Rock Island Today

City of Kewanee City Council met Sept. 8.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The September 8th, 2025, Council Meeting was called to order at 6:10pm. Councilmembers Cernovich, Baker, and Komnick were present along with Mayor Moore, City Manager Gary Bradley, City Attorney Zac Lessard, and City Clerk Kasey Mitchell. Councilmember Colomer was absent.

A motion to go into Closed Session to discuss Personnel Section 2(c)(1) and Litigation Section 2(c)(11) was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Motion passed 4-0.

A motion to adjourn to Regular Session was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Motion passed 4-0 and Closed Session was adjourned at 6:53pm.

The September 8th, 2025, Council Meeting was called to order at 7:01pm in the Council Chambers. Councilmembers Cernovich, Baker, and Komnick were present along with Mayor Moore, City Manager Gary Bradley, City Attorney Zac Lessard, and City Clerk Kasey Mitchell. Councilmember Colomer 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 August 25th, 2025.

B. Payroll for the pay period ending August 9th in the amount of $250,070.66.

C. Staff Reports

D. Good Fellows Tag Days

E. Kewanee Hispanic Heritage Celebration Street Closure

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

Bills for the Council Meeting of September 8th were presented in the amount of $388,042.65.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion Councilmember Cernovich asked some clarifying questions. Equantum Consulting are the ones that seek bids for our electric charges. Potter and Sons had a large payout, but it was because they were already in town for a project, and we added something in to the scope of work that was time sensitive due to the coming holiday/festival. The sewer reimbursement was for work that a plumber did that turned out to be on the City side. . Motion passed 4-0.

Public Comments: None

New Business:

A. Proclamation: Hispanic Heritage Month and Kewanee Hispanic Heritage Celebration This is an annual proclamation to recognize the achievements and contributions of our Hispanic Community.

The Mayor read the Proclamation and then presented it to members of the KHHC planning committee.

B. Bill 25-83 Ordinance granting a Special Use Permit to Larry Neels for property located at 324 East Second St.

Larry Neels has requested a special use that will allow him to park his trailers and pickup truck on the property he recently purchased.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Discussion: Council agreed that the lot looked nice and was organized. However, Councilmember Cernovich feels that this should be considered a scrap/junk yard and therefore should have a barrier of sorts. Staff suggested that it is considered cargo because it is kept on trailers and only for a short period of time. Motion failed 2-2 with Councilmembers Cernovich and Baker being the Nay votes.

C. Bill 25-84 Resolution Authorizing the expenditure of Tax Increment Financing Revenues for the improvement of public infrastructure in the 100 block of North Lexington Ave. The city is allowed to use TIF Funds for infrastructure improvements. City staff is requesting funds to put in a sidewalk and curbing on the east side of the 100 block on North Lexington.

A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Discussion: The Council questioned why there was already a contractor and project cost already in place. City Manager Bradley stated that the contractor listed is already doing work in that area and thought the Council would want to “piggyback” off that. They decided that seeking bids followed the proper procedure and would lime to amend the resolution. A motion to amend the resolution by striking the cost amounts and Ratliff Bros as contractor and replacing those by soliciting bids was made by Councilmember Komnick and seconded by Councilmember Baker. Motion to amend passed 4-0. Motion to approve amended resolution passed 4-0.

D. Bill 25-85 Resolution approving the Municipal Insurance Cooperative Agency’s Second Comprehensive Amendment to the contract of the same.

The City of Kewanee is a member of the Municipal Insurance Cooperative Agency, also known as “MICA," which enables self-insured municipal members to pool their risk so that their individual exposure to insurance losses is minimized. MICA’s membership establishes bylaws that govern how its board operates. This resolution is in support of amendments to MICA’s bylaws to help ensure the sustainability of the organization. A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Cernovich and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: None. Motion passed 4-0.

E. Bill 25-86: Resolution to authorize an intergovernmental agreement with the State of Illinois Department of Transportation for the municipal maintenance of state highways within the City of Kewanee.

Every year the State of Illinois requests an intergovernmental agreement for minor maintenance and snow removal on state routes coming through Kewanee. The state provides their tabulations of what they are willing to for the maintenance work. A motion to approve was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Discussion: Councilmember Cernovich asked if this was “take it or leave it.” He had done some research and noticed that other municipalities agreements looked the same but that we are taking on most of the risk. If we failed to agree, we would have no guarantee to if and when the State would come through to plow or maintain roads. Motion passed 4-0.

F. Bill 25-87: Ordinance implementing a Non-Home Rule Municipal Retailers’ Occupation Tax and a Non-Home Rule Municipal Service Occupation Tax for the City of Kewanee.

This is an item we discussed last week.

The Council had agreed that they wanted to hear from our Engineering Firms before voting on this ordinance. A motion to table was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Komnick. Motion to table passed 4-0.

G. Discussion Only: Comprehensive Plan Update

City Manager Bradley contacted Bistate who submitted a proposal for updating our Comprehensive Plan. Council questioned if this was something that could be done in house for less. Mr. Bradley said that it would be best to have Bistate do a majority of the work, with some help from City Staff.

Council Communications:

Baker: Hog Days was a great event. He was proud of our Police and Fire personnel for their hard work and response times.

Komnick: He thanked everyone that attended Hog Days and all those that volunteered their time. It takes hundreds of people to execute what a small group organized.

Cernovich: He also mentioned Hog Days and the work that goes into it.

Mayor’s Communications: Gary Kilstrom, a former City employee, passed away. He neglected to mention it at the time but wanted to be sure he mentioned it now. Mr. Kilstrom was a City Employee for 13 years. He then congratulated Fireman Anthony Finn on his recent retirement. Hog Days concluded with another amazing event. He thanked each employee by name that worked to clean up each morning.

Announcements: The Transfer Station has two Saturdays left for the year. They are this Saturday and 13th and Saturday the 27th.

A motion to adjourn was made by Councilmember Baker and seconded by Councilmember Cernovich. Motion passed 4-0 and the meeting adjourned at 8:14pm.

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