Just how much of a raise should Carlinville’s elected officials receive? That was the question at Monday night’s Carlinville City Council meeting.

The council agreed to revisit the pay ordinance at its next meeting.
At its April 21 meeting, the council approved a pay ordinance which included raises for aldermen and the mayor. Starting with the next election, aldermen’s salary will increase from $200 to $400 a month, with their stipend increasing from $400 to $500 a year.

The mayor would also have his salary increase from $225 a week to $300 a week, with a bump in stipend from $100 to $200 a month.
But since that meeting, some of the council members had second thoughts about passing such a salary increase. “Some of us thought that the increase was excessive,” said Alderwoman Elaine Brockmeier. “We are doubling our salary when times are tough.”
Brian Mitchell agreed. “That bothered me,” he told his fellow council members, “that we doubled it.”

But Alderman Lea Hudson disagreed with the two, saying that because of all the work done by council members, there was a need for a salary increase. “It’s painfully small,” she said. “I think for all the work that council members have to do, even if you doubled the salary to $400 a month, it’s still not enough.”

John Malin added that increasing salaries would help Carlinville continue to attract qualified people to run for office. “It is critical to bring Carlinville the best people forward to serve on the city council,” he said. “Right now, the current pay scale is not the best – that’s why we approved the raise.”

Both Hudson and Alderman Randy Ober agreed. City attorney Will Hebron told the council, “You all are underpaid for all of the work you do.”

Most of the council, however, were willing to revisit the pay ordinance, voting 7-3 to reconsider the matter.

Alderman Norm Semrock compared Carlinville’s salaries to other nearby cities. “Staunton council members receive $140 a month and no expenses,” he said. “However, we have a lot more committees. Litchfield’s aldermen receive $250 a month, but they don’t have many outside committee meetings. Certainly, there is a difference in the amount of time we spend in committees.”

Carlinville is also considering redistricting the city, reducing in size from five wards to four. According to Hudson, that could also increase the work load in the future for council members.

“We are looking at going from 10 aldermen to eight,” she said. “That means a lot more work for the council.”

Semrock suggested the council consider going back to the original salary, leaving aldermen at $200 a month with $400 expenses. Most of the council, however did indicate they were in favor of some increase – just not double.

“I think we need to raise the salary,” Mitchell said, “but I just don’t want to double it.”

At first, the council wanted to send the matter back to Finance/Economic Committee to work out details. But Semrock wanted the council to make the decision. “What do you expect the committee to do,” he asked. “I don’t know what that would solve because the council needs to decide.”

The council ended up deciding to table the matter until May 19. Mayor Bob Schwab suggested that, in the future, the council pass two pay ordinances – one for employees and one for elected officials.

There was also discussion over redistricting. Hudson, who serves on an ad hoc committee, wanted to get the council’s input. “Apparently there might be a few second thoughts on the council toward redistricting now,” she said. “There’s a lot of work that has to be done, and I don’t think the committee should move forward without a consensus by the council.”

Mitchell seemed to think the timing was not ideal for the city. “I’m just not sure if this is the best time to go from 10 members to eight members on the council,” he said. “I’m not saying I’m dead opposed to it, just not sure we should move forward now.”

But Hudson was surprised any council members would object to moving forward. “I don’t understand why anyone would be opposed,” she answered. “We are going to have to redistrict sooner or later – this is the right thing to do.”

Hudson pointed out there were problems with uneven ward sizes, especially with all the recent additions to Carlinville. “Ward 1 was huge,” she said, “and that was before we added Oakbrook and Taggert. Our districts are not equal in size.”

Alderman Robert “Sonny” Albertine countered that Ward 4 was even bigger than the First Ward. Mitchell agreed, suggesting the council consider leaving things as they were for the present.

“But we need to do something with Oakbrook and Taggert,” Malin added.

The council agreed to have the committee continue working on redistricting. Their goal is to have everything in place by November, so anyone wishing to file for next year’s election would have all the information.

There was an update on the proposed new hospital north of town. Carlinville Area Hospital CEO Ken Reid, along with engineer Alan Oertel, talked about the water and sewage needs for the replacement facility.

Plans call for a 12-inch water main connecting city water from the intersection of Shad Road and Route 4, down along Shad Road to North Broad. The line would connect to an 8-inch server down to an existing 6-inch line in a residential neighborhood.

About 2,100 linear feet of 12-inch line would be needed at $50 per foot for an estimated cost of $105,000; 1,350 feet of 8-inch line (at $35 a foot) would run $47,000 for a total cost of $152,000.

As for the sewer, there are some problems. The nearest manhole is in a residential area to the south, but is too shallow. The hospital proposes putting in a sanitary lift station compatible with other stations in the city. Two submersible pumps would be used, and the station would be placed 16 feet down.

Originally, plans called for 700 feet of 4-inch forced main at a cost of $14,000. However, if the lift station were moved to catch any future development, 1,500 feet of line would be needed for a cost of $30,000.

Carlinville has budgeted money for the hospital project. Oertel did explain that, if the city bid out the project, it could possibly receive a better price. In addition, the city could decide whether to connect the water and sewer to future projects.

“We would love to see a written commitment from the city sometime in the near future,” Reid told the council.

At this point, the hospital has applied for a certificate of need permit, and is in the 120-day review process. Groundbreaking was set for September-October, and Reid hoped the city would have its work completed by December.