Rock Island Today

City of Kewanee City Council met Jan. 13.

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 Colomer 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 lead by the Local Girl Scout troop 4444.

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 December 19th , 2019 Council Meeting, payroll for the pay period ending December 21st 2019 in the amount of $197,953.68 and January 4th, 2020 in the amount of $226,162.70. The consent agenda items were approved on a motion made by Council Member Komnick and seconded by Council Member Colomer. The motion passed 5 aye 0 nay.

Bills submitted for approval totaling $133,775.42 were approved on a motion made by Council Member Faber and seconded by Council Member Yaklich. Council Member Yaklich stated that he had a few questions. The interenet for the train station? What utility are we getting for that? Kevin Newton stepped up and stated that we offer the wifi for passenger visiting the train station and the Henry County Tourism also uses it. City Clerk stated that we pay half and they pay half. We charge them quarterly. The bill in regards to the Eagle recycling…do we have a plan in place to maybe come up with a plan in regards to handleing the increase in cost after the contract ends? City Manager Bradley stated that we can add that to the agenda for a future meeting an discussion. Motion passed 5 ayes no Nays.

CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:

• Gregg Hutchinson at address 517 East Division St. stepped up to let the Council know that when the snow plows came through this last snow a chunk of the curb was broken off and part of his yard was messed up. Others in the neighborhood suffered the same situation. City Manager Bradley stated that he was aware of the situation and spoke with Rod Johnson and they are aware and they will do a much better job taken care of it.

NEW BUSINESS

• Mayor wanted to Welcome the new City Engineer Scott Hinton.

• Consideration of an Ordinace #3994 Amending Section 111.19 Issuance of :icense when certain requirements are met Motion made by Council Member Colomer and seconded by Council Member Faber.no discussion.Motion passed with 5 ayes no

Nays

• Consideration of a Resolution #5196 to Award demolition at 823 Columbus Ave. to Kirk Dana Construction. Motion made by Council Member Faber seconded by Council Member Colomer. Faber stated that house was a very large job. Motion Passed 5 ayes no Nays

• Consideration of Resolution #5197 For the Purchase of a 2020 Dodge SSV Pickup truck. Motion made by Council Member Colomer seconded by Coujncil Member Faber. Council Member Yaklich asked did we request bids? How many bids did we receive and what were they. Kevin Newton stated we did get 3 bids and they were very close in cost. Council Member Faber stated he thought this flexability will work out good. Council Member Colomer asked Chief Ainley his opinion. Chief stated that after the Dodge was no longer an option they started to look at their fleet differntly. Looking more on how they can repurpose once that police truck is no longer needed in the police fleet. Council Member Faber asked what type of warranty that this truck offered. Kevin Newton stated it was 5 year or 100k miles. Council Member Komick asked if we had any idea on how many more vehicles that would be needed in the coming years. Chief Ainley stated that we will need one every year for the next few years. We have 8-9 front line vehicles and only one has less than 100k miles. Motion Passed with 5 ayes and no nays

• Consideration of a Resolution #5198 Authorizing to execute power purchase agreement disclosures formsand other documents. Motion made by Council Member Komnick and seconded by Council Member Colomer. Council Member Yaklich spoke up right away and stated he didn’t sleep Friday night. We do not so business this way. When we buy a squad car we get 3 bids.if we tear down a house we get bids. Council Member Colomer asked what we are purchasing? We are committing to buy something for 25+ years. Yaklich stated we need 2 more proposals. Yaklich stated he gave the City Manager names of companies that would be willing to give us proposals. Our process in the city when we are spending big money is to get 3 bids. We have a responsabilty to the citizens. Council Member Yaklich asked to table this Resolution until we have more quotes. Council Member Colomer spoke on the importance of acquiring this opportunity to be able to pass on the 2.2 million dollar savings. This project is here and in front of us and we can not wait. City Manager stated that he contacted Moxie Solar and emailed them to information that they would need and if they had any questions to please reach out. Without success they never called the City Manager back. City Manager stated he has worked diligently with Solar companies and just not received information back. The issue is with the amount of solar recs left and as it was stated at the last neeting.the City is not required to go through an RFP process and the City has a great understanding on how this process is going to go. This company is local and in our back yard. Council Member Colomer stated that he trusts the documents and information for the City and is willing to move forward. The savings outways the risk. Mayor Moore spoke up and stated that the numbers are not going to change we have an expert in the field. Kevin Yepsen Stepped forward and he stated there are a limited amount for Block 4 and so when these recs are gone they are gone. We just do not know and the real risk is a large box store coming in and snagging up the recs before anyone can even get their hands on them. It will only take on Target.one Walmart to come in and this will all change immediately. Council Member Yaklich stated that we have no comparables. Mayor Moore stated that he started to investigate and look into solar as soon as he was elected. Mayor Moore stated that he sought out Kevin to get the facts. At that time.there was nothing available. We brought him in to the City to help us make the best decision. Motion passed 5 ayes and no nays.

OTHER BUSINESS Council Communications

• First to go was Council Member Komnick wanted to thank you the Girl Scout troop for their guidance on the Pledge of Allegience and a Happy Birthday to Ella. The Fire and Ems ran calls 6.2 per day which seems like a lot for a town our size. But just curious if those numbers are tracked state wide? Another thing that keeps coming up to him are what about the visablity and upkeep on the lines on the roads. City Manager Bradley stated that they are hearing it too but this is not the time of year. But a plan is in motion to make sure those are taken care of. The lot on 2nd and Main St? Do we have any updates? Keith Stepped up and stated that they are working with Ratliffs and he will look into it and try to get more information on that.

• Council Member Yaklich stated that this is the first time that he has asked for a financial statement in that last 15 years. He would like a breakdown on finances, bills, audit and communications with council members. Mayor Moore stated that he would work on that. No date was given on when that will be complete.

• Council Member Faber is curious is any contact has been made to the farmers in the area for the sludge. We need those decisions soon. CM stated he has personally not spoke with farmers but he has been in contact with Bock and right now we have a larger issue with the epa. CM stated that we are working in partnership with Bock. Thank you to the GS for coming tonight and welcome Scott.

• Council Member Colomer just wanted to welcome Scott and don’t hesitate to holler if you need anything.

• Mayor Moore wanted to remind citizens that be on the look for the census heading your way. It so crucial to receive the funds that this town needs. The census is still hiring so if you are looking for a temp job this may be a job that interest you. Thank you troop 4444 for spending your evening with us. And lastely, a retired employee is going through some health issues but we want to wish him a speedy recovery.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: • none

• There being no further business, Council Member Komnick moved to adjourn the meeting and Council Member Faber seconded the motion. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The meeting adjourned at 8:20 PM.

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