Galesburg Reporter

City of Monmouth City Council met Aug. 18

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 Melissa Teel called the roll and those answering Present were: Aldermen Brad Bone, Brian Daw, Juan Pinedo, John VanVleet, Kevin Ferry and Jim Conard

Absent: Aldermen Teel and Weber Also Present: Mayor Rod Davies, City Clerk Melissa Teel, City Attorney Marcum Spears, City Administrator Lew Steinbrecher, Communications Director Ken Helms, MFD Chief Casey Rexroat, MPD Chief Joe Switzer, Public Works Director Brayden Bledsoe and Building and Zoning Director Joe Clark

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

A. Approval of the August 4, 2025 Council Meeting Minutes as presented

It was moved by Alderman Ferry and seconded by Alderman Pinedo to approve the minutes. AYE: Alderman Bone, Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Ferry and VanVleet NAY:

None

MOTION CARRIED.

III. PRESENTATIONS

A. Chief Rexroat made a presentation to the council about 4 fire fighters that were called to a structure fire with possible entrapment including Assistant Chief Craig Cozadd, Assistant Chief Ryan Armstrong, Fire Fighter Paul Mangieri, and Fire Fighter Kyle Martin. It was a high stress situation that was done professionally and efficiently. Chief Rexroat then presented the four fire fighters with the lifesaving award.

IV. CONSENT AGENDA

A. Approval of the Bills

It was moved by Alderman Daw and seconded by Alderman Ferry to approve the bills as presented. AYE: Aldermen Bone, Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Ferry, and VanVleet.

MOTION CARRIED.

V. COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE

A. Chief Switzer presented the Police Department July report as follows: 51 arrests were made, 107 citations were issued, 3969 calls came into dispatch, 1323 calls were handled by MPD, 2873 calls were dispatched out by the dispatch center, 21 accidents were handled, and the officers worked 18 grant hours. The fireworks went off without a hitch, MPD met with car show personnel several times and Chief met with Superintendent Fletcher about the SRO program. A new internal camera  system was installed at MPD as well as a keyless entry system for the employees at the back door. All funding from that project came from drug seizure funds.

Officers continued with state mandated training. All officers received control tactics training and conducted annual qualifications on their pistols and rifles. Several squad cars were taken in for routine maintenance. The Monmouth College walkout went well and they will be planning for the Prime Beef Festival and parade as well as the Riley Run.

B. Chief Rexroat presented the Fire Department July report as follows: The safety trailer that was purchased with the grant funds has been picked up. The LED sign that was purchased with grant money is installed and should be hooked up to electricity and functional soon. Testing for fire fighters has been ongoing and working on hiring fire fighters. There was one new fire fighter that started and there were two more testing. If all goes well, they will be hired soon and off to academy.

There were 125 calls for service. A standby was provided out at Citizens Lake for the fireworks and glow sticks were handed out to everyone as a safer alternative to sparklers. The annual water event was held at West Park, and the kids really like the giant sprinkler effect. The training site is almost finished and will be usable next month. The hope is to have some sort of ribbon cutting to formalize the start of using it.

VI. ORDINANCES

A. 25-014 Implementing A Municipal Grocery Retailers Occupation Tax- Mayor Davies explained that in August of 2024 the Governor repealed the 1% state wide grocery tax which was dispersed to the units of local government which would cause a loss of $250,000-$330,000 to the City. Administrator Steinbrecher explained that the bill that was signed by the governor did include a provision that even though the statewide 1% sales tax was being repealed, he did allow for individual municipalities to pass an ordinance reinstating the reserve. Lew asked for the support of the council members to preserve the tax dollars that we are at risk of losing. Alderman VanVleet offered a clarification to the citizens that may be watching the meeting from home or anyone present that the ordinance is not raising taxes, but maintaining what the tax already is on groceries. It was moved by Alderman Daw and seconded by Alderman Pinedo to pass the ordinance.

AYE: Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Ferry, VanVleet, and Bone. NAY: None

MOTION CARRIED.

B. 25-015 Declaring Surplus Property-Public Works- Mayor Davies requested Director Bledsoe to present and he explained that the surplus item is a 2000 Chevy S-10 that we have had for several years. The head gaskets finally gave out on it, and it will be more to fix than it’s worth. It was moved by Alderman Conard and seconded by Alderman VanVleet to pass the ordinance.

AYE: Aldermen Daw, Conard, Pinedo, Ferry, VanVleet, and Bone. NAY: None

MOTION CARRIED.

C. 25-016 Granting a Setback Variance- Director Clark explained that the Zoning Board of Appeals met for a setback variance for the property located at 407 N 10th Street. It was passed unanimously by the board members and all questions were answered for those in attendance. The board would request the favorable consideration to accept the setback variance. It was moved by Alderman Bone and seconded by Alderman VanVleet to pass the ordinance.

AYE: Aldermen Conard, Pinedo, Ferry, VanVleet, Bone, and Daw. NAY: None

MOTION CARRIED.

VII. ADJOURNMENT

A. Alderman Daw moved to adjourn the August 18th meeting at 6:15 p.m. and Alderman Ferry seconded the motion. MOTION CARRIED by unanimous voice vote with the exception of Aldermen Teel and Weber who were absent.

https://www.cityofmonmouth.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif7191/f/agendas/august_18_2025_council_meeting_minutes.pdf