Bohanan says Farmington job eliminated
By JEFF LAMPE
For The Weekly Post
FARMINGTON – City Administrator Bettina Bohanan did not attend Monday’s meeting of the Farmington City Council and was not in her office on Tuesday.
That’s no accident, according to Bohanan.
“To my knowledge, my position was eliminated,” Bohanan said Tuesday. “That’s all the further comment I have at this moment.”
Farmington Mayor Kenn Stufflebeam had no comment.
Bohanan was hired Jan. 3, 2023, after longtime City Administrator Rollen Wright retired. A Canton resident, Bohanan was selected from a field of three candidates.
There was no discussion of Bohanan’s position in open session at Monday’s meeting.
The council went into closed session for about 13 minutes, but upon returning said only that it had approved compensation increases for some city employees. Stufflebeam said increases varied by employee and details will be released after the staff is informed.
“It’s only fair we tell employees before they read in in the paper,” he said.
In regards to personnel, Stufflebeam said the city is hiring Logan Van Middlesworth as a new member of the public-works department.
The council also voted to maintain the same sewer rates for 2025-28, even though the Farmington Sanitary District is raising the rates it charges the city.
“We realize that people are struggling to pay their sewer bills already and we feel we can absorb the increase,” Stufflebeam said.
Much of that increase will apparently be funded through fees charged to residents who are late paying their sewer bill.
Rates for 2025-28 will remain a $26.89 monthly user fee and $8 per 1,000 gallons of water consumed. The minimum charge for sewer service for users who have no meter or a dead meter will remain $54.17.
Farmington will have new street signs soon, after the council agreed to pay $3,344.05 for a total of 35 30-inch signs and 60 24-inch signs from JTC Traffic Safety.
Moving forward, Stufflebeam said the plan is to keep a stock of signs on hand as future replacements.
Also approved were ordinances for TIF payments to The Smalltown Circus, LLC, of $2,175 for renovation of its business located at 35 N. Main St. and to Anderson-Sedgwick Funeral Home, Inc., for $3,915 to repair and sealcoat the business parking lot at 341 E. Fort St.
The council also OK’d $100 donations to the Farmington High School trap-shooting team, the Farmington Elementary School Golf Scramble fundraiser and to the Spoon River Valley FOP Lodge 427 golf outing.
Streaming of Monday’s meeting was not successful on YouTube. Stufflbeam said the city is creating a new YouTube channel for meetings. It will be called “Farmington Illinois Council Meetings.” This was not the first time the city has had problems with its Owl Labs meeting camera.
Finally, the council will hold a special meeting on April 30 at 7 p.m. to discuss and pass a new budget for Fiscal Year 2025.
