McLean County Times

City of Le Roy City Council met Feb. 17.

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 Patti Welander, Matt Steffen, Dawn Hanafin, Ron Legner, Justin Morfey, Kyle Merkle, and Sarah Welte. Kelly Lay was absent.

Staff members present were Scott Bryant, Jason Williamson, Dan Lush, Dave Jenkins, Brad Frankovich, and Anita Corso.

There were no comments from the public.

Included on the consent agenda were Regular Meeting Minutes 2/3/2025, invoices from 2/17/2025 totaling $147,134.85, and payroll for the period of 2/7/2025 in the amount of $49,862.91.

The items of the consent agenda were voted on separately.

Motion was made by Matt and seconded by Kyle for approval of the Regular Meeting Minutes with the spelling correction on page 2 for Corps of Engineers. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Dawn Hanafin -yes, Ron Legner-yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Patti Welander-abstain, Sarah Welte-abstain. Motion carried 5 yeas, 0 nays, 2 abstain.

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

In Staff Reports Scott gave details for upcoming meetings with Donohue for details about the new sewer plant upgrades. The next meeting will be Friday March 7 at City Hall. There will be another before the meeting in April. He also said there are a large number of JULIE locates due to Frontier laying fiber in Le Roy.

Jason reported staffing issues with officers: on light duty, possibly transferring to state troopers, military service training, and medical issues. These issues will result in an increased overtime budget amount next fiscal year.

Dave mentioned there will be open meetings for the public regarding the sewer plant upgrades.

Andrew Larson, Tree Committee Chairman, began his presentation with an overview of the proposed changes to the City’s tree ordinance to fulfil a requirement for Tree City USA status. To qualify the ordinance needs to address public tree care responsibilities and designees and language to formalize the process already in place. Discussion suggested the director be the mayor with other responsibilities being shared by the Tree Committee chair and the Street Superintendent who is also in charge of parks. A finalized ordinance will be presented at the next meeting for approval.

Motion by Patti was seconded by Matt for approval of the Christian Motorcycle Association (CMA) Hotel/Motel application funding request totaling $7,500.00 towards the “Thunder on the Prairie Motorcycle Rally” in Kiwanis Park July 10-13, 2025. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Dawn Hanafin-yes, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner- yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Sarah Welte-yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

In Old and New Business Dave gave an overview of the walk-thru of the buildings at 105 & 111 E Center St. A proposal for a feasibility study for uses of the two buildings has been requested and should be available by the next meeting.

Ron said the lead line replacement project is still waiting for signatures from the Dept of Water Resources and the Corps of Engineers. He suggested starting to prepare bid documents.

Dave gave a brief Jacobs Engineering update including their looking at options for optimizing current equipment to meet standards. Increased user fees may be necessary.

Motion by Patti was seconded by Sarah at 7:40pm to enter closed session pursuant to 5ILCS 120/2 (c)(21) to review closed session minutes, including semi-annual review of closed session minutes and pursuant to 5ILCS 120/2 (c)(1) to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, discipline, performance or dismissal of specific employees of the public body or legal counsel for the public body. Specifically, to discuss the terms within a four-year Agreement between the City of Le Roy and Dave Jenkins as City Administrator. Roll call: Matt Steffen yes, Dawn Hanafin-yes, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner- yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Sarah Welte yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

At 7:53pm a motion was made by Kyle and seconded by Sarah to return to regular session. Roll call: Matt Steffen yes, Dawn Hanafin-yes, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner- yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Sarah Welte yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

Motion by Kyle, seconded by Matt, for approval of executive minutes to remain closed and eligible recordings not be deleted. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Dawn Hanafin-yes, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner- yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Sarah Welte-yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

Motion by Matt was seconded by Sarah to approve the renewal of a four-year Contract extension for Dave Jenkins as the City Administrator effective February 17, 2025, through April 30, 2029. Roll call: Matt Steffen-yes, Dawn Hanafin-yes, Patti Welander-yes, Ron Legner- yes, Kyle Merkle- yes, Justin Morfey-yes, Sarah Welte-yes. Motion carried 7 yeas, 0 nays.

Motion by Kyle, seconded by Matt, to adjourn the regular council meeting was approved by unanimous voice vote.

Meeting adjourned at 7:55 PM.

https://www.leroy.org/file/2804/2025%20reg%20mtg%20FEB%2017.pdf