Rock Island Today

City of Kewanee City Council met Sept. 23.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The September 23rd , 2024, Council Meeting was called to order at 7:00pm in Council Chambers. Councilmembers Colomer, Baker, and Komnick were present along with Mayor Moore, City Manager Gary Bradley, City Attorney Zac Lessard, and City Clerk Kasey Mitchell. Councilmember Faber was absent.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited, followed by a moment of silence for our troops.

The Consent Agenda was presented with the following items:

A. Minutes from the Council Meeting on September 9th

B. Payroll for the pay period ending September 7th in the amount of $241,598.63.

C. Staff Reports

D. KHS Homecoming Parade and Bonfire Requests

E. Doghouse Alley Closure

A motion to approve the consent agenda items was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Motion passed 4-0.

Bills for the Council Meeting of September 23rd were presented in the amount of $575,934.97. A motion to approve payment of the bills was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Colomer. Discussion: None. Motion passed 4-0.

Public Comments: None

New Business:

A. Consideration of Bill 24-95 Ordinance granting a request for variance to Dan & Brenda Kuffel, 224 E Garfield St, Kewanee.

Often, people plan for an addition at their property and find it is not allowed under city ordinance. The property owner makes a request for a variance of the ordinance. Neighbors have an opportunity to oppose the request at a zoning board meeting.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: None Motion passed 4-0.

B. Consideration of Bill 24-96 Resolution to award demolition work at 1105 Roseview Ave to Nanninga Concrete & Excavating.

This resolution awards demolition work to the lowest responsible bidder for the demolition of a dilapidated residence.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: None Motion passed 4-0.

C. Consideration of Bill 24-97: Resolution authorizing the purchase and installation of an Electronic Message Center Sign at 415 North Main St, Kewanee Public Works, from Zendavor Signs and Graphics.

This resolution is a request from staff to replace the existing sign at the Public Works Department with digital sign like what Kewanee School District uses.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Operations Manager Kevin Newton told the Council that he preferred the middle bidder as it was the same size as the current sign, and it has more pixels than the other. Mayor Moore asked why we need an electronic sign. Newton said he was trying to modernize the sign to something that might be more useful and noticed. Councilmember Colomer asked where the money would be coming from. Newton said that it would be shared among the enterprise funds as all those divisions would be utilizing the sign. It will give us the opportunity to be more transparent and offer another avenue of communication. The Mayor mentioned that he thought it was a lot of money for something that was not “needed.” Motion passed 3-1 with Mayor Moore being the “Nay” vote.

D. Consideration of Bill 24-98 Resolution authorizing the City Manager to execute a professional service agreement between the City of Kewanee and Dixon Engineering, Inc. for maintenance and security inspection services for the City’s 500,000-gallon elevated water tanks.

This resolution is part of the city’s efforts to maintain safe water for our residents and remain compliant with IEPA mandates.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Newton told the Council that we have worked with Dixon Engineering before as they are the ones that refurbished and inspected our towers when they were painted a few years ago. Councilmember Colomer asked if we had gone out to bid for this. City Manager Gary Bradley said that we do not need to go out for bid on professional services but that when we first contracted with Dixon Engineering, it was part of an RFQ process. Motion passed 4-0.

E. Consideration of Bill 24-99. Resolution accepting the lowest responsive and responsible bid for the MFT Section 24-00000-00-GM (2024 Resurfacing and Sealcoat Program). This resolution will award street maintenance work. Motor Fuel Tax revenues are used to fund this work. By putting work out for bid we hope to stretch those dollars as far as possible, which, in theory, will help us to do more.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: Motion passed 4-0.

F. Consideration of Bill 24-100 Resolution to declare certain vehicles and equipment excess and no longer required in the operations of the City of Kewanee and directing the City Manager to dispose of the same.

Often, the city buys new, updated equipment, or some equipment simply becomes obsolete because of changes in technology or operations. It makes no sense to keep equipment we no longer have a use for, so that equipment is sold.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Colomer. Discussion: None Motion passed 4-0.

G. Consideration of Bill 24-101: Ordinance to rescind Ordinance 4184. The city council passed an ordinance on May 28 of this year. That ordinance was to assist a business with renovations of an existing building to fit their business model. Since the passing of that ordinance, there have been changes to their plans, thus making the previous ordinance obsolete.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: None Motion passed 4-0.

H. Consideration of Bill 24-102: Resolution to affirm the Mayor’s recommendation for appointments to various commissions and boards.

The city has several boards that assist the city council and residents of Kewanee. In most cases, the mayor recommends the members of the various boards. The entire council votes to approve or reject the mayor’s recommendation.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: None Motion passed 4-0.

Council Communications:

Baker: He enjoyed attending the IML Conference last week. He went to a session where the costs of fixing and replacing infrastructures, such as roads, was discussed. He was surprised at how much it costs to do these projects. It is not cheap.

Komnick: He also attended the IML Conference, and it was his third. He went to a session that discussed gaming terminals where he learned that IL is a leader in VGTs and other states are looking to us as an example. He attended another that talked about domestic violence and

that many crimes come back to domestic violence. He learned many things during the conference. Lastly, he reminded residents that the Hispanic Heritage Celebration was this coming this weekend and encouraged everyone to attend. He is looking forward to the food trucks.

Colomer: He also wanted to share about the Hispanic Heritage Celebration and encourage residents to attend.

Mayor’s Communications:

As we are working with the bank that controls the mobile home parks to return those properties to a productive and more visually pleasing use, we have been asked to consider waiving some portion of their outstanding utility bills. Their reason for asking is to put the property in a better position to be cleaned up and sold to a reputable owner. They claim with the burden of the current utility bill they would not be able to offer the property at a rate that would draw interest. He would like to have this placed on the next agenda as a discussion item, whether it can be done in closed or open session.

He also wanted to know if his fellow councilmembers would like to see added to the next agenda as a discussion item, the city’s continued relationship with KEDC. We have had minimal discussions in the past and would like their opinions moving forward; whether that is to stay the course or develop alternatives.

Our local high schools have homecomings that are fast approaching. They are busy electing Queens, Kings and their courts. He wanted to congratulate all the students that are selected as royalty for their respective high schools.

He has received a lot of inquiries concerning tree debris still left from the storms that ripped through our city. He asked the City Manager, Gary Bradley, to explain to everyone what we are doing moving forward.

Mr. Bradley stated: On September 12th, the City announced that it was resuming paid bush pick up. This is a service that the City has historically provided, separate from landscape waste collection, that allows residents to pay for the removal of small bundles of sticks, twigs, and other similar brush. The service had been temporarily suspended due to staffing limitations, though we continued to pick up for households that were already on the list before the storms of July 15th. The post very clearly stated “The City is still working with the Henry County Office of Emergency Management to secure assistance from the State of Illinois to aid in clean up from the tornados.”

It has always been our intent to assist residents and businesses to the greatest extent possible without negatively affecting our operations. This has always included securing federal financial assistance (which we ultimately didn’t qualify for because the storm didn’t cause enough damage statewide) or assistance from the state wherever possible. Staff will be meeting with representatives of IDOT later this week to coordinate their use of personnel and equipment to assist in the City’s recovery efforts. Once we’ve determined dates and what the process will look like, we’ll be sure to disseminate plenty of information to inform our customers about our continued efforts to clean up from this summer’s storms.

Announcements:

This Saturday is the last Saturday that the Transfer Station will be open for the season. They will be open from 7am to Noon.

City Hall and the Transfer Station will be closed Monday October 14th. There are no changes to the Trash or Recycling schedule for that week.

The annual fall clean-up by cemetery staff in the Kewanee Cemeteries is scheduled to begin October 20, and end on October 31. During this period, all decorations will be picked up and discarded. Anyone wishing to save their decorations must pick them up before October 20. The Cemetery Department asks that no new decorations be put out until after the clean-up period has ended. This clean-up applies to Pleasant View, South Pleasant View, Mount Olivet, St. Mary’s, Kewanee, Russian, and Wethersfield Cemeteries. If there are any questions, please contact the Sexton's office at 853-4649.

The Commission on Human Relations will be hosting the Hispanic Heritage Celebration this weekend Saturday the 28th from 4-11pm. It will be held on East Third St from Main to Burr. There are over 30 vendors signed up for this event, along with lots of entertainment. You don’t want to miss it!

The Commission is also sponsoring Hide and Seek from the Police on Saturday October 5th at 8pm. For more information, check out the Kewanee Police Department Facebook page.

A motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: None. Motion passed 4-0 and the meeting was adjourned at 7:39pm.

https://cms5.revize.com/revize/kewaneeillinois/Minutes%209-23-2024.pdf