City of Kewanee City Council met Sept. 9.
Here is the minutes provided by the council:
The City Council met in Council Chambers at 7:00 PM with the Mayor calling the meeting to order and the following answering to roll call:
Steve Faber Council Member
Michael Yaklich Council Member
Michael Komnick Council Member
Gary Moore Mayor
News media present was as follows:
Mike Helenthal Star Courier
Sean Kernan WKEI
The Pledge of Allegiance was said.
Mayor Moore asked for a moment of silence for our troops still fighting overseas.
Mayor Moore explained that the next items were placed on the consent agenda and were considered to be routine in nature to be passed as a whole with one vote of the Council. Mayor Moore requested that any member of the Council or the audience wishing to have an item removed from the consent agenda for individual consideration to make the request and the item would be removed and considered following the approval of the remaining consent items. The consent agenda included minutes from the August 26th, 2019 Council Meeting, payroll for the pay period ending August 31st, 2019 in the amount of $210,011.66, Road closure in front of #25 Edgewood Dr. for a small block party of approx. 30 people, Tag day request by Good Fellow's Christmas Basket Club for the dates of October18-19 from 9am-5pm, Kiwanis Club of Kewanee will be having their peanut day on October 4th and 5th. The consent agenda items were approved on a motion made by Council Member Faber and seconded by Council Member Komnick. Council Member Yaklich stated that we did receive a list of the neighbors and their signatures for the small block party. Council Member Komnick stated that the buckle in the road should have stated it was on Tenney road. Council Member Yaklich also corrected the misspelling of the word concurred in the minutes and stated the dollars for household should have read $85.00 not $74.00. Roll call showed 4 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.
Bills submitted for approval totaling $126,753.02 were approved on a motion made by Council Member Yaklich and seconded by Council Member Komnick. Council Member Yaklich had a question on The Proform Inc bill and what the White Canary description was for. City Clerk Jones stated that they were for water billing stock paper. Council Member Yaklich also wanted clarification that the State Bank of Toulon description was remaining balance. Roll call showed 4 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
Mayor Moore then asked if anyone wished to speak regarding a non-agenda item. No participation
NEW BUSINESS
Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing to award repairs of the culvert at the 100 block of Fischer Ave. to M.E.R.C Construction a motion made by Council Member Faber and seconded by Council Member Yaklich. Council Member Yaklich asked Rod Johnson if this will get the job done. Rod Johnson stated that they are currently waiting on a part but he does anticipate the work being done by the end of this week. Mayor Moore stated that he drove by and was surprised how much that tube was tore up. Rod Johnson stated that was due to debris. Council Member Yaklich asked about potentially getting a grate for the end of the tube to help prevent that debris issue. Rod Johnson stated he could look into that. Motion passed with 4 ayes and no nays.
Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing an agreement with M.E.R.C. Construction Inc. of Wyoming Illinois for the 2019 Sidewalk improvements program a motion made by Council Member Komnick and seconded by Council Member Faber. Council Member Yaklich asked why we are doing this and what the budget for sidewalks were for this year. City Manager Bradley state that we are required by the ADA to address the sidewalks and the approaches after we have completed road work on an intersection. This is in correlation with the General Maintenance street improvements done this year. Council Member Yaklich confirmed this is different than using the MFT money and City Manager Bradley stated we are using our non Home Rule Sales Tax Funds, as budgeted for. Council Member Yaklich asked if this was part of East Street Funds and City Manager Bradley stated these were separate funds. City Manager Bradley was able to get Council Member Yaklich a number of approximately $73,000 for the cost. Motion passed with 4 ayes and no nays.
Consideration of a Request from the YMCA of Kewanee to waive a portion of sewer charges a motion made by Council Member Faber and seconded by Council Member Yaklich. Council Member Faber asked if this was a process done about every 5-7 year. Jill stated that the pool was emptied and re-painted. Council Member Yaklich asked how many times since the pool has been put in have they had to do this. Jill responded that the pool was installed in 1997 and they were able to wait 7 years the first time.6 years the next time and every 5 years the last 2 times. Council Member Yaklich asked Jill what we had done for them in the past. Jill stated they have always paid the bill in full but she had watched a meeting and saw that we had given a break to the Park District when they had a similar situation and decided to try and ask. Mayor Moore stated we did waive the sewer portion for the Park District and stated they are just as important of a role in our community. Council Member Yaklich asked where does the water go when it is drained. Jill stated the water goes through the storm sewer not the treatment plant.
We do fill it from the hydrant by Visitation. It was stated that we give a similar break to the school district for the school and their soccer field. Motion passed with 4 ayes and no nays.
OTHER BUSINESS
Council Communications:
Council Member Faber started by saying Hog Days was a great success and very well ran.
Council Member Komnick wanted to echo Council Member Faber's comment by saying a huge thank you to all that had a part in putting this festival together. Also wanted to say that he has received more comments and compliments on East Street and the painting of the lines. Landscaping is top notch.
Council Member Yaklich also had great things to say about East Street and the landscaping. The streets downtown had a few concerns on why they were painted and then paved over and repainted. City Manager Bradley stated that this was just a communication error within the staff. Council Member Yaklich asked for an update on the Boiler shop. City Manager Bradley stated he would reach out to the county and the state tomorrow and see if they have heard anything or made any progress. We have not received and updates. Rod Johnson stated he was just getting back from vacation and just today there was a message from the Health Department. Mr. Johnson stated he did meet with someone about getting an estimate for the well to get it fixed but that is as far as that has gone. Yaklich asked Justin to see if we could hold an executive session with Bock Inc. to go over and discuss their contract and have discussion. Council Member Yaklich stated he is aware they do not want to come in front of the board and get grilled but he feels they would be willing to talk about the sludge debacle. Justin stated he could not think of an exception that would allow that. Justin would look it up really quick to get an answer but off the cuff the answer would be no. Faber and Yaklich went back and forth on simple questions that have not been answered. While Justin read the open meetings act, Yaklich asked Debbie Johnson why we are having late payments to the Illinois Department of Revenue. Debbie stated that this should be the last time this should happen. There was a missed date on a previous payment and past the grace period. While they were waiting for Justin, Faber asked Chief Ainley to come up and give a brief report on the Hog Days. Chief Ainley stated it was very quiet compared to the years in the past. One small disturbance but resulted in no arrests. Chief Ainley stated the presence of the Police was strong and the Monday children's day was a big success. Justin was able to find the information that a closed meeting with Bock Inc. would not meet the exclusions allowed for under the Open Meetings Act, but he can continue to look into it deeper.
Mayor Moore wanted to express his gratitude on how well the Hog Days was ran this year. The downtown entertainment and events had the most attendance he had seen in years and were very well ran. He also wanted to mention the Fill the Boot with the Fire Department on September 27th from 3-6 at multiple locations. The Mayor encourages citizens to help support their Fill the Boot initiative. Mayor Moore stated that as he ran for election Solar Power was high on his priority list and he wanted to assure the citizens that he is actively working with Sun Pin to continue the progress. It's exciting and multiple locations would benefit from this project and he hopes to have more information in the future.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: the 14th and the 28th will be the last Saturdays for the transfer station to be open.
There being no further business, Council Member Faber moved to adjourn the meeting and Council Member Yaklich seconded the motion. Roll call showed 4 ayes, no nays. The meeting adjourned at 7:32 PM.
http://www.cityofkewanee.com/APPROVED%20COUNCIL%20MEETING%20MINUTES%2019-17.docx.pdf
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