City of Kewanee City Council met Oct. 15.
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
Chris ColomerCouncil 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 September 23rd, 2019 Council Meeting, payroll for the pay period ending September 28th, 2019 in the amount of $201,708.08, Reports from Police and Community Development, Fill the Boot rescheduled for October 25th, Request from Tavern on Beach, and SMO Hayrack Ride. Request made by Council Members to have the Tavern on the Beach request removed from consent agenda and discussed in the agenda portion of the meeting a motion made by Council Member Yaklich and seconded by Council Member Komnick. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed. Remaining consent agenda items were passed in a motion made by Council Member Komnick and seconded by Council Member Colomer. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.
Bills submitted for approval totaling $875,616.40 were approved on a motion made by Council Member Colomer and seconded by Council Member Faber. Council Member Faber had a question on Propane Tank for the forklift. Council Member Yaklich had a question about a bill for the Viaduct and the engineer costs. City Manager Bradley explain we had a bib opening and the City went with the recommended lowest bid. Yaklich asked if we have gotten Weaver or Swanson involved to help with any of these costs. City Manager stated that the Mayor has reached out to Dan Swanson and that they had discussed this in Springfield with legislators in May. Council Mayor Colomer asked if we could get a follow up. Mayor Moore explained he is receiving some help to get this facilitated. Council Member Colomer reiterated that the Rherig bill was for the trash containers. Council Member Yaklich asked about Ed’s Heating for the connecting of the water at Good’s. A motion made by Council Member Komnick and seconded by Council Member Colomer. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION
Mayor Moore then asked if anyone wished to speak regarding a non-agenda item.
•Carl Tanzillo was curious about some pot holes that will need to be filled before winter. Mayor Moore let him know that Advel Court was on the agenda to please stick around.
•Betty Dorsey stepped up to discuss the recent dog shooting. Betty stated that she feels the body camera must have been shut off or they are not showing the whole video in the TV. She stated as she was heading home that there were children playing in the street and she stated she feels she is being called a liar in regards to the events that she saw. Betty stated she mislead the police and when asked if she saw the dog.she stated she had not seen the dog even though she had. Betty stated she is not happy that the comment in the news media that there were no kids and she stated she is not a liar. She believes that animal control needs to be brought back to the City. Mayor Moore stated he was sorry that something made her feel that she was not speaking the truth but he could not state if the video was cut short or not. Council Member Yaklich stated that our police officers are very well trained and he would back up that officer in his actions. Mayor Moore stated additional information that the officer had may have also been involved in his decision making. Council Member Colomer stated we can watch and re-watch that video and not to second guess that officer decision until you are in the situation. Mayor More reiterated that this is strictly a judgment call that we have no right to have an opinion on. Betty finished with a suggestion that our officers have more training. Member of the audience out of camera or mic shot stated a warning shot should have been shot. Mayor Moore explained that warning shots are illegal and could not have helped this situation. Mayor Moore asked if anyone else would like to step up.
•Trisha Folzs stepped up to simply state that she was not here to make and accusations. Trisha stated that everyone made great points but she was concerned on why the officer was yelling at the dog so aggressively. She would also like to see animal control in her community. She feels the police officers are frustrated with animal calls. Looking at the bills why can we not set aside some funds to get animal control in this community. Trisha stated that there is an obvious need to animal calls due to a report she read from the Kewanee Police Department. Council Member Colomer simply stated that the budget this year was very hard and hard decisions were made. Funding is a Chief Troy stepped up to give a more detailed and recent report on calls that pertained to animal calls.
NEW BUSINESS
Tavern on Beach event scheduled on November 2nd was explained in more detail by Matt. With no further question by council a motion made by Council Member Colomer and seconded by Council Member Komnick. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.
Discussion of Recreational Cannabis was started by City Manager Bradley. Started with we all know this will be legal January 1st 2020. We need to open a discussion with this as something we won’t or are we completed opposed with this. We need to get an idea of what everyone is thinking before we draft an ordinance. Mayor Moore stated that we definitely need more information to make an educated decision. Possibly reach out to neighboring communities. Either way it will be here we just need to be proactive to decided where we stand. Council Member Komnick stated that with his minor research he has done.it all falls back on the community and what they want. Mayor Moore stated maybe setting up a public forum to get the education out and see what they feel the benefits are compared to the cons. Council Member Yaklich asked the chief about having open alcohol on the streets compared to smoking a big doobie walking down the sidewalk. Chief Ainley stated what he has read you cannot have it in public, and with no city ordinance we would have to write a ticket on a state statute. Council Member Yaklich brought up years ago when the question of gambling was brought before them. This is the same situation.there could be benefits for the city with income.but do we want the income compared to reality that may come with it. Justin spoke up with after a meeting with multiple people…we do have a sample ordinance that we can reference. Justin has had conversations with Keith on zoning…Gary Bradley with radius around potential areas. But after discussion we need not to spend any more man hours in developing options if this was a hard pass. Mayor Moore stated research is defiantly needed. City Manager Bradley stated if economics is the guiding factor we may not be in the running. It would go to bigger cities. Council Member Yaklich spoke up with more concerns that we will be inviting more people here for cannabis only then he is against it at this point. Even with the potential of the revenue. Chief Ainley stated there are many restrictions on cannabis and no matter what its coming and we will have to deal with it. Council Member Faber stated do we want the people coming here to buy it. One comment made is that we need to realize this will not be criminals buying this. Chief Ainley suggested to read up on the facts. City Manager Bradley stated we could put together a community forum at a local school for its seating capacity. Justin stated that we need to educate the public and our residents. If we can have an intelligent conversation whether pro or con…we need to have a presentation on the rules. Matt from Tavern on Beach stepped up just to basically say that the state sends our letters and brochures every week to reassure that they are on top of this to protect the alcohol industry and make sure the laws and rules are fair. Council Member Colomer stated simply we need education and community involvement to go forward.
Discussion of Changes to Medicaid Reimbursement Rates we brought up by Chief Shook. There are some changes that could allow the city to get more of a reimbursement from transportations of patients with Medicare and Medicaid patients. Currently we billed $186,910.00 and received only $ 29,000.00 back in reimbursement. This doesn’t even cover the cost. This new plan will allow us to get a higher pay out and may be a bit more paperwork. With just a few numbers that I put together…we could stand to increase the revenue by $98k and this only if this is approved at the federal level. The funding has been approved. One downfall is there will be more paperwork to submit to the state. An intergovernmental agreement would have to be passed basically stated we will reimburse the federal government and not just run with the funds. Colomer asked that we have the resources to get this put together in time. Chief Shook stated as soon as Debbie gets back from vacation they have set aside some time to get the numbers put together. The final option is to continue the way we have always done things but hate to lose those funds if its only paperwork. Yaklich was concerned about depreciation of our ambulances that we will have to report to the government compared to replacement. Komnick stated yes it’s a big hurdle to get the numbers to them in a short time…but this is a benefit. Mayor also agreed that the man hours are with the potential pay out.
Discussion of Advel Court. City Manager Bradley stated that we have a petition signed by all the residents that the city prepared with verbiage including special assessment costs, legal notices, recording fees and any additional fees to get the road up to an acceptable standard. It stated approx. $216.00 per household per year for a matter of 10 years. Council Member Yaklich asked who and where did we get the assessment from since we have no City Engineer. Bradley stated this actually was prepared by our old City Engineer Dale before he left. The estimate has monies set aside for pot hole repairs. legal fees and etc. Bradley stated this is a basic street repair. Mayor Moore asked if there was anyone on Advel against this petition. Colomer was concerned about the unexpected costs…Bradley stated we have this written with a contingency and the cost will be covered. This is an estimate and not locked in at a set price. At this time Bradley stated he is looking for direction to get the special assessment started. We general consensus we can get a survey started and move forward.
OTHER BUSINESS
Council Member Faber started with the events coming up this weekend. Plenty of things to fill you time. City wide cleanup, 50’s 60’s dance and Bakersville. A question was taken to Keith to make sure that residents that may have trouble getting items to the city wide cleanup they can just call and we will be over to pick those items up. Keith stated correct.just need a call and address.
Council Member Colomer is excited about Bakersville. Come out.
Council Member Komnick also plugged Bakersville and encouraged everyone to come out.
Council Member Yaklich stated to be careful this weekend. Lots of leaves falling…come out to Bakersville and I appreciate Carl for working so hard for the people o your street and getting Advel Court taken care of.
Mayor Moore stated 3 students from local school received all conference in cross country. Congratulations.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
•Transfer Station will be closed on Saturdays except to paying customers on October 19th from8-12 for Cleanup Days
•Cemetery Cleanup will be October 20th-30th
•Trash carts are to be pulled back from street to property within 24 hours of trash pickup and not left at roadside
•Trick or Treat will be on October 31st from 5-7pm
•Read Burn Notice to reiterate the rules and determination on the day
•There is a drug take-back planned for City Hall for October 26th, 2019 in the lobby of the city hallbuilding12
http://www.cityofkewanee.com/government/city_council/agendas_and_minutes/index.php
Alerts Sign-up