Rock Island Today

City of Kewanee City Council met June 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The June 9th, 2025, Council Meeting was called to order at 6:05pm. Councilmembers Cernovich, Baker, and Komnick were present along with Mayor Moore, City Manager Gary Bradley, and City Clerk Kasey Mitchell. Councilmember Colomer and City Attorney Zac Lessard were absent.

A motion to go into Closed Session to discuss Personnel Section 2(c)(1), Purchase or Lease of Real Estate Section 2(c)(5), Litigation Section 2(c)(11), and Discussion of Closed Meeting Minutes Section 2(c)(21) was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Motion passed 4-0.

Councilmember Colomer joined the Closed Session at 6:25pm and City Attorney Zac Lessard joined at 6:27pm.

A motion to adjourn to Regular Session was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Motion passed 5-0 and Closed Session was adjourned at 6:45pm.

The June 9th, 2025, Council Meeting to order at 7:00pm 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 May 13, 2025.

B. Payroll for the pay period ending May 31st in the amount of $261,081.38.

C. Staff Reports

D. Cernovich Fireworks Permit

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

Bills for the Council Meeting of June 9th were presented in the amount of $1,362,387.82. A motion to approve payment of the bills was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Discussion: None Motion passed 5-0.

Public Comments: None

New Business:

A. Presentation: Kelly Wolf, Director of Tourism for Henry County

Ms. Wolf updated the Council on the Tourism Board’s efforts to promote Henry County.

B. Bill 25-54 Ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of a TIF Redevelopment Agreement by and between the City of Kewanee and Flemish American Club.

This TIF redevelopment agreement has been discussed during our last couple council meetings. The Flemish American Club requested funds to assist with roof repairs. A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: None. Motion passed 4-1 with Councilmember Cernovich being the only Nay vote.

C. Bill 25-55 Ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of a TIF Redevelopment Agreement by and between the City of Kewanee and KTown Real Estate.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: The agreement that the TIF Attorney sent was different than what the Council had recommended. The Attorney was making recommendations to the Council based on what they thought was the best scenario. The Council and members of the KTown Real Estate group were not pleased that things had been changed without there being a discussion first. Council asked that the TIF Attorney be directed to write the agreement per their original direction. Councilmembers Baker and Komnick rescinded their motions. Councilmember Colomer made the motion to table the discussion and Councilmember Cernovich seconded the motion. Motion to table passed 5-0.

D. Bill 25-56 Resolution to award the contract for the mowing of Kewanee Mobile Home Park properties for the 2025 Mowing Season to BDS Lawns.

This resolution, if passed, will award mowing and lawn care maintenance of the mobile home parks in Kewanee to BDS Lawns. The current court assigned receiver, L & B All Star Management has requested they be relieved of their duties as receiver. This request was made because the bank, First Secure Community Bank, headquartered in Sugar Grove, IL., that is foreclosing on these properties, is now refusing to release any more funds for the upkeep of these properties. It has become impossible for L & B to work as the receiver. Again, the city must resort to filing liens because, at no fault of the city, we will have to take care of First Secure Community Bank’s responsibility and maintain the properties. A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Councilmembers questioned the amount of the bid. Community Development Director Keith Edwards explained that it is a lot of land that must first be walked so that any trash, debris, utility lines, etc. can be marked before mowing begins. This will take some time. While this is a large expense, it shows the community that we do care about the properties and how they look and effect those living around them. Motion passed 4-1 with Mayor Moore being the only Nay vote.

E. Bill 25-57 Resolution accepting additional funds from the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Strong Communities Program – Round 2, 1st Amendment.

We are required to pass a Resolution to receive grant funds from the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s Strong Communities Program. This is the 2nd round for this grant. In the first round the city was able to remove numerous unsightly structures in Kewanee. A Motion to approve was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: The first round of funds coverage the demolition and cleanup of approximately 15 houses and that these extra funds could cover 5-8 more. Councilmember commended DCD Edwards for his diligence and being proactive regarding the nuisance properties as this allowed a quick response in the request for more money. Motion passed 5-0.

F. Bill 25-58 Ordinance amending Chapter 36 by adding implementation of a Municipal Grocery Retailers’ Occupation Tax and a Municipal Grocery Service Occupation Tax for the City of Kewanee.

if passed, will establish a grocery tax in Kewanee. This is not intended to add any new tax to what consumers are currently paying. The state of Illinois intends to suspend the current 1% tax currently charged on grocery items. The suspension will affect Illinois communities much more than the State itself, especially smaller communities like Kewanee. Realizing how their decision will affect Illinois towns and cities, they decided to allow each community to make the decision to continue the grocery tax as it currently collected. A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Discussion: Councilmember Cernovich acknowledged that this a regressive tax but that those receiving SNAP benefits will not be affected by it. While it won’t ‘hurt’ families by keeping it, it would hit the City’s budget harder if this tax were eliminated. Motion passed 5-0.

G. Bill 25-59 Ordinance amending Chater 121: Kewanee Revolving Loan Fund Program, established in the City of Kewanee Code of Ordinances.

Staff has been reviewing and updating our Ordinances. The updates for this one will clean up some of the language and it removes items that are no longer necessary since this money has been defederalized.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Councilmember Cernovich stated that he was unhappy that KEDC was not consulted before this draft was presented. He feels that these changes include programmatic changes and not just administrative ones. There are many items that he would like to discuss further and suggested that this be tabled so that more time could be spent revising it. Councilmember Komnick sees these changes as language cleanup. Motion passed 3-2 with Councilmembers Colomer and Cernovich being the two Nay votes.

H. Bill 25-60 Ordinance to amend Section 52.20(A.1) Establishment of Rates and Charges, of Chapter 52: Waterworks, of Title V Public Works, of the Kewanee City Code of Ordinances. This will increase water use fees. The proposed increase is 23% and will add $9.82 to the first 500 cubic feet of water used, $1.24 for the next 4,500 cubic feet, and $1.08 thereafter.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Discussion: None. Motion passed 5-0.

I. Discussion Only: City Detect

This is a discussion on new technology called City Detect. It has several uses that will be highlighted tonight.

DCD Edwards shared a program that was brought to his attention called City Detect. It is a company that uses AI to search for Ordinance Violations by driving around with car-mounted cameras. Staff would drive around Kewanee while the camera collected data. The next day, staff would be able to see all the violations picked out by the program. Then notices could be sent, or items dismissed. Resident Obrey Blumenshine spoke, saying that he was not a fan of information about his home being on “someone else’s server.” It was pointed out that this isn’t much different than the Google Streetcar driving by. Mr. Blumenshine said that he noticed this has been used by larger metro areas and did not think it would be as helpful for a smaller community like ours and that this is too much of an expense. Councilmembers thought the program looked interesting and they would like to see more of a demonstration from the company as well as hear from other cities closer to our population and what they think of the program and its benefits.

J. Discussion Only: Demolition Program

Councilmembers had previously discussed the options for ground fill when the City demolishes a house. This discussion was concerns whether the City keep its current operation of allowing some materials to remain in the ground, have everything removed and the void filled with clean dirt, or having the void have engineered fill. Council agreed that this might be on a case-by-case basis depending on the lot in question. DCD Edwards said that he has an RFP going out for a demolition and can request two bids, one the way we have been, and the other being clean fill.

Council Communications:

Baker: None

Komnick: This is Pride Month and even though the Commission on Human Relations is not having an event, there are others that people can participate in. He reiterated that this was not a City decision, it was the CHR.

Colomer: This weekend is the Nolan Keene Baseball Tournament. The City will be busy with visitors. Be kind, respectful, and patient.

Cernovich: There are lots of positive things going on locally. Keep putting your/our best foot forward and thank you to all of those that have been helping.

Mayor’s Communications: None

Announcements: City Hall and the Transfer Station will be closed on Thursday June 19th. There will be no changes to the trash or recycling schedule.

A motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Colomer and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Discussion: None. Motion passed 5-0 and the meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm.

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