Rock Island Today

City of Kewanee City Council met May 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The May 13th, 2025, Council Meeting was called to order at 6:07pm. Councilmembers Colomer, Cernovich, Baker, and Komnick were present along with Mayor Moore, City Manager Gary Bradley, City Attorney Zac Lessard, and City Clerk Kasey Mitchell.

A motion to go into Closed Session to discuss Personnel Section 2(c)(1) and Discussion of Closed Meeting Minutes Section 2(c)(21) was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Motion passed 5-0

A motion to adjourn to Regular Session was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Motion passed 5-0 and Closed Session adjourned at 7:01pm.

The May 13th, 2025, Council Meeting was called to order at 7:06pm in the Council Chambers. Councilmembers Colomer, Cernovich, Baker, and Komnick were present along with Mayor Moore, City Manager Gary Bradley, City Attorney Zac Lessard, and City Clerk Kasey Mitchell.

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 Closed Session and the Council Meeting on April 28, 2025.

B. Payroll for the pay period ending May 3rd in the amount of $271,296.54. C. Staff Reports

A motion to approve the consent agenda items was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Motion passed 5-0.

Bills for the Council Meeting of May 13th were presented in the amount of $515,015.80.

A motion to approve payment of the bills was made by Councilmember Cernovich and seconded by Councilmember Colomer. Discussion: Councilmember Colomer asked about a charge to Galesburg Motor Supply. It was for cold patch. He asked if we could purchase locally but no one locally offers it. Councilmember Komnick asked about a charge to Robert’s Tree Service. This is a local company that was formally known as Soldier Services. The Mayor asked if someone submits receipts for rebates at Menards. Yes, the accounting tech turns those in and gives the rebates to Public Works. Motion passed 5-0.

Public Comments: Joel Hasse stated he had sent an email to the City Manager and Council about damage near his home dating back to the tornado clean-up from last year. He wanted to know whose responsibility it was to fix the issues. City Manager Gary Bradley said that we would have someone come out and look at it the next day and put a plan together.

Obrey Blumenshine said that he has seen water and chemicals coming from the car wash bays on Tenney St that flow into the storm drains. He wanted to know if that was permissible. It is not and that staff will confirm the issue and contact the owners if needed.

New Business:

A. Presentation: CMT/Raftelis Water Rates

See attached presentation.

B. Discussion Only: Water Rates

Councilmembers discussed water rates and what the possibilities were.

C. Bill 25-42 Resolution expressing the intent of the City Council regarding a demolition lien on 601 O’Dea St in the City of Kewanee.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Councilmembers feel that the City should be reimbursed for the funds spent on filing and releasing of liens as well as the serving notices. Motion passed 5-0.

D. Bill 25-43 Resolution expressing the intent of the City Council regarding the Use of Tax Increment Financing for the Flemish Club.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: The Council discussed moving from a “case by case basis” to having a hard line of criteria. Things like roofs should not be covered by TIF because they do not increase the property tax revenue. They agreed that this needs to be changed but that will be a discussion moving forward. They decided to fund this with TIF. Mr. Mikenas, representing the Flemish, said that if they can receive the $25,000 in TIF, they could raise the rest of the money to cover the project. Motion passed 4-1 with Councilmember Cernovich being the only Nay vote.

E. Bill 25-44 Resolution authorizing the execution of an Intergovernmental Agreement between the City of Kewanee and the Kewanee Park District.

This will be a Discussion Only item and the agreement has not been finalized and Staff would like more input from the Council.

Discussion: Councilmembers asked some clarifying questions regarding the agreement. Andy Dwyer, Director of the Park District, said the Splash Pad should be available May to September for approximately 8 hours a day, but would not be running the home time. The City and the Park District are working on another agreement for Windmont Park and the two have been combined. Council would like to see them separated. There were questions about how residents may feel when the City raises water rates and then gives water away for free to the Park District. Council, Staff, and the Park District agreed to continue the negotiations and bring something to Council at the next meeting.

F. Bill 25-45 Ordinance to amend Section 113.05 Sale of Deleterious Drugs Prohibited of the Kewanee City Code of Ordinances.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Councilmember Cernovich asked if staff had looked at the rest of the Cannabis Act. The City crafted ordinances after the State made it legal. Those Ordinances are based off of the Illinois statutes. Mr. Blumenshine asked the Council if there was a way for the City to profit off the sales of these substances by making a license class for them. That is a possibility but staff would like to wait and see how the State Legislature handles this topic in their upcoming sessions first. Motion passed 5-0.

G. Bill 25-46 Resolution authorizing the expenditure of Tax Increment Financing revenues for the improvement of public infrastructure adjacent to Gustafson Ford.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Discussion: City Manager Bradley stated that Gustafson Ford is already doing work on that building which includes cutting out part of the curb for an entrance into the building. Because of this work, the City would be able to “piggy-back” off the agreement and get some of the work done on City-maintained property. This would help the whole area. There is already a meeting on the books to discuss the water and sewer lines there as well as the road structure. Motion passed 5-0.

H. A Proclamation was read for: Kewanee High School Band & Choir State Championship

I. A Proclamation was read for: Kewanee High School FFA Member Kalleigh Gale

J. A Proclamation was read for: Kewanee High School Teacher Kindra Callahan Golden Apple Award

K. A Proclamation was read for: Public Works Week

Council Communications:

Colomer: Congratulations to all of those that were part of the proclamations. Cernovich: He wanted to know when the LRS contract was up for renewal and when we planned to meet with them again. The contract is for three years and City Staff and LRS meet regularly.

Baker: Congrats to all of those at KHS that were part of the proclamations. Job well done. Komnick: KHS has top notch organizations. He also attended the Cinco de Mayo event and said it was well put together and had a great turnout.

Mayor’s Communications:

Announcements:

City Hall and the Transfer Station will be closed Monday May 26th for Memorial Day. There will NOT be landscape, garbage, and recycling collection that day as well. Everyone’s collection will be postponed by one day.

The City-Wide Clean-Up is Saturday June 7th from 7am to Noon at the old hospital site. Residents should bring photo ID and Utility Bill.

A motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: None. Motion passed 5-0 and the meeting adjourned at 9:23pm.

https://cms5.revize.com/revize/kewaneeillinois/Minutes%205-13-25.pdf