Next City Council Meeting – January 21st, 2019 at 6:00 PM
Official Minutes available at www.cityofmonmouth.com
1– Presentations Or Citizen Inquiries
No citizen inquiries were conducted tonight.
2- Building And Zoning Monthly Report – Director Clark
• A letter was sent out to local businesses informing them of the sign ordinance that was adopted by Council last year. This ordinance restricts the use of certain types of signs like feather banners and wall banners. Director Clark informed Council that overall response was received well and he has personally made contact with a large number of business owners/managers.
• Fareway continues to set precast walls and trusses at their new building.
• $49,925.00 was paid in permit fees for 2018. This number is nearly double what was paid in 2017. The increase is due to a large number of roof and siding improvements which were performed during the spring-fall months.
• 2018 Junk and Debris notices are down from 2017. This decline in numbers is attributed to increased compliance with local ordinances.
• Clark has been in continued contact with Smithfield regarding the construction of their new procurement building, a 300,000-gallon hot water storage, and a carcass cooler project. The planning for these investments is going well with construction predicted to start this year.
3- Community Engagement Report – Director Helms
• The City will be conducting an internal review of the new website within a month, followed by deployment shortly after.
• The emergency contact texting list has had good reception with the public. A little over 3,000 numbers are currently in the system. If members of the public have not signed up yet, a signup is available on the cityofmonmouth.com website or at City Hall.
4- Woodard and Curran Monthly Report – Director Jackson
• New valves were installed on the 12” water main located on North 5th Street. The installation of the valves will help to better control water loss during main breaks in the north part of town.
• Crews ran into delays picking up leaves due to the inclement weather but are continuing to collect as they are raked to the curb.
• Woodard & Curran’s annual budget is currently running $17,099 under budget.
5- Leases for new backhoe and end loader – Director Jackson
The public works department has leased their heavy equipment since 2005. The current lease has reached the specified term limit. Leasing has enabled the City to keep their initial investment low on the various heavy equipment that is required to provide services to the public and is easier to budget as the equipment ages.
Two proposals are up for review and have been submitted by a local company, Martin Equipment. Proposal 1 is for a 2019 John Deere 544LXT Wheel Loader. The lease is for five years with a monthly payment of $1985.00. Proposal 2 is for a 2018 John Deere 310HLT Backhoe Loader. The lease is for five years with a monthly payment of $1389.00 a month.
A motion for approval was made and was approved.
6- Engineering Services Agreement for Public Square ITEP Grant Application – Administrator Steinbrecher
Last year the City applied for a grant through the Illinois Department Of Transportation which would allow for improvement and reconstruction of the town square. Unfortunately, the grant was not awarded. The City has decided to pursue the grant again this year.
The ITEP grant is a competitive program with a point-based scoring system. Having the design work completed will allow the City’s grant application to acquire additional points which will improve the chances to secure funding for this beautification project. During the application process, communities are instructed to be complete the preliminary engineering process to be shovel-ready upon grant award.
Two firms responded to a request for qualifications and after reviewing both submittals, administration is recommending Hutchison Engineering, Inc. as the preferred firm for phase 1 design and phase 2 construction documents.
A motion to approve entering an engineering services agreement with Hutchinson was made and was approved. This agreement will allow administration to negotiate for a formal contract with Hutchinson. After negotiation, the contract will come to City Council for approval. A full copy of the agreement may be found on the cityofmonmouth.com website.
7- Ordinances
A. Request to Subdivide Two Lots Fareway foods would like to subdivide a portion of their existing lot. The current lot which is being developed is larger than necessary for the building. Fareway wishes to subdivide which will create a smaller secondary lot which will be marketed to compatible retailers or service providers. This item went before the zoning board last month and was unanimously recommended for approval by City Council. A motion for approval was made and was approved.
B. Request to Vacate Portions of an unnamed street Many years in the past the City acquired a strip of land which ran perpendicular to North 6th Street. This land was primarily used for airport access by street department maintenance crews. The access road is no longer used as an alternative entry point exists. As this road was never widely used and has not provided a beneficial return to the public, a request to vacate the road has been made. The City will, however, retain an easement on the property to allow for installing/maintaining infrastructure in the area.
A motion was made for approval and was approved.
C. Surplus Declaration – 4 SCBA units – Chief Rexroat The department has four older self-contained breathing apparatuses which are no longer in use. The department has transitioned to higher capacity and newer technology equipment over the last few budgets. After surplus declaration, these packs will be used by a local rural volunteer department that is in need. A motion for approval was made and was approved.
8- Executive Session
No executive session was held.
***Report Courtesy of the City of Monmouth***
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