The Kewanee City Council will meet on Tuesday, May 27th, 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 here.
1. Roll Call
2. Closed Session to discuss Personnel Section 2(c)(1), Collective Bargaining Section 2(c)(2), Purchase or Lease of Real Estate Section 2(c)(5), Litigation Section 2(c)(11), and Discussion of Closed Meeting Minutes Section 2(c)(21)
3. Roll Call
4. Consent Agenda
a. Approval of Minutes
b. Payroll
c. Staff Reports
d. Bock Report
5. Payment of the bills
6. Public Comments
7. New Business
a) Bill 25-47 Ordinance approving and authorizing the execution of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District Redevelopment Agreement by and between the City of Kewanee and VanDeVelde Wellness Center.
b) Bill 25-48 Resolution approving an Intergovernmental Agreement regarding water and sewer for the Splash Pad and a Memorandum of Understand regarding maintenance responsibilities of McKinley and West Parks.
c) Bill 25-49 Resolution authorizing a Micro-Loan to Head Nods and High Fives.
d) Bill 25-50 Resolution adopting the Quad Cities-Kewanee-Muscatine Traffic Safety Action Plan and committing to Vision Zero.
e) Bill 25-51 Resolution authorizing the City Manager and City Clerk to execute a Service Agreement with MGT for recruiting services.
f) Bill 25-52 Ordinance providing for and approving the Second Amendment to the Kewanee Downtown TIF District Redevelopment Project Area, Plan and Projects.
g) Bill 25-53 Resolution authorizing the Fire Chief to enter into a Mutual Intercept Agreement with Sheffield Rescue.
h) Discussion Only: Water Rates
i) Discussion Only: TIF Criteria
8. Council Communications
9. Announcement
10. Adjournment
Additional Information:
1. Memorial Day Observance— City offices and the Transfer Station will be closed on Monday, May 26th in observance of Memorial Day. The City’s annual Memorial Day service will be held at Veteran’s Park beginning at 10:00 a.m. The public is encouraged to attend as we honor those who gave their lives in service to our country. Please note that the City Council meeting will be held on Tuesday instead of Monday to accommodate the holiday. Trash and recycling will be delayed one day, and landscape waste collection will be on Tuesday.
2. Licenses—Thanks to diligent work by staff, all liquor and business licenses for the Fiscal Year of 2026 have been renewed. This includes 43 liquor licenses and over 50 business licenses.
3. Fire Truck— As previously reported, the new fire engine/pumper being custom built by Legacy Fire Equipment, a division of Alexis Fire Equipment, has been given a delivery date to Kewanee of September 17th. This will become the new lead engine in the fire department fleet, effectively retiring engine #2, a 1994 engine/pumper, also custom built by Alexis Fire Equipment. This engine is being financed through an Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG). This money is granted through FEMA and will cover all but $33,640 of the $732,456 quoted purchased price. We will inform you of any changes in the delivery schedule, if applicable.
4. Fire Academy— Firefighter Madison Allen, Kewanee’s first female firefighter, recently graduated from the Peoria Fire Academy. She successfully completed all of the training and passed all exams and is now certified as a Basic Operations Firefighter with the State of Illinois. Also, while attending the fire academy, Madison was able to finish her EMT training and challenge the national exam. She passed and is now a certified EMT and can begin working on our emergency ambulances without supervision.
5. Fire Retirement — Fire Chief Welgat was informed in writing by Engineer Anthony Finn, that he will be retiring this year, effective October 1st. Tony came to the City of Kewanee in September of 2007. Tony plans to stay in the work-force and enjoy more time at home with his wife Heidi and their son, Tyler. We thank Tony for his years of service and wish him well in the future.
6. Retirement — With the upcoming retirement of Anthony Finn, we have contacted the next individual on our hiring list, Brendan Stevens, from Elmwood, IL. He has been given a conditional offer of employment and has accepted. Brendan is currently traversing his way through the pre-employment testing progress and will be offered a full employment offer upon its completion. Brendan would begin his employment on July 28th for a 2-week orientation and then be sent directly to the Peoria Fire Academy, which begins August 11th. Brendan will graduate from the academy just a few short weeks after Mr. Finn’s retirement and be ready to start work immediately, as he already owns an EMT license. We welcome Brendan and look forward to introducing him to Kewanee in July.
7. Francis Park — Playground improvements are expected to be completed prior to the Fourth of July festivities in the park. Staff has a meeting today with organizers of the car show and other events. The building that will replace the pavilion has been ordered and construction will begin after the park has been closed for the season, which will wrap up the City’s OSLAD grant.
8. Mobile Home Parks— Staff continues to coordinate with the court-appointed receiver, L&B All-Star Properties, to monitor occupancy and utility billing in an effort to ensure that any voluntary loss of service (directed by the receiver) or termination of service on the City’s part for lack of payment, is accompanied by proper notice to affected residents and their legal counsel. Additionally, staff continues to follow up on unresolved property maintenance issues, including litter and debris. As part of our continued oversight, staff visited mobile home parks and documented several issues including litter, overgrown vegetation, and maintenance violations. Compliance efforts are ongoing, and formal notices have been issued where applicable. As the receiver has indicated that the bank will not provide additional funding for maintenance at the parks, staff has developed a Request for Proposals (RFP) for mowing services at the various properties. Proposals are due June 7, 2025, and award recommendations will be presented at the first Council meeting following the deadline.
9. Motor Fuel Tax Program— A kickoff meeting was held with Hutchison Engineering regarding the upcoming MFT project cycle. Coordination between Hutchison, CMT, and Public Works will be critically important this year and in future years to ensure that our improvements maximize the limited resources we have and provide the greatest amount of benefit to our stakeholders. With the number of lead service lines and water mains that need to be replaced, some roads that are in need of repair shouldn’t be improved until the underground infrastructure has been addressed, and the kickoff meeting helped to identify expectations and a gameplan for the engineering assessments to guide a planned approach
to capital improvements.
10. KHS Tennis Courts— The City and Kewanee School District have worked together to ensure that construction at Kewanee High School of the new fitness court and tennis courts is being done in such a way that existing infrastructure can be maintained without significantly impacting the district’s planned improvements.
11. NHHC Bell Transfer — The Naval History and Heritage Command has reaffirmed its intention to transfer the bell in Veterans Park to the City. The Bell was included on oneyear loan agreement, along with the anchor and torpedo, until such time as the transfer paperwork can be completed by the federal government, after which a longer-term loan agreement will be executed for the anchor and torpedo.
12. Get the Lead Out (GLO) Initiative — As indicated during their presentation to the City Council at the last meeting, Crawford, Murphy & Tilly has completed and submitted the project nomination forms to IEPA in support of the City’s planned improvements to address several IEPA compliance concerns. Among those concerns was the removal of lead service lines from the distributions system. The GLO Initiative was critically important to the City in developing our inventory of existing conditions, helping determine final wrap-up documentation for the GLO Initiative. Their work will serve as the technical foundation for upcoming water infrastructure improvements and future IEPA funding applications.
13. Vision Zero Resolution — The is a resolution adopting the regional Traffic Safety Action Plan and Vision Zero that reinforces its commitment to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Adoption of this resolution will demonstrate alignment with regional planning partners and strengthen future funding applications. The full TSAP may be viewed on Bi-State’s website.
14. Frontier Utility Poles — The City has received multiple complaints regarding damaged or leaning utility poles owned by Frontier Communications. Staff has documented specific locations and communicated them to the company. Frontier has acknowledged receipt of the report and indicated that they would necessary repairs as soon as possible.
15. Park District Agreement— Staff and elected officials from the City and Kewanee Park District have continued to meet to discuss intergovernmental agreements and additional opportunities for future partnerships. Ideally, these partnerships will reduce operating costs and improve levels of service for both the city and the park district.
