Rockford Sun

City of Carlyle City Council met April 22.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The Carlyle City Council was called to order by Mayor Judy Smith, at 7:00 p.m. at the Case Halstead Library, 550 6th Street, Carlyle, IL.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Aldermen present were Tammy Peters, Jim McClaren, Scott Diekemper, Jeremy Weh, John Hodapp, Jeff Taylor, Mike Jansen, and Bruce Hilmes.

City employees present were Chief of Police Mark Pingsterhaus, City Administrator Brad Myers, Kevin Rolfingsmeyer, and City Clerk Rita Jurgensmeyer.

Others present were Kelly Ross, Todd Marver, Jay Donnelly, Becky Donnelly, Bill Leith, Michael Brinkman, and Kevin Schlautman.

Alderman Jeff Taylor made a motion to approve the minutes from April 8, 2024. Alderman Tammy Peters seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Tammy Peters, Jim McClaren, Scott Diekemper, Jeremy Weh, John Hodapp, Jeff Taylor, Mike Jansen, and Bruce Hilmes. Nay: none.

Mayor Judy Smith read a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer, proclaiming May 2, 2024, as the National Day of Prayer.

Mayor Judy Smith then read a proclamation proclaiming May 5 – 11, 2024 as Municipal Clerks Week. City Administrator Brad Myers commented on the proclamation. He said there are so many things the clerks do that no one is aware of. City Administrator Brad Myers listed the duties of the clerk.

Mayor Judy Smith announced that May 3rd and 4th are city wide yard sales.

May 4th is the National Crappie Fish One Tournament at Carlyle Lake. It is for amateur and semi-professional anglers. They will need to be registered by April 28th or they will be charged a late fee. Registration and check in will be between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. at Mariner’s Village.

Clean up week is May 8th – 11th. The Street and Alley department will be open from 7:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday through Friday. On Saturday they will be open from 7:30 a.m. to noon.

Alderman Jim McClaren announced that the community day of prayer will be held on May 2nd at the Church of Christ at 7:00 p.m.

City Administrator Brad Myers gave an update on the new city hall saying that all the walls are done, all the lights and fans are up, the outlets are in and as of today the floor has the underlayment and they will begin laying the floor as soon as it arrives. They should be in by the end of May. When everything is done, they will be holding an open house.

Bill Leith commented in public comments. He spoke with Staci Dannaman City Hall and she helped him with his request.

Jay Donnelly then spoke to the council about a master plan for the city of Carlyle. He gave out a handout with contact information for PVAC Planners. He added that Carlyle has gone down in population, and they have lost several businesses. He said that Breese has gained population and businesses. He feels that the lake adds a lot to the city. He said they need a plan to optimize the lake. He said there are several questions that need to be asked. (1) Why are people moving out of Carlyle? (2) The business environment should include a plan to cash in on people that are willing to come here and spend money. (3) The downtown area. He believes the downtown area should be the pride of Carlyle, but it is not. There are dilapidated and dangerous buildings. He is asking the city council to form a group to work with the PVAC Planners.

Mayor Judy Smith said that in 2016 there was an EDC meeting and at that time Moran Development was there. Moran Development was going to help by putting something together that would create and retain businesses. They would also come up with what makes Carlyle different from other communities. Mayor Smith said at that meeting they implemented the Façade Improvement Program. Later they had another meeting and discussed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Carlyle. The city council was invited to attend the meeting as well as citizens and business owners. They met again later in the year, and they were given the demographic and profile of the city. The city worked with Moran Development for several years and the city didn’t get anything out of it. They were given a list of businesses that may be convinced to come to Carlyle, not specifics. Jo Ann Hollenkamp was the city administrator at that time, and she worked on it for years. Mayor Smith said that they aren’t done with the plan and have continued working on it. It really didn’t do a lot for Carlyle. She said she is not opposed to listening to anyone. The problem before was getting the community involvement. They would have a meeting and maybe two people would show up. She and City Administrator Brad Myers just had a meeting with Kevin Schlautman about his bringing his industry to Carlyle. More discussion was held with Jay Donnelly.

City Administrator Brad Myers said that Peggy Hilmes came to him to ask for a partnership for the 4th of July fireworks. Last year the weather affected the donations. She asked the city to increase their donation to the fireworks from $7,500.00 to $10,000.00.

Alderman Jeff Taylor made a motion to approve the $10,000.00 donation to the fireworks. The motion was seconded by Alderman Jeremy Weh and it was approved by roll call vote. Aye: Jim McClaren, Scott Diekemper, Jeremy Weh, John Hodapp, Jeff Taylor, Mike Jansen, and Tammy Peters. Nay: none. Abstaining: Bruce Hilmes.

City Administrator Brad Myers presented the TDK Inducement Resolution. He said they have had discussions with TDK Consulting, Kevin Schlautman. He wants to open a business in Carlyle and to do so he has asked the city for incentives to get it going. There have been discussions between Brad Myers, Kevin Schlautman, and Moran Development to get him a TIF agreement. Currently the area he wants to build on is in TIF 3. TIF 3 would need an extension which is no guarantee that it would pass to extend the TIF for 12 more years. Kevin Schlautman is looking for a bigger return on his investment. He is planning on spending $5 million on this project. City Administrator Brad Myers said he has a resolution of inducement. He explained that it was found to be easier to produce a new TIF district that will include the ground where TDK will have their fabrication business. The resolution gives the city authority to hire Moran Development to develop a TIF 4 district.

Alderman Jeff Taylor made a motion to approve the TDK Inducement resolution. Alderman John Hodapp seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Scott Diekemper, Jeremy Weh, John Hodapp, Jeff Taylor, Mike Jansen, Bruce Hilmes, Tammy Peters, and Jim McClaren. Nay: none.

City Administrator Brad Myers showed the timeline for TIF 4 being established.

City Administrator Brad Myers explained the TIF incentive package for TDK Consulting. An agreement was reached between TDK Consulting and the city. The first three years of TIF TDK Consulting and the city will split the tax increment dollars. For the next 12 years it will be an 80/20 split. The last five years they will be going back to a 50/50 split. At the end of the TIF TDK will receive $1.27 million reimbursed to the company and the city will get $1,009,000.00.

Alderman John Hodapp made a motion to approve the TDK TIF incentive package. Alderman Jeff Taylor seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Jeremy Weh, John Hodapp, Jeff Taylor, Mike Jansen, Bruce Hilmes, Tammy Peters, Jim McClaren, and Scott Diekemper. Nay: none.

Kevin Schlautman said that working with Mayor Smith and City Administrator Brad Myers has been very good. He said he didn’t have to go to Breese, and he compared some recent TIF agreements that Breese has and Carlyle has been just as good and sometimes better than what Breese offered. He felt that by developing the new TIF district it will attract other businesses to the area.

Mayor Judy Smith explained the professional service contract with Moran Economic Development. She said this was needed to develop the new TIF district.

Alderman Jeff Taylor made a motion to approve the professional service contract with Moran Economic Development at a cost of $31,500.00. Alderman Scott Diekemper seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: John Hodapp, Jeff Taylor, Mike Jansen, Bruce Hilmes, Tammy Peters, Jim McClaren, Scott Diekemper, and Jeremy Weh. Nay: none.

Mayor Judy Smith explained the Façade Improvement Program increasing from $4,000 to $10,000. She said this started in 2016. She said that at that time $4,000 seemed to be a good amount. The business would put in $4,000 and the city would put in $4,000 for a total of $8,000 to improve the outside of the building. With today’s prices, $4,000 doesn’t go very far. She would like to increase it to $10,000.

Alderman John Hodapp made a motion to increase the Façade Improvement Program to $10,000. Alderman Jeremy Weh seconded the motion, and it was approved by roll call vote. Aye: Mike Jansen, Bruce Hilmes, Tammy Peters, Jim McClaren, Scott Diekemper, Jeremy Weh, and John Hodapp. Nay: none. Abstaining: Jeff Taylor.

City Administrator Brad Myers presented the Budget Redistribution Ordinance. He said that this is done at the end of each fiscal year.

Alderman Jeff Taylor made a motion to approve the Budget Redistribution Ordinance. Alderman Jeremy Weh seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Mike Jansen, Bruce Hilmes, Tammy Peters, Jim McClaren, Scott Diekemper, Jeremy Weh, John Hodapp, and Jeff Taylor. Nay: none.

City Administrator Brad Myers presented the preliminary FY25 budget. He explained what has been budgeted and said that the Finance Committee has reviewed the preliminary budget. It will be available for review at city hall.

Kevin Rolfingsmeyer reported for the Electric Department. He thanked everyone on Feeder G for their patience while they were doing upgrades.

Mayor Judy Smith said that she has 2023 Safey Award of Excellence for the Electric Department. It is for achieving and developing exceptional programs that promote safe work practices and creates a culture of safety within the organization. She congratulated Kevin Rolfingsmeyer and the Electric Department.

Chief of Police Mark Pingsterhaus reported for the police department saying that the new police officer, Landon Smith, started the police academy today. He will be there for 16 weeks. Mayor Judy Smith and Chief Pingsterhaus thanked everyone that came out for the DARE golf scramble on Friday.

At 7:53 p.m. a motion to adjourn was made by Alderman John Hodapp. Alderman Tammy Peters seconded the motion, and it was unanimously approved by roll call vote. Aye: Bruce Hilmes, Tammy Peters, Jim McClaren, Scott Diekemper, Jeremy Weh, John Hodapp, Jeff Taylor, and Mike Jansen. Nay: none.

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