City Council Study Session

CITY OF ROCK ISLAND CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION City Council Chambers, City Hall, 3rd Floor, 1528 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL 3/10/2025 - Minutes 1. Call to Order Mayor Thoms called the Study Session to order at 5:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call Mayor Thoms asked City Clerk Samantha Gange to call the roll. Present: Alderpersons Randy Hurt, Randy Tweet, Jenni Swanson, Dylan Parker, Mark Poulos, Bill Healy and Mayor Thoms. Absent: Alderperson Moses Robinson Staff: City Manager Todd Thompson, Attorney Leslie Day, City Clerk Samantha Gange, and other City Staff. 3. Public Comment No one was signed up to speak for public comment. 4. Presentations a. Rock Island Public Library Annual Report (Link: Library Presentation) Library Director Angela Campbell provided an overview of the year and highlighted the library's successes and accomplishments. She discussed the 2024 revenue and expenditures, collection statistics and efforts to maximize community partnerships, including offsite program expansion. She shared that as a result of their efforts in 2024, they increased library cardholders and literacy opportunities for all and that their overall patron visits were up 11 percent from the previous year. Ms. Campbell presented photos of events that occurred the previous year, including Tuneful Tuesdays, the Southwest Library and Fire Station 50th Anniversary Celebration, Summer Reading Challenge, Banned Books Week, STEAM Kits, Mental Health Comfort Carts, among others. The library staff also serve as a resource for many other things, such as referrals to people in crisis, parent learning, senior companionship, speech pathology sessions and providing a safe space for all. Director Campbell discussed the Strategic Plan for 2025 -2030. She provided an overview of their mission, vision and values and highlighted their goals for the plan. The plan was data-driven, which included a third- party public survey, staff survey, community and teen conversations and perpetual feedback measuring net satisfaction. Ms. Campbell noted the five goals and said they make the acronym TREES: transformative, relevant, equitable, engaged and sustainable. She highlighted the objectives for each goal and provided examples of strategies to obtain each goal. Ms. Campbell explained the role of the Rock Island Public Library Foundation and how the funds assist the library in serving the community. She provided an example of a letter they recently received from a borrower 1 back in 1962 who never returned his book and, as a result, donated $500 to the foundation. b. Centennial Mississippi River Bridge Phase I Project Mr. Michael Kuehn with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) introduced the team that would be involved in the project, including staff from the Iowa Department of Transportation and Parsons Transportation Group. He noted Mark Peterson of Parsons Transportation Group would be leading the presentation. Mr. Peterson provided background information on the project. He discussed the study process and noted they are currently in Phase I out of III and explained the data collection method. Once the deficiencies are identified, they will move to Phase II. He explained that the alternatives would be evaluated for impacts on various factors, including parks and recreation, wildlife and noise impact. He provided a map of the area, highlighting the possibility of where the bridge could be located. Mr. Peterson discussed the upcoming public involvement activities to ensure public input, including stakeholder meetings, community advisory groups, public meetings, public hearings and a dedicated project website to be launched this week. He highlighted that public input was an important part of the process. Next, Tony Pakeltis with Parsons discussed the social and economic impacts of the project and explained that they will be reviewing any negative impacts as it relates to the National Historic Preservation Act as well as publicly owned properties such as public parks, wildlife or waterfowl refuse, or lands of historic or natural state. He said the study will also include consideration of improved bike and pedestrian accommodations on the bridge. In response to questions from Mayor Thoms, it was clarified that there is a commitment to keep the bridge open during construction. It was noted that public input does way heavily on decision-making. Mr. Kuehn explained that the federal funds in place for this project are spread over multiple years. The funding that IDOT had budgeted for painting the current bridge has been put on hold pending the outcome of this study to ensure taxpayer funds were spent appropriately. 5. Adjourn a. Motion: Motion to adjourn. VV Voice vote is needed. MOTION: Alderperson Poulos moved to adjourn the meeting; Alderperson Parker seconded. VOTE: Motion PASSED on a 6-0-1 voice vote. Aye: Poulos, Healy, Hurt, Tweet, Swanson, Parker. Nay: None. Absent: Robinson. The meeting concluded at 6:20 p.m. 2

City Council Study Session Agenda March 10, 2025 - 5:30 PM City Council Chambers, City Hall, 3rd Floor, 1528 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL Click Here to Watch Live 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Public Comment 4. Presentations a. Rock Island Public Library Annual Report (Link: Library Presentation) b. Centennial Mississippi River Bridge Phase I Project 5. Adjourn a. Motion: Motion to adjourn. VV Voice vote is needed. This agenda may be obtained in accessible formats by qualified persons with a disability by making appropriate arrangements from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday, by contacting the City Clerk's Office at (309) 732-2010 or visiting in person at: 1528 Third Avenue, Rock Island, IL 61201.