Rock Island Today

City of Aledo Committee of the Whole met May 19.

Here are the minutes provided by the committee:

The City Council of the City of Aledo met in Regular Session in the Council Chambers at the Aledo City Hall building on May 19, 2025. MAYOR PRO-TEMPORE DIXON called the meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. The roll was called, whereupon the following answered present:

Aldermen BARRY COOPER, DENNIS DIXON, MARK FRIESE, MARIO PAULEY, CARMEN RUH, LINDA SARABASA, and JASON SNYDER. Mayor CHRISTOPHER HAGLOCH and Alderman ANDREW WEEKS were excused.

Also present was MICHAEL CHAUSSE, City Administrator, TREVOR FISK, Interim Chief of Police, LINDSEY DUNN, Aledo Main Street, and JAROD DALE, City Clerk.

The media was represented by Terry James, WRMJ.

COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

Public Comment: No Report.

Communication & Correspondence: Lindsey Dunn, Aledo Main Street, appeared before the Committee of the Whole to report the AMS Community Connection meeting to be held on Tuesday, May 20th at Aledo City Hall.

Ladies on the Loose event was held on May 3rd. There were 63 tickets sold; over $4,200 spent within the event itself; over 30 gift baskets were given out at the end of the event to ticket holders; 47 businesses donated / participated to the event in some sort of capacity.

Farmers Market to begin June 12th and run through September 25th.

The Illinois Main Street Economic Vitality workshop was held at the Aledo Opera House on May 14th.

Spring Memorial Planters were placed throughout downtown area with 25 planters and four concrete planters filled with flowers sponsored by donations.

Requests & Petitions: Special Event – American Legion Post 121 Memorial Day Parade to be held Monday, May 26th at 10:45 a.m.

Public Works Activity Report: DPW Blaser reported the following:

• Streets: All flowers have been planted. Monica McKnight has been busy watering all flowers, trees, and plants. Signs and monuments were installed at Monument Park, all dirt work was completed around central park, all spring weed spraying has been completed. They will move on to Memorial Day final prep, and have started on Rhubarb preparation.

• Gas: JULIES; Leak Detection Survey is currently in progress, install gas main at Smith’s Meat Market, install new gas valve in prep for Sponsler Manor 4th Addition. Repair or replace meters and radio read heads as needed.

• Water: Spring weed spraying, assisted the cemetery with Memorial Day preparation, mapping, install one curb stop, sewer lateral inspections, one service leak repair, clean lift station baskets.

• Cemetery: New certified playground mulch was installed at the park. Memorial Day prep is well underway. The Cemify mapping will be completed by the 25th. A informational sign with the QR code to be picked up this week. All the PW employees have done a great job, the grounds look very nice. Sexton Lower has prepared a very good plan to have this completed.

• DPW: With the help of the Mercer County Soil & Water Conservation Office and Liz Grey, a monarch waystation has been planted around the city hall generator pad outside of city hall. Hutchison Engineering and DPW will be attending a, IDOT Special Program Assistance Conference May 23rd in Peoria to discuss future SRTS and ITEP plans to continue our multi-purpose pathway projects. City Staff to also attend a webinar for additional grant funding possibilities for future roadway projects, i.e. SE 2nd Avenue, East Main Extension, or NW 9th Avenue reconstruction.

Aledo Police Department Activity Report: CHIEF Fisk, Lt. Adam Baker and Officer Dallas Wakeland, in conjunction with Mercy One Genesis Medical Center, Elite Ambulance and the Mercer County Sheriff’s Department, held a critical incident debriefing on May 6th concerning an individual in mental health crisis/criminal offense, to go over the incident and seek ways to improve the level of service while keeping everyone safe.

Investigator Lindsey Kenney and Officer Jasmine Jaime attended a seminar on the Medical Aspects of Child Maltreatment presented by the University of Illinois College of Medicine Pediatric Resource Center. The eight-hour training session on May 7th was held at the Mobile Team Training Unit IV-East Moline.

Interim Chief Fisk, Lt. Baker and Officer Wakeland attended an eight-hour Non-Escalation & De-Escalation Scenario-Based Training on May 14th, which was held at the Rock Island Police Department.

Administrative Assistant Dawn Morrison has completed the necessary training requirements to serve as Deputy FOIA Officer and Notary Public, and has received her Law Enforcement Agencies Data System (LEADS) certification from the Illinois State Police, which is utilized in conducting criminal background checks.

Officer Jade Ford presented an informational talk regarding her Trust the Process (TTP) youth program to the Kiwanis Club of Aledo on May 15th.

Parks & Recreation Report: PRD Blaser reported the following:

Baseball / Softball –

● Baseball season is May 9th – 19th. A total of 28 games have been held to date. 17 games on the large field.

● All fields are booked for practice every night of the week, when available.

● YMCA Softball utilizes park district fields for practice and a game if needed. PRD Blaser to assist the YMCA and prep all fields, including Apollo for the remainder of the baseball / softball seasons.

● Hosting a 13U Baseball Tournament June 6th – 8th.

● Hosting the 9 team B-League Tournament June 23rd.

Parks & Maintenance – fields are in great shape and Gary Finch continues to beautify the parks.

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

• Met with representatives from Mangieri Electric to go over Electric Vehicle Charging locations, power sources and other information for a bid for installation.

• Attended the Illinois Main Street Economic Vitality Workshop at the Opera House.

• Had a conference call with Mark Walton, City Attorney concerning potential class action lawsuit concerning PFAS in water system.

• Granted an interview with WQAD Channel 8 concerning the Fenton Park Pool being permanently closed.

A Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee meeting to be held on Tuesday, May 27th at 5:30 p.m. to discuss Sponsler Manor 4th Addition.

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: No Report.

Committee Report: ALD. Friese reported the Finance Committee met on May 12th to discuss the Aledo Aquatic Center bids and bonding associated with the project. Items have been forwarded to the City Council for this evening to begin the process.

https://www.aledoil.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05192025-457