Lebanon City Council

By Sean Ditch
The Lebanon City council met on Monday, February 13th at 6:30 PM to continue discussing the need of a police officer on duty at both of Lebanon’s Jr. and Sr. High Schools from last month’s meeting. Lebanon Police Chief David Roth shared viewpoints of how a SRO would be beneficial for the school, the town and most importantly the kids in school. The council voted unanimously to hire a SRO officer for the schools, with the decision coming from Chief Roth. The New SRO will begin training for the position in May of this year, and the training will come at the cost of the Lebanon Police Department. 

The Plan Commission had a recommendation to the council, requesting an addition to the building on 108 E St. Louis St. as well as a temporary sign out front of the same building. The council voted unanimously in approval for both recommendations of the Plan Commission.

McKendree Cross Country athlete Isaac Winter proposed to discuss a new order of business for the upcoming McKendree 5K Run in Lebanon. The proposed plan by Winter was asking for city approval to change the route for the 5K, opting to include more of St. Louis St. in downtown Lebanon, turning north on Pearl Street before a long stretch on Monroe. The route would no longer include running around Horner Recreation Park. Winter expressed it would be beneficial for the town to change the route to include more of downtown Lebanon, in order to better display downtown Lebanon to those running or watching who are not from or familiar with the city. In discussion surrounding the change of route, alderpersons and Winter discussed how the change in route may affect residential areas, and potential need of more barricades for the runners, as well as possible detour routes for drivers. Another concern was those parked on the residential stretch on Monroe and Pearl Streets. The council voted unanimously on approving the change of route on conditions of McKendree University having volunteers for the event, and giving prior notice to residents affected by the new route of the scheduled 5k run, as well as keeping communication open should any future amendments need to be made for the route of the 5k.

The next Lebanon City Council Meeting will take place on Monday, February 27th at 6:30 PM.