment and Koos replied
no. Chief of Police Nick Cavera said that vehicles must have
headlights and taillights and be licensed.
John Oncken
said he saw a child probably ten years old on a Go-cart type of
vehicle in the Builta Addition to which Mayor Koos replied was also not
legal. Vernon Matter said that the parents should be given the ticket
for these illegal vehicles.
Mayor Koos said that he has not observed any golf carts on the street.
City Administrator Comments
Reported that the Bakery sidewalk project is complete except for re-seeding.
Reported that the Westside Park Gazebo sidewalk project is complete.
Reported that the 3rd Street extension project has been completed and is open.
Reported the hiring of Karl Ladtkow as a part-time police officer. He has 7 years experience and is PTI qualified.
Reported that the summer help would be returning to school before the next meeting and that they did a great job.
Other news
Mayor Koos reported that Steve White has resigned from the Recreation
Board. The council approved the nomination of Roger Gaspardo to
replace White on the Rec Board.