Rock Island Today

City of Galva City Council met Feb. 27.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The City Council of the City of Galva met in regular session Monday, February 27, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. with Debbie VanWassenhove serving as City Clerk. Mayor Rich Volkert presided with the following Aldermen in attendance: James Hartman, Jeff Olson, Jackie Clucas, and Doug Anderson. Aldermen Hopping and Otterstrom were noted as being absent.

The meeting started with the Pledge of Allegiance.

MINUTES

Alderman Hartman made a motion and was seconded to approve the January 23, 2023 council meeting minutes. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.

BILLS AND CLAIMS

Alderman Hartman moved and was seconded that the bills and claims be approved as presented and the City Clerk is instructed to issue orders on the Treasurer’s account for the several amounts. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.

COMMUNICATIONS

Mayor Volkert reported that the City had received: January Income tax $36,347.75, December State Use tax $9,358.48, December Telecommunications tax $1,807.37, January Cannabis tax $312.50, January Video Gaming tax $3,454.66, December Sales tax $25,960.01, and January MFT $7,728.63. David Dyer stated that we are up $11,607 from last year which was a banner year.

First on the agenda was a presentation on economic development by Hometown Consultants. Cole McDaniel and Matt Fick gave the presentation. Informational packets were handed out to the council members. They talked about public and private partnerships being the key to successful economic development. Planning and zoning code enforcement are also very important. Mr. Fick talked about his background in urban planning. They discussed why having a plan for this, even if it is just on a block to block basis, is crucial, along with an updated zoning ordinance that addresses not allowing buildings to become storage units in the downtown area. They also showed some examples of things they have accomplished in Peoria Heights, Havana, and Canton. They stated that during the first year they would collect data including a comprehensive building report, and a land and asset inventory, and they would assist the city with coming up with a plan of what we want to see accomplished. They would like to see a long-term relationship with the city. The cost for the first year would be $60,000, the second year would be $50,000, and the third year would be $40,000. Alderman Anderson asked who they would report to with the city and they replied that they would communicate with everyone but mostly the council and David and each quarter would come in and make a report. We could also set up an advisory group to keep everyone updated. Shawn Kendall, local business owner, asked out of the businesses they have helped how many were new businesses and how many were existing, Mr. McDaniel replied about ½, and that they have also had a lot of expansion projects as well. Alderman Clucas asked about a questionnaire and Mr. Fick said that they have a few different questionnaires and they are a great starting point. Alderman Anderson stated that this is something he feels we should do and would like to vote on it next month.

Next on the agenda was the MFT Presentation. David stated that Greg Peterson was not able to attend and that he would have this ready for the next meeting.

Next on the agenda was Resolution 339: A Resolution in Support of TIF. David stated that there are 14 bills in the house and senate attacking TIF, IML is an advocate for the preservation of TIF and if passed the clerk would give them a copy of it and hopefully this will help them if they get enough communities to pass this. Alderman Olson made a motion and was seconded to pass the resolution. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There was no public comment at this time.

Next on the agenda were the department head reports. Kraig Townsend stated that they have had 2 full time officers and 1 part time officer resign in the last 3 weeks. James Robertson, Alex Wagner, and Phil Parks. He has hired one full time employee that will start on Monday, he just finished the academy and just needs trained. Richard Plummer announced that we are now accepting applications for part time seasonal help and that the spring cemetery clean up will be April 3rd-6th so all flowers that you want to keep must be removed by April 2nd and can be replaced on April 7th. Greg Thompson stated that he is still waiting to hear from Municipal Well, but he is making progress, he has bids out on 2 sanitary sewer projects, Route 34 one block past Carpet Time and by the water works building.

Next on the agenda were the Aldermen’s Reports. Alderman Clucas asked Chief Townsend if he was concerned about the staffing issues and he replied definitely, but it is a problem everywhere right now. Everyone is trying to recruit so it is hard to stay competitive. He is optimistic though; he has 3-4 part time applications turned in right now. The bad thing is that now all part timers have to be certified to be able to cover a shift so they have to wait until certification is completed before they can really be of any help. Alderman Anderson stated that he believes that what the Economic Development consultants proposed tonight seems like a golden opportunity to be able to expand our EAV and help our city.

City Administrator’s Report

David Dyer stated that we own the old Dailey lot across from Jim Hartman and we need to try to sell it. We can do this by resolution to allow staff to sell the property but we cannot sell it for less than 80% of the value, which is not very realistic. Method 2 to try and get rid of the property would be to start with the resolution and after 6 months if we get no bids and the unemployment rate is higher than the national average then we would have to adopt another resolution to sell, publish that 3 times and if we get more than 1 offer we need ¾ of the council to approve. He will bring the resolution to the next meeting. David then stated that Chief Townsend may have found a solution to a new kennel for the K9 car. Kraig stated that a brand new kennel would cost up to $8,000- 10,000 total with labor. He was able to find a Knox County car with a kennel in it, the kennel has everything we would need on it (cooling fan, lights, a hot pop that would allow the dog to escape if the temperature got too hot, etc.), they won’t give him a price so we would just have to make an offer. He would be interested in buying the vehicle if the city would like to buy the kennel. He is thinking approximately $3,200 for just the kennel & labor to install. Alderman Hartman asked if Kraig thought the dog was worth it and Kraig replied that he thought so, we have gotten some good busts with him. Alderman Clucas asked if he thought that having the dog has deterred or reduces the amount of drugs in Galva and Kraig replied yes and it also has very few false alerts so it has been reliable. David recommended that we proceed with the purchase of the kennel and the council all agreed.

Mayor Volkert congratulated J Mac on their new lumber yard and also the Galva Garage on the opening of their restaurant. The tree program is going on again as well, it is a 50/50 program and tree orders need to be in by March 27th. He also stated that the Blue Star program is now up and running.

Alderman Clucas moved and was seconded to move to executive session. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.

SEE ATTACHED

Alderman Olson made a motion and was seconded to come out of executive session. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.

After no further discussion Alderman Clucas made a motion and was seconded to adjourn. The vote was 4 yeas and no nays.

https://www.galvail.gov/Minutes/022723.pdf