Carbondale Reporter

City of Genoa City Council met Aug. 7.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Mayor Brust called the meeting of the City Council to order at 7:00pm followed by roll call. Alderman Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter, Braheny, Hughes and Roca were present. Quorum present.

Mayor Brust led the pledge of allegiance.

GUEST SPEAKERS – None

PUBLIC COMMENT – Lee Ziller of 815 W Main St came before the council to ask that the chicken ordinance be revised to be more inclusive to properties in Genoa.

OLD BUSINESS – None

CONSENT AGENDA

Alderman Wesner made a motion to approve of items 1-2 within the consent agenda, seconded by Alderman Pulley. No further discussion. Alderman Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter, Braheny, Hughes and Roca voted yes. Motion carried.

1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE JULY 17, 2024, CITY COUNCIL MEETING

2. APPROVAL OF THE ACCOUNTS PAYABLES DATED JULY 31, 2024 NEW BUSINESS:

APPROVE AN IDOT REQUEST FOR APPROVAL OF CHANGE OF PLANS FOR THE WEST BLOCK OF THE DOWNTOWN REVITALIZATION PROJECT, NOT TO EXCEED $137,455

Mayor Brust explained that there is a portion of sidewalk along main street that has a light pole in the middle of it creating very narrow space to walk on either side of it. There was a request put into IDOT two years ago to build the sidewalk into the road to widen that area of walkway and the request has now been approved. This change of plans will allow this area to be included in the downtown revitalization project and the sidewalk to be widened. He also explained that the funds were already budgeted for this within the downtown revitalization project. Alderman Wesner made a motion to approve change of plans, seconded by Alderman Braheny. No further discussion. Alderman Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter, Braheny, Hughes and Roca voted yes. Motion carried.

AWARD A BID TO MARC KRESMERY CONSTRUCTION, LLC FOR THE WELL 5 IRON FILTER REHABILITATION, NOT TO EXCEED $299,915 AND AUTHORIZE THE MAYOR TO EXECUTE AN AGREEMENT WITH MARC KRESMERY CONSTRUCTION, LLC FOR THE WELL 5 IRON FILTER REHABILITATION

Alderman Braheny made a motion to award the bid to Marc Kresmery Construction, LLC, seconded by Alderman Pulley. Public Works Director Lucas Smith explained that this project also came in under budget by about $150,000. No further discussion. Alderman Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter, Braheny, Hughes and Roca voted yes. Motion carried.

AN ORDINANCE AMENDING TITLE 1, CHAPTER 6, CITY COUNCIL, SECTION 3 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE

Alderman Stage made a motion to approve the ordinance amending Title 1, Chapter 6, City Council, Section 3 of the municipal code, seconded by Alderman Winter. Mayor Brust explained this will move the city council meeting start times from 7pm to 6:30pm. No further discussion. Alderman Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter, Braheny, Hughes and Roca voted yes. Motion carried.

APPROVE A WORK AUTHORIZATION WITH C.E.S. FOR DESIGN ENGINEERING OF THE SAFE ROUTE TO SCHOOL GRANT SIDEWALK PROJECT, NOT TO EXCEED $43,500

Alderman Pulley made a motion to approve the work authorization with C.E.S., seconded by Alderman Roca. No further discussion. Alderman Wesner, Pulley, Freund, Stage, Winter, Braheny, Hughes and Roca voted yes. Motion carried.

FUTURE ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION – Alderman Roca brought up lights that haven’t been working in Riverbend. Public Works Director Lucas Smith along with Alderman Roca will be reaching out to the ComEd representative regarding these lights.

DEPARTMENT REPORTS:

FINANCE:

Finance Director Jan Tures announced that everything within the budget for the fiscal year continues to look good. She explained that they have been working on the implementation of the new budgeting software and they hope to get it started by October. Additionally, Mayor Brust brought up the idea of shifting the budget cycles to follow the calendar year rather than election years as it is something that the city has been discussing recently. This would greatly benefit construction projects as they would be able to be started earlier in the year.

PUBLIC WORKS:

Public Works Director Lucas Smith updated the council on the downtown revitalization project along with the street rehab project.

ADMINISTRATION:

City Administrator Alyssa Seguss announced that there will be a plan commission meeting with a public hearing regarding the definition of corner-side yards coming up. This pertains to certain aspects of the Unified Development Ordinance such as the building of fences on corner lots. There will also be a public hearing coming up regarding a special use permit for the IBEW to install a pole for training purposes. She announced that the RISE RDMS grant application was submitted at the end of June and they are working on creating the OSLAD grant application for the central park in Riverbend and hope to get that submitted soon as well.

POLICE:

Police Chief Smith told the council that they had a crossing guard meeting recently to make sure they are prepared for the start of school. He announced that he has thirty days left until he retires and explained that as Sergeant Hathcoat is preparing to take over as chief, he has been in the driver’s seat for the department. He also explained that with the hiring of two new officers, who graduate from academy in August, along with the hiring of a full-time secretary, the police department is fully staffed. Smith announced that they received their new body cameras as well and have been working to implement them for all the officers.

ANNOUNCEMENTS – City Clerk Rebecca Stevenson announced that candidate packets for those running in the 2025 election for Mayor, Alderman and City Clerk will be available by the next council meeting.

Motion to adjourn the meeting of the City Council was made by Alderman Wesner, seconded by Alderman Pulley. Voice vote was taken, all voted yes. Motion carried. Meeting adjourned at 7:29pm.

https://www.genoa-il.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Meeting-Minutes-08072024.pdf