The Kewanee City Council will meet on Monday, July 8th, at 7 PM. The meeting will be carried out live on our WKEI RegionalMediaNews.com Facebook page. The agenda and notes from the packet are below. You can find the background information on the agenda items in the Kewanee City Council Packet, linked here.
1. Roll Call
2. Closed Session to discuss Personnel Section 2(c)(1) and Discussion of Closed Meeting Minutes
Section 2(c)(21)
3. Consent Agenda
a. Approval of Minutes
b. Approval of Closed Meeting Minutes from June 10, 2024
c. Payroll
d. Staff Reports
e. Bock Report
4. Payment of the bills
5. Public Comments
6. Swearing in of New Personnel
7. New Business
a) Presentation: Chamber of Commerce
b) Bill 24-63 Ordinance fixing appropriations for the Fiscal Year beginning May 1, 2024, and ending April 30, 2025.
c) Bill 24-64 Resolution authorizing the Mayor, City Manager, Fire Chief, and City Clerk to execute a purchase agreement and other documents that are necessary and proper in the procurement of supplies to refurbish and replace the Outdoor Warning Sirens for the City of Kewanee.
d) Bill 24-65 Resolutions authorizing application to the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) Rebuild Downtown and Main Streets Capital Grant Program to construct infrastructure and streetscape improvements in the Downtown Business District in the City of Kewanee.
8. Council Communications
9. Announcement
10. Adjournment
Also in the Packet:
1. Fire Station #2— Staff held a pre-bid walkthrough earlier in the week for prospective bidders. Responses to the RFP will be due July 12, and we expect the contract to be awarded at the July 22nd meeting, with completion in late September or early October, depending on lead times for materials.
2. Woodland Palace— The Kewanee Preservation Society held an informational meeting last week to discuss ways in which the group could help ensure the preservation of the structure. There were approximately 30 people who expressed a desire to help with the project. Staff is optimistic that the group can help reduce the cost of repairs and raise funds to help offset a portion of the costs.
3. PRICE Grant— Staff is wrapping up the PRICE Grant application for submission next week. The application seeks to replace water, sanitary sewer, streets, and sidewalks to the parks in an effort to spur private investment, potentially from a new ownership group. Having a sustainable and economically viable option will help to increase the stock of affordable housing within the community.
4. Safe Streets For All— Bi-State held an introductory meeting for the Safe Streets for All (SS4A) grant that was awarded to the Quad Cities, Kewanee, and Muscatine. The study will identify traffic safety issues within our transportation network, making future grant applications to address those concerns more likely to be approved.
5. Lyle Street— Staff met with the contractor last week in a pre-construction meeting to work out the final details of staging, construction inspection and materials testing, etc. prior to the start of the upcoming construction.
6. Francis Park— The bid letting for the first phase of work at Francis Park under the OSLAD grant was last week. We anticipate awarding the work in August.
7. Police Grants— The department was awarded another grant for $44,000 for body cameras. This brings the total awarded for that expenditure to $163,252 for the body cameras.
8. Vehicle Thefts— The license plate readers previously purchased through a federal grant
helped to apprehend six (6) juveniles and recover two stolen cars yesterday morning.
9. Heavy Rescue— The Budget included a capital expenditure for a new vehicle for the Fire Chief that is capable of pulling the Hazmat trailer. The Chief has looked into available vehicles and identified some used heavy rescue vehicles that are being sold by other agencies. If those vehicles are found to be worthy from a maintenance standpoint, purchasing one of them could get us a better value operationally at a lower expense. Unless there are objections to this approach, the Chief will look into both options further before making a recommendation to the City Council.
10. Band Shell— While I like the idea of adding a multi-purpose facility that can help to boost tourism within the community and the region, I believe that the best course of action is to undertake a feasibility study that would help to identify the most appropriate design for the needs of our community and review and evaluate the various options available for the location of the proposed facility.
11. South Street— Despite previously being told that the work on South Street would be completed last week or this week, we’re now being told that the work will be completed the week of the 15th. In just a few months, the changes to sanitation will take effect, freeing up much needed staff to help prevent such conditions and affording us the staff we need to perform preventative maintenance. We’ve also identified a few other systemic changes that we will be proposing that we believe can have a similar benefit to the productivity of our public works department. Those discussions will be forthcoming at the 2nd meeting in July.
12. Children’s Safety Expo 2024—Senator Neil Anderson & Representative Travis Weaver are sponsoring a Children’s Safety Expo on Saturday, August 17th at Blackhawk College Education Center Parking Lot (404 E. 3rd Street, directly north of City Hall). The event will run from 9:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. and will have equipment from the city on display.