The Knoxville City Council met via online video-conference Monday, April 6th. The council held a special meeting on Thursday, March 19th to discuss a draft ordinance granting emergency powers to the mayor. Discussion last night was held on inserting a sunset clause into the ordinance when a new mayor is elected as well as implementing a curfew in the wake of a disaster similar to the COVID-19 pandemic. The council voiced mixed opinions of the curfew to City Attorney Rob McCoy. “If there’s no consensus tonight, one thing that we could do is I could draft the ordinance with the sunset clause in it,” McCoy said. “We have it at the next meeting. It’d have the curfew. But if the majority of the council is against it at that meeting, we could have motion to approve it without the paragraph (containing the curfew) and strike it then.”
The council then discussed the City’s Spring Clean-up Days. “The people I’ve talked to….in Ward One, have wanted to get stuff together, but they think waiting until the fall would be a better time to do it,” said Ward One Alderwoman Angela Hillier. “Because of what’s going on, they don’t want people (to come) and rummage through – we have those junk collectors that come through. So they think postponing it, for now, would be a good idea.” Ward Three Alderman Toby Myers said he’s heard from residents in favor of having spring clean-up as planned. Wanting to avoid out-of-town visitors and the “circus” that comes with it, the council went ahead and decided to delay Spring Clean-up for later in the fall.
To coincide with the State’s extended “Stay-at-Home” order, the council also approved the continued closure of city sites and historical sites through the month of April which will also include parks and playgrounds.
The Illinois Commerce Commission recently placed a moratorium on water and utility fees – for delinquent fees and water shut-offs. Attorney Rob McCoy said the ICC doesn’t have authority over the City of Knoxville’s utilities. Mayor Dennis Maurer said this matter only affects a handful of residents and the council agreed that they will be dealt with on a day to day basis.
Finally, nominated by Mayor Dennis Maurer, the Council approved Ward Three Alderman Toby Myers as the Mayor Pro Tem. The council approved the mayor’s nomination. Myers led the March 2nd council meeting in Maurer’s absence.
