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City of Harrisburg City Council met Feb. 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The Harrisburg City Council met on February 20, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. at the City Hall located at 110 E. Locust 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 Jonathan Brown answering the roll call.

Pastor Bobby Gentry of the River of Life Pentecostal 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 – February 06, 2025

Special Meeting Minutes – February 14, 2025

Moran Economic Development - $1,750.00 – TIF

Murphy Elevator - $1,588.50 - #41482-K6B5 – Business District

Tri-State Business - $4,722.00 - #1237755 - Business District

Electrical Supply Group - $1,176.77 - #7241 - Business District

Wiggs Excavating - $91,881.72 – 23-268-02 – 2020 DCEO/RLF Watermain

Brown & Roberts, Inc. - $6,334.76 - #2023-268 – 2020 DCEO/RLF Watermain

Stone’s Outdoor Service - $1,000.00 - #021225 – Business District

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

Citizen Cindy Potter stated she is proud of the incoming developments and improvements within the city such as the shopping center and housing facility. These improvements show the community the business leaders think our community is worth investing in. She stated Harrisburg made the top fifteen list on Tik Tok for the poorest cities in the state. This does not mean we are less valuable or less proud of what we have. This means we need to conserve what we have and make do with less and not to burden those that are already struggling around us.

She will address some financial spending at a later time once she has more facts and reviews the information. She stated we as a community, council members and mayor need to reevaluate our priorities. She stated each of you was chosen by the people, but not chosen for a particular department and anyone of you could have been over a different department.

The finance is over the city budget and every department. Police and fire oversee the city security. Water and Sewer is to help avoid flood and the opportunity for clean drinking Water and use. Street and Ally is to ensure the street and sidewalks are properly maintained and drainage systems are maintained. Each of you needs to keep an open mind rather than a closed mind and work together as a team.

She defined a “my attitude” as my men, my department, my promises, and my agenda. She believes that is one-sided and the residents want them to represent everyone’s goals. They were elected to make decisions as a team. This council is to advise the mayor who was elected by the people for a specific position. He represents the people of Harrisburg, and that Mayor should be the front runner and leader. As a council, you should give him support and advice.

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

Matt Tosh with Brown and Roberts, Inc. presented change order #1 for the 2020 DCEO/RLF Watermain Improvement project. This request is a timeline extension. They are requesting an additional eighty-five days. The weather has been a factor, and this extension will allow for cleanup. Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to approve change order #1. 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 1908 for the sale of property at 629 W. Lincoln Street. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve Ordinance 1909 for the sale of property at 519 W. Elm Street. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters stated this ordinance is for the mobile home at 214 National Street. The City of Harrisburg is giving this to the park district, and they will be tearing down this mobile home at their expense. Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to approve Ordinance 1910 for the sale of surplus property at 214 National Street. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes, except Commissioner Raymond Gunning abstained. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated this request is for the façade at Shawnee Square Center. Once the project is completed, he will be reimbursed up to $5,000.00. This project will consist of windows and tuck pointing. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the Façade Grant application for Shawnee Square Center. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated the property at 1017 Hobson Street is ready for demolition. The city has received the purchase contract so we can proceed. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to authorize the city clerk to advertise for sealed demolition bids. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried. Mayor John McPeek stated there is enough money to do three more demolitions in this budget year.

Mayor John McPeek stated Attorney Kolby Smithpeters is in the process of acquiring the demolition order for 417 S. Ledford Street. This property is beyond repair and needs to be torn down. He should have the order in about two weeks.

Mayor John McPeek stated the properties at 308 and 310 E. Homer Street needs to be addressed. This is the property behind the old Bunny Bread. Attorney Kolby Smithpeters is working with the trustee on this property. He will keep the council updated.

The following departmental reports were given:

Police Chief Nathan Moore stated his department handled 647 calls, forty-four appearances, 243 security checks, sixty-five training hours, towed nine vehicles, wrote two DUIs, handled 19 accidents, seventy-five criminal arrests, two juvenile arrests, eighty-seven citations, and filed eighty-two cases. The Flock System has been installed and went live Monday. In three days, there were thirty citations issued.

Superintendent Kenny Mayhall was absent, so no report was given for the Street/Alley department.

Superintendent Jason Haney with Water/Sewer/Flood control has had 360 JULIE locates, sixteen sewer calls, one new sewer tap, watermain repair, water service line repairs, water service disconnect, two new water services installed, forty meter or radio repairs, eighteen frozen meters, worked on flood pump stations and flumes cleaned out, county ditch and bridges cleaned, and all water/sewer department truck and equipment serviced.

Fire Chief John Gunning reported 103 fire calls to date, 101 medical calls to date, and his department has been working with the school district to start the Ride Along school program towards the end of March. They are starting ladder recertifications. They will start pump testing. Ameren utilities will start installing lights the first week of March. They have purchased fifteen new radios from the Illinois Public Risk Fund.

Code Enforcer Jacob Palmer stated he has been tagging for garbage and other violations. During the ice storm, he assisted the Police Department in getting people to the warming center. He assisted the Mayor and Abbott with the transition from the Fire Department to City Hall. He is currently working with the city attorney on obtaining four properties. He wants the council to know that surrounding towns are bringing homeless people with tents to Harrisburg and dropping them off just to get them out of their community. Mayor John McPeek stated tickets will be issued if properties are not properly maintained.

David Williams did not attend the meeting to give an update on the Public Property/Cemetery department.

Safety Director Ron Morse worked with City Treasurer Alex Jackson on the safety grant. He purchased first aid kits for city vehicles.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown presented the ordinance for the hiring policy and procedure. He went over the procedure with the council. He believes in transparency. This will require posting the job, qualifications, salary compensation, application process, interview process, and a hiring process. Only the applicants that meet the qualifications will be eligible for an interview.

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters stated there are new pay transparency laws. This ordinance describes everything that will keep the city in compliance. Council requested to add an emergency hire clause in the event of a death, sudden quit or immediate termination. Applications can only be accepted for open positions.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown made the motion to approve Ordinance 1911 for the hiring policy and procedure to include an emergency hire clause. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown stated he likes to do research and wants to know what he is voting on. Every decision that is made affects each department and the city. He wants to find ways to save money and research all options. The city population is going down, businesses are leaving and the cost of everything is going up. It is his duty as the finance commissioner to make sure the city is saving money. He is not in favor of raising property taxes. He is always wanting to get a better understanding of the city’s functions. He always wants to have a plan before things get out of control. He wants every one’s input and open to any ideas.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown and Commissioner Rupert Johnson met last week to discuss options and things that were missaid. He said the Fire Department has two additional men because of the ambulance service. At no time, did he say he was laying men off or doing away with the ambulance service. He stated there was justification for the two additional men. He never said anyone was getting laid off.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown stated he does have a problem with providing an ambulance service for the entire county when the Harrisburg citizens are paying for the entire service. If the city could run a cheaper ambulance service, he is open to looking into that option. He needs justification for why decisions are being made in each department.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown stated he is interested in obtaining sealed bids contracting out the mowing and weed eating at the cemetery. He doesn’t know if it will be a cost savings until we look into the option. He said this contracting job could be paid for out of the business district funds. He thinks it is important to talk about every option before making decisions.

Mayor John McPeek stated this needs to happen quickly because mowing season is almost here. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said he is down a man in that department. Commissioner Roger Angelly would like to table this topic until contract negotiations are completed. Commissioner Jonathan Brown stated he does not think hiring one more man would solve the mowing/weed eating problem in the cemetery.

Commissioner Rupert Johnson said his plan is to weed spray, so it does not get out of hand. If they spray before the weeds grow, you will not know it has been sprayed. Commissioner Jonathan Brown asked if four men can keep up with the mowing and weed eating. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said mowing was not the problem, it was the weed eating.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown suggests getting bids for contracting it out. There was a discussion about overtime, manpower, and job duties in the cemetery. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said money is made by digging graves. The conversation led to Harrisburg Lake. Commissioner Jonathan Brown believes the lake is costing the city money. Commissioner Rupert Johnson stated it is not making the money it could. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said Commissioner Jonathan Brown wants to micromanage. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said these job duties will not get done with less men.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown said his job is to find ways to save money along with everyone else. He is to look into all records and all finances. He said in 2019 there was ten men and now there is fourteen. Commissioner Jonathan Brown asked what more job duties are being done now than back then. He believes Harrisburg Lake is a waste. He said IYC was going to give the city land, and a new person was hired, but the city never received the land. He said the biggest overtime in the cemetery is digging graves. If the city did not provide that service, that would cut the overtime. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said the city is getting paid for grave digging. He said the city is not losing any money.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown said there is a period of the year when the cemetery needs additional help and that is the summer. He said an option is to hire summertime help instead of a full-time person. He said one guy cannot make a difference, but several part time people can make a difference. Commissioner Raymond Gunning said the city would have to entice with pay to keep summertime help. Commissioner Roger Angelly is looking into changing some things with part-time help in the contract.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown said the hiring process will help get better summertime help. The city should get the high school kids involved even perhaps a job shadowing program. A shadowing program would help show high school kid’s what jobs are available when they graduate. Commissioner Roger Angelly would like to hire qualified part-time people. He wants people who want to work. Commissioner Jonathan Brown said we cannot hire as a favor which is why the hiring policy is beneficial. Commissioner Jonathan Brown said he is okay with hiring part time people during the busy time of year.

Citizen Cindy Potter asked why the inmates do not help anymore. Police Chief Nathan Moore said the laws have changed and those inmates are not eligible for a work release program. Commissioner Roger Angelly is in favor of working with the school in job shadowing.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown wants to look at all options. He does not want to hire. He is in favor of summertime help. He wants to look into contracting the weed eating/mowing out. He wants to look at splitting the departments up. He said the mayor could take over Public Property and help. He will get with City Treasurer Alex Jackson on numbers for splitting the department into Street/Alley and Public Property. We should look at all the options.

Commissioner Rupert Johnson said the financial problem is the ambulance service. He said they get paid twice. Once from the city and then from the citizen after they pick them up. He believes if the city quits paying Abbott, they will stay because they are making money. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said he was not in favor of the ambulance service. He said the city Fire Department needs another ambulance and then the city could do away with Abbott. Commissioner Jonathan Brown said it is about a million dollars for ALS.

Commissioner Raymond Gunning said he has an idea, and we might be able to do something different. Commissioner Jonathan Brown said an additional ambulance will require more employees increasing the salary and benefits. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said the city will recoup some of the money. He said the city should be the first call. An ambulance service is in direct competition with our ambulance. Mayor John McPeek said we do not have qualified individuals to run that type of service. Commissioner Jonathan Brown said the property taxes will be raised to have the service. He has not seen any cheaper numbers than the city is currently paying. He said we need to get a plan. Commissioner Raymond Gunning said the city is out of room and the city should annex places being serviced that are deemed out of town. The city could expand, but the city is landlocked.

Commissioner Roger Angelly would like to have a meeting to brainstorm and get a direction for Harrisburg. We need to get on a path. We need to be working on attracting people to Harrisburg. He believes the city needs an ambulance, but we need do not to get upset with each other because other people have ideas for each department. We watch over departments, but we all work for the city of Harrisburg. He would like to set up meetings because we were elected to take care of the citizens of Harrisburg. Commissioner Jonathan Brown agrees to table the cemetery discussion if it can be done to have options.

Commissioner Roger Angelly would like to meet every Wednesday for the next four weeks at 8:00 a.m. These will be special meetings to see what can be accomplished.

Police Chief Nathan Moore discussed the possibility of participating in the Southern Illinois Drug Task Force. They are looking to expand their membership. They asked if Harrisburg would like to join their force. They have seven narcotic investigators. They can devote time to narcotic investigations. This would be beneficial to the City of Harrisburg. The grant will pay up to $75,000 employee benefit package. The city would be out $30,000 to get this position. It is hard to pass up this offer.

Mayor John McPeek believes this is a great idea. Commissioner Jonathan Brown said one of the employees would go into the drug force and the city would only pay for about $30,000 of their salary. Police Chief Nathan Moore stated they provide a vehicle, a gas card, and do not have to buy as much as a patrolman since he will not be in uniform. Commissioner Jonathan Brown asked if the task force will be utilized in our city. Police Chief Nathan Moore said yes they will come here and conduct narcotic investigations. Commissioner Raymond Gunning asked if the city would receive any funding from any arrest. Police Chief Nathan Moore said a portion would come back to the city. A full-time employee will be hired at a third of the cost with the benefit of the drug task force.

Police Chief Nathan Moore stated the program will bring six or seven employees to work investigations. When you are a member time is devoted to the department. It is an annual grant. If the grant goes away, the position goes away. The State Police control this. The member agency has some say so with what goes on during the investigation. Mayor John McPeek thinks it is a great idea.

Police Chief Nathan Moore said the grant begins July 01, 2025. There is a new hire testing in April. He is short two employees and once the city hires, an extra person will need to be hired. Anyone in our police force can apply for the position. He said someone with experience will be eligible for the position. The city Treasurer said she can budget it in since she knows in advance.

Commissioner Roger Angelly thanked the Street/Alley Department for cleaning the Streets during the snowstorm and limb pickup.

Commissioner Rupert Johnson stated he is proud of his guys.

Mayor John McPeek stated the roof/ceiling in City Hall needs to be addressed. An insurance claim needs to be filed, and the roofing company needs to be contacted. The council agrees that Attorney Kolby Smithpeters should send a letter to the roofing company that installed the roof as it is still under warranty.

Mayor John McPeek informed council the boiler in City Hall will not pass inspection next year. It will cost roughly $300,000 to replace the boiler. He suggests getting split units for the office spaces. He stated some of the units can come from the auditorium instead of purchasing additional units. Some of the offices in City Hall currently have split units.

Mayor John McPeek addressed the abundance of potholes in the city. He really would like to see the fourteen potholes on Sloan/Commercial Street addressed as soon as possible. This area has gotten worse and will continue to worsen if it is not fixed properly. Commissioner Rupert Johnson said this is on the list of projects for the new budget.

Mayor John McPeek reminded the citizens to please stop littering.

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

Adjourn: 9:25 a.m.

Reconvene: 10:46 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 Jonathan Brown answering the roll call.

Mayor John McPeek stated there is no action regarding collective bargaining.

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: 10:47 a.m.

https://www.harrisburgillinois.com/council-agenda-minutes/council-minutes-022025