The Kewanee City Council will meet on Monday, September 22nd, at 7 PM. The meeting will be streamed live on our WKEI Regional Media News 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.
1. Roll Call
2. Consent Agenda
a. Approval of Minutes
b. Payroll
c. Staff Reports
d. Bock Report
3. Payment of the bills
4. Public Comments
5. Swearing In: Tyler Harker, Fireman
6. New Business
a) Public Hearing: Appropriations
b) Bill 25-87 Ordinance establishing appropriations for the Fiscal Year beginning May 1, 2025, and ending April 30, 2026.
c) Bill 25-88 Ordinance implementing a Non-Home Rule Municipal Retailers’ Occupation Tax and a Non-Home Rule Municipal Service Occupation Tax for the City of Kewanee.
7. Council Communications
8. Announcement
9. Adjournment to Closed Session
10. Roll Call
11. Closed Session to discuss Personnel Section 2(c)(1), Purchase or Lease of Real Estate Section 2(c)(5), and Litigation Section 2(c)(11)
12. Adjournment
Also in the council packet:
1. Town Hall Meeting— Representative. Travis Weaver (House District 93) and Senator Neil Anderson (Senate District 47) will be holding a Town Hall meeting tonight at City Hall to provide legislative updates to their constituents and to answer any questions or offer constituent assistance on state-related matters.
2. Fire Department Openings /New Hires— As previously noted, the fire department is understaffed by one person per shift. Two of those vacancies are filled, with Brendan Stevens entering his 7th of 12 weeks at the Peoria Fire Academy. He will graduate on Friday, October 31st and return to shift on Sunday, November 2nd. Tyler Harker, who will be sworn in at this meeting, began his 2-week orientation on Monday, September 22nd. He will begin regular shift work on Sunday, October 5th. He will be obtaining his EMT-B license in-house and is scheduled for the Peoria Fire Academy in February 2026. Our third vacancy will be filled by whomever is best qualified from our new hire testing. We are accepting applications through 5:00 PM on Friday, October 17, 2025. Testing will be on Saturday, October 25th. We hope to have a new hire begin their 2-week orientation on Monday, November 10th or the 17th. Availability for additional pre-employment testing will determine the start date.
3. New Medication System— The new medication storage and dispensing system approved in this year’s budget has arrived. Fire department personnel have spent the last week being trained by employees of Becton, Dickinson & Company, manufacturers of the Pyxsis Med-Bank system. This system is top of the line for security and accountability of medication inventory and disbursement. It will also help keep a more specific timeline when dealing with expiration dates of medications, in turn saving us the cost of replacing unusable medications.
4. New Fire Engine/Pumper— The new engine/pumper purchased with funds from the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program, is almost here. Originally scheduled for a September 17th delivery, manufacturers have informed us of some minor delays in the final stages of production. We have been given a new, “fairly confident,” estimated delivery of the second week of October.
5. Aerial Platform Truck— Our aerial platform ladder truck will be missing from action for the next few weeks. The self-leveling hydraulics which control the bucket have failed. This is not a totally surprising complication, as the. According to Vic Kleuver of Fleet Maintenance, the O-ringsin the hydraulic cylinder have dry rotted and failed, which is not uncommon for an apparatus that is 25 years old. While the truck is in being repaired at the manufacturer’s facility in Milan, IL other work will be done on a pump now that the parts for that particular repair have arrived. Our backup, Engine 2, will be a frontline response vehicle
for at least three weeks.
6. Open Burning— At this time, our area is not as bad as areas to the south, with respect to dry/drought conditions. However, should we continue to see a lack of precipitation, it is possible we will place a shortterm ban on open burning.
7. Fire Safety Week— The annual fire safety week will begin Monday, October 6th. Once again, the fire department will be visiting local schools and childcare facilities to emphasize the need for understanding fire safety. It has been proven that educating children when they are younger is more productive. The children really enjoy our visits and the general public seeing all of our vehicles out instantly brings to mind fire safety, which is what we are shooting for, awareness.
8. Investigations Class — Three of our detectives attended specialized training for homicide investigations where no body is located. This training provided valuable instruction on investigative strategies and evidentiary considerations in complex cases, enhancing our ability to handle difficult investigations. The training was offered through our local Mobile Training Unit, meaning the only additional cost to the department was lunch for the detectives.
9. Pro Phoenix Conference— Chief Kijanowski, Deputy Chief Minx, and Fire Chief Welgat are attending the Pro Phoenix Conference this week. The police and fire departments will soon be transitioning to Pro Phoenix for both Computer Aided Dispatch and Records Management Software. Attending this conference allows our leadership to gain firsthand knowledge, prepare for the transition, and network with other agencies already utilizing the system. All conference fees and related expenses were covered by the Henry County ETSB.
10. Woodland Palace— On September 2nd, police received a report that a small statue, “the Three Dogs,” was missing from the Woodland Palace. The piece is described as hand carved alabaster on a mound of marble. While the complainant and published sources can place the statue in the palace, there is no solid timeline on when the statute might have been stolen and no viable leads at this time. The Friends of Woodland Palace at Francis Park have indicated a willingness to have cameras installed to improve security within the home.
11. Woodland Palace (part two)— Staff is meeting next week with Mark Mikenas with the Friends of Woodland Palace at Francis Park to determine which projects can be undertaken by the group with the donations that they have received. Staff will then reach out to the architect to have them develop the appropriate specifications.
12. Veterans Park— Staff is working with Margie Tossell on the installation of a memorial bench in the park that will complement the existing layout while paying tribute to her late husband, who was a veteran of the U.S. Navy.
13. New Development— Staff and the Mayor met with the developer who is acquiring a significant portion of the former Pines property that was owned by Ron Doran at the time of his passing. The new owner’s conceptual plan contains a mix of small retail, continuing in the business of storage, and the addition of some light manufacturing. We will keep you informed as things develop.
