City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call this meeting of the Princeton City Council to order. Third call to roll. Council Member Newman? Here.

Gomez? Here. McCall? Here. Zaleski? Here. Mayor Mabry?

Here. Would you please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Now we're going to go on to public comment. Public comment is available for the public to speak at the beginning of the meeting as well as at the end. We'd like to have you limit your comments if possible to three minutes. We may not have the ability to respond to what you're asking us, but certainly you can stay after the meeting and talk to the council members as well. So if you'd like to speak to the council, all you have to do is go up to the podium and just give your names all we need. Would anybody like to speak to the council this evening? And you get a second chance at the end of the meeting. Seeing none, we'll go ahead now and we'll go for an update on engine number eight with Jeff Mangrich, who is our current superintendent, and Joey Pansu is here as well. Jim, Jim, Joe's your dad.

My dad's Jim.

Maybe I spelled that right. Thank you.

First off, I'd like to introduce Jim Transu. He's going to be the next, or he is the next superintendent going to be. I guess that hasn't happened officially. Teresa had a job on her hand, interviewing. We had a couple good internals, and it was a tough decision for her. So it'll go well. In the electric department, we don't screw around. Jim's going to give the update tonight.

I don't know how much of an update we got. We don't have a lot of information since the last time you probably heard this conversation, but... We got an email today from our contractor Larry Wheeler. He's been speaking with Homestead Florida where we want to get the engine block from. He's asked for another four to eight weeks is what they're looking at to make their decision whether they want to let that engine be sold or not. I guess that's what he's asking for. But that is a better decision is to get the engine blocks from Florida. probably wise if we do wait, just because I think these will go back together in a more permanent form. We do have an engine in the plant already that's stitched together though, so it's still an option. And that's probably the way we'll move if we don't get a decision out of them promptly, so. Has the decision been delayed a couple of times, Ken? It's been put off because of Homestead, Florida, because the parts that they have we need. Yeah. But the stitching place is not ready for the block yet either. So they're pausing on that anyway. But Larry is planning on being in here this week yet to start removing the rest of the block that's in the plan now. That's about all the information we have at the moment.

That engine, Homestead, are you wanting just that piece of the block or they wouldn't sell the whole thing? Because they're left kind of with a... engine that's not useful for anything, and I'm kind of wondering, is there a chance that they'd be interested in a piece that needs to be stitched back together so they have something?

Oh, Justin, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm understanding that that engine will be sold as a whole unit, and whoever buys it is going to be responsible for taking out the whole engine. Generator, pad, the whole nine yards, so... Yeah. That's a discussion. If they do sell it, we'll probably have to go back and discuss that a little further in detail.

Basically, there might be some parts there that would be advantageous for us to purchase if available. But they don't have them disassembled at all, do they?

No.

Somewhat.

They have a couple liners out just so they can see the block and see what the damage was. Yeah.

I don't like them a little much, does it?

No. It's still a lot of work to get that block out and get it up here to our facilities.

Have you started currently taking out the section of block that needs to be stitched since it has to come out anyway?

Yeah, the only thing left is to take the gears off the front and head studs out and unfold the block from the unit. Yeah, and the camshafts haven't come out yet. Then we'll take a couple window sections out of the back of the parking lot and slide it out that window and get it out into the parking lot. From that point, hopefully he makes a decision on what we're going to do.

So hopefully in six weeks we'll have a decision one way or the other.

I think we're going to have to in order for us to get it back together in the timeline that we have.

Now when they make the decision to sell that, the decision is to sell it to you. It's not going to go on an auction site or something, correct? Correct.

No, the understanding is that is another hiccup in the road.

Yeah, we need to find that out. If they decide not to repair it, are they going to have to go out for bid again for salvage? We're hoping not. We'll get some clarification from Larry on that one also. Because if that happens, who knows how long it'll be. I mean, look how long it's taken to get this far. Right, right.

If you get a decision in the next six or eight weeks, how long does it take to get to that building?

We've asked that question. We don't have a clean answer on that. But you're probably looking at a couple months to get it out of down there and get it up here. But the timeline to put the engine back together is very quick after the block lands here versus setting arms up to get it stitched back together. You're still probably looking at the same timeline, even waiting the four to eight weeks.

Would you consider taking the pieces off you need down there or is it allowable to bring them up here to go down and get the rest of it?

Yeah, I'm assuming that's exactly what we'll do. Now, keep in mind that the other half of this engine we got here won't match up with the half we're getting down there, so we would want to purchase both blocks. We'll have to discuss that, how we're going to handle that. But if we get both blocks and put them on this engine, it would be back to an OEM block. Yeah, it gets frustrating. Coming up on the year. We ran out of time the other day. We were very frustrated about that engine. It's a huge part of that plan.

Do you want to talk a little bit about the outage last week at all? Yeah, sure.

The outage was an arrester on the 138 line between Ameren and us. That arrester is removed and the line's just floating there. We're waiting in parks and we will have another, we will have to run the plant for another few hours. Why they changed that amount. Could be a day, I suppose. Overall, they changed all three arresters.

I think last night it took them like three or four hours to actually do the work.

Yeah, they usually turn us off a couple hours before they're even ready to start the work and then usually a couple hours after before they call us back.

That's good question because Cameron doesn't use that style anymore so they have to They're looking for them. I said, we don't have to have that kind. If you went to something different, let's just convert to what you're using now and make the adjustments on the conductor side to make it work.

As long as it serves its purpose, it actually doesn't matter. Exactly.

So the ruster affects the lightning strike? Is that correct? Yeah. Yeah, over voltages. So is it unprotected right now, then?

A little bit. We still have arresters on the transformer, so the transformer is protected. It's just the line is not. We don't like to talk about those things. We'd like to be talked about if they happen.

Any other questions from the council members? Thank you for your patience. I appreciate it. Thank you. If you guys want to sneak out of here, go for it. All right. Very good. Thank you. Okay, we're into the approval of the minutes phase. I move that we approve the minutes from our regular council meeting on August 3rd, 2026. Second. Motion to second. Any questions or comments concerning those minutes? Seeing none, clerk, call the roll.

Councilmember Newman? Aye. Gomez? Aye. McCall? Aye. Zaleski? Aye. Mayor Mabry?

Aye. Now we're on to the invoices with Deputy City Clerk Elizabeth Sandoval. In the Department of Accounts and Finances, $158,154.66.

In the Department of Streets and Public Improvements, $155,820.56. In the Department of Public Safety, $687,174.50. In the Department of Public Property and Utilities, $1,188,206.53. With a grand total of $2,189,356.25. All council members present have confirmed their reviews of all invoices and are now submitted for disposition.

I move that we approve the invoices as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second. Is there any questions about those invoices? Otherwise, we'll go ahead and have a call roll.

Council Member Newman?

Aye.

Gomez?

Aye.

McCall? Aye. Selesky? Aye. Mayor Mabry?

Aye.

Next we have ordinance O-26-016, modifying Princeton Historic Preservation Commission abilities and oversight to protect historic structures. This is the second and final reading.

I move that we approve ordinance O-26-016. Second. Motion is seconded. As it says here, it is the second reading. Is there any questions or comments from the council concerning that? Pretty straightforward. We're good. We like the idea that it's voluntary for the business, for the building's owners. Okay, with that said, could we recall the rules?

Council Member Newman? Aye. Gomez? Aye. McCall? Abstain. Slutsky?

Aye.

Mayor Mabry?

Aye.

Next we have Ordinance O-26-017, Authorizing the Sale of Personal Property No Longer Necessary or Useful to the City of Princeton. This is the first reading.

I move that we advance ordinance 0-26-017 to the second reading. Second. We have a motion and a second. And could Teresa just tell us one more time what we're selling?

Sure. We've never sold one of these before. So it's at the police department on the south side of the building. You'll see it looks like a little grill or a smoker. It's actually an incinerator. It was... originally put there correct me if I'm wrong Kevin but for burning drugs or incinerating drugs to get rid of them but it did not work as intended so it's that for I don't know how old the thing is but they want to get that out of there so when they're redoing the brick we can get the brick put on there in the right manner so we don't need it anymore get rid of it anyway so It may be useful to... Good luck. That was like a giant barbecue grill.

The doctor, like we see possible, was around 2010, 2011. We saw some of these that were used for national crime to be able to purchase them. And the drugs were actually taken at a disposal.

Thank you, Hector. Okay, with that said, could we call the roll?

Council Member Newman?

Aye. Gomez?

Aye. McCall? Aye. Zalewski.

Aye.

Mayor Mabry.

Aye. I move that we appoint to the Historic Preservation Board David Morris to fill the remainder of Matt Adams' three-year term ending December 31st, 2029.

Second.

Motion second on that. Is there any questions from the council? Seeing none, clerk call the roll.

Council Member Newman. Aye. Gomez. Aye. McCall. Aye.

Now we're on to our city manager report with Teresa Wittenauer.

In your packet is your police and fire report for June of 2026. Police is July 2026 as well. I do want to go back to the invoices, just that high number. That's our record, isn't it? Yeah. That was, you said it was one of the largest IMEs. Largest since I've seen. Largest one that was a theme for the electric. So, plus you have your couple invoices there for the fire department. So it just, just kind of cringe when you see that number, but... And we just saw what was that email today was alert the highest Residential electric rates went out this last month too. So Definitely, that's like that was like a statewide. Yeah so That's what we're contending with here. So holiday garbage pickup, just a reminder with the holiday coming up for Labor Day. Monday, September 7th, garbage routes will be collected on Tuesday, September 8th. Monday, September 7th, recycle routes will be collected on Tuesday, September 8th. And just have your stuff out by 8 a.m. or 8 a.m. Tuesday.

5 a.m i collection day because they may start a little bit earlier on those days since it'll be a double pickup so it's just a reminder and as uh teresa she gives the council members a update every friday we really appreciate that we get a chance to know what's going on in the city we get a chance to see some pictures the street department's done a nice job keeping ahead of advanced asphalt So the advanced asphalt crew has been in town doing the grinding and the overlays, but the street department usually is ahead of them on different streets, making sure that the sidewalks are all in good shape, and then there's any curb and gutter, we do some in-house, and then the advanced asphalt does some for us. Also, one of the projects we took on this year was the overlay at the Elm City, or Elm Lawn Cemetery. And if you've ever driven out there before, the overlay was getting pretty rough out there. It was not a very conducive place to bury your loved ones just because it was almost going to be a gravel road out there. So we appreciate that. That was about a $150,000 project, that overlay. So we appreciate those projects. And over at the high school, the street department's done a nice job with the new sidewalks, working in conjunction with some money that was a grant through the high school program, through the state agency, through the high school. So we had some money that we're able to help with that. So that's a win-win. And as you said on our Friday update, the tiger paws up there in front of the high school was really cool to see. Wow, very nice. I think about, as the Mayor's report, I think about how fortunate we are to have mutual aid for the fire departments. So when the fire, they had the fire at a residence this weekend, and Bureau and Malden and I think it was Ladd was there. But we just wanted to say in general, we appreciate the mutual aid we get from these small departments. They're all volunteers that come to our rescue and give us some assistance. And of course, we at the mutual aid, we go help them too. But We've had quite a few structure fires the past year and a half, unfortunately. Homes that caught on fire, and they're right there ready to help us. We appreciate that. We're going to go to old business now, and under old business, we're still working with e-bikes and scooters, and every day we see those people doing crazy things, kids on those things, and so we know we're going to be enforcing that here once the, that's the one that the governor is not signing out. Okay. So we're on hold on that. And then we're going to go on now to new business. And on new business, the council had received a letter from residents in Park Place Subdivision requesting that the speed limit be reduced right now at Park Place Subdivision to 25 miles per hour. And they'd like to go down to 15 miles per hour. And I don't think there's any objections to that from the council. It's the residents, if they have one way in, one way out. So it's really, if the residents want that, I think that's just a fair process. Jerry, you're talking? I'm just wondering, have they, as a group, said, yeah, we agree with all that, because there might be a difference of opinion on whether they should change the speed limit. Because the last time we went from 30 to 25, there was a small uprising. And do we know, I mean, if the person who wrote the letter has Go on door to door and talk to the people about it, sure. And I'm kind of surprised no one from the subdivision is here tonight.

Well, I'm here. No one has me.

Geraldine, I apologize.

You have dual citizenship. Geraldine, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Geraldine, do you have any thoughts on that?

This is the first time I've heard of it.

Okay. So Jerry brings up a good point. I thought that they communicated better to the residents, and I made some comment in that saying that I presume that the residents have been in contact. So let's do this. Let's go ahead and we'll put this on hold and we'll have a representative from Park Place Subdivision come to our first meeting in September. That way we can hear from them and then we'll let them know that they would like to know for sure that by and large residents have been made contact with and yeah. Yeah, sounds good. Jerry, good call. I appreciate that. Because, yeah, it went from 30 to 25, and there's people concerned. 15 is pretty slow, but it's like idling.

I think part of the problem might be the number of children that are there now riding around. And obviously, if there are new vehicles that go down, it's 15 miles an hour.

One thing I didn't mention to him is, I kind of understand, because I didn't ride by the high school. And no matter what speed limit you put in there, even if buses go through, you always see them going through. So I did tell them that the biggest part of it is going to be enforcement. We actually have to have someone here to enforce that if that's going to happen at all.

And after we know that we have a lot of times these delivery drivers, there's a lot of people being delivered to your door now, and holy smokes, those people, they drive crazy at times. So we'll get them to come at our first meeting in September. I appreciate Jerry's thoughts on that. With that, if there's no other new business, we're going to move on now. If there's anyone that would like to speak to the council in public comment, you have your last opportunity. Otherwise, you can come talk to your council members individually. Seeing no, here we go. I move that we adjourn our regular council meeting this evening. We convene for our next council meeting on Tuesday, September 8th, 2026, 6 o'clock at City Hall. Motion second. Clerk called roll.

Council Member Newman. Aye. Gomez. Aye. Aye. McCall? Aye. Zaleski? Aye. Mayor Beecher?

Aye. This meeting is adjourned.