McLean County Times

City of Le Roy City Council met Jan. 20.

Here are the minutes provided by the council:

The meeting was called to order by Mayor Steve Dean at 7:00 PM at Le Roy City Hall, 207 S East Street, Le Roy. The council members present were Matt Steffen, Ron Legner, Patti Welander, Justin Morfey, Kyle Merkle, and Kelly Lay. Dawn Hanafin was absent.

Staff members present were Dan Lush, Jason Williamson, Scott Bryant, Perry Mayer, Dave Jenkins, and Jessica Carroll.

Landon Howard and Caleb Dunafin were in attendance for the entire council meeting. After introducing themselves, they said that they were working towards earning their “Citizenship and Community badges, which is one of the requirements for earning Eagle Scout designation.

There were no comments from the public.

Included on the consent agenda were Regular Meeting Minutes 12/16/2024, invoices from 1/3/2025 totaling $241,735.83, 1/20/2025 totaling $110,280.04 and, payroll for the period of 12/27/2024 in the amount of $50,242.17 and, payroll for the period of 1/10/2025 in the amount of $56,555.59.

The items of the consent agenda were voted on separately.

Motion was made by Matt and seconded by Justin for approval of the Regular Meeting Minutes. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Sarah Welte, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner-yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Kelly Lay-yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

Motion was made by Sarah and seconded by Matt for approval of the invoices and payroll. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Sarah Welte, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner-abstain, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Kelly Lay-yes. Motion carried 6 yeas, 0 nays, 1 abstain.

Staff Reports began with Scott providing an overview of an upcoming Wastewater Treatment Plant site visit/tour of the plant from the Donohue & Associates Design Team on Thursday, January 23rd around 10:00 a.m. He also noted that there would be a subsequent meeting at city hall at 1:00 p.m. for a presentation followed by a Q&A. Scott also informed the council that chemical costs remain volatile by giving an example of a recent chemical purchase resulting in a 28% increase.

Dave informed the council that the Donohue and Associates Thursday Design Workshop #1 would take place between 1:00 p.m. and 3 p.m. Dave went on to say that he had been working on the IEPA Loan application for WWTP and would be working on repayment options for council consideration for repayment of the estimated $11,032,000 project.

Motion made by Kelly and seconded by Matt for approval of the annual adjustment in Water/Sewer Rates to reflect the CPI-U index as described within Chapter 8-1-7 Article E of the City of Le Roy Municipal Code as an increase of 5.6% in water/sewer rates. Discussion included the necessity to increase rates including the rising costs of chemicals/materials and increased required testing. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Sarah Welte, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner-yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Kelly Lay-yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

Motion by Justin, seconded by Matt, for approval of the city retaining the seized vehicle for use by the police department in enforcement as per (720 ILCS 5/36-7c1). Discussion included: the possibility of using the vehicle in other departments subsequent to the mandated three-year P.D. use; likely police department use of the vehicle would include transporting P.D. drones and non-emergency trips to the crime lab, etc.; the cost of insuring and given the age of street dept. pick-up trucks age, the acquisition would be a good investment. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Sarah Welte, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner-yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Kelly Lay-yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

In Old and New Business Dave gave an overview of possible revenue streams to cover the cost of repaying the $11,032,000 WWTP project costs. He proposed using 50% of the anticipated .5% infrastructure tax, percentage of income tax, and possibly a new utility or % increase to user fees. Dave also shared interior photographs he had received from the current owners of the former Christian Church at 105 E. Center Street for council consideration of possible community needs/uses.

Motion by Sarah was seconded by Matt to adjourn the regular council meeting. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Sarah Welte, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner-yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey yes, Kelly Lay-yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

Meeting was adjourned at 7:51 PM.

https://www.leroy.org/file/2791/2025%20reg%20mtg%20JAN%2020.pdf