Galesburg Reporter

City of Monmouth Council met Jan. 7.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

I. CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Mayor Rod Davies called the meeting to order in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 100 East Broadway at 6:00 p.m. and led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

II. ROLL CALL

City Clerk Susan S. Trevor called the roll and those answering Present were: Aldermen Justin Thomas, Dave Rutledge, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Brian Daw, Bob Wells, Juan Pinedo and Dan Heatherly Also Present: Mayor Rod Davies, City Clerk Susan S. Trevor, City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher, City Attorney Marcum Spears, MFD Chief Casey Rexroat, MPD Chief Joe Switzer, Woodard and Curran Public Works Director Andy Jackson, IT Director Ken Helms, Building and Zoning Director Joe Clark and Jeff Holt for the Press.

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A. Approval of the December 17, 2018 Council Meeting Minutes

It was moved by Alderman Daw and seconded by Alderman Wells to approve the December 17, 2018 Council Meeting Minutes as presented. AYE: Aldermen Thomas, Rutledge, Daw, Wells and Heatherly PASS: Alderwoman Twomey and Alderman Pinedo NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

IV. PRESENTATION TO THE COUNCIL

A. Presentations or Citizen Inquiries (all inquiries are limited to 3 minutes per City Ordinance)

There were none to be considered.

B. Consent Agenda

1. Approval of Bills (Items on Consent Agenda will not be discussed unless a request is made to remove an item for discussion)

It was moved by Alderman Heatherly and seconded by Alderman Rutledge to approve the Bills as presented. AYE: Alderman Rutledge, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Wells, Pinedo, Heatherly and Thomas NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

V. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

A. Building and Zoning December Report—Director Clark

 Letters have been sent to all businesses regarding their compliance with the City’s new sign ordinance as well as personal meetings with each owner. After some initial concerns, the owners are comfortable with the signage requirements.

 Fareway is continuing with setting the walls for their new store.

 A meeting with Smithfield was held regarding their procurement building

construction and they were asked for a timeline.

 Permits issued brought in $49,000. Issuing of permits typically slows down at this

time of the year.

 Rental inspections will begin again next week.

B. Community Engagement December Report – IT Director Helms

Development of the new web site is almost completed and a link will be sent out shortly for the Council and staff to preview.

The emergency texting system has received great feedback with 3,000 people signed up to receive emergency texts.

 C. Woodard and Curran November Report – Director Jackson

 The water main replacement that is being funded by a CDBG grant is just about ready to go out for bid.

 There will be a CSO Design meeting on Thursday. 30% of the design should be done by the end of January in order to stay within the EPA timeline.

 A comprehensive street overlay program for 2019 will be put together soon. It will be about a 1⁄2 million dollar project. The local gas tax may be able to be used for some streets that do not meet MFT specifications.

 Leaves are still being picked up from those citizens who call and ask for pickup of their leaves.

 Due to the milder winter weather the crews have been out filling some potholes.

Leases for new Backhoe and End-loader – Director Jackson

C. The City has had two five (5) year leases, which are up for renewal, with Martin Sullivan for our current backhoe and end-loader. The new leases are also for a five year term or 3,000 hours whichever comes first. According to Director Jackson this is the most economical way to have this large scale equipment. Mayor Davies added that these lease amounts have been budgeted for. It was moved by Alderman Rutledge and seconded by Alderwoman Twomey to approve the two five (5) years leases with Martin Sullivan for a John Deere backhoe and end-loader. AYE: Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Wells, Pinedo, Heatherly, Thomas and Rutledge NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

D. Engineering Services for Public Square ITEP Grant Application

Administrator Steinbrecher provided background for employing an engineering firm to assist with obtaining an ITEP Grant as follows:

 The City applied for an ITEP grant last year and did not receive it.

 The focus of the grant was to soften the four downtown quadrants with landscaping and improve the traffic flow around the square.

 The City was turned down because the project wasn’t shovel ready and there was no engineering design for the project.

 In October, Administrator Steinbrecher said that he issued a Request for Qualifications from a number of engineering firms and received two responses.

 After reviewing the submittals from each firm, it was determined that Hutchison Engineering Inc. had the most experience with submitting successful ITEP grants in the State of Illinois.

Administrator Steinbrecher recommended selection of Hutchison Engineering as the engineering firm to design the capital improvements of the downtown public square and asked for authorization to work with them to be able to bring a design proposal back to the Council in late February or early March. It was moved by Alderman Wells and seconded by Alderwoman Twomey to select Hutchison Engineering Inc. as the engineering firm to design the capital improvements for the downtown public square and approve authorizing Administrator Steinbrecher to work with them to bring a design proposal back to the Council for approval. AYE: Aldermen Daw, Wells, Pinedo, Heatherly, Thomas, Rutledge and Alderwoman Twomey NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

VI. ORDINANCES A. 1st Reading

1. 19-001, Request to Subdivide Two (2) Lots

Administrator Steinbrecher explained that when Fareway Stores brought the property of five (5) acres located at 1181 North 6th Street to construct their grocery store, it was subsequently determined that Fareway would not need the total five acres. They agreed to subdivide the property and create an out lot on the East side of the store consisting of two (2) acres that could be used for other commercial development. The Plan Commission reviewed the request and unanimously recommended approval. It was moved by Alderman Heatherly and seconded by Alderman Wells to accept the recommendation of the Plan Commission and approve Fareway Stores request to subdivide their lots. AYE: Aldermen Wells, Pinedo, Heatherly, Thomas, Rutledge, Alderwoman Twomey and Alderman Daw. NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

2. 19-002, Vacation of Portions of Unnamed Street North of U.S. 34 Bypass

Administrator Steinbrecher told the Council that the City had been approached by Hirschbach Trucking to vacate a portion of an unnamed street that runs parallel to their property. They are asking for the vacation since they purchased the Parkins property as well as the Dexter property and are planning to expand their Monmouth operation based on the amount of their business with Smithfield and Cloverleaf. There is an underground utility running under this street and the City would maintain an easement to access this utility. Administrator Steinbrecher then introduced Brian Kohlwes, General Counsel and Vice President of Hirschbach Trucking to give additional background on their request.

Mr. Kohlwes explained that in November Hirschbach Trucking purchased three (3) pieces of property across North 6th Street from Smithfield and Cloverleaf. Hirschbach has been in business since 1935 and is a refrigerated carrier. Due to the high volume of moving the refrigerated product from Smithfield and Cloverleaf to the tractors and the safety challenges as well as compliance to the new food safety laws, Hirschbach needed more area to be able to secure the dropped tractors and control access to the properties. The vacation of the unnamed street will allow them to re-configure the properties to meet their needs. He also assured the Council that any fence would be aesthetically pleasing and they would guarantee public access to Granny’s Restaurant.

It was moved by Alderman Wells and seconded by Alderman Heatherly to approve the vacation of portions of the unnamed street North of U.S. 34 Bypass located across from Smithfield Processing Plant. AYE: Aldermen Pinedo, Heatherly, Thomas, Rutledge, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw and Wells NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

3. 19-003, Declaration of Surplus Property

MFD Chief Rexroat explained that in 2012 the department was awarded a grant that was used to update/replace all of the department’s Self Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA). Four (4) SCBA’s were retained to use as spares but have not been utilized by the department. The intention in declaring the SCBA surplus is to sell them to a neighboring department who will be able to better utilize them. The estimated selling price is between three hundred to five hundred dollars. It was moved by Alderman Rutledge and seconded by Alderman Pinedo to approve declaring the four (4) SCBA’s surplus property. AYE: Aldermen Heatherly, Thomas, Rutledge, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Wells and Pinedo NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

VII. OTHER BUSINESS

There was none to be considered.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Alderman Heatherly and seconded by Alderman Rutledge to adjourn the January 7, 2019 meeting at 6:40 p.m. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous voice vote.

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