City of Harrisburg City Council met April 6.
Here are the minutes provided by the council:
The Harrisburg City Council met on April 06, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. at the Harris-Pruett Building located at 107 E. Church Street, Harrisburg, IL.
Mayor John McPeek called the meeting to order. Mayor John McPeek presided over the meeting with Commissioners Raymond Gunning, Roger Angelly, Rupert Johnson and Ron Morse answering roll call.
Pastor Jerry Wells of the Dorrisville Social Brethren Church led the group in prayer and Pledge of Allegiance.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the consent agenda.
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Seconded by Commissioner Ron Morse. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Citizen Rex Piper spoke to council about the Clean Soil Project. Their group will be in Harrisburg on April 29, 2023 to clean up. During their last clean-up day, they bagged up over 300 bags worth of trash. They invite the community to get involved keeping their town clean. This clean-up will start in Eldorado and go past Carrier Mills on Route 45. They work will Illinois Department of Transportation, and would like the Harrisburg Police Department to assist with the safety of their volunteers. Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated his department will get with Rex Piper to help assist in safety during their clean-up hours.
Treasurer Alex Jackson presented the proposed electric rates to council. The best available rate is with Homefield Energy for 36 months at the rate of $0.083260. Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to authorize Mayor John McPeek to execute the electric rate contract with Homefield Energy. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mayor John McPeek discussed the easement for Scooter’s Coffee. This will be located on the Subway parking lot. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to grant Scooters Coffee (Rachel D. Wallace, LLC) an easement. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mayor John McPeek presented the resolution for 610 Commercial Street which for Murphy’s Rental. The resolution is in support of utilizing TIF funds for this project. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve Resolution 23-0406 regarding 610 Commercial Street. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mayor John McPeek opened the only sealed bid for the water building addition construction. The city is choosing to purchase their own materials and have a contractor complete the work. The sealed bid was received from Lane Erectors, Inc. for $32,080.00 Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to accept the sealed bid from Lane Erectors, Inc. in the for $32,080.00. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Ron Morse made the motion to authorize Mayor John McPeek to execute the construction agreement documents with Prestige Project Management, Inc. for the amphitheater. Seconded by Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to authorize Mayor John McPeek to execute the East Perry Timber Company settlement agreement in the amount of $12,314.00. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mayor John McPeek announced the City of Harrisburg will be having a public hearing for the Energy Transition Grant on April 28, 2023 after the adjourned council meeting. The hearing is to discuss projects that are eligible with the grant money.
Police Chief Nathan Moore discussed the need for new tasers for the Police Department. The current tasers are about 10 years old. Axon has given a price for 15 tasers, cartridges, batteries and training supplied for $42,474.00 Police Chief Nathan Moore has discussed this purchase with Treasurer Alex Jackson, and this will be paid for out of his budget over the next 60 months at $9,000.00 a year.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to purchase tasers from Axon for $42,474.00 for the Police Department. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning presented an ordinance for the emergency ambulance service. There was an open discussion between the city council and citizens in attendance. Mayor John McPeek asked council to review the ordinance page by page to discuss and address any questions or concerns about the proposed ordinance.
The first item discussed was leaving the city and taking patients to other facilities. Fire Chief John Gunning stated a patient will only be taken to Ferrell Hospital when Harrisburg Medical Center is full. Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked what will the Harrisburg EMS staff do if the helicopter at HMS cannot fly and the other EMS is unavailable. Fire Chief John Gunning stated another service provider will be called. The ambulance will stay in the city.
Mayor John McPeek asked what are the boundaries for the ambulance service. Fire Chief John Gunning stated the State of Illinois requires the service to have primary, secondary and outer lying boundaries. The primary is the city limits, secondary is the Harrisburg township, and outer lying boundary area includes areas such as Mitchellville, Eldorado, Carrier Mills and Raleigh. This would be for casualties and auto accidents.
Mayor John McPeek asked about mutual aid boundaries. He stated the city council should vote on the boundaries rather than it be at the discretion of the Fire Chief and City Public Safety Commissioner. Fire Chief John Gunning stated the service will go out of city limits for emergency only such as an automobile accidents to pick up a patient. Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked how far out will the ambulance travel. Fire Chief John Gunning stated the ambulance will stay in the designated boundary area. Citizen Ron Fearheiley stated this is basically a county wide EMS. Fire Chief John Gunning stated the ambulance will only travel to the outer lying areas in an emergency.
Mayor John McPeek asked why Deaconess is not staying in Harrisburg 24/7 as stated in the agreement. Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked council why they have not held Deaconess to the contracted agreement? He asked if the city has considered actually paying Deaconess for a specific ambulance agreement. Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated Deaconess approached the city about being the ambulance provider at no cost to the city. Fire Chief John Gunning stated Gallatin County pays for the service and a rig may not always be available. Citizen Ron Fearheiley stated that was councils fault for not enforcing the contract. Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated Deaconess told him the issue is their lack of staffing. The Harrisburg Fire Department is staffed 24 hours a day and the guys can issue aid when needed.
Citizen Ron Fearheiley questioned why the city will be charging the citizens for a call when the tax payers are already paying these employees, training, and equipment. Fire Chief John Gunning stated the trend is all fire services to have ambulances. Citizen Ron Fearheiley stated the fire department is a taxing entity. Fire Chief John Gunning stated the citizen has the right to refuse service and there is no cost. The fee is to cover the expense of medical supplies and staffing. There will not be a charge if the ambulance is called for just a blood pressure check, O2 check, or to make sure you are okay.
Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked how many calls are they projecting. Fire Chief John Gunning stated he believes they will have about 1200 calls a year. Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked what does he think the projected income will be. Fire Chief John Gunning stated if it was all insurance, it should bring in about $1,000,000.00. If it is 60/40 Medicare/insurance, it will bring in about $565,000. If it is straight Medicare/Medicaid then it will be about $300,000.00 He ran the numbers.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated medical supplies have gone up by 200%. The city is running a basic life support system. He stated the city does not levy for the General Fund and has not for the last three years which is where the Fire Department is paid from. The General Fund is funded from marijuana, video gaming and sales tax. If the ambulance generates revenue, we will transfer that money to the funds and further reduce the levy that are being taxed.
Citizen Ron Fearheiley stated the income is a speculation. He suggested taking the Fire Department out of the General Fund and make it a stand-alone department like the water department and let it fund itself. Fire Chief John Gunning stated it they ran an ALS, it would be self-sufficient. Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked how many employees will this take. Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated they need one more employee in order to have three men per shift. Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked if there the city will need another rig. Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated if needed in the future.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated if the city did not charge to make runs in Harrisburg, the citizens in Harrisburg would expect them to do it for free and the nursing homes would expect free calls. Then there would be the issue with the financing for Deaconess to come in and be a backup ambulance service because they will go bankrupt because they would not making any calls. That would cause the county to only have one ambulance. This service will help fill the gap. The city ambulance can be there within three minutes of a call and we provide medical aid. The city has the employees to provide this service.
Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked if 911 was going to dictate who will be dispatched. Fire Chief John Gunning stated no. He stated if dispatch tones them out then they will go. Citizen Ron Fearheiley said he is not saying an ambulance service is a bad thing. He believes the tax payers have paid enough. Commissioner Raymond Gunning said they will get it back when the tax levy is lowered.
Citizen Ron Fearheiley stated he is paying taxes for emergency services. He believes the citizens within the city should not be charged for this service. Commissioner Rupert Johnson stated he believes it would cause an issue, and be in direct competition with Deaconess and they would move out of here. Commissioner Roger Angelly stated he thinks Deaconess should remain as the number one ambulance. Fire Chief John Gunning stated Deaconess is priority.
Citizen Ron Fearheiley stated the ordinance reads the city council can forgive charges. He said the council will be picking and choosing who pays for the service. Fire Chief John Gunning said that is with all charges from the city including violation tickets and citations. Fire Chief John Gunning stated the only time a citizen will be charged is if the citizen needs/uses medical supplies or is transported. Commissioner Roger Angelly suggested the wording be made clearer. Citizen Ron Fearheiley stated there is some language that needs to be cleared up before voting on it.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve Ordinance 1858 for the Emergency Ambulance Service with the correction on Section 6 (b) taking out public safety commissioner and adding city council. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A present voting yes, except Commissioner Ron Morse abstained. Motion carried.
Commissioner Ron Morse stated he not against an ambulance service, but his reason for abstaining was that he did believes this is a long-term situation and he does not feel comfortable making a decision that is going to have an impact on the new council.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning read the mutual aid agreement to all those in attendance. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the mutual aid agreement between the City of Harrisburg and Deaconess Illinois Transcare EMS and authorize Mayor John McPeek to execute the agreement. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning announced starting Monday the ambulance service will be able to transport.
Citizen Ron Fearheiley asked who will be responsible for billing. Fire Chief John Gunning informed him an outside billing company will take care of billing and collections.
Commissioner Roger Angelly stated Jim Hayes, Inc. cannot get the vehicle that was approved during the February 02, 2023 meeting. Jim Hayes, Inc. instead has a Ram truck available on the lot which is $165.00 cheaper he would like to purchase. Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to purchase the Dodge Ram truck from Jim Hayes, Inc. for $39,685.00. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Roger Angelly took a moment to thank Commissioner Ron Morse for his years of service and dedication to the City of Harrisburg. He will be missed and he thanked him for his advice and help during the last four years.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson reminded the citizens about citywide Spring Clean Up which is April 10 through April 21. Please call 618-253-7451 ext. #3 with questions.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to allow Brown and Roberts, Inc. to perform a boundary survey at Harrisburg Lake. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to authorize the City Clerk to advertise for sealed bids for a self-propelled dump trailers. Sealed bids will be opened during the May 04, 2023 council meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to authorize the City Clerk to advertise for sealed bids for a F650-F750 or comparable dump truck. Sealed bids will be opened during the May 04, 2023 council meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mayor John McPeek commented on the individual(s) living in the tent behind Kentucky Fried Chicken. He has spoken to the property owner and the owner has not given permission to them to be on the property. Mayor John McPeek stated this issue needs to be addressed and taken care of immediately.
Mayor John McPeek wished everyone a Happy Easter and please stop littering.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Adjourn: 6:58 p.m.
https://www.thecityofharrisburgil.com/minutes
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