Wednesday, April 8, 2009 10:00 PM CDT
Charleston council allowing first Lake Island lease to expire
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rsttroud@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — The City Council on Tuesday approved a termination agreement for a lease on the Lake Island Tract, beginning the scheduled 2009 termination of all the tract leases.
The council also heard an informational presentation regarding plans for a community health clinic adjacent to the Life Links mental health facility in Mattoon.
Regarding the Lake Island Tract, the city will pay $3,000 to Richard and Dorothy Swartzbaugh as part of a termination agreement for a lease they hold at the bottom of the hill.
The Swartzbaughs will keep the small house at the site until April 15, and then the city will take possession. Mayor John Inyart said Wednesday that the city will likely demolish the house as early as possible.
A previous City Council decided in 1992 to let all the leases expire in 2009. The current council had an advisory committee and the zoning board review the expiration dates. Both groups, albeit not unanimously, recommended letting the leases expire without renewal and the council took this recommendation.
The Swartzbaugh lease is the first to be terminated at the city-owned tract as part of a plan to end the remaining handful of leases there.
Richard Swartzbaugh estimated he and his wife have held the lease for more than 25 years and have primarily used the site for rentals.
“Never again will I agree to buy a building where I don’t own the land. This has been sort of a tale of woe for a number of years that we do not own the land,” Swartzbaugh said, adding he is not sure they made much rental income off of the lease.
Regarding the clinic, the council heard a presentation from representatives of the Coles County Community Health Program.
Board President Mike Murray said the group plans to open a community clinic in collaboration with Life Links to serve those who have low incomes and no health insurance. He said this federally qualified facility would have a sliding fee schedule and work with state and federal human service programs.
The Community Health Program needs to raise nearly $600,000 to open the clinic and is about 60 percent of the way toward this goal, Murray said.
“It should be self-sustaining once the facility starts to operate,” said Dr. Robert Good, a board member with the health program.
Murray said the clinic would be modeled after and associated with the Community Health Improvement Center in Decatur, which operates the satellite Frances Nelson Health Center in Champaign.
In other matters, the council authorized a $62,500 settlement with the city’s former insurance carrier, Selective Insurance, regarding a lawsuit.
Mary Brumleve sued the city and a former police officer in connection with the 2005 accident that killed her husband, Ralph Brumleve. Brumleve died at the scene and the other driver died later at the hospital.
The suit alleged the officer could have prevented the accident because he met with the driver just before it took place and should have realized her intoxicated state meant she should not have been driving.
Other council actions included:
- Authorizing an agreement with Variety Attractions for country star Chuck Wicks to perform July 4 at Red, White & Blue Days.
- Rezoning Meadows I Apartments, 1401 Jackson Ave., and Meadows II, 2100 E. Madison Ave. from commercial to limited multifamily dwelling use.
- Modifying part of The Fields planned unit development, between Arthur and Garfield avenues, to allow for three one-story buildings, each containing five units, instead of two one-and-a-half story buildings at the site, each containing eight apartments. The number of total apartments would decrease from 16 to 15.
-Authorizing use of $300,000 in federal stimulus money to help resurface sections of five streets.
- Awarding the 2009/10 Charleston City Roads Scholarships’ tuition waivers to 16 renewing recipients and nine new recipients, with two alternates in place. The waivers are for Eastern Illinois University.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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Responsible Party wrote on Apr 9, 2009 3:03 PM:
I see a big lawsuit in the near future--especially if the city plans to force a disabled, feisty veteran onto the streets...and if there is any truth to the rumored back door dirty dealing of this property for luxury housing, I see that veteran becoming the owner of a big chunk of this city. "