City of Kewanee City Council met Sept. 26.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The Council Meeting was called to order at 6:00PM. 5 Members of the City Council were present.
Motion to go into a Closed Session was made by Councilmember Faber, seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Motion passed 5-0.
Motion to adjourn to Open Session was made by Councilmember Colomer, seconded by Councilmember Baker. Motion passed 5-0.
Open Session was called to order at 7:00PM.
The Consent agenda included the following items:
A. Payroll for the pay period ending September 10th in the amount of $228,708.40
B. Minutes from the Council Meeting on September 12th and Work Sessions on August 29th and September 19th
C. Reports from Bock, Inc.
Motion made by Councilmember Komnick to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Councilmember Faber. Discussion: None. Motion Passed 5-0.
• Bills were presented in the amount of $557,660.62
Motion made by Councilmember Faber to approve the bills, seconded by
Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Councilmember Colomer asked for clarification/update on the SCBAS and was updated by Captain Stout. He also questioned the training for Locis 8. The City Manager let him know that was for the staff’s training on the updated software. The payment for Dorman Trucking was for the sludge hauling. Councilmember Komnick questioned the payments for Vision software. Kevin Newton explained that we are currently on a month to month contract rather than a yearly while he figures out some of the sanitation projects. Motion passed 5-0.
• Public Comments: Joel Hasse came forward and stated that he appreciated that we updated the slogan in the Chambers. He also checked the website and noted some of the updates the City Manager shared with him previously but that it is still out of date. He is pleased with the upcoming crime discussion and would like to see people from the state present to share information as well.
• Promotion: Eric Peed was promoted to Patrol Sergeant and received his new Shield. New Business:
A. Consideration of Resolution #5362 ratifying the purchase of two dump trucks to be used in the Public Works Department. Motion was made by Councilmember Faber, seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: Mayor Moore asked what would be done with the old trucks. Kevin Newton said they would probably be declared excess and would be sold. Motion passed 5-0.
B. Consideration of Resolution #5363 Certifying that the City of Kewanee has sufficient resources available to complete its proposed OSLAD project as specified within the program requirements Motion was made by Councilmember Baker, seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: Councilmember verified that this was based off of information given and received at a previous Council workshop to which the City Manager confirmed. Motion passed 5-0.
C. Consideration of Resolution #5364 authorizing the execution and submittal of documents that are necessary for the ITEP Grant program and acknowledging the City’s intent to accept the award and complete its proposed project Motion was made by Councilmember Faber, seconded by Councilmember Colomer. Discussion: None. Motion passed 5-0.
D. Consideration of Resolution #5365 to affirm the Mayor’s recommendation for appointment to the Board of Trustees of the Fire Pension Fund of the City of Kewanee. Motion was made by Councilmember Komnick, seconded by Councilmember Faber. Discussion: Mayor Moore stated that Mr. Webb is interested in taking the position to better understand and serve the City. Motion passed 5-0.
E. Consideration of an Ordinance #4107 amending Chapter 91 of the City Code to allow for the keeping of hens under certain conditions. Motion was made by Councilmember Baker, seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: Mayor Moore stated that this would be a no-win situation whereas there will be unhappy people no matter the outcome. He felt that the Council had already spent time discussing the matter and should get to the vote. Councilmember Colomer agreed with both statements and stated that this would be a difficult vote. Motion Failed 2-3 with Councilmembers Baker and Komnick voting Aye.
F. Discussion on Crime Statistics and Response
• Police Chief Nick Welgat and Deputy Police Chief Stephen Kijanowski presented information regarding the idea of community policing including Neighborhood Watch Programs and a QR Code system for checking businesses. They also shared crime statistics for the current and previous years for the City of Kewanee. All the graphs and charts are available in the City Council packet for this meeting, located on the City’s website. They shared some goals for the City and Police Department in lowering crime in the community.
Mayor’s Communications: Mayor Moore wanted to compliment the Police Department on how they handled the recent threat situation at Great Dane. The plant manager asked that Mayor Moore passed on his appreciation for a job well done. Congratulations to Kewanee High School on their 2nd place finish in the Geneseo band competition as well as the Drum Majors for receiving first place. Mayor Moore attended a conference over the weekend where he was able to talk with various elected officials from the state and other municipalities. He feels that the state legislators will be working very hard for our best interests.
Council Communications:
Councilmember Baker: He thanked everyone for coming to the meeting. He also wanted to thank the Police Department for all of the work on a daily basis as well as the work they put into tonight’s discussion.
Councilmember Komnick: He mentioned attending the IML Conference recently. He went to a session that discussed being socially equitable within the community. He stated that we need a new approach regarding sidewalks and having them replaced. There are too many bad sidewalks in town that need attention. It was decided that this topic would be put on the Council agenda as a Discussion Item. Komnick also mentioned that he liked the new slogan on the Chamber wall.
Councilmember Colomer: He stated that he also attended IML and that a main take away was about budgeting and that many people don’t realize how little of the property taxes actually com to the city as well as positions on the safety tax. Colomer wanted to state that the vote concerning hens was a hard decision and that the majority of people he heard from were not for having them in the city so that was how he felt he should vote. He thanked the Chief and Deputy Chief for being forward thinking and having ideas for the community.
Councilmember Faber: He thanked everyone for coming to the meeting and thanked the Chief and Deputy Chief for their work on the presentation. He knows it is something we need to work on and he is motivated to keep the discussion and ideas coming. He also agreed with Councilmember Colomer about the hen vote.
Announcements: City Hall and the Transfer Station will be closed Monday October 10th, 2022. No landscape pick up will be done that day. Trash and recycling pick ups will remain the same. The next City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday
October 11th, 2022. The City-Wide Clean up will be held on Saturday October 15th at the old hospital site.
Motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Colomer, seconded by Councilmember Baker. Motion passed 5-0. Meeting was adjourned at 8:34PM.
http://cms5.revize.com/revize/kewanee/Minutes%2009-26-2022.pdf
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