Beloit City Council – Wednesday, August 17, 2022


By Terry Bailey

The Beloit City Council met at City Hall on Wednesday evening, August 17, to attend to the affairs of the City. In attendance were Councilors Andrew Grabon, Todd Adolph, Jamie Meier and Tony Gengler. Also in attendance were City Manager Jason Rabe, City Attorney Katie Schroeder and Jessica Rosebaugh sitting in for Amanda Lomax. Absent from the proceeding were Councilors Lee McMillan and Gretchin Staples.
The Councilors wanted to pass along a reminder to everyone that with school starting, the young people may not have reverted to their proper going to school manners at the crosswalks so adult drivers will need to be extra cautious for them.
City Manager Jason Rabe said the Water Treatment plant and Pipeline are getting closer to the bid letting stage. Rises in the cost of materials will increase the price of the project but he hopes additional grant money will be available to offset the final cost.
Rabe reported the solar farm is working as expected. Because of the size of the farm, it will only produce ten to fifteen percent of the needed energy but every little bit helps.
The Gill Creek bridge replacement project is nearing completion. The work has not progressed as fast as hoped, but the end is in sight.
Community Development Director Emily Benedict gave the Council an update on the work on her department. Benedick reported that the work on the Duckwall/Sperry Building is moving right along. Plans have been made to remove the two large air conditioning units from the roof so that the roof replacement work can begin.
A financial assistance program has been organized to help people relocate to Mitchell County.
The lot east of Bubba Q's has been purchased for the pocket park. The first step is to fill in the hole and level the ground.
Beloit Police Chief Elam introduced a new officer on the force, Aaron Tippin. He has had the necessary training and is ready to contribute to the betterment of Beloit.
A Public Hearing was open for consideration of the Beloit 2023 City budget. Nobody appeared to speak for or against the proposed budget. The Council voted to accept it as it was printed. The city budget will be $15,017,594, a 1.23% increase over last year's budget.
Ordinance 2018 dealing with the Solid Waste Management was discussed. The ordinance addresses the rise in fuel cost. If fuel reaches $4 per gallon and stays there for one month a twenty-five-cent raise will be allowed and passed on the residential trash price. If the cost of fuel exceeds $5 per gallon a fifty-cent increase will he allowed. If fuel reaches $7 per gallon a 75 cent increase will be allowed.
A special event license was granted to Sid Goddard for a wedding in Chautauqua Park on August 27th.
A special event license was granted to the Mitchell County Hospital Health Systems for an event at Chautauqua Park on October 15th.
A partial lot of land located at 6th and Broadway was reassigned to the Beloit Land Bank. This land was then transferred to Jordan and Jessie Cousland.
Several years ago, the City purchased a trencher to help with City projects. They realized this machine is much too big for practical use by the City crews. The trade in value on the machine to purchase a smaller one is $110,000. Rabe has negotiated the sale to a local buyer for $130,000. The Council authorized the sale to the local buyer.
Rabe informed the Council that a study group has been formed to research the status of feral cats in the City of Beloit.