Rockford Sun

City of Carlyle City Council met April 27.

Here is the minutes provided by the council:

The Carlyle City Council was called to order by Mayor Judy Smith, at 7:00 p.m. remotely due to COVID-19 shelter in place order.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Aldermen remotely present were Kent Newkirk, Shannon Petrea, Scott Diekemper, Don Perez, John Hodapp, Jeremy Weh, and Michael Jansen. Logan Speiser was absent.

City employees remotely present were City Administrator Andy Brackett and City Clerk Rita Jurgensmeyer.

Others remotely present were Kelly Ross, Matt Wilson, and Jean VanDorn.

A motion was made by Alderman Kent Newkirk and was seconded by Alderman John Hodapp to approve the minutes from the April 13, 2020 regular meeting. The motion was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Kent Newkirk, Shannon Petrea, Scott Diekemper, Don Perez, John Hodapp, Jeremy Weh, and Michael Jansen. Nay: none.

Alderman Don Perez made a motion to approve the transfers from Fund 1 – General Fund to Fund 18 Playground for $10,000.00 and Fund 19 Social Security for $5,000.00 for a total of $15,000.00. The motion was seconded by Alderman John Hodapp and was approved unanimously by roll call vote. Aye: Shannon Petrea, Scott Diekemper, Don Perez, John Hodapp, Jeremy Weh, Michael Jansen, and Kent Newkirk. Nay: none.

Alderman Kent Newkirk commented that he received several good responses concerning the concrete problem behind the post office being resolved. He said that they wanted to know if the entrance could be improved also.

Alderman John Hodapp commented that he has an IMEA meeting on Thursday that will be done remotely.

City Administrator Andy Brackett reported for Dave Miller. He said the Electric Department has been working on the new streetlights on the highway.

City Administrator Andy Brackett then reported for the Parks Department saying that they have been working on mowing and weed eating.

City Administrator Andy Brackett reported for the Library saying that Keith Housewright has been going into the library periodically to check on things there and that the other employees are working from home.

Mayor Judy Smith reported that the citywide yard sales have been cancelled. Clean up week is still going on May 4th – 8th and on May 9th from 8:00 a.m. – noon.

The second council meeting in May will be on Tuesday May 26th due to Memorial Day.

Budget hearings for FY21 will be held on May 26th and June 8th before the regularly scheduled Finance Committee meeting.

Mayor Judy Smith then thanked Imming Insurance. She said that they are redoing the park next to their office and they donated the benches and the concrete table to the City. The Park Department moved them to the Fish Hatchery.

Mayor Judy Smith reported that the new streetlights for downtown have been shipped and hopefully within in the next week or so they will arrive. She said the lights from the river to 15th Street on Route 50 and from South Street to St. Mary’s on Route 127 look fantastic. They have also replaced the lights from McDonalds all the way down William Road to the tennis court.

City Administrator Andy Brackett explained that at the last meeting it was approved to close the city streets for the fair parade, but a resolution needs to be passed to get a permit from Illinois Department of Transportation to close the highways.

Alderman John Hodapp made a motion to approve the fair parade resolution and Alderman Don Perez seconded it. The motion was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Scott Diekemper, Don Perez, John Hodapp, Jeremy Weh, Michael Jansen, Kent Newkirk, and Shannon Petrea. Nay: none.

City Administrator Andy Brackett then explained the Line Item Redistribution Ordinance. Alderman Kent Newkirk made a motion to approve the Line Item Redistribution Ordinance. The motion was seconded by Alderman Don Perez and was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Don Perez, John Hodapp, Jeremy Weh, Michael Jansen, Kent Newkirk, Shannon Petrea, and Scott Diekemper. Nay: none.

City Administrator presented the H. M. & G. task order subdivision and zoning code review. He said that he spoke with Doug Ratermann with H. M. & G. about several instances in the zoning code that are out of date and doesn’t reference each other very well. Everything in the subdivision and zoning code really needs to be updated. He said that H. M. & G. would review the subdivision and zoning code and make recommendations for what needs to be done. This will be done on an ongoing basis.

Alderman Don Perez made a motion to approve the H. M. & G. task order for subdivision and zoning code review. The motion was seconded by Alderman Jeremy Weh and was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: John Hodapp, Jeremy Weh, Mike Jansen, Kent Newkirk, Shannon Petrea, Scott Diekemper, and Don Perez. Nay: none.

A discussion was then held concerning keeping the pool closed due to the Governor’s stay at home order extension until the end of May. City Administrator Andy Brackett said that he has talked to several municipalities that are not going to open their pool this season. He feels that even if the stay at home order is lifted on June 1st we will still need to deal with social distancing. He said that even opening the pool on time the city has had a hard time breaking even on the expense of running the pool. He also brought up the employees that were hired to work at the pool. He feels it isn’t fair to leave them hanging not knowing if they will have a job this summer.

Alderman Kent Newkirk said he feels that it is too early to be making this decision and he would like to wait. Alderman Jeremy Weh agreed with waiting. Alderman John Hodapp asked Andy Brackett that if it was decided to open the pool how long does it take to get it ready. Andy Brackett said approximately two weeks.

Alderman Michael Jansen expressed concern about the swim team possibly going to a different pool if we don’t open ours. Andy Brackett said he talked to Nancy Nave about the swim team and she said that the swim team conference will be meeting sometime this week so we may have a better idea once we find out what they are doing.

Alderman Kent Newkirk made a motion to table the decision to open the pool. Alderman Don Perez seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Jeremy Weh, Michael Jansen, Kent Newkirk, Shannon Petrea, Scott Diekemper, Don Perez, and John Hodapp. Nay: none.

Mayor Judy Smith went through the survey that City Administrator Andy Brackett came up with concerning leaf burning. It will be put in with the utility bills as well as on Facebook and the city’s website.

Alderman Michael Jansen made a motion to send out the leaf burning survey. Alderman Shannon Petrea seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Michael Jansen, Kent Newkirk, Shannon Petrea, Scott Diekemper, Don Perez, John Hodapp, and Jeremy Weh. Nay: none.

City Administrator then gave an update on Covid-19. He said that nothing has changed since the last meeting. With the stay at home order extension we will continue to keep up with employee rotations to try and keep the employees separated as much as possible.

At 7:25 p.m. Alderman Don Perez made a motion to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Alderman Jeremy Weh and was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Kent Newkirk, Shannon Petrea, Scott Diekemper, Don Perez, John Hodapp, Jeremy Weh, and Michael Jansen. Nay: none.

https://go.boarddocs.com/il/carlyle/Board.nsf/Public