Beardstown council approves water/sewer ordinance, USDA payment, police body cameras and park permits

The Beardstown City Council on May 21 adopted an ordinance amending Chapter 21 of the City Code covering water, sewers and sewage and approved a series of payments and permits.

A motion by Dawn Seward, seconded by Chris Baer, to adopt amendments to Chapter 21 passed by a 7-0 roll call vote. The council also approved Payment Resolution No. 5 for the USDA Sanitary Sewer Replacement Project in the amount of $558,167.37; the minutes list Hood Construction Group Midwest LLC receiving $547,226.60 and Benton & Associates, Inc. $10,940.77 as the disbursement breakdown. The payment resolution passed 7-0 on a motion by Dawn Seward, seconded by Eric Harbin.

Council members voted 7-0 to accept a $99,218.00 quote from Motorola Solutions for police body cameras and accessories (motion by Chris Baer, seconded by Eric Harbin). Two requests to use Art Zeeck Park were approved by unanimous voice vote: the Amigos Fiestas Patria Unidos Committee’s Annual Fiestas Patrias Celebration on Sept. 15, 2024, and the Congolese Community of Central Illinois’ Day of Peace event on July 6, 2024.

The minutes show the council entered executive session under exemption 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(2) for collective bargaining at about 7:11 p.m. and returned to open session at 8:16 p.m.; no formal executive-session actions were recorded in the public minutes. The meeting adjourned at 8:32 p.m.

The minutes also report standard financial summaries for April (cash receipts, disbursements and fund balances) and ambulance billing totals for Beardstown and Virginia for the month. The record of the meeting does not include further staff memos or ordinance text for Chapter 21 in the published minutes; those documents — if available — would be with the city clerk’s office.