NW Illinois News

City of Fulton City Council met Nov. 13.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

Meeting was called to order by Mayor Wendy Ottens at 5:30 p.m. On roll call, Alderpersons VanKampen, Burggraaf, Banker, Wilkin, and Brondyke were present.  Alderpersons Boonstra, Mask and King were absent. Police Chief Neblung, Public Works Director Sikkema, City Attorney Huizenga, Business Manager Garibay and City Clerk Wade were also in attendance.

The Pledge of Allegiance was recited.

New Appointments by Mayor Wendy -None

Recognition of Volunteers – Officer Jeremy Leitzen was recognized for his hard work and dedication to the students of the River Bend School District in his position as SRO (School Resource Officer). He has chaperoned the Middle School trip to Washington, D.C. in the past and will continue to do so.

Communications from Visitors – Non

Presentations – None

Mayor Wendy asked for a motion to approve the Consent Agenda.

Motion to approve the City Council Meeting Minutes from October 23, 2023, the Bill List and the September’s Treasurer’s Report all in one motion

Motion to approve, Alderperson Wilkin, second by Alderperson Brondyke.

Alderperson VanKampen had a question about the Bill List. Cardmember Services had a charge from Jim’s Rib Haven in the amount of $170.25. She asked what this was for. Police Chief explained that this was requested by Dan Clark for his exit out meal at City Hall.

Alderperson VanKampen also questioned the $300.00 charge from the City of Prophetstown. Chief Neblung explained that this was a lateral transfer from Prophetstown for Officer William Lukehart so there was a prorated cost for body armour for the new officer.

On Roll Call, all yes.

Motion passed.

Mayor Wendy asked for a motion to approve employee Christmas bonuses, $200.00 for part-time employees and $400.00 for full-time employees.

Alderperson VanKampen made the motion. Alderperson Burggraaf seconded.

On Roll Call, all yes.

Motion passed.

Committee of the Whole - Discussion items

Continuation of discussion was held on the liquor licenses. Mayor Wendy stated that all the Council members received a binder with liquor license information from area towns along with all of our ordinances.

Mayor Wendy asked for Council’s approval to create this committee and this can be done as long as the Council approves it because there will be more than three Council members on the committee. Council members agreed to form the committee. Mayor Wendy will chair.

A lengthy discussion was held on Recreational Cannabis versus Industrial Hemp. The Council was given a lot of information included in their packets regarding these items. Mayor Wendy asked that questions be directed to Rebecca Huizenga, City Attorney. Mayor Wendy stated that the new bakery (Gold Leaf Bakery & Dispensary) was done above board and what it was supposed to be.

Alderperson VanKampen asked if there is a difference between cannabis and industrial hemp?

A discussion was held clarifying the state law on the difference between the two.

Mayor Wendy spoke to the owners of the bakery and they purposely used the word “dispensary” in naming their business so customers did not think it was a regular bakery.

Discussion was held on changing the Zoning Ordinance, going forward, to prohibit this type of business from the downtown area. This would not apply to the existing Gold Leaf Bakery and Dispensary.

It was decided to leave this on as a discussion item for the next meeting, especially because 3 Alderpersons were absent.

Mayor Wendy pointed out the Articles of Agreements in the Council packet are for the new Council members. (Historical Society, Early American Crafters and Heritage Canyon Caretakers) Alderperson Wilkin said that there should be an Alderperson on the Early American Crafters group and there is not. Also, the Council would like better financial reports from the Crafters. 

Follow-up discussion on website improvement. Mayor Wendy handed out the estimate for the improvements made to the website from Lynn Roth. He is a web design teacher at Loras College and he does this type of work on the side so it would be less expensive for him to do this than if we get a full-blown website designer in here. He will be attending the next City Council meeting. City Clerk, Tori Wade, was maintaining the website until she was asked to stop while the City is looking at other options.

Going on to Reports:

Finance Committee Report - there were no questions.

Alderperson VanKampen had a question about the Treasurer’s Report. She was looking at the differences in money that was on the report for Video Gaming in September versus what was on the report that comes from the State. Business Manager, Garibay, is going to check into this.

Economic Committee - Alderperson Wilkin asked if there was any update on Loyal’s Pizza coming to town? Mayor Wendy said no, they are not coming to town. There are too many costly repairs that need to be done to the furnace. Mayor Wendy said that now the Downtown Development Group is looking into purchasing it.

Parks and Rec Committee - Alderperson VanKampen said they reviewed the Timken grant and they are still going to pursue it in February.

She also discussed the American Crafters and Heritage Canyon. She said it takes a lot of money to support Heritage Canyon. After reviewing the agreement between the Crafters and the City they are actually supposed to be working with the City. It was discussed like what we do with the Windmill Cultural Center, giving them a flat amount out of Video Gaming to go towards the canyon. It is City property. The Crafters get to keep any donations for events that they put on, but it’s still a City owned park. It is their money, but the City still needs to have a report. Eric Sikkema stated that according to the agreement the City is supposed to get a yearly financial report from them. Eric has requested one, but has not received it yet.

As far as the buildings at the Canyon, there are 13 of them. Seven of them have sponsors and none of that money has been touched except for $198.00 for sealant for the log cabin.

According to Eric Sikkema, In the past, Wayne Miller, a City employee, would meet with him at the end of the year and let him know what he felt needs to be done for next year. They would meet again in the Spring to go over what is going to be done this year. The downfall is that Wayne is not coming back to work at the canyon next year.

Discussion was held on creating a policy for people wanting to donate items to the Canyon. If an item can’t be used in one of the buildings, it should not be accepted. Right now, the buildings are all full and items are being stored in the Heritage Canyon house basement.

Mayor Wendy would like to the sentence, “Budget needs for next year”….upgrade water billing software. Business Manager, Garibay, said this is a must and has to go into the budget for next year.

Mayor’s Report - Mayor met with the Whiteside County Senior Center representative, Dale Smith. Mayor Wendy passed out samples of their menus and trips/activities. Discussion was held on how to house these kind of senior activities in Fulton using their resources.

Mayor Wendy asked for a motion to adjourn the regular meeting at 6:30 p.m.

Mayor Wendy asked for a motion to go into closed session for purposes of personnel, litigation, or sale of property.

Moved into closed session at 6:31 p.m.

Council adjourned closed session at  7:10 p.m.

Mayor Wendy asked to make a motion to adjourn the regular meeting, all present were in favor.

Meeting adjourned. 7:12 p.m.

https://www.cityoffulton.us/government/city-council/city-council-meeting-minutes/city-council-meeting-minutes-nov-13-2023.html