Harrisburg City Council met March 2.
Here is the minutes as provided by the council:
The Harrisburg City Council met on March 2, 2017 at 6:00 pm in the Council Room of City Hall
Harrisburg, Illinois.
Mayor John McPeek presided over the meeting with Commissioners Natalie Miller, Beth Montfort,
Richard Harper and Mike Weirauch answering roll call.
Mayor McPeek read a statement regarding the recent violence in Harrisburg. (Copy attached)
Mayor McPeek read a statement regarding a misunderstanding. (Copy attached)
Rev. Dan Masters from the First Church of God led the group in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioner Harper made a motion to approve the following items under Consent Agenda:
1. Minutes from the Regular Meeting of February 16, 2017.
2. Check Register and Warrant Report for the month of February 2017.
3. Harrisburg Lake:
Lease Renewals:
Jack and Lorraine Bowen - Second Addition, Block 1, Lot 16
Nick and Gilda Pancotto - First Addition, Block 1, Lot 8
Commissioner Montfort seconded. By roll call vote, all voted yes. Motion carried.
Jim Brown of Brown & Roberts addressed Council with an update on the Corps required inspection of
the piping for the pumping stations. He reminded them that, of the three stations that were involved, two
had been installed after the 1937 flood and the other had been installed six or seven years ago. He stated
he was happy to report that on the newer piping they were able to get a crawling camera up the
discharge end so the expense will be much less than expected. The older two have discharge pipes that
are 16’ above ground and will require scaffolding to be built for the inspection. He drew Council’s
attention to the proposal in their packets from H. E. Mitchell for the scaffolding and asked for them to
approve it. Commissioner Harper moved to accept the proposal from H. E. Mitchell in the amount of
$3,650.00 to build scaffolding to gain access to the pump stations for inspection. Commissioner
Weirauch seconded. By roll call vote, all voted yes. Motion carried.
Superintendent Kelly Hefner referred to a copy of the cross connection letter that was being sent out
over the next four to five weeks to all water customers. He stated it was required by EPA and he asked
that the public fill them out to the best of their ability and return them.
Nathan Hayes addressed Council regarding the new business he was opening in the old Spirits Liquor
store on Sloan Street. He shared with Council the many community-minded projects his company under
PaPaw’s Pizza had done which included giveaways at the schools and free meals at Thanksgiving and
Christmas. He stated he had invested approximated $100,000.00 in local businesses in addition to
employing 20 residents.
His new business was called Jo Jo’s and initially it would be in the northwest part of the building that
had been a storage area. It was to be a bar and grill with gaming machines. He stated there would be no
loud music, no dancing, no pool tables and absolutely zero tolerance for violence. The next step to his
plan was for the east side of the building, which would be a restaurant that would serve southern and
Cajun food and have a full bar, but would be place to bring a family.
Commissioner Miller stated that Spring Clean Up would be April 1 through April 8 from 7:30 am to
2:30 am. She read the procedure, noted the items that would not be accepted and gave contact numbers.
Commissioner Miller stated she did not have anything to discuss about Personnel.
Commissioner Montfort asked Fire Chief Gunning to explain the dilapidated properties and junk cars
that he had been dealing with. Chief Gunning stated his list included a couple of properties that could be
put up for bids with a contingency that they be rehabilitated within a certain time frame to get them back
on the tax role quicker. He explained the building on south Jackson would soon be ready to let bids for
demolition and another property would be ready to have demolition proceedings begin.
Chief Gunning stated the County was putting some mobile homes up for tax sale but he wanted to make
sure that the property went with the mobile home. He stated that the cost of $655.00 would be cheaper
than going through legal proceedings to acquire the property. He stated he was working on five pieces of
property that the Park District may be interested in once buildings were removed.
Chief Gunning stated he and Code Enforcement Officer David Williams had tagged 40 cars this week
and noted 15 other locations for garbage and debris. He was working with Attorney Bittle to get access
to areas with fences.
Commissioners Montfort and Weirauch commended Chief Gunning on the work he was doing to help
clean up the City.
Commissioner Montfort stated that Police Chief David Morris had attended a two day seminar for Police
Chiefs and other Officers had been signed up for other training classes.
Commissioner Montfort wanted the public to be aware of an IRS phone scam and stated the IRS would
never call for anyone to send them money.
Commissioner Harper stated Alene Carr from Regional Planning could not be present but had asked him
to present their bill for administrative services. Commissioner Harper explained that Regional Planning
managed the Revolving Loan Fund and outlined what all that involved. Commissioner Harper moved to
pay Regional Planning $6,018.80 for Administrative Services of the Revolving Loan Fund with the
payment to come out of the Revolving Loan Fund. Commissioner Montfort seconded. By roll call vote,
all voted yes. Motion carried.
Citizen Angela Stout stated she was proud of the current Council and Mayor McPeek. She stated she
admired the transparency and appreciated being contacted with information about the hospital. She
stated she was behind changes that needed to be made and had full confidence in Chief Morris.
Commissioner Harper moved to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss Collective Bargaining.
Commissioner Montfort seconded. By roll call vote, Commissioners Montfort, Harper and Weirauch
and Mayor McPeek voted yes. Commissioner Miller voted no. Motion carried.
Adjourned: 6:25 pm.
Reconvened: 6:42 pm.
Mayor John McPeek presided over the reconvened meeting with Commissioners Natalie Miller, Beth
Montfort, Richard Harper and Mike Weirauch answering roll call.
Mayor McPeek stated there was no action to be taken on Collective Bargaining.
Commissioner Harper moved to adjourn. Commissioner Miller seconded. By roll call vote, all voted yes.
Motion carried.
Adjourned: 6:43 pm.
http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/3acc7b_c02c08a2ba4943fb8029092d21343b88.pdf
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