Galesburg Reporter

City of Monmouth City Council met March 21

Here are 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: Alderman Tony Cook, Alderwoman Susan Twomey, Aldermen Brian Daw, Jim Conard, Juan Pinedo, Alderwoman Kelly and Alderman John VanVleet Absent: Alderman Justin Thomas Also Present: Mayor Rod Davies, City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher, City Clerk Susan S. Trevor, City Attorney Marcum Spears, Building and Zoning Director Joe Clark, Communications Director Ken Helms, MFD Chief Casey Rexroat, MPD Chief Joe Switzer and Woodard & Curran Public Works Director Andy Jackson.

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 

 A. Approval of March 6, 2023 Council Meeting Minutes 

It was moved by Alderman Cook and seconded by Alderman VanVleet to approve the March 6, 2023 Council Meeting Minutes as presented. AYE: Alderman Cook, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Alderwoman Kelly and Alderman VanVleet NAY: none ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. IV. PRESENTATION TO THE COUNCIL 

A. Presentations or Citizen Inquiries  

There were none to be heard or considered.

B. Consent Agenda 

1. Approval of Bills 

It was moved by Alderman Daw and seconded by Alderwoman Twomey to approve the bills as presented. AYE: Alderman Cook, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Alderwoman Kelly and Alderman VanVleet NAY: none ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. 

V. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE 

A. MFD February Report – Chief Rexroat 

The department hosted a grain bin rescue class 2 weekends ago and also scheduled one for two weekends in August of this year.

Firefighter Bemowski has completed four weeks at the Fire Fighter Academy in Champaign.

The department just completed the 5th class of investigative training this past weekend here at City Hall. Next weekend will conclude the training with the 6th class. The department would like to thank Berg’s towing for donating a number of cars to train for fire and extrication.

The Police and Fire Commission met to establish a new base for firefighter testing as our short list has been exhausted. They made two changes for candidates with the first one being to lower the age that applicants can apply to 19; however, a candidate can’t actually be hired until they turn 21. The hope is that by lowering the application age, it might encourage more people to apply. The second change is to require the applicants to climb the 75 foot ladder on the tower truck to determine if they can safely handle climbing to a height of 75 feet without experiencing undue anxiety.

B. MPD February Report – Chief Switzer 

1. During the month of February. the department made 34 arrests, handled 117 ordinance violations and responded to 192 calls.

2. The department has been applying for grants to obtain body cameras that are being mandated for each officer to have by 2025.

3. A dispatcher in training had to be terminated due to job performance.

4. Administrator Steinbrecher and myself participated in contract negotiations with AFSCME.

5. The department will continue looking for scheduling software as the current program is not performing as needed.

6. As Chief, I completed the 2nd of 3 classes of the FBI Administrative Leader program.

7. Testing was held a week ago for police department officer candidates. There were two candidates who passed both the physical and mental tests.

C. Approval of Mowers for Cemetery 

Director Jackson explained that it is time to trade in the 5 existing mowers for the Cemetery. These will be replaced with 7 new mowers as one will be going to the water department and one to the street department with the mower at the street department going to the Campground and the rest allocated to the Cemetery. The total cost of the new mowers is $58,350 with a trade-in value of $14,500 and that brings the total cost to $43,850, which is included in the 2023-2024 budget. There will be around a 30-day delay for delivery of the new mowers. It was moved by Alderman Conard and seconded by Alderman Cook to approve the quote of $43,850 for the 7 new mowers from Martin Tractor. AYE: Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Alderwoman Kelly, Aldermen VanVleet and Cook NAY: none ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. 

D. Approval of Corrected Demolition Bid for 514 S. C Street ($3,424 not $3,242) Director Clark explained that the actual bid of $3,424 was still the lowest bid, but the numbers got transposed when it was presented for approval at the last Council meeting; therefore, it is just a housekeeping matter to approve the corrected numbers of the bid. It was moved by Alderwoman Kelly and seconded by Alderwoman Twomey to approve the corrected bid of $3,424 by Maple City Construction for the demolition of the house at 514 S. C Street AYE: Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Alderwoman Kelly, Alderman VanVleet, Alderman Cook and Alderwoman Twomey NAY: none ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. 

VI. ORDINANCES 

A. 1st Reading 

1. Ordinance 23-007, Adding Chapter 157 Solar System Regulations 

a. Administrator Steinbrecher stated that he had not had time to review the ordinance and had some concerns. He would like to have approval for this ordinance tabled for further review. However he added, the request by the Y.M.C.A. would comply with the commercial regulations for solar panels. The Administration is recommending approval of issuing a permit for the installation of the solar panels by the Y.M.C.A. It was moved by Alderman VanVleet and seconded by Alderman Cook to table Ordinance 23-007 for further review. AYE: Aldermen Conard, Pinedo, Alderwoman Kelly, Aldermen VanVleet, Cook, Alderwoman Twomey and Alderman Daw NAY: none ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. 

 b. It was moved by Alderwoman Twomey and seconded by Alderman VanVleet to authorize Administrator Steinbrecher to administratively oversee the permitting for the proposed Y.M.C.A. project. AYE: Alderman Pinedo, Alderwoman Kelly, Aldermen VanVleet, Cook, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw and Conard NAY: none ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. 

 2. Ordinance 23-008, Amendment to Video Gaming Machine Fees City Clerk Trevor explained that due to an amendment passed in 2020, the licenses fees for the Terminal Operator and the Local Establishments have to be shared equally. The Terminal Operators are assuming the $50 license fee for the Local Establishment, which raises their fees to $300 per video gaming machine. They will then share that fee with the Local Establishment. The City needs to remove the $50 local establishment fee from the Video Gaming Ordinance and raise the Terminal Operator’s fee from $250 per machine to $300. It was moved by Alderman Cook and seconded by Alderman Conard to approve the above amendment to Ordinance 23-008. AYE: Alderwoman Kelly, Aldermen VanVleet, Cook, Daw, Conard and Pinedo NAY: Alderwoman Twomey ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. 3. Ordinance 23-009, Home Rule 2023 Volume Cap transfer to WIEDA. Mayor Davies explained that this is an annual transfer of the City’s Home Rule Volume Capacity to Western Illinois Economic Development Authority. WIEDA issues private activity bonds to fund public projects for economic development. Administrator Steinbrecher added that if the City needed to avail itself of these bonds for economic development, we would not lose that ability by transferring our volume capacity to WIEDA. It was moved by Alderman Pinedo and seconded by Alderwoman Twomey to approve Ordinance 23-009, allowing for the transfer of the City’s Volume Capacity to WIEDA. AYE: Aldermen VanVleet, Cook, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo and Alderwoman Kelly NAY: none ABSENT: Alderman Thomas MOTION CARRIED. 

IX. OTHER BUSINESS 

There was none to consider

X. ADJOURNMENT 

 It was moved by Alderman Daw and seconded by Alderman Cook to adjourn the March 21, 2023 meeting at 6:20 p.m. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous voice vote with the exception of Alderman Thomas, who was absent. 

https://www.cityofmonmouth.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif7191/f/minutes/march_21_2023_council_meeting_minutes.pdf