Moline City Council Committee-of-the-Whole and Regular Meeting - December 12, 2023
Moline City Council Committee-of-the-Whole and Regular Meeting - December 12, 2023
The City of Moline held a joint Committee-of-the-Whole (COW) and Regular City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 12, 2023, at 6:00 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting opened with a COW session that included an oath of office for a new police canine, followed by several resolutions related to TIF feasibility, housing grants, and child care infrastructure. After an informational session on the state's new paid leave law and the transition to monthly utility billing, the Council convened for its regular agenda, approving consent items, non-consent resolutions, and advancing first-reading ordinances, including a paid leave ordinance that will be amended to match state accrual requirements.
Oath of Office
- Police Canine Shiloh was formally sworn in as a commissioned police officer canine, effective November 11, 2023. Chief described Shiloh as a certified electronic storage detection canine trained to detect components in cell phones, assisting in investigations of child exploitation and human trafficking. The canine was fully funded by Operation Underground Railroad. Handler Detective Dave Callaway also took the oath.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made during either the COW or the Regular Council meeting.
Consent Calendar (Regular Council)
- Approved the meeting minutes from November 14 and November 21, 2023.
- Approved Resolution setting the 2024 annual meetings schedule.
- Approved Resolution authorizing the purchase of signal equipment upgrades (Tactics Central) for $105,439.00.
Discussion Items (Committee-of-the-Whole)
- 6.1 Ordinance to Reduce Plan Commission Membership: Approved an ordinance amending Chapter 25 to reduce the number of Plan Commission members from 11 to 9, effective through attrition. The current number made it difficult to achieve quorum. Council member O'Brien clarified that no members were being removed.
- 6.2 Resolution for TIF Consulting Services with PGAV Planners: Authorized a contract for professional services to study the feasibility of creating a TIF district in downtown Moline, specifically around the former JCPenney and dispatch buildings. Mr. Vitas noted PGAV has been the city's TIF consultant for over 30 years.
- 6.3 Resolution for TIF Feasibility Study and Inducement: Approved an inducement resolution to allow expenditures (billable to future TIF proceeds) and established a study boundary for a potential downtown TIF (TIF 15). The area is bounded by 17th and 18th Streets, 4th and 5th Avenues. Alexandra Elias from Renew Moline and John David Schaufer from Bush Construction spoke in support, emphasizing the TIF's potential to spur additional development. Council members expressed excitement for the project.
- 6.4 IHDA Home Repair Program Grant Resolution: Authorized a program funding agreement with the Illinois Housing Development Authority for a $1,000,000 grant under the Illinois Homeowner Assistance Fund Home Repair Program. KJ (Community & Economic Development) explained the grant will support 16–20 homes with forgivable loans up to $60,000 for repairs (e.g., lead, windows). The grant allows up to 150% of area median income, a significant increase from typical 80%. The grant is for Moline only, as other cities did not respond to collaboration requests. Council member Castro asked about targeting; KJ responded it will be first-come, first-served, starting with three homes from a COVID-era waiting list.
- 6.5 ARPA Childcare/Workforce Infrastructure Loan Agreement with Western Illinois University Foundation: Approved an agreement to provide upfront funding to Western Illinois University to establish a bilingual daycare center at the former Boys & Girls Club in Moline. The center will offer second-shift options. KJ noted this is the final piece of an ARPA-funded childcare initiative launched in 2021. Council member O'Brien asked about emergency childcare; KJ replied that the Level Up program (passed in October) addresses emergency needs, but capacity constraints remain. The daycare is expected to open early next year.
Informational Items (Committee-of-the-Whole)
- 7.1 Paid Leave for All Workers Act (Margaret Kostopulos): Corporation Counsel explained the Act, effective January 1, 2024, requires 40 hours of paid leave for full-time employees and 1 hour per 40 worked for part-time. The city currently offers 3–6 times that amount. To maintain existing policies and avoid the Act's
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. I'll call this committee of the whole meeting to order here in Council Chambers at 6 p.m. I believe we have remote electronic attendance. I would like to make a motion to approve the remote electronic attendance of all the person that mean at the committee of the whole and the city council meeting of December 5th, 2023, due to employment purposes or other city business. Thank you. Is our second second that's Finch and O'Brien? Um roll call, please. Elder person Castro. Aye. Schmidt. Murphy. Masias. Razak. Timian. Finch. O'Brien. No. All right. Motion passes. Welcome from someplace sunny. Sunny California. Great. We have an oath of office for regular commissioned appointment of canine Shiloh to the rank of police officer canine, effective November 11th, 2023. Chief. Thank you, Mayor. Good evening, Council. Uh well, back in September, I uh brought you a grant opportunity for us to obtain an electronic storage detection canine from Operation Underground Railroad, uh, which you approved, and we moved forward with obtaining that. And we now have uh Shiloh on board as part of our team, and so I'd like to introduce you to him and his handler, uh Detective Dave Callaway. So Shiloh here, the man of the hour down there is a two-year-old English Labrador. Actually, he's he's uh not quite two, but we'll probably have a birthday party for him at the end of the month, right? I'm sure you'll see that on social media. He was originally trained uh to be a service dog, but then ended up transitioning to scent detection at Jordan Canine in August of 2023. Uh he is trained to smell triphenol phylene oxide and lithium ion. Those are two components in cell phones and other devices that store electronic data. Uh and he is now a certified electronic storage device detection canine. Uh he his whole mission is to assist law enforcement and locating devices containing digital evidence that greatly assists in the investigation of child exploitation, human trafficking, child pornography, and other offenses. And again, this was fully funded by Operation Underground Railroad, a 501c3 nonprofit. Uh he arrived here and on his very first day, we had to use him. Uh I think Dave came in and said, All right, guys, I'm not gonna try to quite jump in yet, and then an emergency hand happened, and uh next thing you know, they were off to do their very first search warrant the very first day. Uh he's already been called over to Scott County and some of our other partners in the area uh to work on some of these cases. So he's already uh done some great things, that's why he's tired already, so he's laying down. Um but uh his handler is uh detective Dave Callaway. Uh Dave has been a police officer for 22 years. He spent two years with Glenn Ellen, Illinois, and 20 years with the Moline Police Department. Uh he's a certified field training officer, trained cell of our officers, community oriented police officer, uh was a school resource officer assigned to Moline High School, uh, the criminal investigation division in adult crimes and now uh also in forensic our forensic division. He is certified by the United States Secret Service for Digital Evidence Investigation, certified on Solbright, Great Key, and Digital Currency Investigations, and is on the Illinois Crimes Against Children Task Force U.S. Secret Service Task Force. Uh he is here with his uh lovely dog and of course even lovelier, his wife Diane and his beautiful twins, Clara and Caroline. And so, Your Honor, if you would, I'd ask you to administer Shiloh and his handler and oath of office. All right.
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