The McLeansboro City Council met Tuesday night for its regular monthly meeting. Scott Mareing was there and filed this report…
Dustin Larkin of A2B Productions addressed the board about bringing his street racing TV show, Grudge Street, to film in the city at the McLeansboro Airport. The show is filmed all over the U.S. including in Carmi, where their deal had expired. Larkin was considering McLeansboro as a good place to film and contacted Mayor Chad May about it. May said a major hurdle would be if a core sample of the surface to be used for racing showed it wasn’t feasible to race on, but otherwise the board members seemed open about the idea. The city would receive half of the spectator money. The board voted to explore the possibility of filming the show at the airport.
Nathan Sanders was to address the board concerning living in a camper at 1104 West Wilson while he’s building a container home there, but he withdrew his proposal, so he was not present at the meeting.
They accepted the resignation of Walter Rexing as the Assistant Fire Chief. Mayor May thanked him for the many years he had given to the city and several of the board members said he would be missed. Rexing said he appreciated the opportunity to serve. He will still be involved in the fire department part time with chaplain work.
A new police vehicle for Chief Nathan Taylor will be purchased from Teffertillers once the price is determined and it should be delivered by late winter. Taylor said the new officer has completed training and the two new recruits are ready for training.
The Fox Prairie Disc Golf Course will be holding a sanctioned tournament on October 21st with proceeds to the city going into the Park Fund and 4-H will hold a Halloween event on October 28th. Also the city is working on getting an OSLAD grant to construct a restroom facility there by the next fiscal Year. The board members voted to pursue the grant.
The board approved a proposal to remove a trailer at 103 East Powell at a cost of $1,500 since the city now owns the property. Only board member Jeff Johnson voted “no”, saying the former owner should have done it.
The City Pool, which is now closed for the season, operated at a loss of $42,008 in 2023, not including water and electricity. Total income was $13,854. They will try to think of new ways to make the pool more profitable before next year.
Mayor Chad May gave the First Reading of an Ordinance regarding two hour parking on the outside of the McLeansboro Square. It would be between 8 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday and from 8 AM to 8 PM on Saturdays for parallel parking only.
Also approved were three TIF reimbursements. They were in the amount of $5,511.57 for MC Sales LLC, which is Dairy Queen; $4,841.23 for Wuebbels Repair LLC; and $1,263.54 for Jerrod and Lois Vaupel.
The board went into Executive Session at 6:47 PM for discussion concerning collective negotiating matters between the public body and its employees or their representatives.
