Council Minutes 10-01-26

Harrisburg City Council

City Hall

110 E. Locust Street

Harrisburg, Il 62946

October 01, 2026

8:00 a.m.

The Harrisburg City Council met on October 01, 2026 at 8:00 a.m. at the City Hall located at 110 E. Locust Street, Harrisburg, IL.

Mayor John McPeek called the meeting to order. Mayor John McPeek presided over the meeting with Commissioners Roger Angelly, Rupert Johnson and Jonathan Brown answering the roll call. Commissioner Raymond Gunning was absent.

Pastor Jerry Wells with the Dorrisville Social Brethren Church led the group in prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Mayor John McPeek thanked the civics class for attending the meeting.

Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to approve the consent agenda.

Council Meeting Minutes – September 17, 2026

Check Register and Warrant Reports – September 2026

Sullivan Lawn Care - $4,650.00 - #5638 – Business District

Hick’s Concrete - $31,480.00 - #813579 – DCEO Grant

Sullivan Lawn Care - $4,650.00 - #5665 – Business District

Connie Allison – Relinquish Lake Lot – 1st Add, Block 2, Lot 2

Angela & Paul Golish – Petition Lake Lot – 1st Add, Block 2, Lot 2

Seconded by Commissioner Jonathan Brown.  A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters presented a letter that will be sent to Ridge Investment Group, LLC. They completed an application for TIF funds; however, they failed to meet the criteria as outlined in the agreement. He will send them a denial letter explaining the default reasons and denial for the requested funds.  Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to deny the TIF agreement for failure to meet the application criteria. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Janice Crow from Birth to Five Illinois gave a presentation to the council. She passed out information regarding the program. Their service provides family counselling.  She presented the council will a packet of information about the program. They have a Facebook page, a QR code is available to find resources, send out quarterly newsletters, and a flyer will hang in City Hall for information. The council thanked her for attending.

Mayor John McPeek stated Chris and Amy Evans has submitted a mobile home application. They have paid their application fee and deposit. Fire Chief John Quisenberry has inspected the site and they can proceed. Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to accept the mobile home application from Chris and Amy Evans at 902 Barnett Street. Seconded by Commissioner Jonathan Brown. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated there was a public hearing prior to this meeting regarding the vacating of an alleyway in the vicinity of Charleston Street. There were no citizens’ comments, concerns or questions during the public hearing.  Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to approve Ordinance 1937 for vacating the alley as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Jonathan Brown. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated SumDen Property, LLC has presented a TIF Façade application. The work is going to done at Cherry Street Printing. They will be cleaning the brick, tuck pointing, painting, and doing wall repairs. They are eligible to receive up to $5,000.  Commissioner Jonathan Brown made the motion to accept the façade application from SumDen Property, LLC. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Attorney Kolby Smithpeters stated Curtis and Kathy Rowlen has petition for annexation. The property is located at 595 Lovers Lane. Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to accept the petition for annexation from Curtis and Kathy Rowlen at 595 Lovers Lane. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to authorize Mayor John McPeek to sign the Axon Enterprises agreement. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek discussed a plat for the Garden Hill Subdivision. There will be new duplex housing built in this subdivision. Attorney Kolby Smithpeters drafted the ordinance which was presented to the council. Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to approve Ordinance 1938 accepting the plat for Garden Hill Subdivision. Seconded by Commissioner Jonathan Brown. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated the council will go into executive session to discuss personnel.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown discussed the mutual aid agreement with AMR with the council. He spent a few hours with the Fire Department. There was a meeting between Commissioner Jonathan Brown, Raymond Gunning, Fire Chief John Quisenberry, the city clerk, and J.J. King from Deaconess. He also spoke to IDPH.

The city is required to have one mutual aid agreement per IDPH. Per the ordinance, all mutual aid agreements are required to come before the council and the mayor signs those agreements; therefore, it makes prior mutual aid agreements invalid.

The Gallatin County mutual agreement was signed by the former fire chief without council consent. IDPH requires a radium map, which is just a response time map. The map is good. The only change that needs to be made is where the ambulance will provide service.

The council has stated multiple times that city firehouse ambulance will stay in city limits, and it is a backup ambulance. The council needs to approve the AMR mutual aid agreement. Attorney Kolby Smithpeters has reviewed the agreement.

The city needs to determine if the firehouse ambulance is to remain in the city limits. The city just establishes the service area. This does not handcuff the city firehouse ambulance to just the city limits. In the event of an accident that requires multiple ambulances, the city firehouse ambulance can respond. By establishing a service area, it means the city firehouse ambulance is not required to respond to a broken toe call in Eldorado. If there is a bad accident, the fire chief will send the city firehouse ambulance.

Commissioner Roger Angelly stated the city firehouse ambulance is a back up ambulance. If there is an emergency, the firehouse ambulance can respond. The council is to take care of the citizens of Harrisburg.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown said if it is not an emergency, the city firehouse ambulance resources will not be used. Everyone has an ambulance service with Abbott, Harrisburg firehouse ambulance is a back up BLS, and the City of Harrisburg has a medically equipped fire truck, but the fire truck cannot transport. There is plenty of medical services in Harrisburg.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown made the motion to authorize Mayor John McPeek to sign the mutual aid agreement with AMR. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown stated the mutual aid agreement with Gallatin County is not valid. It did not come before the council for consent. The former fire chief signed the Gallatin County mutual aid agreement without council consent. The city will still help Gallatin County if case of an emergency.  The fire department provides mutual aid through the fire department associations.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown made the motion to authorize Attorney Kolby Smithpeters to send a letter to Gallatin County regarding the mutual aid agreement stating the mutual aid agreement is invalid.. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Jonathan Brown said the EMS application needs to be amended. The application will state the city firehouse response area is city limits. The city can still go outside the city limits, but if the application reads outside the city limits, the firehouse ambulance will be required to respond to those areas. The application needs to read inside the city limits, but the city firehouse ambulance can still attend as needed outside the city limits. He wants to make sure there is help for the Harrisburg citizens. He said the city firehouse ambulance was started with the intent to be a backup service.

He also stated the application needs to follow the dispatching directives. All calls go through 911 dispatch. There cannot be direct calls to the firehouse. The EMS coordinator will draft the new application. Commissioner Jonathan Brown made the motion to amend the EMS application stating the city firehouse ambulance will stay inside city limits and remove the direct dial to the fire department. Seconded by Commissioner Roger  Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes, except Commissioner Rupert Johnson voting no. Motion carried.

Commissioner Rupert Johnson stated the city received to petitions from Barnes Lumber to vacate alleyways. Commissioner Rupert Johnson made the motion to authorize the city clerk to advertise a public hearing regarding vacating the two alleys. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Commissioner Rupert Johnson reminded citizens of the upcoming Fall Clean Up from October 12 through October 23, 2026.

Mayor John McPeek stated the city has the following properties for sale:

18 S. Cherry  Street; 519 W. Elm Street; 416 W. Elm Street; 719 W. Lincoln Street; 1017 Hobson Street; 215 Walnut Street; 101 Midkiff Street

Mayor John McPeek made the motion to authorize the city clerk to advertise the sale of surplus property. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek reminded the citizens that the 6th Annual Sasquatch Festival is this Saturday.

Mayor John McPeek announced the upcoming events:       

            Boo in the Burg: October 22, 2026 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

            Trick or Treating: October 31, 2026 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

Mayor John McPeek made the motion to go into executive session to discuss personnel. Seconded by Commissioner Roger Angelly. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Adjourn:  8:33 a.m.

Reconvene: 10:15 a.m.

Mayor John McPeek made the motion to return to open session. Seconded by Commissioner Rupert Johnson. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Mayor John McPeek stated there is no action regarding personnel.

Commissioner Roger Angelly made the motion to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Jonathan Brown. A roll call vote was taken with all present voting yes. Motion carried.

Adjourn: 10:15 a.m.