SE Illinois News

City Harrisburg City Council met Jan. 18.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The Harrisburg City Council met on January 18, 2024 at 8:00 a.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 Cynthia Potter answering roll call. Commissioner Cynthia Potter was present via telephone.

Pastor Laurie Fields, First Presbyterian Church led the group in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the consent agenda.

Regular Meeting Minutes – January 04, 2024

Barnes Lumber - $275.00 – #549777 - Business District

Barnes Lumber - $28.98 - #549783 – Business District

RP Lumber - $16.98 - #1925228 – Business District

Rural King - $611.91 - #229799 – Veterans TIF

Crossroads 2 LLC - $21,310.80 - #1920 – MFT

MC Enterprises - $5897.79 - #0923 – Veterans TIF

Barnes Lumber - $1131.24 - #55076 – Business District

Jeremy DeVoy – Relinquish Lake Lot – 1st Add, Block 2, Lot 2

Connie Allison – Petition to Lease Lake Lot – 1st Add, Block 2, Lot 2

Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters informed council this resolution will allow Fire Chief John Gunning obtain property from the State and Federal Surplus. Fire Chief John Gunning stated this program will apply for all department in the City of Harrisburg. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve Resolution 24-0118 for the surplus property program. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters discussed some changes to the ambulance contract. The provider would like to remove the word minimum regarding the ambulance count. The representative from Abbott EMS stated there will be one BLS and one ALS and at times there could be more if needed. Attorney Kolby Smithpeters assured council that this does not change the number of ambulances for the city. Commissioner Roger Angelly stated he does not want to get into the same situation we have experienced with the current provider.

Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the change to remove the word minimum from the ambulance contract. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters stated the provider would like to change the contract to read the autorenewal would include a 4% increase after the five-year contract. Commissioner Raymond Gunning does not agree with that change. He stated the contract can be renegotiated before the end of the five-year contract. Council all agreed not to make that change.

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters stated the provider would like to have the agreement read they will lease space from the Fire Department for $1.00 for up to one year. Commissioner Raymond Gunning stated the Fire Department has moved some things around to make room for the new provider until they can find a permanent location. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the lease of $1.00 from Abbott EMS for twelve months. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated council will go into executive session to discuss collective bargaining.

Justin Dartt (auditor) presented the FY 21/22 audit. He informed council the city is GATA compliant and is not on the stop payment list. Things are much better and getting back on track. He reviewed the audit with council and discussed the key points in the audit. He stated the city is financially strong, in better shape, and he acknowledged Alex Jackson for her hard work on getting it back on track.

Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to accept the FY 21/22 audit. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve Ordinance 1875 for the sale of property at 119 W. Park Street. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated Prestige Project Management reached out to him about working with the City of Harrisburg. There is an agreement in the council packets. He would like everyone to read the agreement and discuss it at the next meeting. Brown and Roberts, Inc. will continue to handle the water/sewer/infrastructure projects.

Commissioner Raymond Gunning discussed relocating the police department. The city currently pays $45,000 a year in rent. That money could be used to purchasing our own building. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to start looking at locations for the city police department. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Rupert Johnson would like to purchase a ground penetrating radar device/equipment. There are some areas of the cemetery that currently cannot be sold or used. This equipment would allow the city to locate usable land. We would be able to sell more plots. This device could also help locate water and sewer lines.

Superintendent Kenny Mayhall had an open discussion with council about this device. He stated that 70% of the cemetery is full. This equipment will penetrate the ground up to ten feet deep. He did get a quote from a Geomodel that would do the work for the city. They would determine what land is usable for burials and mark the plots. We would have to enter the information into our computer program. Jacob Palmer stated the Wilson Edition has no records of burials, and there are roughly 2,200 lots with no records.

Salesman David Shelley from Subsurface Solutions gave a presentation about the ground penetrating radar. This device and software peels back layers of the earth to detect existing caskets. It can also locate water and sewer lines along with sinkholes. Subsurface Solutions provides training on the machine and software. This is a one-time purchase and there are no yearly fees for the software.

Commissioner Roger Angelly stated it sounds like a good device, but it saves money to go with Geomodel. Commissioner Rupert Johnson believes it is worth buying our own equipment since it has other uses. The software can be installed on multiple computers. Treasurer Alex Jackson stated she believes this would require the bid process as the purchase is over $25,000. City Attorney Kolby Smithpeters said he believes it could be purchased because it is two separate purchases. The city would purchase the device and then purchase the software. Council agreed to table this purchase, and requested a demonstration of the device and software before voting on it.

Mayor John McPeek thanked the employees for their hard work during the snow removal. He reminded the citizens to please stop littering.

Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to go into executive session to discuss collective bargaining. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Adjourn: 8:39 a.m.

Reconvene: 8:43 a.m.

Mayor John McPeek made the motion to return to open session. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek called the meeting to order. Mayor John McPeek presided over the meeting with Commissioners Raymond Gunning, Roger Angelly, Rupert Johnson, and Cynthia Potter answering roll call. Commissioner Cynthia Potter was present via telephone.

Mayor John McPeek stated nothing was discussed regarding collective bargaining.

Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Adjourn: 8:44 a.m.
https://www.thecityofharrisburgil.com/minutes