Galesburg Reporter

City of Monmouth City Council met May 20

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: Aldermen Jay Grant, Brad Bone, Alderwoman Susan Twomey, Aldermen Brian Daw, Jim Conard, Juan Pinedo, Kevin Ferry and Alderman VanVleet Also Present: Mayor Rod Davies, City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher, City Clerk Susan S. Trevor, City Attorney Marcum Spears, Building and Zoning Director Joe Clark, Andy Jackson, Woodard and Curran Public Works Director, Communications Director Ken Helms, MFD Chief Casey Rexroat, MPD Chief Joe Switzer

III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

A. Approval of May 6, 2024 Council Meeting Minutes

It was moved by Alderman Grant and seconded by Alderwoman Twomey to approve the May 6, 2024 Council Meeting Minutes as presented. AYE: Aldermen Grant, Bone, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo and VanVleet PASS: Alderman Ferry NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

IV. PRESENTATION TO THE COUNCIL

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

1. Clifford Adams from the Maple City Street Machines addressed the Council with his concerns for the annual Car Show the first weekend in August due to the construction in the downtown square area. He said that the Club could move cars further down the streets leading up to the square but was asking if he could meet with the City to formulate a plan. Mayor Davies said that the City would work with the Club and MPD and bring back a plan for Council approval.

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

1. Approval of Bills

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

V. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

A. MFD April Report – Chief Rexroat

The department responded to 138 calls in April.

There were a few fires in April with the 1st one being an unoccupied shed at 600 W. 10th Avenue. It blew embers on to neighboring properties, but the firefighters were able to quickly extinguish the fire and the burning embers to protect the neighboring buildings.

The second fire was a residential fire on 180th Avenue which was a MABAS response with the Central Warren Fire Department. The house was fully engulfed and quickly became a defensive fire. The third fire was a small kitchen fire in the Monmouth Townhomes and was quickly extinguished.

Assistant Chief Spear and Firefighter Osborn talked to M-R students on fire investigation procedures.

Firefighters Osborn and Mangieri joined a MABAS Technical Rescue Team that is headquartered in Peoria. They will receive training in areas of structural collapse, trench rescue, rope rescue and confined space rescue in order to become certified members of the team.

The department has submitted a grant application to FEMA for funding to purchase a fire safety trailer, which would be used to educate the public about fire safety in the home.

Hydrant flushing started last Wednesday in the area South of West Harlem and West of North Main Street. Everything North of South Harlem will be done on the weekend in order to not have a significant impact on businesses in this area.

B. MPD April Report – Chief Switzer

● In the month of April there were 44 MPD arrests; 79 citations; 1,245 MPD calls 2,643 Dispatch calls; 24 MPD accidents and 38 grant hours worked.

● Officers spent 18 hours in Court on various traffic violations.

● A new video system was installed in the squad cars and new body cams were initially deployed.

● Chief Switzer attended a Child Abuse Awareness Month event in Pattee Plaza.

● One new squad car was delivered in April and a second new car came this last week.

● WIAR donated stainless steel cat cages to the department, which enabled us to get rid of the old ones that were in bad shape.

C. Approval of Bid for Downtown Parking Lot on Old Auction House Site

Shane Larson, Engineer for Hutchison Engineering, explained that the City received four (4) bids with Porter Brothers Construction from Rock Falls submitting the low bid of $143,152,87 for this project. This company has not done any work in Monmouth before, but Hutchison has worked with them on projects in Aledo and Orion, Illinois and is recommending approval of awarding the Downtown Parking Lot on the Old Auction House Site to Porter Brothers Construction. It was moved by Alderman Conard and seconded by Alderman VanVleet to approve the low bid submitted by Porter Brothers Construction to construct the Downtown Parking Lot on the Old Auction House Site.

AYE: Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Ferry, VanVleet, Grant and Bone NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

D. Approval of Bid for Downtown Streetscape – Shane Larson

Shane explained that the City received three (3) bids and Porter Brothers Construction appears to be the low bidder; however, due to several alternates that were included in the bid documents raising concerns, the decision was made to conduct further review of the submitted bids. Mayor Davies said that the bid reviews would be conducted in the next two weeks in order to put it on the agenda for the June 3rd Council meeting.

E. Approval of Engineering Agreement for Water Treatment Plant

Samantha Weidenbenner, an Engineer from Woodard and Curran, explained to the Council that this engineering agreement outlines the work to design and estimate the cost for the proposed West Harlem WTP for the City. In addition, the agreement provides for Woodard and Curran to oversee the construction project process with the coordination of schedules, planning, progress of project and budget status reports and technical oversight of project activities. With completion of the project, the City will be able to provide a finished product.

Mayor Davies added that the City is at capacity of providing finished water and can’t meet its industrial demands. The South plant doesn’t add capacity to the North plant. The City is now able to go forward with planning for a new WTP since the upgrade in pipes on West Harlem. The new WTP would be built on the City owned site on West Harlem. This new WTP will allow space for future growth and would provide one (1) million gallons per day of finished water. The original two (2) million grant to provide greater capacity for finished water was for drilling a new raw water well and the bids came in higher than the engineer’s estimate. After much research and discussion, the City adjusted the project and shifted the grant funds from drilling a new well to building a new WTP, which will provide finished water for not only the industrial demands, but also for public safety and citizens use as well. The Administration is recommending approval of this Engineering Agreement with Woodard and Curran to design and oversee the construction of a new WTP. It was moved by Alderman Grant and seconded by Alderman Bone to approve the above-stated Engineering Agreement with Woodard and Curran. AYE: Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Ferry, VanVleet, Grant, Bone and Alderwoman Twomey NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

F. Approval of 6th Street IMEG Engineering Agreement

Loren Rains, an engineer from IMEG presented an agreement for IMEG to act as construction and oversight engineer for the North 6th Street from East Broadway to East Euclid road project, which is a length of approximately 1, 950 feet. IMEG proposes to provide these services for a fee of $83,000.00 It was moved by Alderman Pinedo and seconded by Alderman Grant to approve the above-stated engineering agreement with IMEG as presented. AYE: Aldermen Conard, Pinedo, Ferry, VanVleet, Grant, Bone, Alderwoman Twomey and Alderman Daw. NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

VI. ORDINANCES

A. 1st Reading

1. 24-009, Vacation of North/South Alley Between South 9th and South 10th Street

2. 24-010, Vacation of East-West Alleyway in Block 10 of College Addition

Zoning Director Joe Clark explained that this is a housekeeping issue as these alleyways have been maintained by adjacent property owners for a number of years, but were never officially vacated. All the adjacent property owners were contacted and are in favor of vacating the two above stated alleyways. It was moved by Alderman VanVleet and seconded by Alderman Pinedo to approve the vacation of the above-stated alleyways. AYE: Aldermen Pinedo, Ferry, VanVleet, Grant, Bone, Alderwoman Twomey, Aldermen Daw and Conard NAY: none MOTION CARRIED.

VII. OTHER BUSINESS

There was none to consider.

VIII. ADJOURNMENT

It was moved by Alderman Daw and seconded by Alderwoman Twomey to adjourn the May 6th meeting at 6:30 p.m. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous voice vote.

https://www.cityofmonmouth.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif7191/f/agendas/may_20_2024_council_meeting_minutes.pdf