Next City Council Meeting – November 4th, 2019 at 6:00 PM
Official Minutes available at www.cityofmonmouth.com
1– Presentations Or Citizen Inquiries
No presentations were made to Council this evening.
2- MFD Monthly Report – Chief Rexroat
• Training for the month involved a walkthrough and pre-planning for the Americold (Formerly Cloverleaf) facility on North 6th Street.
• In addition to the regular training at the department, one shift was paid a visit from representatives of the Stone-Hayes Center. The staff from Stone-Hayes provided informational training on the subject of responses to people who have hearing difficulties or deafness. The Stone-Hayes staff discussed ways to communicate with people with hearing difficulties in order to help them.
• The department had personnel on standby during Baconfest and the Prime Beef Festival for any emergencies that may occur.
• The fire department also received a new turnout gear dryer that was provided free of charge by Werner Fire Restoration and was sponsored by Stephanie Peeler of Country Companies. Using funds provided by Country Companies and Werner Fire Restoration, the staff at Werner Fire Restoration build the gear dryers for various fire departments who require them. The turnout gear dryers allow firefighters to wash their turnout gear more often due to the accelerated drying times. When fighting fires, a firefighter’s turnout gear will become contaminated with many different substances, and washing the equipment is critical in helping to prevent illness.
3- MPD Monthly Report – Chief Switzer
• 5 ALICE training sessions were conducted with local schools.
• Officers were on standby during the annual Baconfest event and reported no incidents.
• Captain Kinney and LT. Bratcher presented at the Warren County Library’s Storytime event.
• The department gave the Life Skills class from Monmouth/Roseville a tour of dispatch and the building.
• A new, grant-funded radio system was placed in service this month. The digital radios allow for greater communication range and are less susceptible to interference. Resident’s who use radio scanners to monitor radio traffic will need to purchase a new, NXDN compatible scanner if they wish to listen.
4- SBA Cell Tower Lease Buyout Discussion – Director Helms
Earlier this year, the City was approached by the company who currently leases a small portion of land on South 5th Street from the municipality. An 80-foot monopole cellular tower sits on the parcel and presently has Verizon and Sprint equipment located on it. SBA, the company that currently owns the tower, wished to convert the monthly lease into a one-time buy-out option. This one-time cash buyout was for $275,000. This lump payment would allow the City to fund much-needed projects with the immediate revenue and was approved at the Council meeting.
Unfortunately, during legal due diligence by the vendor, it was discovered that the US Justice Department would approve Sprint’s merger with T-mobile. The new information regarding Sprint’s legal status no longer guarantees that the carrier will continue to operate a tower on that parcel. As a result, SBA can no longer offer the sum of $275,000 and has presented a new offer of $205,000 with revenue sharing options on any additional carriers that choose to locate on the tower. Since the easement agreement that was executed at the previous City Council meeting was contingent on due diligence, it is no longer valid, and the new offer is now being presented for Council’s decision.
A motion was made for approval and was approved.
5- Setting of Halloween Trick Or Treat Hours
City Council set the 2019 Trick or Treat hours for 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
6- Ordinances
A. Placement of a 4 way stop sign at South 11th Street and East 3rd Avenue
At a previous Council Meeting, a motion was made to authorize the City Attorney to draft an ordinance that would allow for the placement of a 4 way stop sign at 11th and 3rd by Lincoln School. This particular intersection sees a large volume of traffic and is close to a school.
A motion was made to approve the ordinance and was approved.
B. Setback Variance – 1000 South Main Street
The owner of Complete Auto Repair on South Main Street would like to expand his business. The expansion includes building a larger and more modern building. Due to the size of the new building and the proximity to existing property lines, the parcel will require a setback variance. This item was presented to the Zoning Board earlier this month and received a favorable recommendation with no objections from the business’ neighbors.
A motion was made to follow the Zoning Board’s recommendation and was approved.
7- Executive Session
An executive session was held per Illinois Statute 5 ILCS 120/2 to consider sale of property with possible action to be taken upon return to Regular Session. No action was taken upon return to normal session.
8- Other business
No other business was discussed.
***Report compiled by Ken Helms, City Of Monmouth***
