City Council - Regular Meeting

Alderperson Evans.

Present.

Hurt.

Here.

Barnes. Here. Swanson. Parker.

Here.

Poulos.

Here.

Healy. And Mayor Harris.

Present. Would everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and remain standing for a moment of silence.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America Under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Agenda item five.

Vote to approve the agenda.

Motion to approve the agenda. Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt. Aye. Barnes. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Gullis.

Aye. Agenda item six.

Presentation on the Augustana Hilltop Area Market Analysis by DeSalvo Development Advisors, LLC.

There we go. Good evening, everyone. I'd like to introduce Pete DeSalvo, who is joining us remotely. He is with DeSalvo Development Advisors, LLC. Pete, it looks like you're totally visible. Can you hear us? All the audio good on your end.

Yes, I can hear you fine, thank you.

Perfect, excellent. We are also joined tonight by Kirk Anderson from Augustana College. This study was a collaborative effort between the City of Rock Island and Augustana via the Augustana Hilltop CDC, the Community Development Corporation working up there. Jerry Lack, the executive director of the CDC, is unfortunately not able to join us this evening, but is also an important partner in this work. With that, Pete, I'd invite you to share your screen and the slides and go right into the presentation.

Great. Thank you. Can everyone see the screen?

Yes.

Thank you. Sorry. I'm just working with the Google view. I've never seen this. There's so many different video chats. Okay. Good evening. My name is Pete DeSalvo, president of DeSalvo Development Advisors. We've actually been working in the Quad Cities area for almost 15 years now. And today I'm going to take you through a short, don't worry, it's a short PowerPoint to discuss highlights of the market study that we did. We were commissioned to do a comprehensive commercial real estate market analysis of the area. Augustana Hilltop area and the focus was multifamily rental, housing, retail and restaurants. We also looked at four sites to assess highest and best use. We identified and assessed characteristics for more than 5000 rental units citywide and 600 within the study area. As you I'm sure you know the rental housing stock in the city is old. 40% was built before 1940 and another 40% between 1940 and 1980. But the hilltop area, 75% of it was built before 1940 or pre-war housing, if you will. Housing affordability, housing is affordable, but old and often antiquated. You have galley kitchens, small closets, compartmentalized floor plans. We surveyed 30 properties citywide of 20 or more units of over 2,000 units to get additional information. What we found out is for the first time that we've seen, we've been here over 10 years, market rate rental housing is outperforming your low income or income restricted housing. So there's a higher occupancy and market rate than there is income. And when we look at all the properties, income restricted properties, tax credit, other HUD programs outnumber market rate housing three to one. Some of the key takeaways, clearly the biggest takeaway that we had in the entire report is the need for market rate for modern market rate rentals. We know from prior research that we've done that the healthiest communities that we see have a diverse income base. They have low income, but they have moderate income and they have a higher income. And when we're missing that market rate component, we're not, we don't have the diverse incomes that you're looking for. We have more than 1300 renters in the city that can afford new market rate housing. They have incomes of in excess of 50,000 a year. And as well as the Augustana College students that are looking for rentals, we see demand for up to 250 units near term. That's just within the next two or three years. We work with a lot of developers, especially in the multifamily side. And the one thing, there's one thing that's always true. None of them want to be the first in the market. But it's more... Mike Noce, Mgmt. likely that they consider if you have incentives to help them be that first one. Mike Noce, Mgmt. When we looked at retail restaurants we surveyed about 340,000 square feet of space in the hilltop area vacancy rate was modest at 6.8. But 40% of the vacant space isn't even marketed as available to lease or sell. So when you consider effective vacancy rate, like what somebody could actually rent or buy, it's 4.3, which is low. The asking rates in the area are pretty typical for the MSA, in between $12 to $18 per square foot net, meaning they have to pay the utilities and other items as well as the space. Sorry, I did that. Hy-Vee brings in a little more than 100 million, 1.5 million visits each year and is really the closest thing that the area has to an anchor retailer. The big box centers along John Deere and the shopping mall kind of keep the area, though, as neighborhood size. What that means is usually it's that five to seven minute drive time is where we really can expect to attract most households. We estimated about $40 million in the area, in the Hilltop area of spending potential for people eating out. And according to the Education Data Initiative, students spend on average $410 a month eating off campus. Some of the takeaways we don't, we have few spaces and sizes available for P and, and, and move in ready condition to attract new retailers and restaurants. Um, a lot of the area red residents are leaving the area for other food and beverage options, uh, to the tune of $13 million. Um, you're losing in sales because you don't have enough, um, of those offerings in the near term. We saw support for up to 60,000 square feet of retail and food split evenly. We know there's not some of the challenges. There's not that available high traffic site on a high traffic area on 18th, nor the high revenue tenant like a CVS and Duncan who were able to capitalize on the traffic with drive throughs. But both of those retailers have an enormous revenue. CVS gets three times or more of what a restaurant gets per square foot in sales. And Dunkin's one of the highest grossing ones. So there's not that many of those groups to come in to help bring into your community. The other challenge is the highest rent of $18 per square foot that I had mentioned is about $6 below what new development typically needs to charge just to support the construction costs. So we boiled it down to three critical incentive groups. The first one, property tax abatements, those first 10 years, enough to get past that initial debt service is an important incentive. and then consideration of doing a business development district in areas where we can finance some redevelopment through retail hotel sales tax on the second item multi-fam getting the first multi-family in a while it would help if we had a group come in and pre-lease a good amount of those units lending institutions will look favorably upon that and potentially give them lower equity requirement and higher loan to value rates and then lastly when we're talking about that commercial tenant that's paying up to 18 a square foot we're talking about doing a tiered lease agreement where they will ramp up each year to get to that 24 that's needed And lastly, we looked at four sites, four sites were given to us to look at in the area. The one in the center, 1403 30th Street at the corner of 14th and 30th, we saw that as the highest and best use as a mixed use development with housing that's primarily for young professionals, including staff at the college and then ground floor space of 10 to 14,000 square feet. primarily food and beverage tenants, like a coffee shop. This mixed use development, it's central into this area and it can encourage walkability and help bolster sales for nearby businesses. Weber Park is one of the least used parks that the city has, but it offers these unique and tremendous views. And that's the picture that I had on the front was from Weber Park. We see this as a great opportunity for college students who are already living in older, lower-quality off-campus housing there, many of them in homes, to move into modern apartments at that site. Reservoir Park, we took extra care in making sure we're looking at complementary use to the Highland Park Historic District and being able to sustain the values, if not increase them, for the homes there. um we had come to the conclusion in the interim that it remain apart remain parkland but longer term that there's consideration of a mix of uses commercial and housing and more of a horizontal um development than than like the 1403 which is a vertical mixed use and then lastly the horace man park site many of you may know it is that that ball field that sits behind the water tower on 14th that is i have to that is a very complicated development site considering the tower the former substation there it's it's our opinion that this site be considered in a larger development site that would potentially gain frontage along 14th some of the vacant unmarketed space in the area is near that. And we see possibly doing an entertainment venue with outdoor play areas tied to some food in that area. But it is one of the more complicated sites. So with that, I'll take any questions that anyone may have.

I guess I'll start. One of the things that I was kind of intrigued about was Weber Park. I actually lived in Greenbush neighborhood for over 30 years and my neighborhood association, we actually adopted Weber Park for a cleanup. So to see the possibility of being a multifamily rental is, you know, is a good thing. So I like that.

Great.

Any other questions?

Yes, I have a question, sir. When you said that our market rate apartments were outperforming our low income apartments, can you explain that? What is that telling me? What does that mean?

And when I use the term outperforming, it's just to say there are fewer market rate units available then there are low income housing income restricted. So if you have an income, what's happening is if somebody works in the area and let's say they make 50,000 a year and they have choices, the more moderate and higher income you get, you have housing choices. And when you don't have any market rate, that's if you don't have availability, And on top of that, you don't have modern alternatives. You lose those households. And some of that is happening in Rock Island. It's happening a little bit in Moline as well, but it's definitely happening in Rock Island where you're losing. People are opting to either move in other areas of the metro because the housing they're looking for simply isn't there. So there's just less availability.

Okay. Now one more question. I'm looking at some housing for our students here. So where would the student market fall? Would they fall at absolute market rate? Or I know it wouldn't be low income, but would they qualify for absolute market rate apartments or would they fall somewhere in between? I'm just trying to see how that market would play out.

Yeah, they're part of the market rate. group. They're paying market rents. The low-income market has subsidies involved with it that help pay for that, help developers lower rent, and the market rate doesn't have that.

I did have a follow follow up question in regards to the over a concentration of affordable housing and it mentioned. I H D 8 was Illinois housing development Association. So maybe for staff is there is there a possibility that I will no longer subsidize affordable housing in this area.

That is a distinct possibility and something that we've heard about being a challenge in potentially other areas of the community, including downtown and adjacent areas. IDA has made significant investments in Rock Island in a wide range of different projects over many years. That includes small and large projects. As the council will know, our housing authority, which competes in the open marketplace for some of those tax credits, has had a heck of a time in recent years securing those for projects that, of course, I think many of us are in favor of. So we are seeing that there is an increasing challenge in securing those kinds of tools in Rock Island because of the oversaturation.

And sir, one last question. As far as the piece of property that's a difficult development by our water towers, what are you suggesting with that? When you say it should be a part of a bigger development, what does that mean or what does that look like for the rest of Rock Island and even within this map right here? Sure.

And this doesn't have to happen this way, but the first look that I have is that that substation that's there that's no longer active becomes part of that. There's also a parking problem for some of the other businesses to the east. But my biggest thing would be take the substation over and combine that to be a larger development. So you have a small... One of the examples is you have a small... casual place to eat for families. And behind that, they're playing games, they're playing cornhole or ping pong or a lot of people are talking about pickleball now, but I don't know if that's the correct thing either. But the concept of can we use that space a little bit like it has been used in the past for some kind of recreational entertainment value, but also create some more energy in this area to help that site of 14th come back again. So it's a little bit of a catalyst. So that's why I was thinking we need to think bigger because if you just look at that site, it's a difficult one for housing. Who wants to pay for housing under a water tower? Sure, sure. Market rate, market especially. So that's why we came to that conclusion. Thank you, sir.

Thank you. Any other questions from Council? Miles, do you have anything?

only i want to thank pete for his work on this staff hope to continue to do these kinds of studies in other areas of the city to dive deeper into the data and really understand what it is that we're working with and where we might go obviously doing these kinds of things is in furtherance of the different action items contained in our economic and housing development planning documents and allows us to continue to make targeted investments in things like site readiness and also leverage partnerships for development as much as we can i want to again remind everyone that the cdc up on the hilltop is actively marketing the site at 14th and 30th and we hope to work with them to see a positive development come to that corner and hopefully be a catalyst for that whole area so thank you thank you sir thank you very much i appreciate it all right guys moving right along

Agenda item six. Oh, excuse me, seven, excuse me.

Proclamation declaring June 2026 as Pride Month.

Proclamation, whereas the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer plus LGBTQ plus communities of Rock Island are an integral part of the vibrant culture and climate of Rock Island, and whereas the diverse LGBTQ plus community continues to contribute to the widespread academic, economic, artistic, and social fears within and around the greater community, And whereas the month of June was designated as Pride Month to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, which occurred in June of 1969, and are generally recognized as the catalyst of the LGBTQ plus rights movement. And whereas the LGBTQ plus communities of Rock Island have thoughtfully organized numerous workshops, sporting events, receptions, festivals, concerts, plays, dances, and a host of other inspired activities to participate in during the celebration of Pride Month. And whereas the city of Rock Island remains committed to protecting the civil rights of the LGBTQ plus communities, as the power and purpose of this iconic event proved vital in our unified efforts to forge a more open and just society, And whereas Rock Island's active and involved LGBTQ plus communities make an indelible impact upon the quality of life in Rock Island and Pride Month serves as a call to all our collective consciousness to persist in the fight to eradicate prejudice and discrimination everywhere. Now, therefore, be it resolved that I, Ashley Harris, Mayor of the City of Rock Island, along with the members of the City Council, do hereby proclaim June 2026 as Pride Month in the City of Rock Island and encourage all Rock Islanders to recognize the enduring efforts and ongoing contributions of the LGBTQ plus communities within our city and our country. Dated this eighth day of June 2026. Thank you.

Ready? Ready?

good evening is this oh i have to be real close good evening my name is uh daniel gleason as most of you guys know with the parks department i am also president of quad city pride alliance uh we want to thank the city uh for partnering with us as long as as well as downtown uh rock island partnership um we have donated 80 flags throughout downtown and we're going to continue to grow that so we can continue to paint downtown rainbows during pride month this weekend we held our festival down at schwiebert riverfront park and we welcomed just under 4 000 people to our festival so they were downtown rock island supporting local businesses um icons was out of control busy which was great so we had a lot of traffic down here it's a great opportunity for rock island to continue to grow and show the welcoming community and diverse community we are so i just want to thank everybody for that and continue to partner for years to come thank you

7B, proclamation declaring June 13th, 2026 is Rock Island County NAACP Day.

Proclamation. Whereas, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP, is the oldest civil rights organization in the United States and was created in 1909 as a national call for justice for African Americans due to the Springfield, Illinois race riots of August 1908, one of the most infamous events in Illinois and American history. And whereas people from across the nation were shocked and dismayed that racial riots occurred in the adopted hometown of Abraham Lincoln, leading activists to gather to take up the struggle for civil rights and political rights of black citizens, ultimately resulting in the founding of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the NAACP. And, whereas, citizens of the United States of America, white and black, joined together to ensure justice and equality for all citizens. And whereas the Rock Island County NAACP Branch 3268 continues that historical and proactive tradition of justice for all citizens in the struggle for civil and political rights in the city of Rock Island through numerous community events, including the Freedom Front Banquet on Saturday, June 13th, 2026. and whereas the city of rock island acknowledges the rock island county naacp for its dedication to the struggle for the civil and political rights of citizens of color now therefore be it resolved that i ashley harris mayor of the city of rock island do hereby proclaim saturday june 13th 2026 to be rock island county naacp day in the city of Rock Island, a day dedicated to unity and justice in the city of Rock Island for all residents of our community. Dated today, June 8, 2026. Thank you.

Freedom from Banquet. It's going to be at 5 p.m. at Bailey's, sorry, Bally's, and we do have tickets available. One thing I'm learning with NAACP and any organization, including the LBG, yeah, the community that just came up, it takes a village. No matter who we are, no matter what color we are, it takes a village for us to become better citizens for each other, to understand that we're all human, we all make mistakes, But we all have, at some point in time, have to come together in order to make our world, our city, our communities better. So I encourage everyone, if you're not a NAACP member, become a member. It's not just about what color you are. It's about making our community better, whatever we need to do to make that. So I would join, ask for all of you guys to join us. On our meetings, we have a meeting this coming Thursday at 6 o'clock at the Martin Luther King Center. So please come out and just see what's going on, see what we're doing in the community to kind of better us. And then while you're at it, go ahead and buy a ticket and join us for the banquet.

Thank you, Corinthia. Corinthia is the secretary of the NAACP branch 3268 chapter. Today actually is the final day that ticket sales are available. They need to get a solid number into the Bally's to be able to prepare for the Freedom Fund banquet dinner. They are not going to be selling tickets at the door. So anyone in need of tickets, we have them available today. And there may be a couple set aside for Thursday's general meeting. The keynote speaker is Derek Johnson, the national president of the NAACP. He has a doctorate of law, and it should be, in this time, a really amazing speech. So thank you, Mayor. Thank you, City Council, for the proclamation.

Glenn Evans requested a proclamation be read declaring June 3rd, 2026 as Jubilee Day.

Proclamation. Whereas, Pharaoh Temple 183, ancient Egyptian Arabic order noble's mystic shrine of North and South America and its jurisdiction, Inc., based out of Rock Island Arsenal and operating within the desert of Iowa, is a longstanding nonprofit organization serving the Quad Cities region through charitable works, civic engagement, fellowship, and community service. and the nobles of Farrell Temple 183 have consistently demonstrated a strong commitment to philanthropy, leadership, brotherhood, and public service throughout the desert of Iowa and the surrounding Quad Cities community. And whereas Farrell Temple 183 has partnered with local organizations and community leaders to provide assistance and support to individuals and families in need throughout the Quad Cities area, including efforts to donate clothing and other essential items to those experiencing hardship. And whereas, the members of Pharaoh Temple 183 actively participate in civic and charitable activities that foster unity, goodwill, and community pride among the citizens of Rock Island and the surrounding Quad Cities region. And whereas the Jubilee celebration of Pharaoh Temple 183 represents an important occasion.

And says, hey, we have to cut back. So now we're going to all have to come together and figure out how are we going to divvy up all the duties that we have. I am encouraging, I am actually trying to encourage the HR department to actually go back and look at these positions. Look at what you're trying to add. Look at every position that's out there now, what you're trying to add, that job description, and see if there's a way to look at and take a whole department and say, hey, maybe we divvy up the responsibilities a little bit differently. Or we have if Randy Hurt was sitting in in the city clerk position or was looking to be in the customer service position, we say, hey, if you guys, if your team will already cover this, I will give you guys a one time stipend to cover you for helping us to maintain the city. But in adding an annual salary where we already have a high personnel budget is going to create more deficit within our budget. We cannot afford basic things I feel like right now. Our water bills are going up. We go to the gas station, our gas is going up. Thank God for Hy-Vee having a sale today. that actually kept some stuff in our pockets. We need to look at these things a little differently. Throwing money and people at a position does not always help. You need to look at what you have within and see how the responsibilities can be divvied up to make sure that our city can continue to run and we're not putting any extra burden on anybody in our community. So I am strongly, strongly, strongly encouraging the city council to table this part of your agenda. Probably go back, look at HR, have some more conversations, and then come back within the next board meeting with a different recommendation. Thank you.

Thank you for your time. Agenda item nine, update Rock Island. Update Rock Island. King's Cafe. Enjoy coffee, conversation, and community every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning from 9 a.m. to 2 noon at the Martin Luther King Community Center, 639th Street, from now through August. King's Cafe is a place where conversations happen, relationships grow, and community is built, one cup at a time. Stop in for coffee, conversation, and a volunteer space to connect with others in your community. Whether you stay for five minutes or an hour, there's a seat for you. Plant a seed and read. The Rock Island Public Library has kicked off its summer reading program called Plant a Seed, Read. Summer is in full bloom at the Rock Island Public Library, so swing by to register for the reading challenge and check out all the great events. Go to rockislandpubliclibrary.org for more information. Rock Island's Artist Market. The annual Rock Island Artist Market is beginning another season at Skeleton Key Art and Antiques, 520 18th Street. The first of five markets is this Sunday, June 14th from noon to 5 p.m. in the Skeleton Key parking lot. Fun, cool, unique items from local artists, makers, and growers. The market is held on the second Sunday of each month, June through October. Agenda item 10.

A report from the Traffic Engineering Committee regarding a request to remove the handicapped parking space in front of 4529 14th Avenue, First Street.

Make a motion to suspend the rules, consider and pass the ordinance.

Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker.

Aye.

And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item B.

Report from the Traffic Engineering Committee to install a handicapped parking space at 1916 9th Street for streeting.

Motion to consider the ordinance.

Second.

I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Farns. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Polis.

Aye.

Agenda item C. Report from the Traffic Engineering Committee regarding the installation of a handicapped parking space at 2725 Carlberg Court. First reading.

Motion to consider the ordinance. Second.

There's been a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker.

Aye.

And Palouse.

Aye.

Agenda item D. Report from the Traffic Engineering Committee regarding a request to install stop signs at the intersection of 19th Street and 12th Avenue. First reading.

Move to consider, suspend the rules, and pass the ordinance. Second.

I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker.

Aye. And Poulos. Aye.

Agenda item E. Report from the community development department regarding ordinance amending chapter 11 article 10 municipal property for redevelopment and accompanying policy for the purchase and sale of municipal real estate first reading.

Second. There's been a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Farns. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Palouse.

Aye.

Agenda item F. Report from the Economic Development Department regarding an ordinance and amendment to the River Tracks LLC redevelopment agreement first reading.

Motion to approve the amended agreement, authorize the city manager to execute the agreement and consider the ordinance. Second. There's been a first and a second.

Is there any discussion?

Make a motion to, this is gonna get confusing. make a motion to amend the amended redevelopment agreement to include a clause that would make construction work funded through this development agreement subject to the illinois prevailing wage act is there a second for that motion it's a motion to amend so yes

Okay, so now we're on discussion for Alderman Parker's amendment.

Okay.

Thank you. I want to begin by thanking the representatives from River Tracks tonight for your continued investment and partnership with the City of Rock Island. You being here and presenting this is a great opportunity for our community, so I want to start by saying thank you for that. As many of us up here know, The issues that we consider are not always black and white, and there's a lot of taking a variety of stakeholders' perspectives into consideration when making decisions. As my colleagues on city council know, we've been having this conversation about the incentives that the city offers developments here in the city of Rock Island. And like everything that we do, it's been my attempt to try to strike a balance. Obviously, again, we know that we want and need development in our community. We want to work with our private sector partners to facilitate development in our community, grow businesses, add employment. tax rolls, all those good things. But we also have other stakeholders to take into consideration. And, like some of the public speakers here tonight talked about, there are sometimes unintended negative consequences of good things, right? Big infrastructure projects, everybody thought it was going to bring redevelopment, economic development, et cetera. Well, it had negative, unthought of consequences. And so that is why as a sort of first step. Again, I know we are still deliberating this incentive policy, but as a first step, we've talked about project labor agreements. I think that there's some hesitation on this council for that. That's fine. But making the construction work subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act would ensure that anybody working on these jobs that are funded by taxpayer dollars are getting paid the local area prevailing wage. It ensures that we are, maintaining local labor standards in our community. And this is the first reading. Obviously this is new. This has to come back. It has opportunities for our staff to talk to the folks at River Tracks. But I hope you consider the amendment tonight.

Would it be appropriate to have one of our developers come up and present their thoughts on this?

You can call them up and ask them.

I don't know if somebody from would like to come up and speak on your behalf.

Good evening. Ian Frank. Ian Frank with River Tracks Crawford Company, Troy Green, Jim Maynard here as well. So certainly appreciate the city partnership we've had over the years and we're looking forward to continuing to build off the foundation that we have. But yeah, available to answer questions. Are we talking specifically about the amendment?

Yeah.

Well, our intention is to get the site ready. So that's step one. So this is a site that's been abandoned for 30, 40 years, brownfield, industrial area. And what we've done is we've merged the lots together. So now we have over 13 acres between 34th Avenue and 37th Avenue. So what needs to happen next? That site needs to be ready. It needs to be shovel ready. So in economic development, you can have green fields and brown fields. Greenfields, you know, you see that a lot and you're making pushes to attract new people to the community and build in a greenfield area. Brownfield's a little bit trickier, right? So these are old industrial sites. It's not as cut and dry and it takes a lot of work. to get to that point. So our intention is to demo and clear the site, primarily towards 37th Avenue, and the cost on that would be over $400,000. Most likely partner the local union contractor, just as we're a union contractor in three different trades. And that would be our plan for that side of it. In addition to this, there's an existing black building we'd retain, and then we'd build a new building next to that as well. And with the rest of the site open, it would give us nine to 10 acres of future site development. As I think you all are aware, our company's doubled in size, been one of the fastest growing companies in the Quad Cities for the last three years. We're hoping to continue to grow and build off that foundation. site gives us an opportunity to do that and have some elbow room we've been landlocked in in west rock island mill street first street second street you've all been through there those lots are super tight our headquarters has streets on three sides of us we do not have land we want to stay in rock island this is a great opportunity we just need a little help and uh we We're hoping you can do that for us and kind of position us to continue to grow for a long time. We're pushing 500 employees right now. There's no reason we won't surpass that later this year and keep moving forward. Is there any other specific questions? I'm not sure I answered your question.

too much into that machine. We've we looked at leasing a new a new piece of equipment. It just wasn't a good option for cost wise. And so This this machines use pretty regularly on water main breaks and without this machine available. We can't respond as quickly we would have to use a piece of equipment on tracks loaded on the on the trailer and halt to the site. The backhoe is somebody can happen and drive it to the location immediately. So that's really the reason for the emergency purchase.

Any more questions or discussion?

Yeah, I'm sorry. I hate to put him on the spot on that. Not that you're leaving, but I got to do this. Due to the fact that his new purchase, does that clear up the city to actually be able to do more of those emergency sewers than having to contract them out?

And I've had this question before from the mayor. So I understand that, you know, we want to not contract out of repairs. Public Works doesn't want to contract out these repairs as well. And we do a lot of these repairs in-house. certainly by purchasing this this piece of equipment it would allow us to continue doing those repairs but there is repairs that are out of our qualifications i'll say they're they're too deep either we don't have the proper trenching and shoring equipment to properly you know secure the the trench and so there's a lot of other variables that you see here on these contractor repairs. I would say for every repair that you see here tonight, we've probably done 15 to 20 of our own outside of that. So the percentage ratio of public works do repairs and contractor repairs, we're doing a lot more repairs than what you see here. It's just, you're only seeing the repairs that are in front of you for payment, but we're doing a lot of our own repairs with our own staff.

I just know that we do spend out a lot of expenses on those repairs that I just want to find a way to get some of that money back.

Understood. And again, any repair that we can do, having the personnel available to do those repairs, we do those in-house as often as possible.

Thank you. Any more discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Pert.

Aye.

Farns. Aye. Parker.

Aye.

And Poulos. Aye.

Agenda item 13.

A report from the Public Works Department requesting authorization to award a bid to Langman Construction, Rock Island, Illinois for the 20th Street 7th to 18th Avenue Utilities Project in the amount of $3,418,087.16.

Motion to award the construction bid.

Second. Okay, I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Due to the nature of my employment, I need to recuse myself from this vote. I do have a question, though. Am I allowed to ask a question?

I did have one of my residents in Ward 3 send me an email with some questions regarding this particular project. I have already reached out to Mike Bartels and he did provide a response, but just for the public. Benefit, I just wanted to kind of go through it. First of all, he is a daily bike commuter, so he was really interested in trying to get some bike lanes, because it is a main street there. So he wanted to be able to see the design plans for the project, and Mike did forward that. 186 pages if anyone's interested and look I did not look through it I just sent it on to the resident and then he was also concerned about the street improvement fund that's going to pay for a portion of that because this particular project will require this is a full We call it reconstruction so that means you're doing the sewer in the water lines. So Mike also confirmed that those would be paid out of the water and sewer fund and not with the street improvement fund. Those would just cover what's related to pavement, pavement stripping, sidewalks, et cetera, to be paid out of the street fund. So that was it. Did that answer your questions?

Okay.

So Leslie, his question.

It's like a half, it's a joke question.

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Yeah, technically when you recuse yourself, you're not supposed to participate in discussion.

Okay, oh shoot, I'm up here being serious then, Leslie. Okay, so any more discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item 14.

A, report from the finance department regarding a budget adjustment to the fleet amortization fund 605 in the amount of $40,370.

Move to approve the budget adjustment.

Second.

I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item 15.

A report from the human resources department regarding a grade reclassification for the city clerk position.

Move to approve the reclassification. Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Yes. Is Rob available or is he in the back somewhere? Can he come up and speak?

Rob.

Ha ha.

I understand a considerable time and effort went into evaluating this great adjustment for the city court position. Could you share the findings from the compensation comparisons conducted with the neighboring municipalities with everyone that's here and how the proposed grade increase aligns with the market?

Can you, what was the question?

What I'm asking you is with this, I mean, there was a process, right, to come up with the, to get the support for the grade, the upgrade or whatever, increased grade. I'm trying to find out, but there was a comparison study, correct, that was done amongst neighboring municipalities to come up with numbers and figure what all went into this is what I'm asking. Okay.

So it's twofold. First was we looked at the job itself. So there's a concern about where it was graded within our current compensation system in comparison to other positions, the city clerk and other municipalities. We went through, did an evaluation on that. We did feel that there was some adjustments in the valuation that were necessary based on the roles and responsibilities that the city clerk is fulfilling for the city. One of it was the impact to the city because of the seriousness of our duties, the FOIA request. She's the FOIA officer, Open Meetings Act person for the city, as well as doing the licensing. So we had that and made an adjustment there within the grading. Also the level of planning required because it is a very the complex you know keeping all the individuals in line when there's a FOIA request which has kind of grown exponentially over the last couple years the other factor was the impact with the residents and there was a lot of impact that the individual has with internal both residents as well as internal customers with the increase in FOIAs and overall responsibilities. So that was the first portion which necessitated the labor grade change that we are requesting in this announcement. We also looked at the municipalities locally on the Illinois side. There's Moline as our, you know, closest comparison. Moline's grades are that they have a I mean, a city clerk plus a deputy city clerk. In comparison, our grades were not in the same alignment. We're not proposing the ranges be comparable to theirs, but within our own compensation system, it would look like it was a valid thing to look at as well.

Okay, that's all I have. Thanks very much, Rob. Okay.

Thank you, Rob. I have a question, not for Rob. Earlier, it was shared that we are in the red. It's my understanding that every single budget the city passes is balanced. We do not pass deficit budgets. Is that correct?

That is correct. We cannot pass a budget that's in the deficit.

Right. And that does not ignore the fact that we have a lot of debt. We certainly have a lot of debt, but our budgets are balanced and we are legally not allowed to pass deficit budgets. not in the general fund no okay i have another question for the next one but not this i will say on the matter of the city clerk i remember dave geenan talking about when judith gilbert was city clerk talking about how the city clerk is not a secretary right the city clerk is a professional office that handles a lot of responsibilities for this city and its residents and it is high time that we reflect that in compensation. I think this has been a long time coming, and I'm happy to support it, thank you.

Any more discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans?

No.

Hurt?

Aye.

Barnes? No. Parker?

Aye.

And Poulos?

Aye. Agenda item B.

Report from the Human Resources Department regarding hiring for an unbudgeted police customer services assistant position.

Motion to approve hiring for the position. Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Yes. Could I have the chief come up, please? Chief, would you please explain the current staffing situation at RICOM and how the addition of a customer service assistant would help alleviate the workload currently being handled by our dispatchers? It's a two-part question here. I've got one more. And then also explain the potential impact if this position is not added, specifically how would the increased workload on our dispatchers affect operations, employee retention, and level of service provided?

Yes, currently we have, typically when we're full staff for our dispatchers, we have 12 full time. We have eight right now. We had three in training, lost one today. So now we have two in training. and we can basically train only about three at a time until we can get back up to full staff. For training for our telecommunicators, our dispatchers, it's about a four-month process. So this isn't a situation that we've ever found ourselves in before. We've lost some people through just retirements and been having a difficulty getting our newest employees fully trained up. Like I said, this isn't a job that we can just hire somebody overnight and replace. It does take quite a bit of training, and quite honestly, it's a very, very difficult job.

It's about economic development in the West End of our continent. I agree. I was a child when urban renewal came through. Took out Nicholson Funeral Home, cut Denkman Park. in almost half, tore down Hawthorne School, combined it with Irving School to become Hawthorne-Irving School, now Rock Island Academy. I saw what Irvin Radul did, it came through. I was understood, it was explained to me that this was going to be a way to bring in more of an industrial corridor. Well, J.R. Case is gone. Service Rubber and Narvis is gone. And now we come through and look at cut off streets and avenues because of that project, all to improve the community. I was a part of Model Cities when it came through. As a matter of fact, I worked for the Rock Island Public Library, the Branch Library, Operation Read. We had a Branch Library on Ninth Street. also saw a brand new community health center built that now houses, I believe, a contractor through the years. The left, the remnant of the model cities is, of course, the King Center, as well as now, recently, Martin Luther King Park, which was before a business corridor down there, which was torn down, and it was left vacant land for years. So our concern and what I'm hearing is this, is that out of these two projects, the concern is coming up 11th Street, more people are going to be displaced and there's not going to be the economic development that has been talked about in the West End of Rockham. I agree 100%, there needs to be economic development, however, the displacement of an inordinate amount of people has cast doubt on whether the bridge coming through will be beneficial as opposed to doing as Bettendorf and Moline did with the I-74 bridge. And so I'm saying and raising the concern that these are the concerns that I hear from our congregation and that we make sure that if economic development is going to come, that it comes with less displacement and to the advantage of the residents of West End and Rock Island. Thank you, sir.

Thank you, sir. Mr. Dave Hodge.

Hello, everybody. My name is Dave Hodge. I also am talking about the bridge concerns on 11th Street. I am here really also not just to talk about it, but just to learn. I really am trying to invest myself in learning. I've tried to have conversations with multiple people about this and just hear people's opinions. I live at 608 10th Street where we're right off 11th Street where the bridge would be coming in. We have a vibrant community there that's being invested in and been rebuilt already. We have watched people move into the neighborhood and move out. I've lived there for seven years and none of the houses have sat for more than a couple of weeks or a month before they've been resold. People are looking forward to moving in to the area where we live. It has been a very awesome community to be a part of. Everybody is very neighborly, and we've gotten to meet people around us. I have worked in nonprofits in Rock Island, helping and assisting with families for the last 20 years, and they've become my friends. And so that's why our family moved to Rock Island to the West End. My wife serves another nonprofit that serves people in the West End, and we love the community and the people who live there. And so that's why we moved in to want to be a part of it. Some of my concerns, I am just learning about the bridge. My first interaction with that was at the Holiday Inn. Meeting that came up was the first time that I personally heard about it, the communications that may have happened. And so I continue to try to learn more as much as I could. So I went to the West Inn meeting that just happened a couple of days ago to continue to hear more and to be able to express public comment. Some of the things that really concerned me was On Memorial Day weekend, we had a friend of ours, friends of ours who live in the housing complex that will be affected by this, a single mom and three children. And when I mentioned the bridge to her, she absolutely was horrified in shock because she had no clue this was even happening and that her family now could possibly be displaced. And where would they go in a city where low-income housing is already in desperate need and hard to find? So she's going to have not just be displaced, but uproot and probably move to a whole other area and move her kids to new school districts. I then prompted myself to start walking around our neighborhood and asking our neighbors what they knew about the situation. And many of them had not heard of anything besides the prior day that the King Center, the West End Revitalization Program, had actually sent people out to kind of poll people and ask them questions. So for a lot of the people in the neighborhood, it was the first time they heard of the incident also. At that meeting, some of my concerns that came up with that, what I saw was the union fighting for jobs, which, go for it, if there's construction and stuff to be happening, fighting for jobs, but that became a four, the 11th Street Bridge, where it could still be a four for the bridge staying where it is and new construction happening there, that our unions are provided to work through that. I also saw... the economic growth conversation that came out of it, which is not IDOT's business. They're there to build a bridge. They're there to fix roads. It is the city's job to have those conversations, and none of those conversations have happened with this going alongside of it. There has been no plans talked about what that economic revitalization could look like. There's been no plans of how this could affect the community. There's been no talks with the community about that. The big concern that I heard was the comment date closed on June 3rd for public comment to IDOT. So without people having the time to be talked to and get public knowledge, the comments are now closed. So my feeling and understanding is the city has ability because the comments that I talked to IDOT said the city is pushing this way or that way. So you guys do have the ability to help make decisions and formulate what the community believes is the right decision. We as a First Ward have not had any public meetings in our neighborhoods about the bridge coming in, which could be the biggest impact in the next umpteen hundred years of our community. There's been no First Ward meetings held to have conversations about what that could look like, and now it's, is it too late? It's a concern of mine. The economic growth conversations that are happening, we do have beautiful things happening on 11th Street. We have the bank coming in. We have a beautiful barbecue restaurant. Miles Barbecue opened up right down off 11th Street for us. And then there was another family at the meeting, and I don't know their names, but they talked about how they had purchased property in the affected area where the bridge would come and said they wanted to open a bakery and a grocery store and had architecture plans to make that happen. And now they were being told that because of the bridge coming, they would have to invest more money to change those plans. So there was going to be a grocery store and a bakery coming into that area. But for them to be told that they would have to change their plans, to me, sparks my mind of going, well, why are they being told that when, A, this is a meeting for comments, and the comment date is not closed, and they're being told that their place is already affected? So that means decisions are already being made. And so that makes me concerned as a citizen of where is our input, where is our power to talk and fight for our neighborhoods if decisions are being made without us. And so I will just end my time with that. And I appreciate you all. And I'm open to conversations. I'm open to learning and hearing and growing in how we can make this decision together as a community. Thank you. Thank you, Dave.

One more name, one more person. I'm Ms. Karithia Dother.

So I'm actually here to discuss some of this on the agenda. And that is item 15. Item 15 is the report from the HR department regarding a grade reclassification for a city clerk position. and potentially hiring and then also potentially hiring a police customer service assistance position. So I do wanna talk to the city about, council about potentially putting this on the side, holding on this vote for a minute and possibly looking at other alternatives. We had the budget review a while back where people came in and we looked at the budget, you guys presented finance, you did an awesome job presenting the budget and explaining it to us. We found out there, we were in the red. We're in the red. So with us being in the red, adding more is just going to continue to put us in the red. Putting us in the red is going to create burden onto our community that's already dealing with high gas prices, high costs of grocery stores, everything. I believe, here's how I look at it, I know public and private sectors are totally different. However, if you would have seen John Deere at one point in time, although they keep saying they have record, record of quarters, at the point when they realized that there was gonna be an issue, they cut back. They went and they talked and everybody had a conversation with all of their employees and says, hey, we have to cut back. So now we're gonna all have to come together and figure out how are we gonna divvy up all the duties that we have. I am encouraging, I am actually trying to encourage the HR department to actually go back and look at these positions. Look at what you're trying to add. Look at every position that's out there now. What you're trying to add, that job description, and see if there's a way to look at and take a whole department and say, hey, maybe we divvy up the responsibilities a little bit differently. Or we have, if Randy Hurt was sitting in the city clerk position or was looking to be in the customer service position, we say, hey, if you guys, if your team will already cover this, I will give you guys a one-time stipend to cover you for helping us to maintain the city. But in adding an annual salary where we already have a high personnel budget is going to create more deficit within our budget. We cannot afford basic things I feel like right now. Our water bills are going up. We go to the gas station, our gas is going up. Thank God for Hy-Vee having a sale today. that actually kept some stuff in our pockets, we need to look at these things a little differently. Throwing money and people at a position does not always help. You need to look at what you have within and see how the responsibilities can be divvied up to make sure that our city can continue to run and we're not putting any extra burden on anybody in our community. So I am strongly, strongly, strongly encouraging the city council to table this part of your report, your agenda. Probably go back, look at HR, have some more conversations, and then come back within the next board meeting with a different recommendation. Thank you.

Thank you for your time. Agenda item nine, update Rock Island. Update Rock Island. King's Cafe. Enjoy coffee, conversation, and community every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning from 9 a.m. to 2 noon at the Martin Luther King Community Center, 639th Street, from now through August. King's Cafe is a place where conversations happen, relationships grow, and community is built, one cup at a time. Stop in for coffee, conversation, and a volunteer space to connect with others in your community. Whether you stay for five minutes or an hour, there's a seat for you. Plant a seed and read. The Rock Island Public Library has kicked off its summer reading program called Plant a Seed, Read. Summer is in full bloom at the Rock Island Public Library, so swing by to register for the reading challenge and check out all the great events. Go to rockislandpubliclibrary.org for more information. Rock Island's Artist Market. The annual Rock Island Artist Market is beginning another season at Skeleton Key Art and Antiques, 520 18th Street. The first of five markets is this Sunday, June 14th from noon to 5 p.m. in the Skeleton Key parking lot. Fun, cool, unique items from local artists, makers, and growers. The market is held on the second Sunday of each month, June through October. Agenda item 10.

A report from the Traffic Engineering Committee regarding a request to remove the handicapped parking space in front of 4529 14th Avenue, First Street.

Make a motion to suspend the rules, consider and pass the ordinance.

Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker.

Aye.

And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item B.

Report from the Traffic Engineering Committee to install a handicapped parking space at 1916 9th Street for streeting.

Motion to consider the ordinance.

Second.

I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Polis.

Aye.

Agenda item C. Report from the Traffic Engineering Committee regarding the installation of a handicapped parking space at 2725 Carlberg Court. First reading.

Motion to consider the ordinance. Second.

There's been a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker.

Aye.

And Palouse.

Aye.

Agenda item D. Report from the Traffic Engineering Committee regarding a request to install stop signs at the intersection of 19th Street and 12th Avenue. First reading.

Move to consider, suspend the rules, and pass the ordinance. Second.

I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hart.

Aye.

Farns. Aye. Parker.

Aye. And Poulos. Aye.

Agenda item E. Report from the Community Development Department regarding ordinance amending chapter 11, article 10, municipal property for redevelopment and accompanying policy for the purchase and sale of municipal real estate.

First reading. Second. There's been a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Farns. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Palouse.

Aye.

Agenda item F. Report from the Economic Development Department regarding an ordinance and amendment to the River Tracks LLC redevelopment agreement first reading.

Motion to approve the amended agreement. Authorize the city manager to execute the agreement and consider the ordinance. Second. There's been a first and a second.

Is there a new discussion?

Make a motion to amend. This is going to get confusing. I'm gonna make a motion to amend the amended redevelopment agreement to include a clause that would make construction work funded through this development agreement subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act.

Is there a second for that motion? It's a motion to amend, so yes. Okay, so now we're on discussion for Alderman Parker's amendment.

Okay.

Thank you. I want to begin by thanking the representatives from River Tracks tonight for your continued investment and partnership with the City of Rock Island. You being here and presenting this is a great opportunity for our community, so I want to start by saying thank you for that. As many of us up here know, The issues that we consider are not always black and white, and there's a lot of taking a variety of stakeholders' perspectives into consideration when making decisions. As my colleagues on city council know, we've been having this conversation about the incentives that the city offers developments here in the city of Rock Island. And like everything that we do, it's been my attempt to try to strike a balance. Obviously, again, we know that we want and need development in our community. We want to work with our private sector partners to facilitate development in our community, grow businesses, add employment, tax rolls, all those good things. But we also have other stakeholders to take into consideration. And like some of the public speakers here tonight talked about, there are sometimes unintended negative consequences of good things, right? Big infrastructure projects, everybody thought it was going to bring redevelopment, economic development, et cetera. Well, it had negative, unthought of consequences. And so that is why as a sort of first step. Again, I know we are still deliberating this incentive policy, but as a first step, we've talked about project labor agreements. I think that there's some hesitation on this council for that. That's fine. But making the construction work subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act would ensure that anybody working on these jobs, that are funded by taxpayer dollars, are getting paid the local area prevailing wage. It ensures that we are making sure maintaining local labor standards in our community. And this is the first reading. Obviously, this is new. This has to come back. It has opportunities for our staff to talk to the folks at River Tracks. But I hope you consider the amendment tonight.

Would it be appropriate to have one of our developers come up and present their thoughts on this?

You can call them up and ask them.

I don't know if somebody from... would like to come up and speak on your behalf.

Good evening. Ian Frank. Ian Frank with River Tracks Crawford Company, Troy Green, Jim Maynard here as well. So certainly appreciate the city partnership we've had over the years and we're looking forward to continuing to build off the foundation that we have. But yeah, available to answer questions. Are we talking specifically about the amendment?

Yeah.

Well, our intention is to get the site ready. So that's step one. So this is a site that's been abandoned for 30, 40 years, brownfield, industrial area. And what we've done is we've merged the lots together. So now we have over 13 acres between 34th Avenue and 37th Avenue. So what needs to happen next? That site needs to be ready. It needs to be shovel ready. So in economic development, you can have green fields and brown fields. Greenfields, you know, you see that a lot and you're making pushes to attract new people to the community and build in a greenfield area. Brownfield's a little bit trickier, right? So these are old industrial sites. It's not as cut and dry and it takes a lot of work. get to that point so our intention is to demo and clear the site primarily towards 37th avenue and the cost on that would be over four hundred thousand dollars most likely partner the local union contractor just as we're union contractor in three different trades And that would be our plan for that side of it. In addition to this, there's an existing black building we'd retain, and then we'd build a new building next to that as well. And with the rest of the site open, it would give us 9 to 10 acres of future site development. As I think you all are aware, our company's doubled in size, been one of the fastest growing companies in the Quad Cities for the last three years. We're hoping to continue to grow and build off that foundation. site gives us an opportunity to do that and have some elbow room we've been landlocked in in west rock island on mill street first street second street you've all been through there those lots are super tight our headquarters has streets on three sides of us we do not have land we want to stay in rock island this is a great opportunity we just need a little help and uh We're hoping you can do that for us and kind of position us to continue to grow for a long time. We're pushing 500 employees right now. There's no reason we won't surpass that later this year and keep moving forward. Is there any other specific questions? I'm not sure I answered your question.

no okay no thank you troy

So the amendment that I have put forth to amend the amended agreement, this is a lot, that we are coming here tonight for would make the construction, the clearing of the site that you talked about subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, right? And I assume you probably are familiar with the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act, right? In Illinois law, this is being funded through TIF funds, correct? And so TIF does not trigger the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. I mean, other public funds, like if the city rebates taxes or gives you general fund money or something like that, that would trigger the Prevailing Wage Act. TIF does not. What I am adding to the agreement is that it triggers the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. If you are hiring a local contractor around here, that is the prevailing wage. I don't know who you're hiring. That doesn't really matter to me. I think my colleague here, alter person polis, was just wanting to make sure that nothing I have proposed would make you balk and make us walk away from the agreement.

no i mean we're going to dot all the i's and cross the t's here shortly but that's our intention we'll have some of our trades working there as well electricians plumbers hvac all union high paying jobs prevailing ways to demo we don't do demo work we'll hire that out to a local contractor just for clarification dylan do you uh mean that pavilion rager applied to the actual work done with city money or the entire project

I guess maybe to be discussed further after this reading, but only the portion that the city is funding through this development agreement, right? So if, for example, I don't know specifically what part of the project is being funded by this development agreement, but if this development agreement is only for, for example, the site work, then only the site work, not the site work, and building the new building, if that is not being funded with the development agreement, right? So just whatever is being funded through this redevelopment agreement would be subject to the prevailing wage act.

So the original proposal in October was for the new building, so we're still on board, for sure, doing that. The second go around that we're talking about right now is the demo on the site, and that would be actually, higher dollar amount than the money that would be dedicated towards building. It's a very expensive site to prepare. Any other questions while I'm up here?

I guess my only comment is, so I feel like this kind of got muddled a little bit here, but do, are you, Alderman Parker, are you, are you okay with the fact that they stated publicly that They're planning on basically using prevailing wage labor. That's kind of what he stated up here. I mean, are we all in agreement? That is what you stated, correct, sir?

Yeah. I mean, I would still like to have my amendment voted on. Okay.

You're good, sir. Thank you.

Okay, so just to be clear, this first vote is not on the underlying agreement. This first vote is going to be on Alderman Parker's amendment to the amended agreement, which would require that any work done with city funds through TIF dollars be subject to the Illinois Prevailing Wage Act. Correct me if I misspoke on that.

You got it, thank you.

Okay, so that's this first vote.

Okay, roll call.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Poulos. Aye.

And now we move to the underlying motion. So we've incorporated that amendment into the amended agreement. And so now this vote is to go ahead and approve that agreement.

So we don't need a first and a second. We're good on that? No, we already have a first and second.

If there's further discussion, we can have that. But I just want to make sure that everyone's on the same page as to where we're at now.

So is there any further discussion?

Yes, I did have a few questions. Sorry about that. Come back up. I think I missed a tour of the facility or the area. I still have to get that rescheduled, I believe. But just a few questions, and some may be for staff also. So I know we've already done $300,000 in ARPA funding, correct? Okay. Okay. So here the request is for this additional $458,000. And I think the difference is this is being requested up front. Is that typically a little different than how these TIP agreements are done?

It would still be for reimbursable expenses. So in this case, what we're talking about is upfront development activities, i.e. the clearance of the site. The clearance of the site, site readiness activities, demolition, these are all TIF-eligible expenses.

OK. So then I guess for you, Isis. looking at the number of new jobs created and retained. So with this addition, so currently it would create 20 jobs, right? Yeah. With the addition, that would go up to how many jobs?

Well, I would say we should have at least 40 jobs directly related to this project. But it's a little tricky, guys, because we have five buildings already in Rock Island, and we have jobs in Davenport, Dubuque, and Muscatine. So when I say we have 500 employees, that's 500 employees. throughout the area, all headquartered in Rock Island. So what this really does by getting this site ready and getting it clear, it positions us more, not only for right now in the near term, but for three, five, 10 years from now, to add more buildings, more infrastructure, more jobs. We're always looking at opportunities to grow our businesses, opportunities that make sense, that fit together. And every time we do that, because we have really good people, we've been able to kind of take that next step forward. And we've added jobs. So we had 200 employees four years ago. Now we're up pushing 500. Adding another 40 with this is very attainable. I don't have a crystal ball. I don't know exactly what's going to happen six months or a year or two years from now. Based on our track record, I think it's safe to say that's a reasonable assumption for what we're able to do.

Okay, so will these be considered full-time jobs?

Yeah, I mean, 98% of our employees are full-time right now. The 2% that may not be full-time, some of those folks might be doing some summer work, deliveries, things of that nature. Yeah, full-time jobs. We have 280 people in the unions, total between electricians and plumbers and HVAC. And then, you know, obviously we have a lot of office personnel, engineers, designers, admin, accounting management, you know, lots of good high-paying jobs across the board, so.

So based on the investments that you've been making in this project,

Yeah, so River Trax is the LLC for the property and Jim Maynard and myself are the two owners of Crawford Company. River Trax has three owners, myself, Jim Maynard, and Troy Green, who's with us tonight. We would, and I did look this statistic up. I believe we currently have 60 Rock Island residents working for us out of that group, which I think is pretty solid, really. When we have people in Dubuque and Muscatine, we have remote employees in Michigan and Florida and other places. So yeah, we have a lot of Rock Island people working for us. And the other thing too, you know, just, economic impact, I mean, people are coming to Rock Island every day, so they're eating lunch, buying gas, they're going to Hy-Vee, things of that nature. So, you know, those are all real dollars that are being reinvested into the community, you know, one way or the other. And we're also spending money here. We're buying supplies, you know, we have relationship spenders. I mean, we spend, you know, tens of millions of dollars in the Quad Cities every year. You know, not all of it's in Rock Island, but it is proportionately spread throughout the community. Okay, thank you.

Hold on. Stay right there. I appreciate everything you just said. My only problem with that is not understand that you're spending dollars here.

Right.

But as a couple of the other gentlemen stated, is we need economic development in those surrounding communities surrounding where this is all going. And I need to make sure that we actually are looking for employment in some of those communities right now, too, because we've got a lot of people that are coming in taking the income from those areas out. And some of those people that are in those communities need those same opportunities. And I've been talking about this the whole time, even leading up to this. I am impressed with what you guys are doing over at Crawford, don't get me wrong. but it's also my responsibility to also represent the citizens of Rock Island, and I want to make sure that the citizens of Rock Island is also getting these jobs. Coming from someone who is carrying a union curve, just because we talk about prevailing wage and those jobs does not mean that they are those people that are actually living surrounding these areas that may have an issue with getting to or from work, that they could actually have that being a plus because the jobs aren't that close. So something to look at. I do support what you guys are doing, but I do also need to make sure that people from Rock Island are actually getting some of these jobs.

Yeah, and we do have opportunities beyond the main trades, too, with machining and fabrication. some of those things of that nature too. So there is a pretty good spectrum. And I know we've talked before. And we try to do everything we can to keep creating jobs and have opportunities. So thank you. Thank you. Keep that in mind. Any other questions?

I would just like to thank you for investing in our community. Yeah, no, thank you.

And thanks for everything you do and all your staff.

Right now, that's unused land. And putting something down there that is going to enhance the community is, I think, very much appreciated by all the council members. At least I can vouch for one.

Well, we appreciate everything, and I know city staff's worked really hard. I know Troy's probably done the most heavy lifting on our end, and it's been a lot of good communication, so thank you.

Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item 11.

Consent agenda items A and B.

Move to approve consent agenda items A and B. Second.

I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes. Hurt. Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Holmes.

Aye. Agenda item 12.

Claims A through D. Motion to allow claims A through D.

Second. There's been a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Due to the nature of my employment, I need to recuse myself from this vote.

Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item E.

Report from the Public Works Department regarding payment to Brandt Construction, Milan, Illinois for an emergency storm sewer repair at 3336 26th Street in the amount of $28,253.83. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans. Yes. Hurt.

Aye.

Farns. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Polis.

Aye.

Agenda item F. Purchases F through J.

Move to approve purchases F through J.

Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Just a quick question. And it may be in the thing. What was an F for the emergency purchase? What was the circumstances surrounding that need for the emergency purchase.

What was the circumstances on why we're purchasing it. So our back oh, it's a 2005 it's it's beyond its useful life. We've had it in the shop for repairs and we're just investing too much into that machine. We've we looked at leasing a new a new piece of equipment. It just wasn't a good option for cost wise and so This this machines use pretty regularly on water main breaks and without this machine available. We can't respond as quickly we would have to use a piece of equipment on tracks loaded on the on the trailer and halt to the site. The backhoe is somebody can happen and drive it to the location immediately. So that's really the reason for the emergency purchase.

any more questions or discussion.

Yeah, I'm sorry. I hate to put him on the spot on that. Um, not that you're leaving, but I got due to the fact that his new purchases that clear up the city to actually be able to do more of those emergency, uh, sewers then have to contract them out.

Um, And I've had this question before from the mayor. So I understand that, you know, we want to not contract out of repairs. Public Works doesn't want to contract out these repairs as well. And we do a lot of these repairs in-house. Certainly by purchasing this piece of equipment, it would allow us to continue doing those repairs. But there is repairs that are out of our qualifications, I'll say. They're too deep. Either we don't have the proper trenching and shoring equipment to properly secure the trench. And so there's a lot of other variables that you see here on these contractor repairs. I would say for every repair that you see here tonight, we've probably done 15 to 20 of our own outside of that. So the percentage ratio of public works do repairs and contractor repairs, we're doing a lot more repairs than what you see here. It's just you're only seeing the repairs that are in front of you for payment, but we're doing a lot of our own repairs with our own staff.

I just know that we do spend out a lot of expenses on those repairs that I just want to find a way to get some of that money back.

Understood. And again, any repair that we can do, having the personnel available to do those repairs, we do those in-house as often as possible.

Thank you. Any more discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Kurt.

Aye.

Farns. Aye. Parker.

Aye.

And Poulos. Aye.

Agenda item 13.

A report from the Public Works Department requesting authorization to award a bid to Langman Construction, Rock Island, Illinois for the 20th Street 7th to 18th Avenue Utilities Project in the amount of $3,418,087.16.

motion to award the construction bid okay okay i have a first and a second is there any discussion due to the nature of my employment i need to recuse myself from this vote i do have a question though am i allowed to ask a question

I did have a

One of my residents in ward three sent me an email with some questions regarding this particular project. I have already reached out to Mike Bartels, and he did provide a response, but just for the public's benefit, I just wanted to kind of go through it. First of all, he is a daily bike commuter, so he was really interested in trying to get some bike lanes, because it is a main street there. So he wanted to be able to see the design plans for the project. And Mike did forward that. I think it's 186 pages if anyone's interested. And look, I did not look through it. I just sent it on to the resident. And then he was also concerned about the street improvement fund that's going to pay for a portion of that because this particular project will require this is a full We call it reconstruction, so that means you're doing the sewer and the water lines. So Mike also confirmed that those would be paid out of the water and sewer fund and not with the street improvement fund. Those would just cover what's related to pavement, pavement stripping, sidewalks, et cetera, to be paid out of the street fund. So that was it. Did that answer your questions?

No, that's okay. Okay.

So, Leslie.

Yes.

His question.

It's like a half, it's a joke question.

Okay, okay, okay, okay.

Yeah, technically when you recuse yourself, you're not supposed to participate in discussion.

Okay, oh shoot, I'm up here being serious then, Leslie. Okay, so any more discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item 14.

A, report from the finance department regarding a budget adjustment to the fleet amortization fund 605 in the amount of $40,370.

Move to approve the budget adjustment.

Second.

I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. Aye. Parker. Aye. And Poulos.

Aye. Agenda item 15.

A report from the human resources department regarding a grade reclassification for the city clerk position.

Move to approve the reclassification. Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Yes. Is Rob available or is he in the back somewhere? Can he come up and speak? Rob.

Haha.

I understand a considerable time and effort went into evaluating this grade adjustment for the city court position. Could you share the findings from the compensation comparisons conducted with the neighboring municipalities, with everyone that's here, and how the proposed grade increase aligns with the market?

Can you, what was the question?

What I'm asking you is with this, I mean, there was a process, right, to come up with the, to get the support for the grade, the upgrade or whatever, increased grade. I'm trying to find out, but there was a comparison study, correct, that was done amongst neighboring municipalities to come up with numbers and figure what all went into this is what I'm asking.

So it's twofold. First was we looked at the job itself. So there's a concern about where it was graded within our current compensation system in comparison to other positions, the city clerk and other municipalities. We went through, did an evaluation on that. We did feel that there was some adjustments in the valuation that were necessary based on the roles and responsibilities that the city clerk is fulfilling for the city. One of it was the impact to the city because of the seriousness of our duties, the FOIA request. She's the FOIA officer, Open Meetings Act person for the city, as well as doing the licensing. So we had that and made an adjustment there within the grading. Also the level of planning required because it is a very the complex you know keeping all the individuals in line when there's a FOIA request which has kind of grown exponentially over the last couple years the other factor was the impact with the residents and there was a lot of impact that the individual has with internal both residents as well as internal customers with the increase in FOIAs and overall responsibilities. So that was the first portion which necessitated the labor grade change that we are requesting in this announcement. We also looked at the municipalities locally on the Illinois side. There's Moline as our closest comparison. Moline's grades are that they have a deputy clerk plus a city clerk plus a deputy city clerk. In comparison, our grades were not in the same alignment. We're not proposing the ranges be comparable to theirs, but within our own compensation system, it would look like it was a valid thing to look at as well.

Okay. That's all I have. Thanks very much, Rob. Okay.

Thank you, Rob. I have a question, not for Rob. Earlier it was shared that we are in the red. It's my understanding that every single budget the city passes is balanced. We do not pass deficit budgets. Is that correct.

That is correct. We cannot pass a budget that's in the deficit.

Right. And that does not ignore the fact that we have a lot of debt. We certainly have a lot of debt but our budgets are balanced and we are legally not allowed to pass deficit budgets.

Not in the general fund, no.

OK. I have another question for the next one, but not this. I will say on the matter of the city clerk, I remember Dave Geenan talking about when Judith Gilbert was city clerk, talking about how the city clerk is not a secretary, right? The city clerk is a professional office that handles a lot of responsibilities for this city and its residents. And it is high time that we reflect that I think this has been a long time coming, and I'm happy to support it. Thank you.

Any more discussion? Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans?

No.

Hurt?

Aye.

Barnes? No. Parker?

Aye.

And Poulos?

Aye. Agenda item B.

Report from the Human Resources Department regarding hiring for an unbudgeted police customer services assistant position.

Motion to approve hiring for the position. Second. I have a first and a second. Is there any discussion?

Yes. Could I have the chief come up, please? Chief, would you please explain the current staffing situation at RICOM and how the addition of a customer service assistant would help alleviate the workload currently being handled by our dispatchers? It's a two-part question here. I've got one more. And then also explain the potential impact if this position is not added, specifically how would the increased workload on our dispatchers affect operations, employee retention, and level of service provided?

Yes, currently we have, typically when we're full staff for our dispatchers, we have 12 full time. We have eight right now. We had three in training, lost one today. So now we have two in training. And we can basically train only about three at a time until we can get back up to full staff. For training for our telecommunicators, our dispatchers, it's about a four-month process. So this isn't a situation that we've ever found ourselves in before. We've lost some people through just retirements and been having a difficulty getting our newest employees fully trained up. Like I said, this isn't a job that we can just hire somebody overnight and replace. It does take quite a bit of training, and quite honestly, it's a very, very difficult job. It's a job that people often think they can do, and it turns out they can't. I know it's a job that I couldn't do, so I definitely sympathize with them. So it's often, well, it's turning out to be the same kind of a, challenges that we're facing with law enforcement and as far as police officers. Police officers takes close to a year to replace an officer. So we can't just hire our way out of it and be done with it. It takes quite a bit of time, so we have to also retain the people that we have. As far as the front desk personnel, our police customer service assistants, historically we've had our front desk open until 7 p.m. on weekdays and 4 p.m. on the weekends. Now to staff those hours requires three civilian police customer service assistants. At present we only have two customer assistants. For cost-cutting reasons with the anticipated retirement of one of our civilians in April of this year, it was our intent to not replace that third customer assistant position for the remainder of 2026. But to do this meant closing the front desk at 4 p.m. during the week and no longer having it open on the weekends. Unfortunately, in addition to lowering our level of customer service to the public, it also placed a considerable demand on our 911 emergency dispatchers. All our non-emergency calls for service come through our front desk to the customer assistance. If the front desk is not staffed, any calls that come through the front desk get automatically routed up to the 911 center. What we didn't anticipate and what I didn't anticipate was the undue burden and increased workload that this was going to cause our 911 dispatchers who are already managing 911 calls for police, fire, and EMS, as well as managing the radio traffic for all police officers and firefighters working the shift. I don't have exact numbers for you. It's estimated that the workload for the 911 dispatchers increased approximately 40% during times when the front desk is closed, causing a heavy strain on an already extremely demanding and stressful job. Additionally, in this competitive job market, other area 911 centers have sought to recruit our experienced dispatchers, which, if successful, would seriously, if not irreparably, jeopardize our ability to have a functioning 911 center, especially in light of the fact that our dispatchers are at present the lowest paid in the area. The starting salary for our police customer service assistant, back to the front desk, is just under $40,000 a year. However, with the year about half over, the cost to fund this position for the remainder of the budget year would be approximately $25,000. I'm not asking the city for any more money than was already been budgeted for the police department. Through positions that have remained open over the course of the year and through the remainder of the year, we project a savings in salaries of approximately $200,000. I respect and applaud the City Council's commitment to fiscal responsibility, which is why I am asking that we just use a small portion of those funds that are already saved. And in doing so, we will still allow us to remain well under budget this year.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Chief. To be clear, this is budget neutral.

Correct. We're still going to be well ahead by the end of the year at the rate we're going.

Right, so we're not spending money out of the budget that we had not already allocated for personnel.

Correct. We have a budget cap of 75 officers for this year. We still only have 72, and it's taken us quite a while to get there. So we've been saving on the salaries for the police officers. We're just going to transfer the salary from there to the front desk.

Okay, thanks.

Any more discussion? Does everyone know where we are? All right. Roll call, please.

Alderperson Evans.

Yes.

Hurt.

Aye.

Barnes. No. Parker.

Aye.

And Poulos.

Aye.

Agenda item 16.

Rock Island Port Authority.

Move to. I have a first and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed?

Thank you, Mayor and Council. I'm pleased to inform you that our port master plan has been completed. We got the final copy today, and we will be forwarding that on to you tomorrow.

Thank you. Thank you.

We got any new business, old business?

Yes.

Second. I have a first and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Okay. Do we have any business to discuss? New business, old business? It's been a long good weekend. Go ahead. Yes.

I just wanted to note that tomorrow night the Rock Island school district we will be presenting the school resource officer agreement with the city of Rock Island so hopefully that is approved and the school which is in ward 3 will have a resource officer when school returns chief could you speak on that as far can you give the name of the person who's going to if it's approved i'm sorry i was in the middle of a discussion can you repeat the question please the school resource officer yes so the school district will be presenting the agreement with the city of rock island tomorrow night at the school board meeting right so hopefully it will it will be approved assuming the officer will start in the fall

That is right now the plan. We believe our staffing is going to allow that for once August hits. We should be able to staff that position again. That was always our plan. It wasn't just low staffing numbers. It was some scheduling issues with some FMLA and military deployments was just really making it too difficult for us to staff that during that time frame of the end of the last school year.

so we have a new new school resource officer that's actually going to be starting in the fall okay okay and this is just an example of you know a positive something positive how we can help the school district my thing is if there's a problem let's be the solution to the problem and not actually an additional problem to the school board. So I am glad that we will be able to provide those resources and hopefully that helps improve things up at the high school.

Oh, absolutely. You don't have to convince me about SRO. I spent two years up there. I'm a big, big proponent for it. If I can get somebody there, you can believe I will.

And to piggyback off that conversation, speaking with the school systems, it's, correct me if I'm wrong, Todd, it's our responsibility to provide crossing guards. Am I correct with that? Okay.

Yes, we well, we contract that out. We have a basically it's a temp agency that that hires them. So but we manage them once they are on staff.

Okay. Now, is that like a like a specially trained skilled position? Or can those be volunteers that we can that we can like arrange through the city through through our community members?

A lot of the times the school district will use some of their own staff members to help on that, but I believe they've got to be, yeah, there's probably a little bit more of a liability issue when you're out there directing traffic with the kids to just allow anybody to go out there and do that. But it doesn't take a huge skill set. The problem that we face a lot with that particular position is that it's, You work for a part-time in the morning and you work part-time in the afternoon. So finding someone that's willing to do that isn't always as easy as you think.

Yeah, yeah. I can understand that. I can understand that. Okay. Yes.

I guess we had another person wanted to comment during public comment that didn't get a chance because the paper was taken. Do we have time to allow them to speak?

Yeah, you know, we're towards the end of the meeting. I don't see why not. Who is it?

Steve.

Steve? Yes, Steve. Come on up. Speak your piece. You got two minutes, Steve.

Thank you. My name's Steve Scranton. I am a resident of Coal Valley, Illinois, NAACP executive board member. The NAACP is going to have a Metrolink bus on June 19th at 9 a.m. down on 9th Street and 7th Avenue to be able to take people to the 108th U.S. Colored Troops celebration of Juneteenth on the National Cemetery on Rock Island. So Colonel Joe Parker has extended a officer that's going to ride on, be able to get everybody through security to the event. It's an event that's been put on by Shelley Moore Guy for a number of years, and there are 54 grave markers from the 108th troops And never one time at any of the celebrations has the must recall had people there to cover every one of the 54. So we are trying to be able to bring people. Second Baptist has allowed us to be able to use our parking lot for anybody that is interested in it. The bus is going to be down there at 9 a.m. The ceremony on the National Cemetery starts at 10 a.m. It's about an hour, an hour and a half in length, and then everybody will be returned. Thank you, City Council.

Thank you, Steve. Thank you. Is there any other comments or discussion?

Want to remind everybody that the second Saturdays on 2nd Avenue programming starts up again this month. It's back for the second summer in downtown Rock Island. So the first second Saturday is this coming Saturday. I think it's what June 13th. Yes, it's this Saturday. But please come to the city's new Festival Street on Second Avenue this Saturday for the farmer's market. That's there every Saturday, not just the second Saturdays. They're there all the time. But in addition to that, there's enhanced programming. And it is the soft opening of Blue Collar Bagels, our new bagel shop in downtown Rock Island at the former daiquiri factory location. So please come out, patronize a new business in downtown Rock Island. Enjoy the farmer's market, the other big board games and bubbles and all sorts of fun stuff, music that they have planned. Thank you.

Thank you, Dylan. OK, agenda item 18. Can I get a motion? Second. First and second. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Good evening, everyone. Good night.