Registry to speed emergency help for those with disabilities

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MARSEILLES – Local police are initiating a safety program to assist residents living with disabilities, and to aid law enforcement officers in answering their calls.

“It’s a voluntary program, beneficial to people in Marseilles,” Mayor Jim Trager told the City Council during the regular bi-monthly meeting Wednesday evening. “It’s a good idea, and it won’t cost the city a whole lot of money.”

The Illiniois Premise Alert Program supports individuals with disabilities, and police officers responding to calls at specific addresses.

Premise Alert is a database of information on individuals with special needs. The information is kept in a computer dispatch database maintained by public safety agencies like police and first responders.

Families or individuals may voluntarily notify police and first responders, free of charge, about their special circumstances.

The information supplied to the database will remain strictly confidential, and be used only to provide assistance to emergency medical responders and police.

Residents who take part in the program are to understand, however, that providing special needs information to the database will not result in preferential treatment.

Those who wish to participate are to contact the Marseilles Police Department at (815) 795-2132 for information on adding their information to the program.

The state supported Premise Alert Program was signed into law by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn in late August.

In other business Tuesday evening, the council:

• Placed on file a 25-year franchise agreement with Illinois Power Company (AmerenIP) to maintain the electrical supply system in the city of Marseilles.

The deadline for approval is February 2010. The agreement will be on file at the Marseilles City Hall for public inspection.

• Thanked the Ralph Mathius family of Marseilles for the memorial bench installed at Shehorn Park, just east of the Freedom Wall at the Illinois River on South Main Street.

“The city is very appreciative of those who do these things,” Trager said, noting the bench was a $1,500 investment on the part of the family.

• Encouraged churches, civic organizations and other groups to utilize the city’s Web site for announcements of upcoming events, especially with the holiday season approaching.

• Approved the resolution releasing the city’s easement and interest in pollution control equipment at the former Illinois Nitrogen plant, now the Agrium Company.

Trager said the equipment was removed from the building in 1996, but the easement was not canceled at that time. Tuesday’s action by the council creates a clear title for the current owners of the business.

• Approved the ordinance authorizing the Minimum-Maximum Contribution Agreement for city employees participating in the municipality’s health care insurance program.

Finance Commissioner Bob Davis noted the agreement saves the city about $30,000 annually in insurance premiums.

• Learned the Broadway Street repavement project is expected to be completed before  Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 26.

• Noted cleanup on the Illinois and Michigan Canal has been slowed because of the many rainy days in October.

• Learned the Illinois Department of Transportation is mandating the city to inspect the Washington Street walkway bridge for possible erosion under the structure. The inspection – for which the city will not be reimbursed – will be between $500 and $1,500, City Engineer Mike Etscheid told the council
 

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