Tagged: Tim Lobdell

There are contested races for three of the four seats up for election on the Macomb City Council.

Second Ward Alderwoman Kay Hill will be challenged by Steven Wailand. Hill was appointed to the seat two years ago. Wailand is a student at Western Illinois University.

The race in the new fifth ward pits two incumbent city council members against one another. Clay Hinderliter represents the current seventh ward while Tim Lobdell is the sixth ward alderman. A third candidate – David Dunn – has also filed in the fifth ward.

A proposal that would have allowed people to raise chickens in Macomb laid an egg. A clear majority of the city council opposed the idea during the November 26 Committee of the Whole meeting.

“If we open this door, then the next thing you know it’s pot-bellied pigs or llamas. Now’s the time to stop that, right now,” said Third Ward Alderman Lou Gilbert.

Sixth Ward Alderman Tim Lobdell said he erred during an exchange with City Administrator Dean Torreson.  

The exchange during the June 18 City Council meeting concerned eight structures that are to be torn down as part of the city's Fix or Flatten program.

Torreson said he would ask contractors to submit a single bid for demolishing all eight. Lobdell contended that aldermen directed Torreson to seek bids on each individual structure. He said that direction was given the previous week during an executive session.

There are plenty of streets in need of repair in Macomb and the city council is now looking at options to pay for the work.

Aldermen this week discussed whether to issue bonds.  Sixth Ward Alderman Tim Lobdell said he's debated the idea for a while and now believes it's the city's best solution.

“I hope we see the long-term value in this. You're talking capital projects. They're going to be used in the future. Those people should be paying the interest debt on them in the future as well,” Lobdell said.