City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening, everyone. I'll call our meeting to order here in Council Chambers at 6 p.m. Roll call, please. Alderperson Silas.

Present.

Macias.

Present.

Razak.

Present.

Timmy.

Present.

Finch. Present. McNeil.

Present. Castro.

Present. Schmidt.

Present.

All right, we don't have any remote electronic attendance. This is going a little crazy. Chief, do we have public comment?

Yes, Tom.

All right, Tom, come on up. You have three minutes. as usual.

Hello, everyone. My name's Tom Keith. This is supposed to be about a movie I was going to present tonight, but unfortunately, I wasn't able to. So I got cards here if anybody wants any to watch the movie for free online. It's got QR codes on it. Take your smartphone, scan it, and the movie will pop up. It's about geoengineering, climate change, or weather modification. It goes by many names. So my address and phone number are on the cards too. And some people ask why would they do this to themselves, but I can answer that question if you want to give me a call. Let me remind the council I'm not here to be combative or confrontational, but argumentative. So other than that, recent events have come to my attention on the flock camera situation, which I reviewed. It was on April 28th. And we now have aerial surveillance proposed with a drone called Flock Aerodome, which will coordinate with existing flock cameras to... basically spy on you. Essentially, there would be nowhere to hide from these cameras. So now there are numerous cities in the U.S. that are outlawing these cameras. Appleton, Wisconsin is one of them. The whole council chamber was filled up with people when they stopped. So I hate to see the city put all these cameras in and they're going to be taken out again. I really don't want my tax dollars spent for that kind of stuff. Of course, everybody will say this is for your safety, but that's what the Germans said during World War II. And these systems are being hacked by private people and are being vandalized in the U.K., I don't plan on doing any hacking, but I might encourage other people to do this. Thanks for listening.

Thank you, Mr. Keith. We move to... Is there anyone else? Yes, Your Honor.

I'd like to make some public comment.

Okay.

Darren Gall, Police Chief. I'd just like to correct the record, Mr. Keith. We just spoke a little bit ago. I was referencing the Bettendorf Police Department with the flock drones. We do not have flock drones, nor do we plan to get them.

Thank you. Thank you. All right, we'll move to our presentations if there's no other public comment. 2025 to 2026 Snow Angels Program Awards, Mr. Schmidt.

Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about the Snow Angels program. This is our second year doing the program. I do want to acknowledge some staff for their help with this program. Adela Rosso, our public works business analyst, she's really the one who coordinates, pairs together volunteers and applicants, and ensures that the sidewalks are are cleared. The program, again, is really for residents in need who might not be able to shovel or sidewalk after snow, after ice events. So what we really try to do is pair volunteers with those in need. This year, we increased our angels up to 15. That was about five more than last year. So I do want to acknowledge Ashley Allen Smith. She did a great job with helping us get more volunteers, especially in the fall and winter time. Also, we had 32 residents who we helped this year. That was an increase from about 20 from the previous year, so I'm happy with those numbers. I think we'll just keep getting more and more, so I'm excited about the next year as well. We had an interesting season. There's a lot of snow at the front end of the season, November, December, so it was not easy for some of us to shovel, but we got through it. The volunteers really never complained. never quit we all kind of stuck together and got and made sure that the residents had their sidewalks cleared so i would like to acknowledge those participants those volunteers this year we do have a little plaque we'll give them so i'll read names i think we have a few maybe about half of the volunteers here today first ashley allen smith Megan Baker. Max Haverland. Bobby Hicks. Jordan Hugart. Emily Johnson. John Jordan. Chris Mathias. David McDaniel. Tabitha McMeekin. Alderperson McNeil. Christina Miller. Michael O'Brien. And also Alderperson Timmy.

Thank you.

That's it. Appreciate all the support.

Thank you to those volunteers for coming in tonight and for your efforts. And we hope you continue next year. Our next item is ISAWWA Water Ambassador Program Award Gold Level Designation. Ms. Williamson.

Yes, it's very exciting. We got our third gold award. And if I can ask to have Lindsay Shelfridge join me, I'm sorry, from ISAWWA, as well as I need Melissa Kodat and Elizabeth, please come up. Elizabeth Hansen, and join me.

My name is Lindsay Selfridge, and I'm from the Illinois Section of American Water Works Association. The Water Ambassador Program was really all about elevating public perception, knowledge, and consumer education of the water industry. This happens through presenting a new communication platform of educational and promotional content. So we present three levels of standards, bronze, silver, and gold. And this year, which is now our fifth year of the program, we are awarding 37 water ambassador communities throughout the state, which is very exciting. So I am honored to present Moline with their third water ambassador award.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can you tell us what makes us good water ambassadors?

That you share the value of water within your community and you elevate public trust of your amazing water systems.

Thank you.

Yeah, and just maintaining safe and sustainable water for all the city of Moline. Thank you. We appreciate all that you do.

Ready? One, two, three.

Thank you.

Thank you so much. We have another award, Ms. Williamson. Watercon Conference Staff Awards Recognition.

We are very excited today to be presenting some of our team members. I think there's a photo as well. Yep, great. And if I could ask to join me first, Bobby Cantu. Bobby, come on up. congratulations first off but bobby was the champion for the third time on doing the skills for putting a water meter together and he had to compete with a number of people to get there so he did an awesome job and we're very excited to have bobby here today to celebrate his win and he is going to be going off to washington dc to the national conference the ace national conference with Is a wwa and he's gonna be representing not only Moline, but the state of Illinois. So very very excited And then we also have some more winners from our when we went to watercon and if I could ask to join me Robin Markle Tom house and Justin Pratt I And they, too, were winners, and they're going to be representing Moline as well as the state. And they won the TopCon event, where they actually have to, it's a timed event, where they have to answer certain questions, and they can converse amongst themselves to do that. So they did an outstanding job in representing us as well.

Do you guys want to say anything?

Nope.

Nope. I'm just kidding.

congratulations everyone thank you all right we move to our proclamations the first is uh for denver schmidt director of public works to observe the week of may 17 through 23 2026 as national public works week would you like to say anything i would i would i definitely would like to include engineering utilities as part of the public works week Okay. Proclamation reads, whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to the public health, high quality of life, and well-being of the people of Moline, and whereas it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders, and children in Moline to gain knowledge of and to maintain a progressive interest and understanding of the importance of public works and public works programs in their respective communities, And whereas the year 2026 marks the 66th annual National Public Works Week sponsored by the American Public Works Association slash Canadian Public Works Association, now therefore I, Sangeetha Rayapati, Mayor of Moline, do hereby proclaim May 17 to 23, 2026 as National Public Works Week. Thank you for all you do. Ms. Kilgannon, did you want to come and say any words about Affordable Housing Month?

Sure, thank you. My name is Leslie Kilgannon and I'm the executive director of the Quad Cities Housing Council. The Housing Council is the regional housing trust fund for the Quad Cities region. And we are a resource development arm amongst many things for a consortium called the Quad Cities Housing Cluster. It's a consortium of 60 plus entities, funders, providers, lenders, government, advocates, members of the community that are all interested in preserving and maintaining affordable housing. And we fund affordable housing, everything from shelter, emergency shelter, DV shelters, transitional and permanent supportive housing to affordable rentals and affordable homeownership. So I am here to talk about Affordable Housing Month. and talk about the importance of collaboration and partnerships, just very briefly. Nationwide, we have a housing crisis, and that housing crisis is increasing. And with Illinois, we continue to face housing affordability challenges, mainly due to extreme shortages in affordable rental housing for extremely low-income and low-income residents, and insufficient housing stock, especially where new housing units were just not bringing up up enough units online. Many people who are at the extremely low and low income categories are cost burdened, which means you're spending more than 30% of your income on your housing. So 27% or $439 1,933 renters households in Illinois are extremely low income and 87% of those people are cost burdened, meaning they're paying 30% of their income on housing. 74% of that group is severely cost burdened, which means you're paying more than 50% of your income on housing. You need to make $29.81 in Illinois to full-time wage to afford a modest two-bedroom in the state. That means you have to be working 79-hour work weeks at minimum wage, $15 an hour to afford a two-bedroom rental in Illinois. But Illinois is not alone, not picking on Illinois. We have a crisis nationally. So I lift these issues up because I just don't want to focus on the problems but on the many solutions that are going on and to thank the City of Moline for its leadership around the winter emergency shelter as well as affordable housing. The cluster and council are all about partnership and collaboration, so we hope we continue to collaborate. Chris Mathias is on my council board, and we have always had a great relationship and really appreciate the City of Moline, and thank you for all you do. But collaborating, partnering, I have Sam Moyer here. He, as you are familiar with Sam, but he is with Ecumenical Housing Development Group. He's working with the Housing Council on a signature project bringing 25 new units online that will be safe, decent, and affordable. So I just thank you for the opportunity to talk about Affordable Housing Month across the country, lifting up not just the challenges that we face, but there are things that we can do, but only when we collaborate together. Thank you.

Thank you. So I'll read the proclamation. It says, whereas safe, decent, and affordable housing is essential to health, stability, and well-being of individuals and families in our community and throughout the Quad Cities region, and whereas access to affordable housing strengthens neighborhoods, supports economic growth, and improves quality of life for residents of all ages and backgrounds, and whereas housing challenges do not stop at state lines and as a bi-state community spanning Iowa and Illinois, Quad Cities Region recognizes that regional collaboration is essential to creating meaningful and lasting housing solutions. And whereas Affordable Housing Month provides an opportunity to raise awareness of housing needs, strengthen partnerships among public, private, and nonprofit organizations, and recommit to ensuring that everyone in our region has access to housing that is safe, decent, and affordable. And whereas the Moline City Council is committed to supporting initiatives that expand housing opportunities and improve the quality of life for all residents, now, therefore, I, Sangeetha Rayapati, Mayor of Moline, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as Affordable Housing Month. Thank you so much for coming today. all right that finishes our proclamations i don't believe we have questions on the agenda so we move to our committee of the whole items 8.1 a resolution authorizing the mayor and city clerk to execute and attest to a contract with valley construction for project 1538 38th avenue sanitary sewer and lift station for the amount of 785 330 dollars mr clover

Thank you, Your Honor. This contract is with Valley Construction to install the sanitary sewer extension and lift station in the area shown on the map in your packets. We do acknowledge that the project did come in over budget, but we have confirmed with finance that there is funding available and it will be included in the amended 2026 CIP.

Okay. Motion to approve.

Second.

Motion by Finch, seconded by Razak. Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? That motion passes. 8.2, a resolution approving a block party for the Glen Oaks neighborhood scheduled for Saturday, August 29, 2026, enclosing certain streets more particularly described herein to vehicular traffic and authorizing the mayor and city clerk to execute and attest to a licensing agreement with Lindsay Hines on behalf of the Glen Oaks Neighborhood Association for the use of public right-of-way in conjunction with said block party.

Staff is recommending approval.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Motion by Finch, seconded by Macias. Discussion?

Yes, Mr. Macias. Everybody here is invited and welcome. It's my neighborhood. And yeah, we've been doing this party for quite a few years now. So it's a great gathering of neighbors. But yeah, if anybody wants to visit, you're more than welcome.

Thank you. So you have July 4th and this. Where's your June event? I'm just kidding.

I was busy with baseball.

All right, got you. All right, if there's nothing further, all in favor? Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes. 8.3, a resolution authorizing a grant to renew Moline for the amount of $300 from the Special Events Fund to support seasonal summer decorations and provide a welcoming, visually appealing backdrop for the Chillin' in the Courtyard series in the historic block courtyard. Mr. Vitas?

Yes, staff is recommending approval of a request from Renew Moline for the $300, and they have a great schedule developed for the season, and if you have an opportunity, please stop down there to support what they're doing, because it's been years since something has really happened down there, and we'd really like to start promoting the courtyard again. So, recommending approval.

Motion to approve? Second. Motion by Finch, seconded by Castro. Discussion? hearing none all in favor any opposed that motion passes informationals update on the south slope wastewater treatment plant improvements ms williamson and strand yes we have troy stinson with us today and troy is going to be providing an overview for um what's all been going on at the wastewater treatment at south slope

Well, thank you very much. I have a brief presentation just to kind of update you on the progress of the project. I think we'll probably do that throughout construction at certain levels, so I'll keep going. I know we have a busy. Oh, thank you. Perfect. So again, this is the update. So a quick item of the agenda. First thing I'm gonna talk about is construction progress. I'm talking about the construction schedule, the construction budget, and then construction sequence overview. As you know, we're building a plant on top of a plant, so the construction sequence is very difficult. If you've ever been by the mall and seen the construction, you can attest to that. And then open discussions and additional questions. So I know you have a busy agenda, so I'll try to be as brief as possible. So construction progress, this is kind of your notes, I'm gonna go through each item, but generally speaking, we're working on the phase one improvements, right? Remember this was a two-phase project approach because we have to keep the existing plant operational. So the site demolition of most of the phase one structures is complete. Demolition started off with a bang. I think notice perceived was in August and they came in and demoed a lot of the facilities very, very quickly. So it was off to a great start construction-wise when it came to demoing. The insulin pumping and preliminary treatment building is structure 10. So the numbers are just kind of engineer's terms for the structure numbers for our drawings. This insulin pumping and preliminary treatment building is 40 to 45 feet deep. This is where all your sewers come in from the whole community. So it's the deepest structure on the site, well below the Rock River elevation. It's been a challenge, and I'll get into that in a little bit during construction of that structure. And then we have splitter structures. So when you have a treatment plant, you have multiple tanks for redundancy, and you have to split the flow quite a bit. Primary clarifiers, I think you remember the last presentation I gave, we had to raise the grade of the treatment plant. We kept existing structures in place, and we were able to raise the walls of the tanks to save money. So the walls of the existing primary clarifiers number one and two have been raised. The aeration tanks, this is where all the biological magic happens. This is where all the removal of treatment happens. The aeration tank, the base slab is complete, and construction of the walls are in progress. The blower and sludge pumping building, the aeration tanks need air, so there's a blower building, the basement and upper level of the slab has been poured, and then another splitter structure. So a lot has been accomplished, especially in this spring. So this is kind of a drawing on our drying set. And it's a little complicated, but in blue are all the structures that have been demoed. So you can see that's quite a bit of work. They came in and did the demo of that. Got a compliment plant staff for emptying the tanks and getting everything ready. They did a great job with that. There's been a lot of coordination between Laura and her plant staff and this project and the contractor because we're building on the existing plant site. So really they've done an excellent job so far. So in blue is the stuff that's been demoed and you'll see a little bit up in the right hand corner, there's a square that's supposed to be demoed. So in the gray, those are items that are gonna be demoed in phase two. So quite a lot of the structures have been demoed. Some of them are obviously not demoed because they're treating wastewater. Does that make sense? So this is another drawing of our new plant site. And these are all the structure numbers and the structures that need to be constructed. And you can see in blue, kind of similar, these are the structures that I'll highlight. I got some photos. I think photos tell a lot of what's been done. So on the bottom left hand, you see the 10. That's the deep inflow pumping station. We started excavation of that. The big square in the middle, the largest tank, is the aeration tank. The two smaller circular tanks, so the walls that we raised, the primary clarifier, the blower building is near the aeration tanks. And then we did a splitter structure at the northern part of the site. So the South Slope site construction progress, I said we start out with a bang, right, with demolition. Then we kind of slowed down. In the wintertime, it's not a bad time to slow down because you don't always want to pour concrete in the winter, right? It costs a lot more money and you have to protect that. But we had to relocate the temporary electrical duct bank. You can see the photo on the upper left, the conduit we actually put on an existing tank. And we also had to relocate the influent force main. You can see that pipe. You might say, well, why is it above ground? Because it's temporary. Wastewater is flowing through there constantly, so it's not going to freeze. And so the most cost-effective way was to run that above ground, and you can see it kind of elbowing up and dumping into the existing structure. So both of those things allow us to maintain treatment while we're trying to build the treatment plant. The other thing, the other pictures on the bottom is the insole pumping station, the bottom left. You can see, you look at the small hole, but actually keep going up, right? It's very deep. We have five feet to go, so it's been a slow process. The picture on the right shows what's called a soil nail wall. I don't know if you guys are familiar with that, but you can see like the little squares. What you don't see is a soil nail wall, which is driven into the wall. And depending on the soil type, those can be up to 35 feet long. to support that wall. Some of them are eight to 10 feet, depending on if you're in fairly decent rock. So the process is they drive the soil nail walls, they put in, what you don't see is you don't see the reinforcing behind that shotcrete. You guys have seen the shotcrete, people shotcrete? So that basically retains the structure so that they can safely build the deep pumping station. So again, they have five feet to go. It took a while to get that going, but now we're making progress. IHC's off to a great start on that excavation. Picture on the upper left, you can kind of see on the bottom the existing walls, they're darker, and on the top it's lighter. That's how far we had to raise, to give you some perspective, that's how far we had to raise the grade of the treatment plant. But the nice thing about it is that tank still has 15 feet of depth, so you still get the benefit of those lower walls. So the walls are poured, the new equipment is not installed in there. The other kind of fun fact, I had some numbers here. I think it's always kind of cool to show this. So you see the aeration tank walls? That picture doesn't give a lot of perspective of how tall they are and how much reinforcing is in there. So those are the walls. There's a base slab underneath the aeration tank. The contractor decided to pour that continuously. So basically, he started at 7 in the morning, finished about 2.30. They brought in 100 concrete trucks. If you can imagine, they had two pumper trucks during one day, so it was quite the operation if you were on site. They had two pumper trucks going, and they had 100 concrete trucks going in and coordinating that, testing the concrete, doing all that thing, so they could pour that base slab, which is under those walls, continuously so you wouldn't have any cold joints. So it was quite the operation. The blower and sludge pumping building, which is the base slab shown on the left. And then, just to give you an idea of the splitter structure, you can see the splitter structure by the existing final clarifiers. Again, it's elevated because of the grade with the existing plant. We want to pump once and flow by gravity through the rest of the plant. So what's the construction schedule? So we started August 7th, 2025, construction progress by the end of March. Actually, we're into April, so we're actually a little bit ahead of that schedule. But based on the schedule, we're about 15% complete. And based on the pay applications, that's the contractor's request for payment, they're about 10%. So you look at that, you might think, well, they're behind schedule 5%. I want to caution that they'll catch up because when equipment starts to rise, the higher cost items, they'll close that gap. So based on their construction schedule, they don't anticipate not meeting the deadline, which is August 31st of 2029. So we have a long way to go, but things are progressing with that. The construction budget, so the original contract amount as bid was $113,862,000. The current contract amount is $114,309,000. We have a contingency, so remember we went through the loan program. IEPA typically allows 3% for change order conditions, especially on an existing site. We're doing really well with that, especially with some of the change orders that we negotiated with the contractor. We were able to reduce costs. With that, so we're about .4% change orders, which I think is a good outcome. I think you've talked to them about the change orders, but basically the change orders are listed there. The big one is the excavation and temporary shoring at structure 10. The site conditions at the treatment plant really vary. You can go over five feet and hit rock, or you can go down five feet and you can hit poor soil. It's just the nature of that treatment plant. But we're dealing with it. A lot of times change orders happen when you're below ground, right? And so most of this has been completed. There's still a few structures to complete. But anyways, the nice thing about the change order three excavation and showing in structure 10 is we're able to kind of, that was in a critical path, which means the contractor has to build that to maintain the schedule. we're able to take that off the critical path by doing a bypass of some of the piping that I showed with that temporary porcelain in the future. That's really gonna help because whenever you're talking about delays and potential delays, it can be additional schedule costs and costs for the contractor. So that's actually really, really good news. And then the construction sequence, so the past operation was two treatment plants, I talked about this before, you have an activated sludge plant, you have an RBC plant, which is a fixed film plant. Before all the plant was done, the activated sludge plant was treating one MGD, the RBCs were treating around four MGD. So you are, because we had to take the activated sludge plant out of service, because we needed room to build, We are down one MG of capacity, but there was really no other way to build it. And we're getting, you know, the plant's still meeting its limits and we're managing that. We still have the excess flow facility, that big lagoon in place. So, General, so far so good. um and again i mentioned this in two phases this is this is probably 15 of phase one that i'm talking about that's been completed about two years into the project we'll move to phase two which is basically that's when we demo the rbc plant right because now we have a new activated sludge plant with full capacity for the entire treatment plant and then we can take down the rbc plant which is what you're treating the flow is now And where the RBC plant is is where we're going to process sludge. Remember, there's two processes. There's the liquid side, and then there's this biosolid side. So with all that It's been a lot of a lot of coordination again. I want to compliment Laura and her staff It's a very complex project things come up You know I think we were fixing a grouting a pipe in until 5 in the morning The contractor was just so they can continue with construction staff stayed for that so things are going well again It started off really fast slow down a little bit, but now they're really making so I don't know if you guys have any questions I would just like to compliment Laura for her efforts on this project I mean this

you know her the timing of her coming on board her experience having worked in the field you know long history uh is a great benefit to the city and working of course alongside troy and and all those change orders i mean those were some rough going in the very beginning with especially with the uh the 40-foot hole um because nobody expected what they found at that depth so but i want to compliment her and the entire team for what they're doing out there because This is the biggest project that we have going on. It's on schedule. It's literally on budget. And we will be hopefully cutting a ribbon in August, not November. I looked at you.

Yeah, that would be nice.

Yeah, you want to move it up. Yeah, so anyhow, thank you very much.

if i may also thank you bob for that compliment but i also don't want to underestimate the team that we have here with not only because troy is standing here but with strand and some of our construction managers that are on site we did encounter some challenges early on into the project and troy and dan and team worked together with the city i can't say enough about the wastewater treatment plant stack there we've had to really key in on being flexible and adaptable to some changing conditions that we could not have foreseen so with all of that said really appreciate all of the support of the city council and bob and the staff we've had to work through some change orders we got those done to keep the project moving carol i don't want to address carol too because we keep her very closely in the loop with our cash flow but really we really appreciate the support and thank you for allowing us to present this to you thank you thank you very much all right mr vitas fiscal year 2026 quarter one report

Well, we are off and running. No question, 2026 is proving to be a great year for the city. We are on track literally with all of our strategic goals. They are all on time. They are on schedule. They are moving. which is really great news. I want to compliment all the staff for what they've done to not only launch projects, but to move them through the process through completion. There were some significant highlights I brought out in the memo on May 8th. Of course, one was mentioned earlier this evening, and though it was not really part of the plan, was opening the winter shelter, getting it online, and taking care of a large number of people over the uh the terrible winter months that we had so and again compliments not only to my my team but ced public works and fire i mean that could not have been done without them and i just you know always want to emphasize you know that took a team effort major lift and it did produce the results we were hoping for Comprehensive plan is on schedule. It did kick off it continues as you know Our records disposal nobody talks about this, but I want to I want to you know our clerk You know who works in the shadows over here sometimes Has worked diligently since she joined us to take care of what has been a I think a historical problem in the city and that's just the lack of oversight and management of the city's records They filled the basement of this building. You could not walk through the basement of this building without tripping over boxes. Every room was filled to capacity, and she has worked with the department directors, not only in this building, but also over at Public Works, over at Fire, to try and manage this and work with the state of Illinois, which is never an easy task. But in this case, we've got somebody new on the state review team. So we're able to dispose of these records properly. So when you see that we're destroying records, those records have been approved for destruction by the state. I don't want people to think that's not what we're doing. We're just destroying things. So permanent records are on site. They will remain on site, and they will be protected, of course, but complements the entire process. all 12 departments for their efforts. It's a huge lift, you know, and we're dealing with records that go back to the turn of the last century. not just our century, but go back to the beginning. I mean, that's how long the records have been bouncing around downstairs. So again, compliments to the clerk's office for everything they've done to bring that up to date. The Walker Group is moving along steadily on our parking study. So there are public meetings coming up on that. So that project is moving on time, on schedule, which will address the parking issues that we've confronted downtown. kicked off the lead service program which is again i mean we're leading the way on that i don't know who else around here is actually doing that work but we have kicked that off between utilities and engineering and uh and making great headway just absolutely great headway um The library outreach van, I know Brian's not here, but I want to compliment the library board for having the foresight to put that in place. The demand for that is big. People are looking for it. They want to know when it's going to be available to them. That's going to be great for public outreach and making people happy in the community. Fire stations have 40% drawings. We are ready to move forward with probably this month. May 19th? Or June? June? All right, I'm gonna give you to June. All right, so we're gonna be looking forward to bringing on a construction manager at risk, and that contract will come forward to the city council. And then they, of course, will start to work with FGM so that we can move forward with the completion of the drawings for the project. So that we can launch that on time. It is still on time on schedule And if you've been out there on 7th Street, I don't know if you drive through there that often, you know, pick up a pizza at Clint's It's a great little place little plug for Clint's But if you look at you know, one of the three buildings was demolished Over the last week so big hole in the ground that will be filled. We've got two more that are being remediated for asbestos tiles once the asbestos has been removed those two buildings will also be demolished so the site then will be restored all the trees have been removed and then the site will be ready for construction when construction comes along Really great news there. Of course, we just learned about South Slope. You will be getting quarterly reports, hopefully, on what's happening there. There's just so much money involved and so much work involved. I want to keep the council fully apprised of that project because that is the monster. We got a new format that we laid out. There was a little delay getting this out. We apologize, but it was a big lift. I want to compliment Macy, especially for her efforts on this, and Barry. because i know he worked alongside macy to get this thing to take on a new look uh for for citizens of the city and for the mayor and council and uh you know you can read it got questions please let me know

I was going to add, I did ask, so we're moving to a different format, not just in how it looks, but in how often we get an update. I don't know if those longer-serving council members noticed that, but I think it's in the interest of staff time. The monthly updates was a huge lift, and it's so detailed that it's better for them. I think that's what you might say. It's better for them to actually do the work and report on it quarterly instead of monthly and get sidelined by reporting on the work, right? So I think we can handle that and I appreciate the new format. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Anything further on that? Okay, hearing none, we'll call our regular council meeting to order. Pledge of Allegiance, please.

and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Do you have an invocation, Mr. Silas?

Not this time, Your Honor.

Okay. Roll call, please. Alderperson Silas? Present. Macias?

Present.

Razak?

Present.

Timian? Present. Finch? Present. McNeil?

Present.

Castro?

Present. Schmidt?

Present.

No remote electronic attendance. Any public comment at this time?

I apologize for missing questions on the agenda earlier. I needed to request that item 18.3 be removed from the consent agenda as I'll need to introduce myself.

18.3, you say? Yes. Okay, we've got that moved to... Hang on, I'm writing away the same. 18.4 through 18.15.

Double check our work. 20.5.

Got it.

Okay, we're on the same page.

Thank you, person Schmidt.

Your Honor, I request the approval of Committee of the Whole and Council Meeting Minutes of April 28, 2026, and Consent Agenda Item 16.1 through 18.1 and 18.2 and 18.4 through 18.14. Motion to approve.

Second.

Motion by Finch, seconded by Razak. Roll call, please. Alderperson Silas?

Aye.

Macias?

Aye.

Razak?

Aye.

Timian?

Aye.

Finch? Aye. McNeil?

Aye.

Castro? Aye. Schmidt?

Aye.

Eight ayes, no nays, and that motion carries.

Your Honor, unless I misheard, I believe the clerk just said through 18.14, but we have 18.15.

I thought I might have heard that too. Did you say 14 or 15? I said 14. Can we just do 15? Just do 15 this time, and then we'll go back to just three.

Do we want to do 18.3 now?

No. I just keep it in order with the ones he can vote on, yeah. Non-consent agenda, first reading ordinances. No, you're going to do consent agenda number 18.15. Yeah, we just missed that.

All right.

Okay. Item number 18.15, a resolution authorizing the mayor and city clerk to execute and attest to a construction and maintenance agreement, 15th Street at-grade signals with Iowa Interstate Railroad, LLC, a Delaware Limited Liability Company, for the 15th Street at-grade signal project.

Motion to approve, yeah, on the consent agenda. Second. So Finch seconded by Schmidt. Roll call, please.

Alderperson Silas? Aye. Macias? Aye. Razak?

Aye.

Timian?

Aye.

Finch? Aye. McNeil?

Aye.

Castro? Aye. Schmidt?

Aye.

All right, now we can, we've moved 18.3 over to some other section, correct?

Well, I would do that now. So then we can move on.

You're talking about the consent agenda now? Yes.

Bill says yes.

It should be the very next one. Yes. Got it.

So item number 18.3, a resolution approving a professional services independent contractor agreement with Planetaria Media Inc. in response to the City of Moline website and branding request proposal to provide economic development branding and website services and authorizing the mayor and city clerk to execute and attest to professional services independent contractor agreement with Planetaria Media for the amount of $48,750. for professional services necessary to support economic development branding and website development, plus annual managed maintenance and hosting services not to exceed $8,000 per year, and authorizing city staff to do all things necessary to implement a professional services independent contractor agreement and advance the economic development branding and website development process.

Motion to approve.

Second.

Motion. Switch. Switch. These are consent agenda items. But we pulled that one.

We still need the motion to approve.

It was on the consent agenda, but any member can ask for it to be removed from the consent agenda. And so it's properly the next item after the consent agenda is done.

So we still need them to motion and second. Thank you. That was finished, seconded by Castro. Question, Mr. Schmidt.

Your Honor, I'll need to recuse myself from this item because my firm engages in this work and will be considered a competitor. Thank you.

Roll call, please. Alderperson Silas? Aye. Macias?

Aye.

Razak?

Aye.

Timian?

Aye.

Finch? Aye. McNeil?

Aye.

Castro? Aye. All right. Motion passes. Now we can go to 9th and 10th General for reading ordinances. On consent agenda, first reading ordinances, item number 20.1, an ordinance amending chapter 31, taxation of the milliput of ordinances by repealing section 31-7102, tax and report transmittal in its entirety and enacting in lieu thereof one new section 31-7102 entitled tax and report transmittal, dealing with the same subject matter.

Motion to advance the second reading.

Second. Motion by Finch, seconded by Castro. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call, please.

Alderperson Silas. Aye. Macias. Aye. Razak.

Aye.

Timian.

Aye.

Finch. Aye. McNeil.

Aye.

Castro. Aye. Schmidt.

Aye.

Ayes, no nays. Motion to advance to second reading carries. Item number 20.2, an ordinance amending chapter 22, offenses miscellaneous of the Moline Code of Ordinances, section 22-1105, tobacco products, tobacco accessories, smoking herbs, and alternative nicotine products by increasing the number of Class B incidental tobacco dealers licenses in the city of Moline at the request of Rosie's Watering Hole, Inc., DBA Rosie's Watering Hole.

Motion to advance the second reading.

Second. Motion by Finch, seconded by Castro. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call, please.

Alderperson Silas?

Aye.

Macias? Aye. Rezac?

Aye.

Timian?

Nay.

Finch? Aye. McNeil?

Aye.

Castro? Aye. Schmidt?

Aye.

Seven ayes, one nay. Motion to advance to second reading carries. Item number 20.3, an ordinance amending chapter 35, zoning and land development of the Milling Code of Ordinances, article four, development standards by repealing division three, public art requirements for private development in its entirety to lower the financial burden for economic development projects.

Motion to advance to second reading.

Second.

Motion by Timmy and seconded by Finch. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call, please.

Alderperson Silas.

Aye.

Macias. Aye. Razak.

Aye.

Timian.

Aye.

Finch. Aye. McNeil.

Aye.

Castro. Aye. Schmidt.

Aye.

Ayes, no nays. Motion to advance to the second reading carries. Item number 20.4, an ordinance amending Chapter 35, Zoning and Land Development of the Mulling Code of Ordinances, Article 4, Development Standards, Division 2, Infrastructure and Public Improvement Standards, Section 35-4210. maintenance guarantees and security regarding bonding requirements for infrastructure and public improvements in public right-of-way.

Motion to advance the second reading. Second. Motion by Finch, seconded by Castro. Discussion? Hearing none, roll call, please. Alderperson Silas?

Aye.

Macias?

Aye.

Rezac?

Aye.

Timian? Aye. Finch? Aye. McNeil?

Aye.

Castro? Aye. Schmidt?

Aye.

Eight ayes, no nays. Motion to advance to second reading carries, and that's all I have this evening. Thank you very much.

um miscellaneous business and um i know there's a lot going on for all of us um and we're getting close to the summer months with a lot to look forward to especially with the 250 celebrations um i wanted to let you know that we had our first regional on the Illinois side meeting around sheltering and trying to find a permanent shelter solutions. It included providers. It was great to share perspectives there. I believe the outcome is we're still committed to figuring out a permanent shelter solution and moving forward with the next meeting date, which will be next week. So everyone I think understands the urgency so we don't end up where we were last year trying to figure something out on an emergency basis. So really lovely to hear. And then along those lines, I'll be speaking as a team basically on a panel with Reverend Ford tomorrow, along with a team from the city of Springfield featuring municipal solutions to the sheltering issues. That's part of the Home Illinois Conference down in Springfield. So I'm excited about that just to see what other people have to say and just share a little bit about how we've been in partnership and continue to work on that. I also wanted you to know that yesterday I went with members of our youth commission and our staff liaison and others to the multilingual learners class at the high school, their problems and solutions class. This is something they've invited us to for the last three years. I know Ms. Castro went with me last year or we went together. And they did a really good job researching particular problems in their community. And so the topics were distracted driving. You might enjoy that. Did you hear about it, Chief? Did they talk to you? Okay. Recreational spaces, in particular outdoor gyms and economical and accessible spaces. I've already talked with Eric about some of their ideas. Flooding issues. They want to promote and adopt a storm drain program, which is kind of cool. And scooping your pet's poop. That was the title. They think that there's a PR campaign that could be had and having bags accessible to people and all that kind of thing. Just thought you might like to know what some of those students are up to. That's all I have right now. Mr. Silas.

Yes, Your Honor. The Florist in the Neighborhood is working with the Orpheum Theater. They're doing a fundraiser. They're getting a very expensive HVAC system. So if you need tickets every Saturday, they're selling them at the Skelly Station. And also you can contact me. I'm also helping them sell some. But it's $25. It's a raffle ticket for a vacation trip to the Dominican Republic for two guests. The flight's not included, but basically it's a really nice place. uh so get a hold of me check out their facebook page uh the raffle ends on may 30th so um but yeah check out the video they got a video of the place and it's going for uh you know the revitalization of the the theater there thank you that's all sir nothing thank you sir jimmy

Thank you, Your Honor. I would like to thank Ashley for the work she has done this week for the Bike to Work Week event yesterday. I want to thank Alderperson McNeil for his leadership there at that event. It was very well attended, as pictures will show, and I'm glad that we are engaging in events like this that not only are telling people that there's alternative modes of transit, but also reminding people that in times of crisis, when gas prices are what they are, cities that plan ahead have a relief valve for people that want to save a little bit by maybe riding one out of ten trips or whatever it is that they're doing. And it's also great to be partnering with other neighboring cities. And I encourage you all to go to one. We have, I think today was Davenport. I imagine tomorrow's Bettendorf. I know that Rock Island's on Friday. I don't know what Thursday is, so that's something. But please, you know, they're great events, and it's a great chance to get to know them.

Thank you. Ms. Finch?

I'll piggyback on that. I'm not sure if Davenport's event was designed to be intimate, but it was smaller. So I'd like to acknowledge Ashley Allen Smith as well because it was really well attended. We had commuters that were coming to and from Moline, the Planning Center, Streamline Architects, Deere, Augustana College. Really pleased and thank you to the mayor for proclaiming May as Bike Month. I'd also like to add I had the privilege of meeting Nick from Skunk Patrol last week and really excited about Leading Light. And I hope that we continue to think about what public art means and what it will mean to our downtown as we continue to develop because that project is going to be outstanding and significant. So, excited.

Ms. Castro? Nothing, Your Honor. Mr. Schmidt?

Nothing, Your Honor. Nothing.

Any other staff? Okay, then. Any further public comment? Hearing none, I believe we have executive session. Somebody have the report.

Your Honor, I make a motion that the council convene an executive session for the purpose of discussion of property acquisition 5 ILCS 120 slash 2 C5 and pending probable or imminent litigation 5 ILCS 120 slash 2 C11.

Second.

Thank you. That's Silas, seconded by Timian. Roll call, please. Alderperson Silas? Aye.

Macias? Aye. Razak?

Aye.

Timian?

Aye.

Finch? Aye. McNeil?

Aye.

Castro? Aye. Schmidt?

Aye.

Nays? No nays. That motion carries. Okay. We're going into closed session.