Galesburg Reporter

City of Monmouth City Council met March 17

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

City Attorney Spears stated there was not a quorum present to conduct a regular meeting. Issues may be discussed but no action can be taken.

III. PRESENTATIONS

1. Bob Rogers of East 1st Avenue asked to have his concerns recorded in our minutes as follows:

With the upcoming election for Mayor of the City on April 1st, I would like to make my remarks a part of the record as to the concerns of many citizens here in Monmouth. We as a City are confronting challenges that we’ve never had to address before soon.

I find it concerning with the changes coming out of the Trump Administration, which may ultimately affect Monmouth. We are a small poor community with a large number of senior citizens who depend on Social Security. For the most part, we have a local hospital that does take care of Medicaid and Medicare customers. However, if the changes do come down from Washington where those benefits are then curtailed, is the City prepared for what may happen as to when rents can’t be paid, electric bills can’t be paid, water can’t be paid and the hospital can no longer serve the population. Also, now that we have green card status in question, which might cause the loss of our migrant community, how will that affect the business community, especially Smithfield. We also have the College, which I’m sure receives Pell Grants and that may also be curtailed or come to an end.

These are all risks and a reality that Monmouth must be aware of and face in the coming future. I heartily encourage the City to make plans to try and alleviate some of the displacement or disruptions to services that this City may face.

IV. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

A. Video Gaming Vendor Request on behalf of County Market for a Liquor Pour License to Allow Gaming at County Market

Due to the lack of a quorum to take action on this request, Ms. Davis, the Video Gaming Vendor representative, was asked to come back to the April 7th meeting to present her request.

B. Jason Robbins Request to Speak About Positive Changes to the Community

Jason Robbins head of Robbins Resource, prefaced his presentation with some facts about his background. He was born and raised in Monmouth. He has multiple businesses and properties here in Monmouth. To date, he and his company have invested around 8 million dollars in the community and have acquired 150 properties. He personally just renovated the Wyatt Earp birthplace for around $230,000 as a gift to the Community.

Between his rentals of his Airbnb/Vrbo Robbins Nest and the Wyatt Earp Birthplace, he has brought about 50 tourists this last year to Monmouth. These tourists spent money locally during their stays and thus contributed to City revenue. They indicated that they came to Monmouth due to the marketing of these properties.

He stated that he had the following concerns:

1) The City currently owns 74 properties that are not being used or developed and 72 of which are tax exempt. He obtained the list of properties from the Assessor’s Office. He feels that the City’s ownership competes with local investors like himself and others.

2) He recently bought two commercial properties but has not come to the City due to a lack of trust. He is currently looking to purchase two other properties, which would bring his investment this year to around 4 million dollars.

3) His lack of trust occurred over an issue with the property at 200 South Main Street. He had a friend, Attorney Scott McClintock, who was interested in locating his office in this building and leasing from me if I owned it. However, since I couldn’t get a purchase price from the City, I was unable to purchase the building. A short time later Scott received an email from the City asking if he would be interested in leasing the space from them. I believe this is direct competition with private investors. The City has owned this property for 9 years and still has not fully developed the property.

4) He has ideas for solutions and would be willing to meet with any Council members between now and the next Council meeting.

City Attorney Marcum Spears gave the following background on the 200 S. Main property:

a) The building originally belonged to the Lynch family and was left in 1920 to his three daughters. This created 3 separate parcels with no interior firewalls except for the old Vaughn’s building. Downstairs includes a portion of Alfano’s building that they expanded into. Upstairs there is only one open space with no defining walls and no defining part on the roof either. There is also only one exterior staircase with access to the upstairs and that is actually in the Alfano’s portion of the building. It is a logistical nightmare. The goal was to redefine the building and make it into one in order to be able to market it as one complete property and unfortunately this has been difficult to determine a solution to achieve this. Also, Alfano’s were not interested in making it into one building. 

b) In regards to the 74 properties that Mr. Robbins referred to that the City owns, I did not receive the list showing that number of properties; however, the City usually only acquires properties through scavenger sales for unpaid taxes or the properties that the City was mowing anyway and had liens against. These unpaid tax properties are available for anyone to purchase at the time of the scavenger sales. The City has to make decisions for the whole community not just a few. I would personally be willing to have conversations concerning these properties with any person who is interested in further information.

Mr. Robbins concluded his presentation with suggesting that the City come up with a process to place these City owned properties back on the tax rolls.

C. MFD February Report – Chief Rexroat

There were 132 calls in the month of February.

The Department is conducting an Inspector Class that teaches how to teach other firefighters. Six of our firefighters are attending along with a handful of firefighters from neighboring departments.

We applied for a Fire Station Rehabilitation and Construction Grant last month.

It is administered through the State Fire Marshall’s office and can be up to $350,000 towards new stations or upgrades to existing stations. We applied for modifications to Station 2. This particular grant has not been available for a very long time and therefore will probably be very competitive.

There were 5 service anniversaries this month: Devin Bemowski – 2 years; Paul Mangieri – 3 years; Tyler Osborne – 7 years; Travis Bitner – 22 years and Dan Chard – 24 years.

D. MPD February Report – Chief Switzer

• There were 2,970 Calls in to Dispatch;1,266 MPD Calls and 4,629 Dispatch Calls in the month of February

• Officers spent 20 hours in court for traffic and ordinance violations.

• The 2nd phase of LIVE Emergency Medical training for MPD dispatchers was conducted this month. This phase involved computer software that dispatchers will be using once LIVE MD goes online.

• Administrator Steinbrecher and Chief Switzer participated in negotiations with the FOP.

• Mandated staff training was completed this month as well as AED/CPR training.

E. Generator Bid for west Harlem Water Treatment Plant

Woodard and Curran Public Works Director Bledsoe explained that this generator is for the new Water Treatment Plant on West Harlem. The City received one bid of $245,200 from Quick Electric. The money to pay for the generator comes from the Rebuild Illinois Grant and does not use any taxpayer dollars. Approval for the bid will be placed on the April 7th Council meeting agenda.

F. Presentation of the 2025-2026 FY Budget – Administrator Steinbrecher

Administrator Steinbrecher gave an overview of the 2025-2026 FY Budget as follows:

➢ The Total 2025-2026 FY Budget is $43,343,590.

➢ 28% is allocated to the General Fund; 9% is for the 4 TIF Districts; 7% goes to Debt Service; 3% goes to the Health Fund; 42% is allocated for the Water and Sewer Fund and 11% for the State and Local Motor Fuel tax. There is a significant increase in the MFT fund due to the reconstruction of West Harlem.

➢ The General Fund Budget is $12,055,606 with the Solid Waste portion being part of the Municipal Operations, but highlighted separately because it includes costs for closing the landfill as the City has to monitor the wells until the State determines that the water sample test results meet the requirements for a closure affidavit.

➢ The Fire Department Budget is $3,045,886. Total labor costs constitute 94% of the total fire Department budget. For every $1.00 the City spends on payroll for active Firefighters, it spends another 90 cents on pension benefits for retired Firefighters.

➢ The Police Department Budget is $4,120,088. Total labor costs constitute 96% of the total Police Department budget. For every $1.00 the City spends on payroll for active Police Officers, it spends another 72 cents on pension benefits for retired Police Officers.

There will be a Public Hearing at 5:45 p.m. prior to the April 7th Council meeting for public comments or concerns to be heard regarding the budget. A copy of the 2025-2026 budget is available to the public online and in City Hall.

V. ADJOURNMENT

Mayor Davies then announced that due to no quorum being present to take action on Agenda items that need Council approval, the meeting stands adjourned at 6:50 p.m.

https://www.cityofmonmouth.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif7191/f/agendas/march_17_2025_council_meeting_minutes.pdf