report courtesy of Ella Tinsley for WROY/WRUL News…
Looking ahead and looking up, the City of McLeansboro’s fireworks are scheduled for July 4 at Lake McLeansboro with a rain date of July 5; the city pool will be closed on July 4, and there will be no pool parties on July 3. The meeting concluded with unanimous adjournment.
At the June 16th city council meeting, Brent Williams from Snedeker Risk Management handed the city a $5,812.48 matching grant check for safety equipment and invited the council to a trust conference. As part of the public comment section of the meeting, a Kiwanis Club representative reported that playground units are installed at Kiwanis Park, dirt work and landscaping fabric are in place, and mulch will be laid soon; they presented a grant letter to the board for assistance in the park project.
Janice Crow from Birth to Five Illinois described regional efforts to centralize resources for families with children under eight, presented new resource guides, and clarified that Birth to Five acts as a connector rather than a direct service provider.
As part of following business, the council reviewed and approved the monthly financials, noting a normative drop in Water Tower Service funds due to maintenance payments; noting some approvals will appear in next month’s report. They approved a $2,500 TIF facade grant
payment to Country Financial and passed the FY27 appropriations/budget amendment #2.
Department reports showed the fire department has responded to 49 calls year-to-date, Public Works finished wiring for the electric cooling tower as Hucks expands, and seven zoning permits were issued this month. The council completed the second reading and approved Ordinance #26- 1148, updating the city code of ordinances.
There was discussion about the fire station addition and a change order to shift the addition three feet south; despite debate over costs and scope, the motion passed with the understanding that further budget adjustments may be needed. The council approved adding a second School Resource Officer for Hamilton County schools on the expectation that the school board will fund all related expenses; the secondary officer will be part-time, and training and payroll details will be finalized in the following meeting with the school board.