South West Illinois News

City of Kewanee City Council met April 24.

Here is the minutes as provided by the council:

The City Council met in Council Chambers at 6:02 PM with the Mayor calling the budget meeting to order and the following answering to roll call:

Andy Koehler                      Council Member 

Deann Schweitzer              Council Member 

Mike Yaklich                       Council Member 

Steve Looney                     Mayor

The budget work session was adjourned at 6:49 PM on a motion made by Council Member Schweitzer and seconded by Council Member Yaklich. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

The Council Meeting resumed at 7:00 PM with Mayor Looney announcing that Council was reconvening following a budget session.

News media present were as follows:

Mike Berry                          Star Courier

The Pledge of Allegiance was said.

Mayor Looney asked for a moment of silence for our troops still fighting overseas.

Mayor Looney explained that the next items were placed on the consent agenda and were considered to be routine in nature to be passed as a whole with one vote of the Council. Mayor Looney requested that any member of the Council or the audience wishing to have an item removed from the consent agenda for individual consideration to make the request and the item would be removed and considered following the approval of the remaining consent items. The consent agenda included minutes from the April 10, 2017 Council Meeting, payroll for the pay period ending April 15, 2017 in the amount of $189,894.79, a request to use certain city streets for Sandra Dearing Memorial 5k on Saturday, June 24, 2017 at 9:00 am, a request to use certain city streets and green spaces for the Prairie Chicken Festival on July 14-16, a request to use certain city streets and green spaces for Hog Days Festival September 1- September 4, 2017 and a request to use certain alleys from Cerno's for a concert on May 20, 2017. The consent agenda was approved on a motion made by Council Member Yaklich and seconded by Council Member Koehler. Roll call showed 4 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

Bills submitted for approval totaling $360,350.71 were approved on a motion made by Council Member Schweitzer and seconded by Council Member Koehler. Council Member Koehler questioned the marking paint. City Manager Bradley explained the marking paint was for marking locations of water and Sewer lines. Council Member Yaklich questioned the snow pusher. Public Works Operations Manager Johnson explained that it was a rear steer loader for snow removal. City Manager Bradley reminded staff to use the microphone when responding to questions. Council Member Schweitzer asked if the sewer camera truck was in our possession. Operations Manager Johnson reported that it was not yet in our possession, but was expected soon. He also reported that two employees had attended training for the sewer camera the previous week. Roll call showed 4 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

City Clerk Edwards administered the Oath of Office to newly elected Council Member Steve Faber and reelected Council Member Mike Yaklich.

Citizen Participation

Mayor Looney asked if anyone wished to speak. There being no such requests Mayor Looney moved on to new business.

New Business

Resolution #5044 declaring as excess the nameplate of former Councilwoman Kellie Wallace-McKenna and thanking her for her years of service in elected office for the City of Kewanee was approved on a motion made by Council Member Koehler and seconded by Council Member Schweitzer. Each Council Member thanked Kellie for her service to the City. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

A Request form Tony Segura and The Boiler Room for use of certain city street for their planned entertainment July 1 - July 2, 2017 was approved on a motion made by Council Member Koehler and seconded by Council Member Schweitzer. City Manager Bradley explained that Mr. Segura is bringing a band of national prominence to the area. The request would include the city sidewalk and street in front of their business. They have also requested the street be blocked. They would provide the fencing for the area and security for the evening. They would remove fence panels from their fence and replace them when the event was over. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

Resolution #5045 to award the demolition of 920 North East Street to Martin Bros was approved on a motion made by Council Member Koehler and seconded by Council Member Schweitzer. Council Member Koehler thanked City Manager Bradley for his work on demolitions. City Manager Bradley passed on the praise to Community Development Director Edwards and City Attorney Raver. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

Resolution #5046 to award the demolition of 807 West Fourth Street garage and 811 North Walnut Street to Ratliff Brothers was approved on a motion made by Council Member Yaklich and seconded by Council Member Schweitzer.

Resolution #5047 to affirm the Mayor's recommendation for appointments to various boards and commissions was approved on a motion made by Council Member Schweitzer and seconded by Council Member Faber. Mayor Looney listed the names of the volunteers being appointed for each of the boards and commissions. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

Ordinance #3881 amending Chapter 150.017(k) of the City Code which establishes climatic and geographic design criteria was approved on a motion made by Council Member Schweitzer and seconded by Council Member Yaklich. Community Development Director Edwards explained that the

ordinance was a making a change to the ice barrier needed for roofing jobs. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

Resolution #5048 to award the assembly of downtown hanging baskets to Sunnyfield Nursery was approved on a motion made by Council Member Schweitzer and seconded by Council Member Yaklich. City Manager Bradley explained that when we had attempted to get bids for the project, for which none were received. A Garden Club representative contacted Mr. Bradley asking for a status of the project. Mr. Bradley contacted Sunnyfield, who had previously supplied the flowers. Sunnyfield agreed to continue to supply the flowers and other materials on the same basis as they had in previous years. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

Resolution #5049 authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with SeeClickFix and authorizing payment was approved on a motion made by Council Member Yaklich and seconded by Council Member Faber. City Manager Bradley explained that SeeOlickFix would be a smartphone app that would allow our customers to take a picture to send us notice of a complaint. The app would also include the ability to track the complaints and see that they were being addressed. After some discussion, roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The motion passed.

City Engineer Nobel and Scott DeSplinter of Crawford, Murphy and Tilly gave a presentation of the status of Well 4. Nobel explained that the chlorides and the water loss were all integrated. The most recent bentonite plug in well 4 would be removed. The water from well 4 would then have chlorides at 500 parts per million and good capacity. He continued to explain the plan for a VFD add to the pump to dial in the flow. The well 4 rehab would bring us to 90% compliance at the south water treatment plant, which is where the majority of the water was sourced. He would continue the search for water loss, and begin to educate the public on the efficient use of water softeners. Council Member Yaklich and Mayor Looney thanked Mr. Nobel for his efforts.

City Manager Bradley explained that Ameren would no longer provide free electricity for events, like Hog Days, in the downtown area. City Engineer Nobel reported that he would be working with Crawford, Murphy & Tilly to determine the total load needed for the events. Electrician Kenny Gutschlag was in the audience and offered his assistance, as he has done the electrical work for the festival committee in the past. Mayor Looney also expressed that Ameren had been very good to work with through the process.

City Clerk Edwards read proclamations declaring April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month and May as Motorcycle Awareness Month.

Other Business

Council Member Faber thanked everyone for voting. He was looking forward to getting a lot of stuff done for the City.

Council Member Schweitzer welcomed Steve to the Council and thanked Kellie for her service.

Council Member Koehler noted upcoming graduations and urged motorists to be careful.

Council Member Yaklich welcomed Steve to the Council. He also reminded residents to keep grass clippings in their yards.

Council Member Schweitzer also congratulated Mike on his re-election

Mayor Looney thanked Kellie and congratulated Mike and Steve.

Announcements

There being no further business, Council Member Schweitzer moved to adjourn the meeting and Council Member Faber seconded the motion. Roll call showed 5 ayes, no nays. The meeting adjourned at 8:14 PM.

http://www.cityofkewanee.com/Minutes20170424.pdf