Assistant Editor Jerry Lindsey wrote this report.
The partitioned City of Morrison Community Room at Odell Library, 307 S. Madison Street, Morrison, IL, housed the first Morrison City Council meeting on June 14, 2021, with adequate space for all interested visitors.
The first action resulted in the approval for CAPA to use community spaces to offer monthly “Art in the Park” events, as substitutes for the cancellation of the 2021 Paint the Town festivities. Weekly activities will be held in either Kelly Park, Waterworks Park, French Creek Park, or Morrison Sports Complex, beginning on Saturday, June 26, and ending on Saturday, August 7, 2021. Paint The Town is scheduled to return downtown in the fall of 2022.
Ordinances 21-11 and 21-12 were approved, to allow the restructuring of parking spaces along High Street for Northside School. The City will construct the spaces and lease them to Morrison School District #6, per the Ordinance’s language, approved unanimously.
Ordinance 20-13, recently passed to allow non-highway vehicles on city of Morrison public streets was altered. Section 540-710 was rewritten to read…” Operators and passengers of non-highway vehicles must wear a seat belt and adhere to the child restraint laws under the Illinois Vehicle code”.
Council concerns of the details in the Water System Improvement Phase 2, which proposed to update over 1300 automated meters throughout the city, was tabled with the request for cost and implementation schedules to be presented at the next council meeting.
Main Street Renovation’s progress update noted the completion of curbs and gutters but the surface preparation is delayed due to a delay in the implementation of the fiber cable and electricity for the street lights. New water lines and storm sewer drainage are complete to Genesee Street.
The evening ended with discussions evolving around the possibility of waste containers (65 and/or 95 gallon) becoming mandated by the city. Action was tabled with the request for more details to be presented at a future council meeting.
A closed Executive Session followed the regular City Council meeting with the following action being taken.
1. All salaried personnel received a 3% increase.
2. Public Services Director received a $1000 stipend as a step towards certification.
3. City Administrator received $100 increase in car allowance.