Rock Island Today

City of Aledo City Council met Jan. 16.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The City Council of the City of Aledo met in Regular Session in the Council Chambers at the Aledo City Hall building on January 16, 2024. MAYOR HAGLOCH called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. The roll was called, whereupon the following answered present:

Aldermen NOEL BUSH, BARRY COOPER, DENNIS DIXON, JAY DOHERTY, MARK FRIESE, CARMEN RUH, and LINDA SARABASA. Mayor CHRISTOPHER HAGLOCH. Alderman ANDREW WEEKS was excused.

Also present was MICHAEL CHAUSSE, City Administrator, TREVOR FISK, Interim Chief of Police, JUSTIN BLASER, Director of Public Works & Utilities, and JAROD DALE, City Clerk.

The media was represented by Jim Taylor, WRMJ.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Public Comment: No Public Comment.

Communication & Correspondence: No Report.

Requests & Petitions: No Report.

Public Works Activity Report:

• Streets: Daily checks, tasks, JULIE’s, and work orders continue. Removed holiday decorations. Plow and remove snow from the past two snow events.

• Gas: Daily checks, tasks, JULIE’s, inspections and finals continue. Investigate a CO call at Cardinal Plating; continue inventory; read meters on 1/3; assist water/sewer/street with various tasks; plowed snow.

• Water: Daily checks, tasks, JULIE’s and work orders continue. Service trash pumps; clean curb boxes; investigate a water leak at Fenton; jet one sewer; troubleshoot generator no start at the WTP; Plowed snow.

• Cemetery: One (1) funeral occurred. Plowed snow.

• DPW: Met with Alley Outback owners on the status of the building. They will be demolishing the building with the intent to rebuild if they can receive financing. DPW will be touching base with the contractor to verify the timeline for demolition. Plan review for the Aledo Opera House & SE 2nd Ave Reconstruction; ZBA prep & hearing for Countryview Villas; currently working with the Soil & Water Conservation District on a grant for tree plantings; Aaron Young meeting on 1/8.

Aledo Police Department Activity Report: CHIEF Fisk reported Aledo Police Officer Cliff Adam was involved in a two-vehicle crash on January 07, 2024. Ofc. Adam was on patrol and driving eastbound in the 600 block of NW 6th. Street in a marked 2021 Chevrolet Tahoe when a resident backed out of a driveway causing the collision. Mercer County Sheriff’s Department responded and handled the crash investigation. No citations were issued as a result. No injuries were reported. The squad car sustained damage to the right front bumper, fender and hood. It had to be towed from the scene and is out of service pending repair.

Lt. Baker’s application was accepted to attend the Police Executive Role in the 21st. Century. This is a comprehensive program designed to guide law enforcement leaders with professional development necessary for successful management and leadership in today’s law enforcement agencies. The class covers: fundamentals of strategic thinking, planning and political research, understanding policy, making policy and maximizing the best interest of your agency, identifying and planning for external and internal politics that impact your agency, exploring comparative models, emergent trends and technology, focusing on aligning personal leadership styles and strengths with performance in your work environment. Successful completion of the class qualifies for undergraduate and graduate academic credit from the School of Law Enforcement and Justice Administration at Western Illinois University. The class is being held at WIU in Moline. He will attend class for one week in February, March and April to cover the full 120-hour course.

Officers Wakeland and Williams will attend the Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement class that is being held at Mobile Team IV training center in East Moline in February. This is a 16-hour course to train officers to observe, identify and articulate the signs of impairment related to drugs, alcohol or a combination of both. It provides curriculums in the Standardized Field Sobriety Testing and Drug Recognition Expert training.

Ofc. Adam will attend the Breath Analysis Operator Training course that is being held through Mobile Team IV in Macomb, IL. This is an 8-hour course that trains police officers in the operation of evidential breath test instruments.

Lt. Baker, Sgt. Pieper and Investigator Kenney will attend the Lead Homicide Investigator course that is being held at Mobile Team IV training center in East Moline in April. The class is a 40-hour course that provides training on the skills necessary to competently complete a thorough homicide investigation with prosecutorial merit. Public Act 96-111 (SB3491) requires all Illinois officers investigating homicides to successfully complete this training.

Current part time Ofc. Steve McGuire will be utilized for range, training and evidence purposes for eight hours per week. Ofc. McGuire is retired from the Quad Cities Metropolitan Airport Authority Police Department. He retired as a lieutenant and was their training officer. Ofc. McGuire has multiple certifications that can be utilized by Aledo Police Department. Ofc. McGuire’s focus will be to monitor and implement all training needs for the department that are required for officers to maintain their certifications. The other focus will be to evaluate all items in evidence to determine what can be returned or to obtain court ordered releases. His work in this area will assist with accountability of the evidence room and auditing purposes.

Administrative Report: ADMINISTRATOR Chausse reported on an overview of highlights of what the Administrator (and others) have worked on since the last council meeting:

• Continued discussion and reviewed informational material for the implementation for the Solid Waste and Recycling contract with LRS. Received informational materials that will be incorporated in our releases on the website, social media and the radio. City Clerk sent out a press release through Haven.

• Attended a Right of Way Assessment meeting with Paul Baele, HDR and Mark Walton concerning the RDNS Central Park Project.

• Attended the Bi-State monthly City Administrators and Managers Meeting at Geneseo.

• Met with Aaron Young – developer concerning Dollar Tree project. 

• Met with Brad and Deb Retherford concerning the Alley Outback. Discussed the timeline needed for demolition as well as their plans to replace the building. 

• Met with Steve Kline – TIF consultant concerning the Dollar Tree project and Joe’s Trattoria.

• Held a Department Head meeting to discuss various items.

• Met with Jason Smith with Midland Technologies concerning city phone system replacement.

• Met with Dave Wallace with Broadband Direct concerning city phone system replacement.

• Spoke with concerned citizen and sheriff concerning parking at the courthouse. Removed visitor parking signs that were in dispute. Only designated parking available now at the courthouse is for official vehicles.

• Coordinated with city clerk, finance director and city treasurer on a $200,000 CD deposit in a local bank for 90 days at an APY 5.23%.

• Spoke with Madame Alderman Bush concerning the last city council meeting on 1/3.

• Had a demo concerning a phone system from one of the companies we are looking into for replacing current system.

• Attending the Aquatics Center Committee meeting with David Nichols from BCZ.

City Treasurer’s Report: The Treasurer’s Reports has been marked exhibit “B”, attached hereto and made a part of these minutes.

Mayor’s Report: MAYOR Hagloch commended the Aledo Public Works Department on their hard work during the recent snow events in the area. It was noted the PW’s put in many long hours for snow removal and the salting of streets and thanked those city workers for their dedication to their jobs.

MAYOR reported the development of Dollar Tree on Lots 4 and 5 of Eagle Point Subdivision has had delay issues the past several months. It was noted due to the economy, building material costs and interest rates, the corporation for Dollar Tree continues to evaluate if and when they would want to complete the project. Aaron Young, the developer has noted Dollar Tree to evaluate again in January, 2024. Other options were noted by the developer as well to being evaluated.

Committee Report: It was reported their will be no Public Property, Streets & Sidewalks Committee meeting scheduled for Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.

REGULAR COUNCIL SESSION

Following the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,

CONSENT AGENDA

Motion was made by ALDERMAN SARABASA and seconded by ALDERMAN COOPER to approve the following consent agenda items:

• Approval of Minutes of the Regular Meeting of January 03, 2024.

• Approval of Finance: Invoice Listing – AP01.

A Roll Call vote was recorded as follows:

YES: Bush, Cooper, Dixon, Doherty, Friese, Ruh, and Sarabasa. NO: None. Motion carried. 7 yeas, 0 nays.

PUBLIC COMMENT: No Report.

ACTION ITEMS:

RESOLUTION NO. 04R, SERIES OF 2024; APPROVING THE COUNTRYVIEW VILLAS PRELIMINARY PLAT:

MBX2, LLC, as owner of part of Outlot 3 of Hidden Valley Subdivision in the City of Aledo, Mercer County, Illinois has submitted a preliminary plat for approval. The premises described as follows:

Tract "C" which is part of Outlot 3 of Hidden Valley Subdivision and part of the NW ¼ of section 21, T14N, R3W of the 4th PM in the City of Aledo, situated in the County of Mercer, and State of Illinois.

Motion was made by ALDERMAN SARABASA and seconded by ALDERMAN FRIESE to approve Resolution No. 04R, Series of 2024; Approving the Countryview Villas Preliminary Plat as presented. A Roll Call vote was recorded as follows:

YES: Cooper, Dixon, Doherty, Friese, Ruh, Sarabasa, and Bush.

NO: None. Motion carried. 7 yeas, 0 nays.

OLD BUSINESS:

Discussion regarding SE 2nd Avenue Reconstruction Project:

ADMNISTRATOR

Chausse reported city staff received a cost estimate for the SE 2nd Ave. construction project last Wednesday, January 10th. Currently, the project is estimated to be over budget.

Construction costs in this economy have gone up and are much higher than anticipated. There are construction timing issues that deal with; protection of two endangered species that will set time that any trees can be removed, and the tree issue causes a timing issue for Ameren Illinois to remove and replace the electrical poles for the project.

There are potential gas line issues with the project. These issues deal with the significant changes of grade in the entirety of the road. No gas line issues were originally figured into the cost or budget of the project. Final plans are due to City Hall by January 31st. City Staff will look to schedule a Public Property, Streets & Sidewalks Committee meeting at the February 5th City Council meeting to seek input on changes to the project.

NEW BUSINESS: No Report.

ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, motion was made by ALDERMAN DIXON and seconded by ALDERMAN SARABASA that the meeting be adjourned. A Unanimous voice vote followed in agreement. Meeting was adjourned at 6:48 P.M.

https://www.aledoil.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_01162024-392