Council Minutes 1-18-24
Harrisburg City Council
Harris-Pruett Building
107 E. Church Street
Harrisburg, Il 62946
January 18, 2024
8:00 a.m.
The Harrisburg City Council met on January 18, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. at the Harris-Pruett Building
located at 107 E. Church Street, Harrisburg, IL.
Mayor John McPeek called the meeting to order. Mayor John McPeek presided over the meeting
with Commissioners Raymond Gunning, Roger Angelly, Rupert Johnson and Cynthia Potter
answering roll call. Commissioner Cynthia Potter was present via telephone.
Pastor Laurie Fields, First Presbyterian Church led the group in prayer and the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the consent agenda.
Regular Meeting Minutes – January 04, 2024
Barnes Lumber - $275.00 – #549777 - Business District
Barnes Lumber - $28.98 - #549783 – Business District
RP Lumber - $16.98 - #1925228 – Business District
Rural King - $611.91 - #229799 – Veterans TIF
Crossroads 2 LLC - $21,310.80 - #1920 – MFT
MC Enterprises - $5897.79 - #0923 – Veterans TIF
Barnes Lumber - $1131.24 - #55076 – Business District
Jeremy DeVoy – Relinquish Lake Lot – 1st Add, Block 2, Lot 2
Connie Allison – Petition to Lease Lake Lot – 1st Add, Block 2, Lot 2
Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting
yes. Motion carried.
Attorney Kolby Smithpeters informed council this resolution will allow Fire Chief John Gunning
obtain property from the State and Federal Surplus. Fire Chief John Gunning stated this program
will apply for all department in the City of Harrisburg. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made
the motion to approve Resolution 24-0118 for the surplus property program. Seconded by
Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion
carried.
Attorney Kolby Smithpeters discussed some changes to the ambulance contract. The provider
would like to remove the word minimum regarding the ambulance count. The representative
from Abbott EMS stated there will be one BLS and one ALS and at times there could be more if
needed. Attorney Kolby Smithpeters assured council that this does not change the number of
ambulances for the city. Commissioner Roger Angelly stated he does not want to get into the
same situation we have experienced with the current provider.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve the change to remove the word
minimum from the ambulance contract. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call
vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Attorney Kolby Smithpeters stated the provider would like to change the contract to read the
autorenewal would include a 4% increase after the five-year contract. Commissioner Raymond
Gunning does not agree with that change. He stated the contract can be renegotiated before the
end of the five-year contract. Council all agreed not to make that change.
Attorney Kolby Smithpeters stated the provider would like to have the agreement read they will
lease space from the Fire Department for $1.00 for up to one year. Commissioner Raymond
Gunning stated the Fire Department has moved some things around to make room for the new
provider until they can find a permanent location. Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the
motion to approve the lease of $1.00 from Abbott EMS for twelve months. Seconded by
Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion
carried.
Mayor John McPeek stated council will go into executive session to discuss collective
bargaining.
Justin Dartt (auditor) presented the FY 21/22 audit. He informed council the city is GATA
compliant and is not on the stop payment list. Things are much better and getting back on track.
He reviewed the audit with council and discussed the key points in the audit. He stated the city
is financially strong, in better shape, and he acknowledged Alex Jackson for her hard work on
getting it back on track.
Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to accept the FY 21/22 audit. Seconded by
Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes.
Motion carried.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to approve Ordinance 1875 for the sale of
property at 119 W. Park Street. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was
taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mayor John McPeek stated Prestige Project Management reached out to him about working with
the City of Harrisburg. There is an agreement in the council packets. He would like everyone to
read the agreement and discuss it at the next meeting. Brown and Roberts, Inc. will continue to
handle the water/sewer/infrastructure projects.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning discussed relocating the police department. The city currently
pays $45,000 a year in rent. That money could be used to purchasing our own building.
Commissioner Raymond Gunning made the motion to start looking at locations for the city
police department. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with
all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Commissioner Rupert Johnson would like to purchase a ground penetrating radar
device/equipment. There are some areas of the cemetery that currently cannot be sold or used.
This equipment would allow the city to locate usable land. We would be able to sell more plots.
This device could also help locate water and sewer lines.
Superintendent Kenny Mayhall had an open discussion with council about this device. He stated
that 70% of the cemetery is full. This equipment will penetrate the ground up to ten feet deep.
He did get a quote from a Geomodel that would do the work for the city. They would determine
what land is usable for burials and mark the plots. We would have to enter the information into
our computer program. Jacob Palmer stated the Wilson Edition has no records of burials, and
there are roughly 2,200 lots with no records.
Salesman David Shelley from Subsurface Solutions gave a presentation about the ground
penetrating radar. This device and software peels back layers of the earth to detect existing
caskets. It can also locate water and sewer lines along with sinkholes. Subsurface Solutions
provides training on the machine and software. This is a one-time purchase and there are no
yearly fees for the software.
Commissioner Roger Angelly stated it sounds like a good device, but it saves money to go with
Geomodel. Commissioner Rupert Johnson believes it is worth buying our own equipment since
it has other uses. The software can be installed on multiple computers. Treasurer Alex Jackson
stated she believes this would require the bid process as the purchase is over $25,000. City
Attorney Kolby Smithpeters said he believes it could be purchased because it is two separate
purchases. The city would purchase the device and then purchase the software. Council agreed
to table this purchase, and requested a demonstration of the device and software before voting on
it.
Mayor John McPeek thanked the employees for their hard work during the snow removal. He
reminded the citizens to please stop littering.
Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to go into executive session to discuss collective
bargaining. Seconded by Commissioner Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all
present voting yes. Motion carried.
Adjourn: 8:39 a.m.
Reconvene: 8:43 a.m.
Mayor John McPeek made the motion to return to open session. Seconded by Commissioner
Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Mayor John McPeek called the meeting to order. Mayor John McPeek presided over the meeting
with Commissioners Raymond Gunning, Roger Angelly, Rupert Johnson, and Cynthia Potter
answering roll call. Commissioner Cynthia Potter was present via telephone.
Mayor John McPeek stated nothing was discussed regarding collective bargaining.
Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner
Raymond Gunning. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.
Adjourn: 8:44 a.m.