During Tuesday night’s meeting of the McLeansboro City Council, they approved a $160,000 renovation plan for the city building, putting to rest speculation about costs running into the hundreds of thousands. Mayor Chad May detailed the project, which will include new offices for department heads, a large area for the Police Department, meeting rooms, ADA-compliant bathrooms, and a service window for bill payments. Future additions will feature a kitchen for the police and a hallway leading to police vehicles. Carpeting and LED lighting will modernize the front room.
In public comments, John Williams of Global Life Insurance presented various employee insurance options to the board. Council members will review his proposal and follow up.
The council approved the city’s aggregate tax levy, eliminating the need for a Truth in Taxation hearing. Additionally, they held a first reading of the annual tax levy ordinance for the next fiscal year, as well as an ordinance to revise employee travel expense policies. The proposed changes would replace per diem payments with an expense reimbursement form for travel approved by the Mayor or City Clerk. A vote on this ordinance is scheduled for next month.
The council also renewed its agreement with Belwether LLC for another year and approved the purchase of a sewer pump for the lift station near Fairview Estates.
Discussions turned to deposit refunds, with plans to contact individuals with outstanding balances.
If the balances cannot be verified, the funds will be transferred to the state’s I-CASH program, which holds unclaimed funds until they are retrieved by the rightful owners or heirs.
In personnel matters, Kyle Ragen was hired as a water department employee, contingent on passing the required test. Meanwhile, the Consent Agenda was unanimously approved.
This included a TIF agreement and a façade grant for Justin Drake of Country Financial, along with a $1,666.72 TIF reimbursement for Wuebbels Repair LLC.
Police Chief Nathan Taylor presented the October police report, noting an uptick in crashes, traffic stops, and citations. The department also received a grant from the County Clerk’s Office to transition from paper citations to electronic ones at no cost. Additionally, the K-9 unit successfully detected drugs in two vehicles during recent stops.
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