The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.


June 26th La Harpe Council Meeting Cancelled

By Michael Rodeffer, The Quill

It was noted the June 26th La Harpe Council meeting will be canceled due to lack of a quorum. Several council members were not going to be available for that meeting. The next meeting will be July 10th at 7 p.m. at La Harpe City Hall..

Tim Graves informed the council that he and Trevor Finch had worked on treating the reservoir to control the algae.

Tim also informed the council that Trevor had been digging at the lagoon. He was getting near the sludge which needs to be removed according to IEPA.

Street employee David Little informed the council he had met with a representative from WL MILLER about the patches where the road had rolled up and left a hole in the road. Little stated the MILLER Representative thought the Perma-Patch which the city has would be the best solution to repair the road.

Little also informed the council that the decals had been put on the street trucks.

Public comment

Ron Covert spoke to the council about using the water hydrant to fill a pool which was to be installed in the next couple weeks. Covert stated he had spoke with La Harpe Fire Chief Jerry Brown, and Brown was willing to let Covert use a fire hose. Covert stated he was willing to pay for the water. Council approved a motion to allow Covert to fill the pool from the water hydrant and would be charged the cost of the water. It was estimated at 15,500 gallons.

Covert also asked about a water bill on 203 West 1st Avenue which he had recently purchased. The bill was for $38 and 900 gallon water usage. Covert stated all the water valves were off at the house and the bill was dated 5-15-21 to 5-15-23. Covert only recently purchased the property around the 1st of May. Council unanimously approved for Covert to not have to pay the $38 bill unless a leak was found on the property.

Scott Rosson reported while Lynn Hoyt was in training, he and Larry Finch had been patrolling the city, and generally things were going well. Rosson stated the city will eventually need to get better body cams for the officers to use.

City Clerk Lucretia McPeak asked council to appropriate $3073.77 to Galesburg Builder Supply for cold patch and $3855.50 to Midwest Express for chips and cold patch from the Motor Fuel tax fund. The council unanimously approved.

Council Approves Auctioning Senior Citizen House

Attorney Kurt Dittmer (Johnson Trust Fund Attorney) asked the council if they would entertain the idea of auctioning off the Senior Citizen House, as there had been very little interest to privately buy the property. Dittmer stated with insurance and maintenance it was just a constant cost for the Johnson Trust. Council unanimously approved allowing Dittmer to contact Sullivan Auction/Big Iron and have it auctioned, with the Mayor being the spokesperson for the final bid.

La Harpe Council also unanimously approved:

Council adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Present at the meeting was Mayor Kat Hasten-Reed, City Treasurer Monalisa Graves, City Clerk Lucretia McPeak, council members Amanda Donaldson, Miranda Cole, Randy Shumaker, Jim Lenix, Todd Stevens, and Dave Clover; City Employees- Tim Graves, David Little, Dan Carpenter, Trevor Finch, and Scott Rosson.

Guests -Ron Covert, Kurt Dittmer, Dan Gillett and Michael Rodeffer